The role of technology in the project manager performance model

Technology assumes importance in the context of project management due to greater challenges in today's technology‐enabled work environment, where technology tools are routinely used for collaboration, communication, and deployment of project management practices. It is becoming common practice for even co‐located project teams to use the electronic medium for these purposes. Notwithstanding the importance of technology, research has shown that it is difficult to associate the use of technology with business performance and the absence of such relation can be extrapolated to project performance as well. However, technology can play a major role in supporting project managers in managing projects effectively and efficiently. Several studies have addressed the importance and leadership style of project managers. However, specific roles and responsibilities of a project manager toward the project team is an area that needs further study. In this research effort, using the literature review, important people‐related factors of project performance are identified. Then structured personal interviews were used to gather data for understanding relations among these factors in order to develop a project manager performance model. The model was developed employing the interpretive structural modeling (ISM) methodology. The model was used to determine the role of the project manager in managing the project team and improving the project performance. Results show that both leadership and management roles are important. This study helped to analyze underlying interactions among these factors and, consequently, understand the supportive function of technology to the project manager in improving project performance.     

建筑施工项目成本管理方法探讨

工程项目成本管理的目的是在保证工程质量、工期等方面满足合同要求的前提下,对工程项目成本形成过程中所消耗的人力资源、物质资源和费用开支进行严格管理和监督,采取一系列措施,尽可能使实际成本费用降到最低,以最小的投入实现最大的产出。本人结合造价管理和项目成本管理相关工作,从人工、材料、机械、质量、工期等角度全方位地探讨了如何实施目标的成本控制方法和措施。     

How Project Manager–Project Owner Interaction Can Work Within and Influence Project Risk Management

Inherent interest conflicts between a project management team and project owner are often neglected in project risk management. Risk management by the project management team basically focuses on project short‐term survival, or project success toward handover to the customer, while for the project owner, strategic success should be more important. To see how this takes place in and influences real projects, seven large projects were studied, and interaction in project risk management between the project owners and project management team was examined for each project. The study revealed that the main focus in the studied projects was on operational risks, even within the project owner's set of high‐priority risks.     

炼化工程项目进度管理的对策研究

本文首先总结了炼化工程的施工特点,然后针对我国炼化工程进度管理存在的问题,从施工过程组织、分包单位进度控制、工程变更管理及人员培训等四个方面提出了加强我国炼化工程项目进度控制的对策。     

The Difficult but Necessary Task of Developing a Specific Project Team Research Agenda

Project teams are central to organizations everywhere; however, there is a knowledge gap between project management scholars on the one hand and organizational behavior and industrial–organizational (OB/IO) scholars on the other. This gap seriously impedes the advancement of knowledge, because scholars from both fields have not leveraged each other's considerable knowledge and might be relying on outdated models and evidence to study project team phenomena, manage project teams, or develop university curricula. A call is made for interdisciplinary research projects devoted specifically to developing a research agenda on project teams.     

基于JDCS模型的项目变更管理浅议

工作需求—控制—支持(The job demand-control-support,JDCS)模型是工作压力研究领域一个影响广泛的组织压力模型。项目变更管理是执行项目变更,管理工作压力的过程。基于JDCS模型的三个工作心理因素,阐述项目变更管理的成功三因素:工作需求之领导间协同一致;工作控制之计划和行动的协调与执行一致;社会支持之全员参与。     

Managing Risks in Complex Projects

Dealing effectively with risks in complex projects is difficult and requires management interventions that go beyond simple analytical approaches. This is one finding of a major field study into risk management practices and business processes of 35 major product developments in 17 high‐technology companies. Almost one‐half of the contingencies that occur are not being detected before they impact project performance. Yet, the risk‐impact model presented in this article shows that risk does not affect all projects equally but depends on the effectiveness of collective managerial actions dealing with specific contingencies. The results of this study discuss why some organizations are more successful in detecting risks early in the project life cycle, and in decoupling risk factors from work processes before they impact project performance. The field data suggest that effective project risk management involves an intricately linked set of variables, related to work process, organizational environment, and people. Some of the best success scenarios point to the critical importance of recognizing and dealing with risks early in their development. This requires broad involvement and collaboration across all segments of the project team and its environment, and sophisticated methods for assessing feasibilities and usability early and frequently during the project life cycle. Specific managerial actions, organizational conditions, and work processes are suggested for fostering a project environment most conducive to effective cross‐functional communication and collaboration among all stakeholders, a condition important to early risk detection and effective risk management in complex project situations.     

The role of HR managers in international mergers and acquisitions: a multiple case study

The article departs from the existing research treatment of expatriation as an individual-level phenomenon, and looks at the expatriation of work teams. We examine the performance management of expatriate teams brought in from 17 independent organizations to work on a new-product development project. We find that the teams faced diverse stakeholder expectations and that these stakeholders' expectations were a source of tension for the teams. The teams responded by adopting performance management strategies that tended to prioritize their respective home organizations' expectations. We discuss the vulnerability of contextual performance and the relative insignificance of national cultural differences in this expatriation context. We propose practical considerations and an agenda for further international human resource management (IHRM) research on expatriate teams.     

Project portfolio control and portfolio management performance in different contexts

This article investigates the nature and relationship of project portfolio control techniques and portfolio management performance, and how this relationship is moderated by situational idiosyncrasies of internal and external dynamics, industries, governance types, and geographic location. A worldwide questionnaire with 242 responses was used, of which 136 high‐performing responses were filtered out for quantitative analysis of best practices. Three portfolio control factors were identified: portfolio selection, portfolio reporting, and decision‐making style. Two measures for portfolio management performance were identified: achievement of desired portfolio results and achievement of project and program purpose. The results indicate that different portfolio control mechanisms are associated with different performance measures. A contingency model was developed, including moderating effects by contextual variables.     

建筑工程项目安全管理中安全教育培训工作探析

加强建筑施工人员的安全教育培训,对我国建筑行业及建筑施工企业的发展具有重要而深远的意义.文章分析了建筑工程项目安全管理中安全教育培训工作现状及存在的问题,并提出建议.     

建筑施工项目控制管理中进度控制的探讨

建筑施工项目的控制作为项目管理的重要内容之一,在解决好项目的各个环节的控制工作的基础上,才能保证施工进度和施工质量,节省企业的成本。文章通过对各种影响施工进度的因素分析,探讨建筑项目进度管理不到位的原因,在此基础上提出了加强施工项目控制管理的措施。     

城铁项目管理成本控制实践

企业项目管理中的成本控制是企业生存的基础,以北车城铁客车实践为切入点,以材料成本控制为主线,不断完善项目成本管理工作。根据企业目前实际情况,采取切实有效的措施,抓住核心和关键问题,从而有效地促进企业项目管理中的成本控制,增强企业在市场中的竞争力。     

建筑工程项目分包管理工作的探究

本文首先对建筑工程项目分包管理进行了简要说明,随后就加强分包管理的意义进行了阐述,最后提出了完善分包管理体系的具体措施,以便更好地指导分包工作。     

浅论建设工程中安全监理的措施与意义

如何通过监理工作加强建设工程中的安全管理工作,对与监理单位是一个重要的课题,因为监理工作不仅事关建设工程的施工,最重要的是监理关系到人们的生命财产安全。因此建立单位有责任和义务做好工程监理工作,在建设工程中采取什么样的措施.才能使工程隐患降到最低限度,是监理单位必须认真对待的一个问题。     

石油建设工程项目中工程造价管理

工程造价管理对于石油建设项目非常重要,它贯穿于整个建设过程,在管理工作中具有很重要的地位,是保证石油建设项目顺利进行的前提。     

Project success and project team management: Evidence from capital projects in the process industries

Efficient project execution is a key business objective in many domains and particularly so for capital projects in the process industries, but existing project management research gives little direction about how project team factors influence three important capital project outcomes: cost, schedule, and operability. After an extensive cross-disciplinary review of the general team and project management literatures, we constructed and tested a theoretically based, five-dimensional model of organizational context, project team design, project team leadership, project team processes, and project outcome factors. We examined the model by means of an empirical study of 56 newly completed capital projects executed by 15 Fortune 500 companies in the process industries. The results indicate the value of disaggregating project outcomes for research purposes. Different bundles of project team factors were found to drive project cost, schedule, and operability. Project team efficacy, cross-functional project teams, autonomous project team structure, and virtual office usage were the strongest predictors of project cost effectiveness. Continuity of project leadership, cross-functional project teams, and project manager incentives were the strongest predictors of project construction schedule. In contrast, clear project goals and an office design to facilitate effective communication were the main predictors of plant operability. Implications of these findings for researchers and project practitioners are discussed. One major practical implication of our findings is that project managers need to clearly focus and prioritize their goals for each project so they can adopt the appropriate bundles of project team practices that will facilitate their goal achievement.     

Multiphase Assessment of Project Risk Interdependencies: Evidence from a University ISD Project in Taiwan

Project risks evolve dynamically, so variations in risk influences during the life cycle of an information system development project require analyses to devise risk management strategies cost effectively and at the appropriate stages. This study extends the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory technique, using network theory, to assess the risk interdependencies for distinct project phases. A multiphase observation of a university information system development project in Taiwan provides a more in‐depth understanding of the key risk factors. To enhance risk assessments, this study proposes integrating an interdependency indicator with risk exposure measures.     

Formal and Informal Practices of Knowledge Sharing Between Project Teams and Enacted Cultural Characteristics

This article investigates the process of knowledge sharing between project teams and uses a case study approach. This is especially relevant, as organizations face both the needs for separating work into projects and integrating knowledge created in projects into the organization. The results provided by the analysis technique of GABEK^® indicate that, although projects create boundaries, employees and project team leaders use formal mechanisms and develop informal practices for knowledge sharing between project teams. Furthermore, the article identifies organizational cultural characteristics enacted in these practices that can stimulate the discussion in “knowledge culture research” regarding the relationship of organizational cultural characteristics and (specific) knowledge processes.     

The uncertainty challenge of contingent collaboration

Contingent knowledge workers will play an increasingly important role in organisational success as workers transition in and out of project‐based innovation teams with more frequency. Our research finds that collaborators in the contingent, high‐skill workforce face uncertainty challenges to their work that are unique from the independent, contingent professionals more often studied. The article proposes a theoretical framework of uncertainty to guide us in understanding collaborative contingent knowledge workers’ work experience. Interviews with postdoctoral researchers reveal four findings about the influence of these highly uncertain work environments on collaborative contingent knowledge workers – collaboration isolation, frustrated independence, performance anxiety and internalised blame. Perhaps most concerning is that the workers internalise the negative impacts as personal failings instead of recognising them as consequences of a poorly designed work environment. This study argues for the need to manage and mitigate different sources of uncertainty to avoid creating an unnecessary burden on contingent knowledge workers, and to enable a sustainable, contingent knowledge workforce.     

工程勘察项目目标成本分析及有效控制

工程勘察项目自然环境条件复杂,影响其成本的因素众多。实际工作中对项目成本控制存在一些不足,针对问题,通过采取提高预算质量、加强定额管理、合同管理与采购控制等措施,实施对项目成本的有效控制。