An Empirical Identification of Project Management Toolsets and a Comparison Among Project Types

This article presents the results of an empirical investigation of project management practice. Practice is investigated through the study of the extent of use of a large number of practices, tools, and techniques specific to project management. A sample of 2,339 practitioners participating in a large‐scale international survey is used for this article. The sample size and the diversity of contexts in which the respondents are working render the analysis feasible and the results reliable. The data is analyzed to identify patterns of practice. More specifically, using principal component analysis, the research identifies patterns that demonstrate that practitioners use project management tools and techniques in groups or “toolsets.” A brief attempt is made to compare results with A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) (PMI, 2008 ) Knowledge Areas and Process Groups. The article also shows how practice varies with the management of different types of projects: engineering and construction; business and financial services; information technology (IT) and telecommunications; and software development projects. The identification of these variations has important consequences for practice and for the study of practice.     

Contextualized Project Management Practice: A Cluster Analysis of Practices and Best Practices

The specificity of project management in different contexts and industries is recognized, but little empirical research encompasses a sufficiently broad range of contexts and project types to precisely identify these specificities. This article adopts such a wide perspective based on a large sample of data from an ongoing empirical investigation of project management practice. Contextual archetypes are identified (i.e., clusters of experienced practitioners that share similar organizational and project contexts). Archetypes of contextualized practice are then investigated through the study of the extent of use of empirically identified toolsets in each cluster. The results empirically confirm some well‐known assumptions about practice but also sharpen the knowledge and understanding of practice in real complex multidimensional contexts. A new concept of “performing‐maturity” emerged from the data. This concept sheds light on the entangled imbrications of maturity, competence, and success. Practices are regressed against performing‐maturity to reveal best contextualized practices.     

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.     

脱硝改造工程结构专业若干共性问题

本文结合国华电力公司烟气脱硝改造工程的实践经验,从脱硝支架结构选型、地基基础方案选择、结构可靠性鉴定等方面,总结了脱硝改造工程结构设计和组织管理中的共性问题,可为相关工程提供借鉴。     

建筑施工项目管理探析

项目管理是为适合项目需要,运用知识、技能、工具和技巧方法来实施的项目活动。本文主要从建筑施工项目管理的问题入手,通过对施工中项目管理的分析提出一些新的管理措施与手段。     

烟草行业大型建设项目总控管理研究

基于浙江中烟工业公司杭州制造部"十一五"易地技术改造项目的项目总控管理实践,提出了进度总控、投资总控、质量总控和发包与合同总控的方法和工具。     

New product development projects: The effects of organizational culture

Despite the increasing use of project management within organizations, an attendant poor rate of success among these projects has been observed (Clancy & Stone, 2005; Ives, 2005). Seventy‐five percent of all business transformation projects fail (Collyer, 2000) and only 16% of U.S. IT projects are completed on time and on budget (Peled, 2000). In an attempt to overcome such a high project failure rate, this paper investigates the effects of organizational culture on the performance of particular types of projects: new product development (NPD) projects. Using data from 95 U.S. organizations, the study provides evidence of the significant effects of organizational culture on NPD projects.     

Can Agile Project Management Be Adopted by Industries Other than Software Development?

This research paper presents evidence from an exploratory survey on the use of agile project management (APM) practices and the presence of APM enablers in 19 medium‐ and large‐sized companies from different industry sectors considering innovative projects. The results show that these companies are possibly struggling to use their current management practices in the face of different project challenges. Additionally, the presence of some APM enablers indicates opportunities to adapt the APM theory for different companies other than those in software development. Future research should explore the correlation between APM practices and enablers in order to develop “hybrid” management models for different industries.     

交通部新版《公路工程预算定额》的测算分析

文章主要介绍了新旧版公路工程预算定额的消耗量和造价水平的测算对比,并分析了两者的变化情况,为实施新版定额与加强公路工程造价管理和控制,提供了一定的参考意见和建议。     

价值规划及其在高速轨道交通制梁基地总平面设计中的应用

建设工程项目前期是价值工程(VE)应用取得最佳效果和效益的阶段,在该阶段实施的价值管理(VM)称为价值规划(VP)。但如同VE的实际应用状况一样,VP虽然重要却也未得到应有的重视,对其应用实施的具体研究也较少。文中探讨了VP的概念、方法,结合在高速轨道交通工程制梁基地总平面布置设计的应用案例,进行了分析。     

基于Project的工程管理思想与方法的应用

现代工程项目日趋复杂,要求项目管理者既要掌握与工程相关的技术、经济、法律知识外,更应注重工程管理的基本思想和方法的应用。介绍几种典型的项目管理思想以及常见的管理方法,指出工程管理思想和方法的落实需要信息化的支撑,最后分析了Project软件对各种项目管理思想和方法的支持情况。     

计划管理技术在室内装饰工程项目中的应用

计划管理技术是将现代管理科学广泛应用于项目管理的技术。室内装饰工程作为普通工程项目,除了通过关键路径法进行进度计划,更经济地压缩或延长工期之外,还要充分利用非关键路径的时差平衡人力资源配置,科学利用空间和工作界面提高工效。文章以普通民居的室内装饰工程项目为例,论述如何利用网络技术、关键路径法和甘特图技术平衡人力资源配置,达到提高空间利用率从而提高工作效率的目的,为室内装饰工程管理提供借鉴。     

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS: ERP VERSUS BOB

The purpose of this study is to compare the use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and best of breed (BoB) standalone systems in practice. The data for the study were collected through a postal questionnaire in 300 large and middle-sized industrial units in Finland. The questionnaire addressed questions concerning IS implementation (why, how and by whom the IS project was introduced), management accounting function, and the use of advanced management accounting techniques. The results obtained indicate that financial departments have been more interested in traditional BoB systems, while other departments have concentrated more on ERP solutions. Further, as the articulated motives behind the IS project were strategic, and moreover technical in nature, the solution in most cases was ERP, while in the cases where motives were either strategic or technical, the choice was BoB. Otherwise, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups of BoB or ERP adopters, and the problems perceived in management accounting or the adoption of advanced management accounting techniques (e.g. ABC, ABM and BSC).     

滑坡治理方案寿命周期成本比选

滑坡灾害治理方案的优劣直接影响到工程造价的高低、实施效果的好坏,但方案选择是一个复杂的系统过程,目前这类项目决策实践中采用的方法均存在一定的主观随意性。价值工程是国际上通行的一种项目决策分析方法,在产品设计、项目决策等诸多领域都得到了广泛应用,但尚未有在滑坡治理方案比选方面的应用。本文在回顾总结价值工程原理、分析滑坡治理工程特殊性的基础上,指出滑坡各治理方案的功能可视为固定,从而可将价值工程简化为寿命周期成本分析,据此提出了运用寿命周期成本分析进行滑坡治理方案的基本思路和步骤。实例研究表明,这一方法不仅较传统方法客观可靠,而且评价过程简便明了,对类似项目决策具有一定的借鉴意义。     

The selection of supply chain management projects: A case study approach

Organizations undertake strategic supply chain initiatives through project implementation. However, selecting the right supply chain projects can be difficult due to high levels of organizational risk and technical complexity. Although the literature is rich in quantitative and qualitative methods for project management, prior research into best management practices specific to supply chain management (SCM) project selection is limited. This paper examines the methods used in evaluating and selecting SCM projects used by the management at three publically held multi-national organizations. The primary objective of this research is to identify a set of generalizable good practices in the selection and evaluation of SCM projects. Nine useful business practices in SCM project selection have been identified based on cross-case comparisons and a close examination of the literature. Eight practices had been previously identified, but were scattered throughout the literature on ERP, IT management, and R&D management. A new practice calls for the consideration of supply chain partners’ return-on-investment (ROI) in the project selection process. Highest preference should be given to win-win projects for the organization and its partner(s). The practices identified here sho`uld provide the foundation of practical guidelines that can be used during the planning stage of SCM projects. This paper reduces the knowledge gap in SCM project management by analyzing organizations with significant supply chain experience and synthesizing these results with the current related literature.     

Managing global projects: A structured approach for better performance

The purpose of this research effort is to develop a model for improving the performance of global projects using the underlying relations among the important enablers and barriers of global project performance. A number of factors are identified in the study, using a literature review to develop the model. A survey was used to determine the impact of these factors on global project performance. The model suggests different management practices for global projects versus traditional, co‐located projects. Different from the outcomes of traditional projects, research results suggest that leadership and establishing trust is a first step in the initial stages of the global project.     

科技项目管理中引入项目经理制的思考

科技项目是以科学研究和技术开发为内容而单独立项的项目,其目的在于解决经济和社会发展中出现的科学技术问题。当前,随着国家创新驱动战略的贯彻实施和科学技术对人类社会发展的巨大影响,使得科学研究越来越多的得到国家和地方的重视,政府科技投入逐年增加。不同层次、不同类别的政府科技项目已经成为推动我国科技、经济发展的主导。如何科学、合理、有效的进行科技项目管理,保证项目实施可以产生预期的社会、经济效益,愈发显得十分迫切和需要,改革现有科技项目管理机制,逐步提高实施项目效益,已成为各级科技管理部门的当务之急。     

施工项目管理中应注意的问题探讨

文章从建立项目经理部、开展项目策划、编写工程预算及实施方案、实施成本与进度控制、监控工程质量、保障安全生产、建立项目领导班子的激励和约束机制等方面,对如何做好施工项目管理工作进行了探讨。     

浅议不同项目组织结构在电网设计项目中的应用

随着社会经济的发展,为了适应不断变化的内外部环境,项目管理在各行各业得到了广泛的研究和应用。文章以项目团队的组织结构为研究对象,理论结合实践,对常见的三类项目组织结构类型进行了分析和比较,同时结合当前电网设计项目管理中的问题,提出了如何根据电网项目的实际情况来选择和优化组织结构,为电网设计中如何选择项目团队的组织结构提供了一般性建议。     

Enterprise system implementation issues: learning from field study in Poland

This study examines enterprise system (ES) implementation issues on the basis of research conducted among practitioners dealing with ES projects in Poland. The particular topics investigated include mechanisms determining the success of ES implementations, project conditions and implementation effects. Using a success factors model and a synthetic measure of implementation success, this paper recognises the factors that have the greatest influence on implementation success. While researching project conditions, this study discusses how the ES projects researched were linked with enterprise strategy, how their efficiency was measured and to what extent they defined implementation goals. This paper analyses also the positive and negative effects of ES implementations. The effects investigated were divided into technical, economic, organisational and social results. During the analysis, the implementations examined were divided into groups of projects on the basis of their duration, scope and company size. The findings recognise the leading roles of certain factors among specific project groups and suggest that participants from the most complicated projects are most aware of the overwhelming implementation challenge. The analysis reveals some differences in perceptions and attitudes between stakeholders involved in an implementation project. Managerial and research issues are discussed, together with country-specific aspects.