No description available.

The use of project management in the financial environment of small entities is investigated in this research. To reach the goal of this research, project management in general was researched from the literature and applied to small accounting projects. The meaning of small enterprises was determined from literature and different types of entities were described. The accounting environment as a whole was described to focus on the financial accounting environment of small entities whose financial statements are not strictly regulated by law. Project management was theoretically applied to the financial accounting environment of a small enterprise. Empirical research was used to determine the current use or not of project management by accountants. The questionnaire, distributed according to the snowball method, was set in such a way that it assumed the respondent do not use project management. The research results were grouped to elucidate information in different focus areas of project management. It was very clear from the respondent’s responses, that: Project management is intuitively used without being identified as such; There does nor exist any basic or formal numeration structure for financial assistance of small entities; and Risks could be uniformly addressed to the benefit of both accounting officers and clients should it be more consciously applied. Because it was difficult to identify the population and the snowball method was used to issue the questionnaires, it was decided to use focus group interviews to discuss the outcomes received from the respondents. The results from these interviews were very helpful: not only was project management positively accepted as financial management tool, but suggestions were made to motivate for the use of project management by accountants. These suggestions, as well as a draft project model was send as a secondary questionaire to accountants to test the researched results. Although a limited reaction was received the acceptance of the research outcome was positive. The impact of this discussion can also be found in chapter seven. It can be concluded that the conscious use of project management can be to the advantage of both the accountant and client. The application of project management as a process can be utilised advantageously and without significant additional administrative costs to streamline financial accounting activities. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Operational Research))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

The use of project management in the financial environment of small entities is investigated in this research. To reach the goal of this research, project management in general was researched from the literature and applied to small accounting projects. The meaning of small enterprises was determined from literature and different types of entities were described. The accounting environment as a whole was described to focus on the financial accounting environment of small entities whose financial statements are not strictly regulated by law. Project management was theoretically applied to the financial accounting environment of a small enterprise. Empirical research was used to determine the current use or not of project management by accountants. The questionnaire, distributed according to the snowball method, was set in such a way that it assumed the respondent do not use project management. The research results were grouped to elucidate information in different focus areas of project management. It was very clear from the respondent’s responses, that: Project management is intuitively used without being identified as such; There does nor exist any basic or formal numeration structure for financial assistance of small entities; and Risks could be uniformly addressed to the benefit of both accounting officers and clients should it be more consciously applied. Because it was difficult to identify the population and the snowball method was used to issue the questionnaires, it was decided to use focus group interviews to discuss the outcomes received from the respondents. The results from these interviews were very helpful: not only was project management positively accepted as financial management tool, but suggestions were made to motivate for the use of project management by accountants. These suggestions, as well as a draft project model was send as a secondary questionaire to accountants to test the researched results. Although a limited reaction was received the acceptance of the research outcome was positive. The impact of this discussion can also be found in chapter seven. It can be concluded that the conscious use of project management can be to the advantage of both the accountant and client. The application of project management as a process can be utilised advantageously and without significant additional administrative costs to streamline financial accounting activities. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Operational Research))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

This investigation starts from the hypothesis that a new approach to new product development is required to meet the future requirements and expectations of customers and consumers and product and service providers. The investigation focuses upon domestic food refrigeration and its position within the retail food supply chain, with the domestic refrigerator as an example of a mature product, the future development of which, it is argued, may depend upon a new approach to new product development. A review of established and emerging new product development strategies suggests that such future requirements might be met through collaboration between organisations from different industrial sectors and across supply chains, and that existing strategies would not support such collaborations. A new methodology, Collaborative Envisioning is proposed which engages the business of academia and the tools of the designer to facilitate multidisciplinary trans-sectoral collaboration. It is further proposed that a demonstration project, Beyond the Fridge, is the most effective test for the methodology. Key participants in Beyond the Fridge are Sainsbury's, Electrolux, 3M, University College Northampton and University of East London. Results from Beyond the Fridge suggest that the Collaborative Envisioning methodology is effective in bringing together partners from different industrial sectors and uniting them around a shared and mutually supported vision of future business. However, the low start-up cost and high level of concept realisation inherent in the methodology have led to some overestimation of the tactical deliverables from an essentially strategic process. In the light of Beyond the Fridge it is recommended that structures are established at the initiation of a Collaborative Envisioning project so that tactical solutions which may be derived from the strategic objective are differentiated and separately funded from the core project. The reflection upon Beyond the Fridge, and the recommendations for future work derived from it, is followed by reviews of evolving consumer demographics and perceptions of food storage and preparation in the home, and recent initiatives to integrate new technologies into domestic and personal products, thus establishing the historical and social context for Beyond the Fridge.

Project control systems often fail to support management in achieving their global project goals. This thesis proposes a Multidimensional Project Control System (MPCS) as an approach for quantifying deviations from the planning phase to the execution phase with respect to the global project control specification (GPCS). The projects' current state must be translated into yield terms, which are expressed as a gap vector that represents the multidimensional deviation from the global project control specification. The MPCS methodology allows the project manager to determine: integrated project status; where problems exist in the project; when and where to take corrective action; and how to measure improvement. However, implementing the MPCS methodology does not require extra data collation. MPCS deals with the control of a single project and defines the project performances in comparison with the plan. The progression of several projects in parallel is a common situation in organizations, therefore a comparison of the various project performances is required. It is proposed that a comparison process be performed using the data envelope analysis (DEA) approach. The reference points for examining the performances of different projects and the directions of improvement for the projects are not necessarily found on the efficiency frontier. An algorithm is developed for applying multi-project system control having a relatively large number of inputs and outputs while maintaining the validity of the DEA methodology. The DEA output allows the diagnosis of those found on the efficiency frontier and those that need improvement.

The 'defects problem' has demanded considerable attention in recent years, with much emphasis given to the technical causes of failure. This research project examines the problem from a different point of view - that of human error. Taking as a starting point, technical publications in the construction industry, the research reviews human error literature from a variety of industries and perspectives and synthesises a model of error causation covering organisations in a construction project context. This model is then progressively tested in four studies, a general preliminary survey and three more detailed studies of house-building. Conclusions support the view that errors leading to failure in complex socio-technical systems often exhibit systems characteristics and involve the whole managerial structure. An improved model is proposed, which emphasises the importance of both project and general management errors.

Project management is a carefully planned and organized effort to accomplish a specific one-time task. For example, constructing a building or implementing a new computer system, all need to be well-managed. Projects are conceived and completed by people, who are involved in the whole process of project execution and completion. Thus, project management not only requires an efficient project manager, but also a qualified leader who can lead the team effectively. This research will provide a clearer understanding of the concept of leadership in projects, discussing how and why it works, and the ways to make project teams more dynamic and effective. The results from the study are applied to these leadership concepts, in an effort understand the role of effective leadership in reducing costs across the whole project process and increasing the project value.

Thesis (MProjectManagement)--University of South Australia, 2007.

The impetus for the research reported in this thesis came after reflection on my career in engineering which led to the observation that descriptions of what engineers do, or should do, when they work on projects, do not address the social aspects of their interactions with other people, both engineers and non-engineers, who are involved with the project. Teams of engineers can be viewed as social systems and I believed that it should be possible to describe their activities using social theories, as distinct from descriptions which focus on the application of technology and the management of resources to meet clients' requirements. The research followed a heuristic methodology. There was no initial theory. Theory emerged from the data. As a preliminary step, I examined documents prescribing the way engineering work is done and compared them with accounts of successful projects. The comparison shows that the prescriptive documentation overlooks the interaction between people, which however features prominently in the accounts of successful projects. As well, examination of the systems representation widely employed throughout projects shows that it can lead to oversimplification, when it is used to model socio-technical and social systems. / In the first iteration of this research, social theories relating to individual and collaborative learning, and the life-cycle of teams were examined. From the very large field of sociology, I used my own experience to select those theories that explained the interactions between people engaged in engineering projects. As a reality check on the applicability of the selected theories, I interviewed four successful engineer/managers, now retired. The first three confirmed the relevance of those theories. In addition, their interviews pointed to other factors requiring a second iteration of researching social theories that centred on forms of capital, leadership styles, and the interdependence of formal and informal organizational structures to management and problem-solving practices. The suite of social theories from the first and second iterations of research is integrated into a Social Systems Evaluation Framework (SSEF) that encompasses the four forms of capital, Embodied, Social, Institutionalised and Economic, and facilitates an evaluation of the social systems associated with a project. The use of the SSEF at any stage of a project life cycle is explained. Finally, it was applied successfully to the fourth interview as a “trial fit”. The thesis concludes with suggestions for further work in validating the SSEF and extending its application to other domains and cultures. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2005.

Organisations are constantly under pressure to be more efficient and effective. Lessons learned activities are recognised as a method to seek improved performance in the project environment and considered to be best practice, however they are often not implemented (Eppler et al, 2000). How should lessons learned be conducted in a project environment? This research investigated industry practices to identify the factors affecting lessons learned and important aspects to take into consideration when developing a lessons learned process. Additionally several associate management theories were investigated to determine if they could be used to develop effective procedures or processes. / This dissertation proposes a model incorporating three pillars that need to be equal in strength to support the process. The first pillar of the lessons learned process: identifying and capturing the lessons learned. The second pillar of the lessons learned process: Documenting and disseminating, allows the knowledge to be shared through out the organisation and to future project teams. Finally the third pillar: applying the lessons learned, is the application of the knowledge to existing and future projects, providing new opportunities for knowledge creation. / Finally this dissertation provides area in which further research in the field could be undertaken. / Thesis (MProjectManagement)--University of South Australia, 2005.