Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka sambandet mellan organisationsstöd och grupputvecklingsnivåer. För att svara på studiens syfte har följande fråga formulerats: Kan grupputvecklingsnivå prediceras utifrån de 7 aspekter av organisationsstöd?Metoden som används i denna studie är en tvärsnittsundersökningsdesign med en kvantitativ ansats. Data samlades in med hjälp av en enkätundersökning som distribuerades genom en snöbollsurvalsstrategi, där respondenterna identifierades och uppmuntrades att sprida undersökningen via sociala medier och sina nätverk. Insamlade data analyserades med hjälp av multipel regressionsanalys. Stickprovet bestod av 92 projektmedlemmar som arbetar i olika branscher med olika bakgrund. Grupptuvecklingnivå mättes med Group Development Questionnaire short (GDQS). Organisationsstöd mättes med Organisational Support Checklist (OSC).De sju aspekterna av organisationsstöd utgjorde oberoende variabler och grupptuvecklingnivå utgjorde den beroende variabeln. Resultatet visade att endast fyra av de sju aspekterna av organisationsstöd kunde predicera grupptuvecklingnivå, vilket är “Organisationens kultur”, “Tydligt uppdrag”, “Arbetsuppgifter och tekniskt stöd” samt “Återkoppling och erkännande”. Medan aspekten "Utbildningskvalitet" inte kunde inkluderas i analysen, på grund av att många har valt att inte svara på frågorna angående denna aspekt. De resterande två aspekterna “Autonomi och tillgänglighet” och “Utbildning och utveckling” kunde inte predicera grupputvecklingnivå i denna studie. Avseende studiens frågeställning kan följande slutsats dras att 4 av de 7 aspekterna av organisationsstöd har visat sig ha unika signifikanta bidrag till grupputvecklingsnivå, vilket är “Organisationens kultur”, “Tydligt uppdrag”, “Arbetsuppgifter och tekniskt stöd” samt “Återkoppling och erkännande” / The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between organizational support and group development levels. To answer the purpose of the study, the following question has been formulated: Can group development level be predicted from the 7 aspects of organizational support?The method used in this study is a cross-sectional survey design with a quantitative approach. Data was collected using a survey distributed through a snowball sampling strategy, where respondents were identified and encouraged to disseminate the survey through social media and their networks. Collected data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The sample consisted of 92 project members working in different industries with different backgrounds. The group development level was measured with the Group Development Questionnaire Short (GDQS). Organizational support was measured with the Organizational Support Checklist (OSC).The seven aspects of organizational support were independent variables and group development level was the dependent variable. The results showed that only four of the seven aspects of organizational support could predict group development level, which is "Organizational culture", "Clear mission", "Tasks and technical support" and "Feedback and recognition". While the aspect "Quality of training" could not be included in the analysis, since many have chosen not to answer the questions regarding this aspect. The remaining two aspects "Autonomy and availability" and "Training and development" could not predict team development level in this study. Regarding the study's question, the following conclusion can be drawn that 4 of the 7 aspects of organizational support have been found to have unique significant contributions to the level of team development, which are "Organizational culture", "Clear mission", "Tasks and technical support" and "Feedback and recognition".

Not every project deserving of success achieves it. Conversely, not every project heading for the scrap heap arrives. The journey to project success is long and hard and does not happen overnight. To understand the journey to project success we need to understand what makes a project successful. A successful project can be classified as a Project of which the costs did not exceed 25% of the agreed capital approved with a less than 25% schedule slip and with all the operational problems being sorted out in less than a year. Project success potential, can be increased by focusing on the critical factors listed in this study, namely: Project Front End Loading (FEL), high calibre project teams, and people skills/soft skills of project management. The success of a project can be increased when the project has high calibre project teams starting the project with very effective Front End Loading (FEL) and keep project team members continuity based on the fact that the project is managed by a project manager understanding people who have the soft skill to lead and influence the project team, rather than managing the team. The research was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The literature study documents the critical factors for project success. Knowledge gained from the literature study formed the basis for the empirical study to test critical factors for project success in practice and the recommendations can be read in chapter four. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

O propósito desta tese é investigar de que forma ocorre a interveniência de quatro fatores críticos no trabalho de equipes de projeto de inovação tecnológica, na medida em que estas criam conhecimento. São admitidos como fatores críticos a competência individual, a competência informacional, a cultura de inovação e a comunicação. Como principal contribuição, objetiva-se propor um modelo de quatro dimensões com as relações resultantes entre o conhecimento criado pelas equipes e os fatores críticos que influenciam a sua criação. Essas dimensões destinam-se a auxiliar o processo de formação de equipes, mais especificamente na escolha dos membros. As equipes de projetos selecionadas para compor o estudo fazem parte do programa Pesquisa em Parceria para Inovação Tecnológica (PITE) da Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP). A escolha do tema se justifica pela carência de pesquisas empíricas com tratamento particular a cada um dos processos de conversão de conhecimento, bem como pelo fato de que a chave para o entendimento de sucessos e falhas na criação de conhecimento por equipes inovadoras está na identificação e avaliação das condições prévias, aqui denominadas fatores críticos, necessárias para que o esforço prospere. Preservando-se o ineditismo característico de teses de doutorado, as equipes do programa PITE da FAPESP são estudadas pela primeira vez, de forma exploratória. Como técnica qualitativa de análise de dados, utiliza-se da análise de conteúdo categorial. Os principais resultados apontaram fortes relacionamentos entre o fator crítico 1 (competência individual) e a externalização do conhecimento; o fator crítico 2 (competência informacional) e a combinação do conhecimento; o fator crítico 3 (cultura de inovação) e a internalização do conhecimento; e o fator crítico 4 (comunicação) e a socialização do conhecimento. Advindos destas relações, foram encontrados doze padrões de comportamento nas equipes estudadas. / The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the intervention of four critical factors in the work of project teams for technological innovation occurs, while they create knowledge. Critical factors admitted are individual competence, informational competence, innovation culture and communication. As the main contribution, the research aims to propose a model of four dimensions of the resulting relationships between the knowledge created by the teams and the critical factors that influence its creation. These dimensions are intended to assist the process of team formation, more specifically in the selection of members. Project teams selected to comprise the study are part of the Research Partnership for Technological Innovation (PITE), from the Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP). The choice of this subject is justified by the lack of empirical research with particular treatment to each of the processes of knowledge conversion, as well as by the fact that the key to understanding the successes and failures in knowledge creation by innovative teams is the identification and evaluation of preconditions, here called the critical factors, necessary for the effort to flourish. As a way to preserve the originality, characteristic of doctoral thesis, the project teams of the program PITE-FAPESP are studied for the first time, in an exploratory approach. As a qualitative technique of data analysis, the categorical content analysis is used. The main results showed strong relationships between the critical factor 1 (individual competence) and externalization of knowledge; the critical factor 2 (information literacy) and the combination of knowledge; the critical factor 3 (innovation culture) and internalization of knowledge; and the critical factor 4 (communication) and socialization of knowledge. Moreover, deriving of these relations, twelve patterns of behavior were found in the studied teams.

Det finns en djupt rotad allmän uppfattning om att de nya kunskapsintensiva företagen är föredömliga vad det gäller struktur samt hur man styr och kontrollerar förhållanden inom organisationen. Åsikten tycks vara att medarbetaren inom kunskapsintensiva företag får en betydligt mer framträdande roll och stor beslutsmakt över sina egna arbetsvillkor.Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur två företag inom konsultbranschen är uppbyggda rent strukturellt och hur dessa organisationer styrs. Det ska utmynna i en jämförelse mellan verksamheterna. Studien är baserad på företagen Deloitte och PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) som är två ledande företag i konsultbranschen.Den teoretiska referensramen presenterar bland annat litteratur inom organisationshierarki och organisationskultur där en rad författare resonerar kring sin syn på struktur och styrning. Alvesson i sin tur återger istället ingående beskrivningar på begreppet kunskapsintensiva företag. Studien har utförts utifrån ett kvalitativt angreppssätt där empirin har samlats in genom personliga intervjuer med kontorscheferna på de båda företagen.Den empiriska datan som samlades in har sedan analyserats i jakten på att finna likheter och skillnader mellan fallföretagen. Analysen genomfördes också för att få en klarare bild av vilka teorier som fortfarande är relevanta i ett samhälle och en bransch som präglas av ständig rörelse och utveckling.De slutsatser som vi har kommit fram till är att styrningen inom PwC och Deloitte sker med ungefär samma verktyg, men att det ändå finns en del intressanta olikheter som skiljer de båda företagen åt. Vad det gäller strukturen fann vi även där en del olikheter som dock var skarpare ”på pappret” än i praktiken.

Project leadership requires a diverse blend of technical and behavioral skills. Researchers have focused on the technical aspects of project management, leaving a void in understanding the behavioral skills of project leadership. The purpose of this correlational study was to gain insights into the behavioral aspects of projects by understanding the social capital and knowledge integration abilities of project leaders. Nahapiet and Ghoshal's social capital definition and its structural, relational, and cognitive attributes form the basis for the social capital theory constructs used in this study. The focus of the research questions was on the relationship of social capital to knowledge integration and project success. A self-designed survey (α = .925) was used to measure the latent variables of a project leader's social capital and knowledge integration abilities on the observed variable of project success. Survey research, conducted using a sample of project management professionals (N = 108), elicited project members' perceptions on the behavioral aspects of project leaders. Structural equation modeling validated that knowledge integration assists in achieving project success and that 2 types of social capital, structural and relational, have a significant influence on knowledge integration. Structural social capital has a positive effect, and relational social capital has a negative effect. The findings indicated that project management professionals need not only technical skills, but also behavioral skills. Having project leaders with the right blend of competencies will improve project success rates, affecting social change by enabling organizations to achieve greater economic benefits from better understanding the behavioral aspects of project teams.

Not every project deserving of success achieves it. Conversely, not every project heading for the scrap heap arrives. The journey to project success is long and hard and does not happen overnight. To understand the journey to project success we need to understand what makes a project successful. A successful project can be classified as a Project of which the costs did not exceed 25% of the agreed capital approved with a less than 25% schedule slip and with all the operational problems being sorted out in less than a year. Project success potential, can be increased by focusing on the critical factors listed in this study, namely: Project Front End Loading (FEL), high calibre project teams, and people skills/soft skills of project management. The success of a project can be increased when the project has high calibre project teams starting the project with very effective Front End Loading (FEL) and keep project team members continuity based on the fact that the project is managed by a project manager understanding people who have the soft skill to lead and influence the project team, rather than managing the team. The research was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The literature study documents the critical factors for project success. Knowledge gained from the literature study formed the basis for the empirical study to test critical factors for project success in practice and the recommendations can be read in chapter four. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Not every project deserving of success achieves it. Conversely, not every project heading for the scrap heap arrives. The journey to project success is long and hard and does not happen overnight. To understand the journey to project success we need to understand what makes a project successful. A successful project can be classified as a Project of which the costs did not exceed 25% of the agreed capital approved with a less than 25% schedule slip and with all the operational problems being sorted out in less than a year. Project success potential, can be increased by focusing on the critical factors listed in this study, namely: Project Front End Loading (FEL), high calibre project teams, and people skills/soft skills of project management. The success of a project can be increased when the project has high calibre project teams starting the project with very effective Front End Loading (FEL) and keep project team members continuity based on the fact that the project is managed by a project manager understanding people who have the soft skill to lead and influence the project team, rather than managing the team. The research was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The literature study documents the critical factors for project success. Knowledge gained from the literature study formed the basis for the empirical study to test critical factors for project success in practice and the recommendations can be read in chapter four. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

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O propósito desta tese é investigar de que forma ocorre a interveniência de quatro fatores críticos no trabalho de equipes de projeto de inovação tecnológica, na medida em que estas criam conhecimento. São admitidos como fatores críticos a competência individual, a competência informacional, a cultura de inovação e a comunicação. Como principal contribuição, objetiva-se propor um modelo de quatro dimensões com as relações resultantes entre o conhecimento criado pelas equipes e os fatores críticos que influenciam a sua criação. Essas dimensões destinam-se a auxiliar o processo de formação de equipes, mais especificamente na escolha dos membros. As equipes de projetos selecionadas para compor o estudo fazem parte do programa Pesquisa em Parceria para Inovação Tecnológica (PITE) da Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP). A escolha do tema se justifica pela carência de pesquisas empíricas com tratamento particular a cada um dos processos de conversão de conhecimento, bem como pelo fato de que a chave para o entendimento de sucessos e falhas na criação de conhecimento por equipes inovadoras está na identificação e avaliação das condições prévias, aqui denominadas fatores críticos, necessárias para que o esforço prospere. Preservando-se o ineditismo característico de teses de doutorado, as equipes do programa PITE da FAPESP são estudadas pela primeira vez, de forma exploratória. Como técnica qualitativa de análise de dados, utiliza-se da análise de conteúdo categorial. Os principais resultados apontaram fortes relacionamentos entre o fator crítico 1 (competência individual) e a externalização do conhecimento; o fator crítico 2 (competência informacional) e a combinação do conhecimento; o fator crítico 3 (cultura de inovação) e a internalização do conhecimento; e o fator crítico 4 (comunicação) e a socialização do conhecimento. Advindos destas relações, foram encontrados doze padrões de comportamento nas equipes estudadas. / The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the intervention of four critical factors in the work of project teams for technological innovation occurs, while they create knowledge. Critical factors admitted are individual competence, informational competence, innovation culture and communication. As the main contribution, the research aims to propose a model of four dimensions of the resulting relationships between the knowledge created by the teams and the critical factors that influence its creation. These dimensions are intended to assist the process of team formation, more specifically in the selection of members. Project teams selected to comprise the study are part of the Research Partnership for Technological Innovation (PITE), from the Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP). The choice of this subject is justified by the lack of empirical research with particular treatment to each of the processes of knowledge conversion, as well as by the fact that the key to understanding the successes and failures in knowledge creation by innovative teams is the identification and evaluation of preconditions, here called the critical factors, necessary for the effort to flourish. As a way to preserve the originality, characteristic of doctoral thesis, the project teams of the program PITE-FAPESP are studied for the first time, in an exploratory approach. As a qualitative technique of data analysis, the categorical content analysis is used. The main results showed strong relationships between the critical factor 1 (individual competence) and externalization of knowledge; the critical factor 2 (information literacy) and the combination of knowledge; the critical factor 3 (innovation culture) and internalization of knowledge; and the critical factor 4 (communication) and socialization of knowledge. Moreover, deriving of these relations, twelve patterns of behavior were found in the studied teams.

Abstract Nowadays, construction projects are implemented in highly demanding and complex built environments that require multisectoral and multidisciplinary efforts and collaboration between the project stakeholders with divergent interests, objectives, and backgrounds. Successful collaboration is one of the most efficient ways to enhance project value creation and gain better results, especially when it integrates stakeholders with different kinds of expertise and contributions. However, stakeholder management, involvement, and integration have been seen as a difficult issue, particularly in the early project phases, and have frequently resulted in conflicts and partial failures due to the lack of practical tools for managing the stakeholders and understanding their roles. The purpose of this dissertation is to enhance the understanding of how value creation can be enhanced through early stakeholder involvement and integration in the context of construction. The research applies a qualitative research approach and utilizes the case study methodology. The data for this research was collected through a survey and semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that project value creation can be increased by early stakeholder involvement and integration. However, it demands systematic stakeholder management practices in order to identify the different project-specific stakeholders and their requirements for the project. The results also show that the salience of the stakeholders varies within a project and from project to project, and some of the stakeholders are always more important than others. Nevertheless, all the stakeholders usually have the change to impact on and contribute to the project, positively or negatively. To exploit the expertise of a project stakeholder or to avoid the problems caused by the stakeholders, the framework for stakeholder identification and classification was created in this dissertation. / Tiivistelmä Rakennusteollisuuden projektien sekä rakennetun ympäristön muuttuminen yhä dynaamisemmaksi ja monimutkaisemmaksi edellyttää projektin sidosryhmien yhä aktiivisempaa ja syvällisempää osallistamista, yhteistyötä sekä vaatimusten huomioimista projektien määrittelyvaiheesta alkaen. Muilla teollisuuden aloilla sidosryhmien aikaisella osallistamisella projektin alusta alkaen on huomattu olevan positiivinen vaikutus projektien parempaan arvontuottoon ja tavoitteiden saavuttamiseen. Osoitetuista hyödyistä ja joistain hyvistä kokemuksista huolimatta, sidosryhmien osallistaminen ja integroiminen on osoittautunut yleisesti ottaen erittäin vaikeaksi ja haasteelliseksi, erityisesti vaativien ja kompleksisien projektien osalta. Pääsääntöisesti ongelmat johtuvat puutteellisesta toimintavavoista sekä tottumattomuudesta sidosryhmien kokonaisvaltaiseen osallistamiseen ja johtamiseen, mikä on usein johtanut sidosryhmien välisiin ristiriitoihin ja hankkeiden, ainakin osittaiseen, epäonnistumiseen. Tämän väitöstutkimuksen tavoite on tutkia, että miten rakennusprojektien arvontuottoa voidaan parantaa sidosryhmien aikaisella osallistamisella ja integroinnilla. Tutkimus on laadullinen tapaustutkimus, jonka empiirinen aineisto on hankittu kyselyllä sekä haastatteluilla eri rakennusteollisuuden projekteista. Tulokset vahvistavat käsityksen, että sidosryhmien aikainen osallistaminen ja integroinnilla projektin arvontuottoa kaikille sidosryhmille voidaan tehostaa. Tämä kuitenkin vaati systemaattisia toimintatapoja ja prosesseja, jotta projektin kannalta keskeisimmät sidosryhmät ja heidän vaateensa kyetään tunnistamaan sekä osaaminen voidaan hyödyntää. Tulokset myös osoittavat, että projektin sidosryhmät eivät ole tasavertaisia keskenään ja heidän keskeisyytensä vaihtelee sekä projektin aikana että projektikohtaisesti. Tästä huolimatta, yleensä kaikki sidosryhmät voivat vaikuttaa, tavalla tai toisella, projektiin joko positiivisesti tai negatiivisesti. Jotta sidosryhmät voitaisiin osallistaa mahdollisimman tehokkaasti, ja näin ollen hyödyntää heidän osaaminen ja välttää ongelmat, luotiin tässä tutkimuksessa viitekehys sidosryhmien tunnistamiseksi, arvioimiseksi ja luokittelemiseksi.