This research focuses on the role that polychronic Communication (PC) plays in the productivity and project success of Information Technology (IT) Project Managers (PMs). PC refers to a communication style where the communicator switches rapidly between several conversations, irrespective of topic similarity, instead of completing one conversation before starting another. An online questionnaire collected data from Information Technology workers in multiple industries across the globe. The data consisted out of two distinct groups: IT PMs (n = 202) and IT project team members (n = 122). Statistical analysis on the dataset considered the perspectives of both participant groups, first separately and then combined. The results showed relationships between: 1. IT PMs’ individual polychronicity and their PC. 2. IT PMs’ PC and their opinion of the influence of PC on the success of the projects that they are managing. 3. IT PMs’ PC and their opinion of the influence of PC on their productivity. 4. IT PMs’ PC and the corporate polychronicity of their employers. In addition, when IT PMs rate their PC, the rating is lower than when other IT project team members rate the IT PMs’ PC. By contrast, there was no difference between IT PMs rating the influence of their PC on their project success and productivity versus IT project teams rating the influence of the IT PMs’ PC on their project success and productivity. These findings contribute to the factors that a corporation has to consider in hiring new IT PMs or training their current IT PMs. / Information Science / M. Sc. (Information Systems)

A presente pesquisa teve como foco central, desenvolver uma análise que permitiu avaliar o conhecimento em gestão de projetos dentro de escritórios de design de interiores. Diante disto, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratória, de ordem qualitativa, a fim de compreender a percepção dos gestores desses escritórios. Com isso, buscou-se obter informações que pudessem fornecer respostas sobre seus conhecimentos nas áreas relacionadas à gestão de projetos. A avaliação do conhecimento foi importante, pois permitiu identificar elementos que venham a aprimorar estruturas curriculares de cursos de design de interiores, capacitando de maneira mais eficaz, seus graduados. No entanto, não foi encontrada na literatura, pesquisa ligada a área de avaliação e gestão do conhecimento em escritórios de design de interiores. Assim sendo, estimou-se ao fim da pesquisa que a análise proposta tratasse do cenário atual, podendo auxiliar e contribuir para que se estabeleça um padrão que avalie o conhecimento dentro dos escritórios de design de interiores. O estudo permitiu concluir que nenhum dos escritórios que participaram da pesquisa faz uso de metodologias para gerenciar seus projetos. Desta forma, observou-se que cada escritório desenvolve seu próprio processo gerencial, tendo como referência suas próprias práticas de trabalho. / This research had as its central focus, develop an analysis that allowed evaluate knowledge in project management within interior design offices. Given this, an exploratory research was conducted in qualitative, in order to understand the perception of managers of these offices. Thus, it sought to obtain information that could provide answers about their knowledge in areas related to project management. The evaluation of knowledge was important because it allowed us to identify elements that may improve curriculum structures of interior design courses, enabling more effectively, its graduates. However, it was not found in the literature, research linked the area of assessment and management of knowledge in interior design offices. Therefore, it estimated the end of the research that the analysis dealt with the current situation and can assist and contribute to the establishment of a standard to assess the knowledge within the interior design offices. The study found that none of the firms that participated in the survey makes use of methods to manage your projects. Thus, it was observed that every office develops its own management process, taking as a reference its own work practices.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-07T19:20:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-11-26. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2016-03-07T19:23:54Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000859009.pdf: 4238170 bytes, checksum: ae17d6456282c3cd4688b3382a25dc05 (MD5) / O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar e avaliar a influência dos fatores organizacionais no sucesso doe projetos em geral, de empresas do setor automotivo, com intuito de contribuir para a área de gestão de projetos. Os fatores organizacionais são de suma importância para uma organização, sendo considerados determinantes para o sucesso organizacional, assim como o sucesso dos projetos de uma empresa. A eficácia de uma empresa depende em parte do sucesso de seus projetos. E um fator importante em relação a um projeto é a determinação dos fatores de sucesso, pois permite sua avaliação e a correção durante a fase de execução e também o aprendizado para projetos futuros. Para esta pesquisa foi desenvolvido um questionário e enviado a 401 empresas do setor automotivo brasileiro que fazem parte do SINDPEÇAS e também aos participantes do grupo Gerenciamento de Projetos Automotivos no Linkedin. Obteve-se 72 respostas, as quais foram utilizadas neste estudo. Para responder as questões de pesquisa foram utilizados métodos quantitativos. Primeiramente, utilizou-se a análise fatorial confirmatória para verificar e identificar os fatores organizacionais que influenciaram no sucesso de projetos, os resultados desta análise indicaram que o apoio da alta administração, a boa comunicação, a gestão de mudanças eficaz, a cultura organizacional e o treinamento influenciam positivamente no sucesso de projetos. Em seguida foi realizada a análise de regressão linear múltipla encontrando-se um modelo que melhor se ajusta aos dados. Nos resultados desta análise, o fator organizacional que apresenta a maior taxa de influencia no sucesso é a cultura organizacional, seguido pelo apoio da alta administração e pela gestão de mudanças eficaz. Do ponto de vista organizacional, seguido pelo apoio da alta administração e pela gestão de mudança eficaz. Do ponto de vista organizacional, este estudo permite aos gestores analisarem... / This research aims to identify and to evaluate the organizational factors influencing project success in automotive companies to contribute to project management area. Project success relates to the ability to achieve the objectives proposed. Organizational factors are critical to an organization and they are considered crucial to organizational success as well as company's project success. The effectiveness of a company depends in part on its project sucess. And an important factor regarding to project is to determine the success factores because they allow evaluation and correction during the execution phase as well as learning for future projects. The questionnaire developed for this survey was sent to 401 Brazilian automotive companies which are members of SINDPEÇAD and also to the participants of the Gerenciamento de Projetos Automotivos (Automotive Project Management) group on Linkedin. We obtained 72 responses which were used in this study. Quantitative methods were used to ansewer the research questions. First, we used confirmatory factor analysis to identify the organizational factors that influence project success. The results of this analysis indicated that top management support, good communication, effective change management, organizational culture and training have a positive influence to the project success. Then we applied a multiple linear regression and we found a model that best fits the data. According to the results of this analysis, the organizational factor that has the highest rate influences to the success is the organizational culture, followed by top management support and by effective change management. From an organizational point of view, this study allows managers to analyze and understand the organizational factors present and their influences on project success, enabling better priorization and monitoring of projects, not limited only to technical issues. Based on the results, we noticed that most of...

A busca da competência em gerenciamento de projetos para o processo de desenvolvimento de produto tem forte influência na questão competitiva para as empresas, principalmente pela agilidade e satisfação do cliente. Este trabalho apresenta na forma de um estudo de caso, o método e a sistemática encontrada na empresa de componentes eletrônicos que atende principalmente o mercado automotivo, a implantação de um sistema de gerenciamento de projeto utilizando a base de conhecimento do PMI (Project Management Institute) voltado para o processo de desenvolvimento, em especial o de produto. A principal contribuição deste trabalho é a criação de uma metodologia de gerenciamento de projetos, procedimentos padrões de desenvolvimento que seguem o padrão do mercado automotivo - APQP através da criação de projetos modelos (templates) utilizando uma ferramenta de suporte (software) para o gerenciamento dos projetos, além de implementar indicadores de desempenho avaliando o tempo e custo. / The competence survey in projects management for product development process has a strong influence in the competitive issue to the companies, mainly for agility and customer satisfaction. This work shows in form of a case study the method and systematic found in an Electronics Components Company that meets mostly the demand of the automotive market, the implantation of a project management system using the PMI (Project Management Institute) knowledge base in special to the product development. The main contribution in this work is a project management methodology creation, development standard procedures that follow the automotive market standard – APQP through the creation of templates projects using a support tool (software), as well as implementation of performance indicators in order to evaluate the time and cost.

A gestão de projetos de design é uma ferramenta eficiente que pode auxiliar a geração e implantação de uma cultura empresarial afetando positivamente a imagem da organização. Porém, para a empresa poder gerir design, esta deve capacitar-se nesta área. Deve incorporar os sistemas de apoio especializados existentes no mercado e conseguir com que estes aportes maximizem seus rendimentos. Neste sentido, observa-se a relevância da Gestão de Design como diferencial para as organizações no cenário mundial. Porém, no âmbito regional não são encontrados muitos estudos desenvolvidos na área. Sob estas condições se faz necessário um estudo aprofundado sobre as características do processo de Gestão de Design realizada por prestadores de serviços em design de Porto Alegre/RS. Com isso, o estudo busca contribuir para que os processos da gestão de design de empresas gaúchas sejam identificados e aprimorados. Neste contexto, esta dissertação tem por objetivo caracterizar como os escritórios e prestadores de serviços em design de Porto Alegre/RS desenvolvem seu processo de Gestão de Design. Para esta caracterização, foi necessária uma revisão e fundamentação bibliográfica, além de entrevistas com especialistas da área. Optouse por utilizar para a realização da pesquisa, a verificação das práticas das áreas de conhecimento da gestão de projetos do PMBOK (2004). Através do estudo, conseguiu-se caracterizar como os escritórios e prestadores de serviços em design de Porto Alegre/RS desenvolvem seu processo de Gestão de Design. Como resultados, verificou-se que todos os escritórios estudados possuem e utilizam processos distintos, nem sempre formalizados, para a realização de sua Gestão de Design. Verificou-se a aplicação das etapas do plano de gerenciamento de projetos do PMBOK (2004), em todos os escritórios estudados. / Design Project Management is an efficient tool for creating and implementing an entrepreneurial culture. But for the company to manage design projects, there must be a training program to its employees in this area. The company must incorporate new systems available in the market in order to be able to maximize its revenues. Therefore, the importance of design management for organizations all over the world is remarkable. However, in the Southern Brazil regional scenario, there are not many studies developed in the Design Project Management area. This dissertation aims at analysing the characteristics of the design management process developed by design companies in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Besides, the study also intends to offer theoretical support for the identification and improvement of local design companies’ design project management process. It was based on a background research in design management area and interview with experts. In addition, the areas of PMBOK (2004) were analyzed, in order to discuss the way local design companies develop their design management process. The study results point out how design companies in Porto Alegre/RS develop their design management process. All design companies studied have different management processes, but they were not always formally established.

With a considerable number of built environment projects not being completed successfully, this study was undertaken to investigate how effectively consulting engineering firms are applying project management principles in the way they manage projects. This was achieved by measuring the project management maturity levels of consulting engineering firms. Maturity levels were measured for each of the ten knowledge areas of the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge to determine areas where consulting engineering firms perform below expectation and as a result determine probable causes of project failures. The maturity of the firm was then calculated as the average of the maturity for the knowledge areas. The study found that consulting engineering firms have higher levels of project management maturity than the average for the construction and civil engineering sector. Apart from risk and procurement management, all the other knowledge areas have higher maturity levels than the corresponding construction and civil engineering knowledge areas. Although the overall maturity results indicate that the larger firms are more mature in their project management practices than the smaller firms, the individual knowledge areas are inconsistent. The study reveals that consulting engineering firms are weakest in the risk management, human resources and stakeholder management knowledge areas. There is limited literature available on the status of project management, project management methodologies, and performance of consulting projects in the engineering environment (Labuschagne & Steyn, 2010:70). There is need for future studies to establish a methodology developed specifically for the Consulting Engineering Firms in line with what Labuschagne & Steyn (2010) started and a Project Management Maturity Model specific to the Consulting Engineering Industry.

abstract: Despite advancements in construction and construction-related technology, capital project performance deviations, typically overruns, remain endemic within the capital projects industry. Currently, management is generally unaware of the current status of their projects, and thus monitoring and control of projects are not achieved effectively. In an ever-increasing competitive industry landscape, the need to deliver projects within technical, budgetary, and schedule requirements becomes imperative to sustain a healthy return on investment for the project stakeholders. The fact that information lags within the capital projects industry has motivated this research to find practices and solutions that facilitate Instantaneous Project Controls (IPC). The author hypothesized that there are specific practices that, if properly implemented, can lead to instantaneous controls of capital projects. It is also hypothesized that instantaneous project controls pose benefits to project performance. This research aims to find practices and identify benefits and barriers to achieving a real-time mode of control. To achieve these objectives, several lines of inquiry had to be pursued. A panel of 13 industry professionals and three academics collaborated on this research project. Two surveys were completed to map the current state of project control practices and to identify state-of-the-art or ideal processes. Ten case studies were conducted within and outside of the capital projects industry to identify practices for achieving real-time project controls. Also, statistical analyses were completed on retrospective data for completed capital projects in order to quantify the benefits of IPC. In conclusion, this research presents a framework for implementing IPC across the capital projects industry. The ultimate output from this research is procedures and recommendations that improve project controls processes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil and Environmental Engineering 2016

Många forskare menar att kommunikation är viktigt inom projektledning för att nå projektets uppsatta mål. Det har blivit än viktigare i dagens projektmiljö som präglas av högre komplexitet som är en risk för osäkerheter och problem. Så frågan är då hur projektledare kommunicerar när de stöter på problem. Genom att undersöka det går det att få en bättre förståelse över hur projektledare verkligen använder kommunikation i situationer som präglas av osäkerheter. För att ta reda på det genomfördes åtta kvalitativa intervjuer med projektledare. Den insamlade datan analyserades sedan med hjälp av en analysmodell som var uppdelad i sex delar, intern- respektive extern kommunikation, schemalagd- respektive icke schemalagd kommunikation samt om projektledarna kommunicerade om processen i arbetet eller om det var utifrån ett personfokus. Resultatet har visat att projektledarna, så gott det går, löser problemen inom den egna projektgruppen. På så sätt engageras deltagarna till att vara med i beslutsfattandet och de vet då hela tiden vad som händer vilket gör att osäkerheten reduceras. Det hänger sedan ihop med de två andra delarna som analyserades. Det finns också fokus på att kommunicera genom schemalagda metoder. Det ger större möjligheter att dokumentera vad som har sagts och därmed också sprida informationen vidare till övriga deltagare. Vilket då också är en indikation på att projektledarna vill involvera sina deltagare. Angående om det är processfokus eller personfokus i kommunikationen visar resultatet att det inte finns tid att fokusera på enskilda personer. Det pekar på att det räcker med att involvera deltagarna i arbetet för att de ska känna sig motiverade. / Many scholars mean that communication is important in project management to achieve the set objectives. It becomes even more important in today´s project environment, which is characterized by higher levels of uncertainties and problems. The question is then how project managers really communicate when they encounter problems. Examining this aspect will give a better understanding of how project mangers actually communicate in situations characterized by uncertainties. Eight qualitative interviews were conducted in order to research this subject. The collected data was then analyzed by the aid of an analysis model that was made out of six parts, external and internal communication, scheduled and non-scheduled communication and whether the project manager communicated about the process or whether it was from a human perspective. The result has shown that project managers, as far as possible, solve the problems within the their own project. In this way, the participants are involved in decision-making and they always knows what is going on which can reduce the uncertainty. It then goes together with the other two parts that were analyzed. There is also a focus on communicating through scheduled methods. It gives more opportunities to document what has been said and thus also disseminate the information to the other participants. Which is also an indication that project managers want to involve their participants. Regarding whether it is a process focus or personal focus in the communication, the result has shown that there is no time to focus on individuals. It points out that it is enough to involve the participants in the work to make them feel motivated.

Orientador: Gladys Dorotea Cacsire Barriga / Banca: Daniel Jugend / Banca: Luiz Ricardo Kabbach de Castro / Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar e avaliar a influência dos fatores organizacionais no sucesso doe projetos em geral, de empresas do setor automotivo, com intuito de contribuir para a área de gestão de projetos. Os fatores organizacionais são de suma importância para uma organização, sendo considerados determinantes para o sucesso organizacional, assim como o sucesso dos projetos de uma empresa. A eficácia de uma empresa depende em parte do sucesso de seus projetos. E um fator importante em relação a um projeto é a determinação dos fatores de sucesso, pois permite sua avaliação e a correção durante a fase de execução e também o aprendizado para projetos futuros. Para esta pesquisa foi desenvolvido um questionário e enviado a 401 empresas do setor automotivo brasileiro que fazem parte do SINDPEÇAS e também aos participantes do grupo Gerenciamento de Projetos Automotivos no Linkedin. Obteve-se 72 respostas, as quais foram utilizadas neste estudo. Para responder as questões de pesquisa foram utilizados métodos quantitativos. Primeiramente, utilizou-se a análise fatorial confirmatória para verificar e identificar os fatores organizacionais que influenciaram no sucesso de projetos, os resultados desta análise indicaram que o apoio da alta administração, a boa comunicação, a gestão de mudanças eficaz, a cultura organizacional e o treinamento influenciam positivamente no sucesso de projetos. Em seguida foi realizada a análise de regressão linear múltipla encontrando-se um modelo que melhor se ajusta aos dados. Nos resultados desta análise, o fator organizacional que apresenta a maior taxa de influencia no sucesso é a cultura organizacional, seguido pelo apoio da alta administração e pela gestão de mudanças eficaz. Do ponto de vista organizacional, seguido pelo apoio da alta administração e pela gestão de mudança eficaz. Do ponto de vista organizacional, este estudo permite aos gestores analisarem... / Abstract: This research aims to identify and to evaluate the organizational factors influencing project success in automotive companies to contribute to project management area. Project success relates to the ability to achieve the objectives proposed. Organizational factors are critical to an organization and they are considered crucial to organizational success as well as company's project success. The effectiveness of a company depends in part on its project sucess. And an important factor regarding to project is to determine the success factores because they allow evaluation and correction during the execution phase as well as learning for future projects. The questionnaire developed for this survey was sent to 401 Brazilian automotive companies which are members of SINDPEÇAD and also to the participants of the Gerenciamento de Projetos Automotivos (Automotive Project Management) group on Linkedin. We obtained 72 responses which were used in this study. Quantitative methods were used to ansewer the research questions. First, we used confirmatory factor analysis to identify the organizational factors that influence project success. The results of this analysis indicated that top management support, good communication, effective change management, organizational culture and training have a positive influence to the project success. Then we applied a multiple linear regression and we found a model that best fits the data. According to the results of this analysis, the organizational factor that has the highest rate influences to the success is the organizational culture, followed by top management support and by effective change management. From an organizational point of view, this study allows managers to analyze and understand the organizational factors present and their influences on project success, enabling better priorization and monitoring of projects, not limited only to technical issues. Based on the results, we noticed that most of... / Mestre

Master of Technology Business Administration in Project Management in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012 / The purpose of this study is to investigate the understanding and awareness of Project Management graduates regarding the soft and hard skills of Project Management, specifically the application of these skills in the successful outcome of projects. The research participants for this study were BTech Project Management graduates from CPUT. This study investigates the perceptions of the critical cross-field outcomes of the BTech Project Management programme in association with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) with regard to hard and soft skills. As Project Management continues to grow as a discipline; it is becoming more evident that success of the role of project managers cannot be attained with technical skills only. Hard skills are being recognized as one of the minimal requirements for a project manager. A need for excellent interpersonal or soft skills are necessary conditions for success, and although some would disagree, others advocate that these are skills that can be taught and learned rather than skills that are innate or genetic. Considerable effort has been made in the area of hard skills processes, tools and techniques. Project Management methodologies are being developed and improved, but still a large number of projects do not deliver. Apart from hard skills, research in the area of soft skills is promising. A range of soft skills attributes required by project managers has been acknowledged. Good Project Management requires not only knowledge of and the ability to apply technical or “science” skills, but also the softer “art” skills, which include human behaviour and interactions. Applying the right balance or mix of art and science, which will vary for different projects, is key to successful Project Management.