This master thesis deals with the issue of managing a group of projects from the perspective of an outsourcing provider. The goals of this master thesis are to define the area of multi-project environment in outsourcing, describe features of a real example of such environment, identify characteristic features in them and design a set of recommendations for its efficient management. In the first part, the area and conditions of multi-project environment in outsourcing are defined. Subsequently, the theoretical knowledge in literature is analyzed. The second part focuses on practical research in a real organization dealing with this kind of project management. First, the methodology of the research is defined, then the results are described in detail. Using the previously collected knowledge the third part identifies features which are typical for multi-project environment in outsourcing. This means those areas which require attention and can be generalized in this field of project management. Based on the previous knowledge, the fourth part sets recommendations for efficient management of multi-project environment in outsourcing within identified characteristics. The original contribution of this master thesis is the definition of multi-project environment in outsourcing, identification of its characteristic features and set of recommendations for its efficient management.

<p>This licentiate thesis discusses management and control ofan industrial business that implements several projects at thesame time, a so-called multi-project business. The questionthat will be answered is: What distinguish the management of amulti-project business and what is crucial for the managementto focus on? The thesis is based on a case study at a companycalled Adtranz Signal in Sweden. Adtranz Signal develops,designs and delivers signal and safety systems for the railway.They are a perfect example of a modern company that operatesthe main part of their business with projects.</p><p>The discussion will take us beyond the single project andabove the project manager. This is necessary because projectmanagement literature, by tradition, emphasizes on theindividual project, and the complexity of problems when aproject is executed isolated from the ordinary business. Todaythere are only a few empirical and theoretical studies ofmulti-project businesses, especially those that focuses on howindustrial companies use projects and lead project work.</p><p>The scientific contribution in this thesis consists of twoparts. The first part is a profound empirical description ofhow management, control and realization of a multi-projectbusiness work. The second part is a further development of theliterature considering management problems in a multi-projectbusiness. Finally there are three important conclusions pointedout:</p><p>•It exists dependencies and connections between theprojects in the companys multi-project business•Thedifferent dependencies can be categorized•Thedependencies and connections are important and must be handledsince they effect the management of the multi-projectbusiness</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>Management and control of a project business,industrial projects, multi-project business, multi-projectenvironment, project-based company, project management</p>

As most of the project management models were developed for larger projects, there is a lack of understanding of what project managers in short duration projects do. Short-duration projects are projects in multi-project environments lasting for a number of weeks rather than a number of months. Even if they are common today, short-duration projects have not yet attracted the interest of project researchers. The present study aims to analyze what the project managers in short duration projects do and to develop a method for studying the project managers at work. A theoretical framework is built on earlier studies of managers’ work, suggesting three areas having impact on the project manager’s work. The impacting areas are the project, the project manager’s experience, and the organizational context of the project. The project manager and the assisting project manager were studied while managing a sub-project in a greater telecom system project. The project managers were studied one week each using participant observation and interviews. The findings indicate that much of the time at work was spent in meetings of different kinds, to deal with change, and to guard the production teams from being disturbed by changes in the environment. It was also found that studying a multi-project environment from the sub-project’s perspective gives a different view on multi-project environments that have earlier been presented as the project managers in the short-duration project constantly have to adjust to changes, inputs and demands from the surrounding projects and functional organizations. In the end some proposals on directions for further studies of managers of short-duration projects are made.

This licentiate thesis discusses management and control ofan industrial business that implements several projects at thesame time, a so-called multi-project business. The questionthat will be answered is: What distinguish the management of amulti-project business and what is crucial for the managementto focus on? The thesis is based on a case study at a companycalled Adtranz Signal in Sweden. Adtranz Signal develops,designs and delivers signal and safety systems for the railway.They are a perfect example of a modern company that operatesthe main part of their business with projects. The discussion will take us beyond the single project andabove the project manager. This is necessary because projectmanagement literature, by tradition, emphasizes on theindividual project, and the complexity of problems when aproject is executed isolated from the ordinary business. Todaythere are only a few empirical and theoretical studies ofmulti-project businesses, especially those that focuses on howindustrial companies use projects and lead project work. The scientific contribution in this thesis consists of twoparts. The first part is a profound empirical description ofhow management, control and realization of a multi-projectbusiness work. The second part is a further development of theliterature considering management problems in a multi-projectbusiness. Finally there are three important conclusions pointedout: •It exists dependencies and connections between theprojects in the companys multi-project business•Thedifferent dependencies can be categorized•Thedependencies and connections are important and must be handledsince they effect the management of the multi-projectbusiness Keywords:Management and control of a project business,industrial projects, multi-project business, multi-projectenvironment, project-based company, project management / <p>NR 20140805</p>

Introduction: A trend for organisations to change from single to multiple project management has been observed over the last couple of decades. Organizations shifted their focus from single project management towards the simultaneous management of the whole set of projects as one entity – project portfolio. New multi-project settings require a new management approach and practices to successfully manage a portfolio. A common practice in organizations is to evaluate projects after they had been carried out. At that point not much can be done and it is impossible to improve performance and prevent failure. Hence, problems that occur in projects’ implementation phase remain unsolved and even unidentified. Constant control, review and monitoring of projects’ performance in the implementation phase could lead to the problematic portfolio areas being spotted and timely management decisions being made in order to improve the overall portfolio performance. Problem: How do organisations manage projects within a portfolio that perform poorly in the implementation phase? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is: to describe to what extent and in what ways organizations control, review and monitor project performances in the implementation phase; to identify if organisations use any methods, tools or techniques in order to spot projects that perform poorly according to their expectations; and to discover what happens to the poorly performing projects in the implementation phase after they were identified. Method: An electronic qualitative questionnaire had been constructed and sent out to the 46 sampled Swedish companies currently running project portfolios. 115 most suitable respondents had been chosen to answer the survey. Frame of Reference: Theoretical framework is built on the literature within project portfolio management field, mostly concerning control, review and monitoring of projects of projects’ performance within their implementation phase; practices used to manage poorly performing projects as well as the value of organizational learning. Conclusion: The research results show that even though majority of the studied organizations are aware and striving towards efficient project portfolio control, review and monitoring, a lot of space for improvement still remains. Results reveal that organizations are trying to keep track of projects’ performance within a portfolio, however, very few poorly performing are identified. Moreover, the management practices for underperforming projects are still very limited if not non-existent.

<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>A trend for organisations to change from single to multiple project management has been observed over the last couple of decades. Organizations shifted their focus from single project management towards the simultaneous management of the whole set of projects as one entity – project portfolio. New multi-project settings require a new management approach and practices to successfully manage a portfolio. A common practice in organizations is to evaluate projects after they had been carried out. At that point not much can be done and it is impossible to improve performance and prevent failure. Hence, problems that occur in projects’ implementation phase remain unsolved and even unidentified. Constant control, review and monitoring of projects’ performance in the implementation phase could lead to the problematic portfolio areas being spotted and timely management decisions being made in order to improve the overall portfolio performance.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Problem: </strong>How do organisations manage projects within a portfolio that perform poorly in the implementation phase?</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The purpose of this thesis is: to describe to what extent and in what ways organizations control, review and monitor project performances in the implementation phase; to identify if organisations use any methods, tools or techniques in order to spot projects that perform poorly according to their expectations; and to discover what happens to the poorly performing projects in the implementation phase after they were identified.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Method: </strong>An electronic qualitative questionnaire had been constructed and sent out to the 46 sampled Swedish companies currently running project portfolios. 115 most suitable respondents had been chosen to answer the survey.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Frame of Reference: </strong>Theoretical framework is built on the literature within project portfolio management field, mostly concerning control, review and monitoring of projects of projects’ performance within their implementation phase; practices used to manage poorly performing projects as well as the value of organizational learning.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The research results show that even though majority of the studied organizations are aware and striving towards efficient project portfolio control, review and monitoring, a lot of space for improvement still remains. Results reveal that organizations are trying to keep track of projects’ performance within a portfolio, however, very few poorly performing are identified. Moreover, the management practices for underperforming projects are still very limited if not non-existent.</p>

The study explores the project manager’s perception of the competitive dynamic amongst the projects that utilize the same organizational resources in the multi-project context.   The method used is a qualitative research design with an inductive approach where the data corpus was analyzed through thematic analysis. Ten project managers with experience in multi-project environments participated in the study. The analysis resulted in three themes. Theme 1: Competing is outdated and unsavory with the sub-themes No competition, we work together, and Friendly competition for a common goal. This theme reflects the respondents’ perception of the competitive dynamic between the projects. Theme 2: Organization set precedent with the sub-theme Governance of projects shows the respondents’ perception of their work situation with the complex nature of projects. Theme 3: Obstacles are unsolved solutions with the sub-theme Do the best you can with what you got and be a good sport about it; demonstrates the respondents’ attitudes, behavior, and view of their part in the dynamic between the other projects, the project managers, and the rest of the organization. Unexpectedly, the respondents did not appear to agree that there are competing dynamics amongst the projects that utilize the same organizational resources in multi-project organizations. Instead, many respondents were averse to competing and saw it as outdated and problematic for the organization’s success and the work environment. The results show that the respondents prefer cooperation instead of competing and choose to prioritize interpersonal relationships with their fellow project managers instead.