The topic of what HRM (Human Resource Management) responsibilities are devolved from the HRM department to line managers has attracted much interest in recent years. We report findings from a study on the devolution of HRM practices in four POCs (Project-Oriented Companies) and argue that although HRM practices are carried out beyond the HRM department, they are also carried out beyond the line. While the literature on devolving HRM responsibilities to line management is burgeoning, the HRM responsibilities of managers beyond the line organization are neglected. We make two contributions to the literature. Firstly, our study reveals that some HRM practices are the domain of the project manager rather than either the line manager or the HRM department. The complex interplay of the roles of the HRM department, line management and project management creates challenges and pitfalls where people are managed across the boundaries of the permanent and temporary organization. We identify a potentially powerful role for the HRM department in both monitoring and guiding the different players from the line and project organizations, and in protecting the well-being of employees whose work traverses these organizational boundaries. Our second contribution is that we map the diversity of practices in different POCs for managing the interplay between the three main parties delivering HRM practices and offer project-orientation as a contextual indicator that contributes to diversity in HRM practices.

There has been a significant shift towards remote work in recent years, and this trend has only accelerated with the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, IT project management in a remote work environment has become an increasingly relevant topic. This study explored the benefits and challenges of managing IT projects remotely and provided strategies and best practices for overcoming them. While there has been some research on remote work and its impact on the different areas of work, there needs to be more literature on the specific implications of remote work on IT projects. This research addressed how IT project managers have responded to the massive increase in remote work by answering the research questions "How has the increase in remote work impacted IT projects? and How have project managers responded to the increase in remote work?". The research questions were answered by conducting an exploratory case study where data was collected from a semi-structured interview with IT project managers. By addressing the research question through qualitative research using thematic analysis in analyzing the data, the researcher provides new insights and contributes to existing studies. Five themes emerged from the data analysis: communication and collaboration, technological proficiency and infrastructure, team performance and cultural awareness, adaptation and flexibility, and leadership and management. The findings of this study will be helpful for organizations transitioning to a remote work environment and IT project managers looking to improve their skills in managing projects remotely.

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M.Tech. (Construction Management) / The construction industry is an important sector in the development and economic progression of South Africa. Moreover, projects in the South African construction industry involve different individuals and organizations that collaborate to achieve a specific task at a specific time. Hence, leadership is essential in any construction organization to achieve organizational goals and to promote individual professional achievement in the industry. This study evaluates different leadership style practices of construction and project managers in the South African construction industry. The study further investigates leadership development approaches in the industry. The data used in this research were derived from both primary and secondary sources. The secondary data were collected via a detailed review of related literature. The primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire aimed at 150 construction and project managers in the South African construction industry. The study revealed that project and construction managers in the South African construction industry prefer transformational leadership, followed by transactional and democratic leadership. It was also revealed that communication skills, vision, honesty and reliability are some of the important traits of a project leader. This study also suggests ways in which leaders can be developed in the construction industry. Formal leadership training, mentoring and personal development are highlighted as some of the ways in which construction leaders can be developed in the construction industry. It is therefore recommended that construction organizations in South Africa should invest more than they are currently doing in leadership development programs, so that future project and construction managers can be developed to be effective leaders in the industry. The current study contributes to the body of knowledge on the subject of leadership in the construction industry. The value of the study is to facilitate and understand the different leadership style practices in the construction industry and to determine the relationship between leadership styles and project success. This research also provides new information on how to improve leadership in the South African construction industry.

Time delays and cost overruns in construction projects are generally due to factors such as inappropriate planning, design errors, unexpected site conditions, inadvisable tools selection, change scope, weather conditions, lack of resources, and other project changes. Time delays and cost overruns are of concern to most project managers, owners, and governments. These elements of time and cost are two of the critical defects that impact the construction project delivery. These defects can lead to project failures and to various negative issues like increasing in disagreements among the project team, the contractor, suppliers, and the owner. State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) in the U.S. continue to spend heavily on roads, highways, and bridges construction, as well as development, maintenance, and expansion. This continued financial commitment reflects decades of commitment to improve the transportation service for safer and better use by the general public. Despite the notable efforts from most of the states to develop the transportation infrastructure, budget restrictions and lack of funds are some of the major challenges faced by DOTs. Highway and bridge infrastructure has a high potential growth in the U.S. construction market. Well-organized highway and bridge project investment decision-making becomes increasingly crucial in the transportation sector. In this research, transportation is specified to highway and bridge projects, and it focused on high-profile projects. These projects are defined as high-cost projects, and are associated with higher project delivery risk (typically $100 - $500 million). All states are working with their state transportation plan, listing the projects based on each state priorities and population growth. Proper planning leads to the right decision regarding selecting the best alternative within budget, and it must reflect certain core principles, including a comprehensive analysis. To facilitate such a decision process, decision makers need a trusted decision model that considers all important options and impacts. By using a decision model, decision-making will not be subjectively influenced to favor one option or group. The decision model becomes the primary tool for selecting the best option, based on its structure levels, perspectives, sub-criteria, and experts’ input. Recently, there is an apparent need for a decision model to help DOTs evaluating their options. Effective project delivery assessment tools, techniques, or practices are strongly needed to improve transportation construction projects’ performance. The research objective is to develop a comprehensive decision model that can be used by project managers and their teams to choose the most effective project assessment technique for measuring the success of performance and outcomes related to the delivery of transportation projects. This research was focused on the assessment techniques that are used in the development phase within the transportation project lifecycle phases. To this end, the research identified and screened the innovative assessment tools and techniques of project delivery that the transportation and other industries have used by reviewing numerous of academic literature and technical reports. Based on the review, value optimization elements such as cost, time, performance, risk, and resources were selected to be the primary evaluation criteria that lead to achieving the model objective. Also, the model sub-criteria were investigated and selected based on the literature review and direct discussion with some experts such as project managers, civil engineers, and value management consultants. The outcome analysis of the results showed that in terms of objectives that performance efficiency was rated the highest importance with respect to the mission, while resources presented the lowest importance from an overall assessment point of view. The results showed that Alternative 4, the VE-RACRDAM technique, was ranked as the most important alternative among others followed by Alternative 5, while Alternative 2 was ranked the least important. A five scenarios analysis was applied to measure the sensitivity of the effects of changing the relative importance of the assessment criteria on alternatives’ rankings. Results showed that Alternative 4 was maintained as the most effective assessment technique among the other alternatives in the five scenarios. In the end, experts were asked to validate the final research results, and they confirmed that the results were appropriate and valid. The validity of the decision model and findings of this research contribute new insights into the transportation construction industry as the case of state departments of transportation. Also, the experts agreed that this decision model is generalizable and could be used in other industries. Therefore, the model significantly contributes to the project management knowledge, and construction project development and delivery success.

Project managers are important to organizational performance and survival because of their role in managing, controlling, and steering organizational projects to success. Research has shown that project failures are globally pervasive due to the shortage of experienced and well-skilled project managers. The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to improve the current understanding of the relationships among project managers' project management experience, self-efficacy, and project success, for which the research questions were focused on in addition to the role of project management experience on self-efficacy and project success. The theoretical framework was based on the social cognitive theory. This study involved a nonexperimental research design with a survey to collect data. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 51 Canadian-based Project Management Institute certified project managers with experiences in IT projects. The assessment of the role of project management experience on self-efficacy and project success was achieved through multiple linear regression. Results indicated significant relationships among project management experience, self-efficacy, and project success and that project management experience did not mediate the relationship between self-efficacy and project success. The results may assist organizational leaders to better understand the holistic implications of project managers' project management experiences with project success as well as the role of self-efficacy on project success. The positive social change implications of this study include greater project success and decrease project risks due to ineffective project management. Improved project success may enhance the economic prosperity of organizations, employees, and the community.

To ensure greater success in its regular projects, Abu-Dhabi Police (ADP) is working on: training their project managers, applying project management software, utilising the services of engineering consultants, etc. However, the performance and outcomes of its projects are still not fully meeting the desired expectations. Therefore, a study to understand some of the undermining factors was carried out. A critical literature review was carried out initially where it was established that project delivery and outcomes are affected in part by the three overarching factors of: project managers’ characteristics, organizational culture and project management culture. On this basis a conceptual framework was developed highlighting how these 3 compound factors affect project performance and outcome; and in particular how ADP’s values relate with the competencies of their project managers. The empirical aspects involved the use of mixed methods where the first part was a quantitative survey of the understanding and achievement of both ADP’s 5 values (part of organizational culture) and 15 competencies (part of project manager’s characteristics), as well as the impact of the former on the later. A questionnaire was administered to 157 people for data collection and 71 fully completed responses were obtained, representing a response rate of 45%. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the levels of achievement of ADP’s values and competencies, which were found to be high. The analysis went on to use ordered logistic regression to examine the association between the attainment of ADP’s values and competencies. The findings showed that the 5 values impact on the competencies of ADP’s project managers differently; for example, the value of ‘integrity and honesty’ impacts heavily on the 5 competencies of Integration management, Scope management, Time management, Achieving and action, and Leadership; while the value of ‘effective communication’ impacts heavily on the 3 competencies of Scope management, Cost management, and Achieving and action. An advanced training programme was subsequently developed for ADP to further increase the attainment of values and competencies by their project managers. This programme was developed in focus group discussions that involved some selected project managers who had long working experience and high understanding of ADP project schemes. A further round of focus group discussions was also used to validate this advanced training programme.

Innovative technologies for construction project management are constantly emerging in the construction industry's global landscape, yet the rate of failed projects within the Nigerian construction sector due to poor coordination of construction tasks is on the rise. An unanswered question in the literature remains as to why construction project managers in Nigeria remain slow to adopt new technologies for improving decision-making processes and project success rates. The purpose of this qualitative single case study with embedded units was to understand the perceptions of construction project managers in Nigeria regarding their barriers to technology adoption. This study was framed by 2 conceptual models: Usman and Said's model of factors contributing to information and communication technology adoption in Nigerian construction firms and Waziri, Mustapha, and Idris' model of factors influencing IT adoption in Nigerian construction organizations. Semistructured interviews involving 10 participants, reflective field notes, and archival data provided information regarding the barriers to technology adoption experience of construction project managers in Nigeria. Thematic analysis of the textual data and synthesis produced 5 conceptual categories for 14 identifiable themes from the study. The conceptual categories were (a) adoption of technology, (b) culture, (c) organizational performance, (d) innovative technology, and (e) interorganizational collaborations. The findings from this study may serve as a catalyst for positive social change by challenging existing technology-avoidance behavior in the Nigerian construction industry, and opening new opportunities for improved project delivery in the Nigerian national economy.

Civil engineering projects undertaken without successful implementation of scope management strategies by project leaders are approximately 10% more likely to fail than projects undertaken with scope management strategies. Using scope management theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore scope management strategies used by some project leaders in the engineering field to improve project success rates. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with 3 purposefully selected project leaders in Georgia, and a review of project completion reports, budget reports, government proposals, and scope management documents. Data analysis occurred using Yin's 5-step process of compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding the data. The 3 emergent themes were client management strategy, schedule adherence strategy, and communication strategy. The findings indicated that implementing the scope management strategies of client management, schedule adherence, and communication with all stakeholders are essential for improving engineering project success rates. The implications for social change include the potential to elevate the use of sustainable-design application through water, energy, and natural resource conservation by project leaders through scope management strategy implementation. People in communities potentially benefit from the findings of this study because of the increased use of sustainable materials, reduced use of water, energy, and natural resources, and an improved local environment.

Many information technology (IT) project managers (PMs) and other business leaders lack effective strategies for enhancing communication among their project team members, thereby reducing profitability and organizational cohesion. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore communication strategies that IT PMs used to successfully complete IT mobile device projects. The conceptual framework for this study was McQuail's mass communication, Craig's communication, and Deming's profound knowledge theory. Purposive sampling method was used to identify 6 successful IT PMs and leaders who worked at 2 leading educations settings located in southeastern South Carolina. Data gathered from the semistructured interviews and collected from publicly available documents were analyzed using coding techniques, constant comparison, and keyword phrases. After methodological triangulation of the data sources collected and completion of Yin's 5-step process of data analysis, 3 key themes emerged from data analysis: standardized project communication, project team building, and positive customer focus. Findings from this study may contribute to positive social change by providing IT PMs with evidence to support efficient communication strategies in the education sector to increase organizational performance and profitability, which may positively contribute to improving quality of life for employees, driving economic development, and improving community relations.