Project Management Research and Practice

Loose, fragmented project arrangements – Some implications for practitioners

Christopher Cullen — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +1100

This paper aims to contribute to our understanding of the project by considering an alternative type of project taken from the world of practice but which appears to be over-looked within much of the existing PM research. The paper draws from two recent project experiences and describes a project reality as messy, ambiguous and fragmented. How this messiness affect the project structure and the implications in terms of how we manage projects are drawn out and discussed.

Educating for Change

Ian Brooks, Mario Kossmann, Virginie Kossmann — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +1100

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework was adopted by every member state of the United Nations in 2015, and, albeit not legally binding, it is arguably one of the greatest steps of humanity to address the identified problems of our time, covering a wide range of topics such as environmental protection, equal opportunities, education, eradication of diseases, famine, poverty, slavery and child labour. Both in terms of its comprehensive scope and its worldwide support, this framework arguably represents one of the most significant international frameworks in human history. Using education related examples from a charity project that is concerned with the development of a local health care system in the African rain forest in Cameroon, this paper illustrates how projects can and should implement key aspects of the SDGs framework pre-emptively within their scope, i.e. at the local level, prior to and in support of the full, legally binding implementation of the framework at the national level. This not only helps to make our world a better place, but also very concretely to reduce project risks, create funding opportunities and make the project’s deliverables more sustainable. The ‘Mahola Project’ (‘Mahola’ means ‘Aid’ in the local Bassa language) was founded in 2013 – following an exploration trip to Cameroon in order to assess the real needs of the population in the deprived area around the village Siliyegue – as a response to meet these needs. The main objective of the project is the development and deployment of a sustainable, integrated, local health care system that is fully aligned with the SDGs and brings about dramatic improvements for the quality of life of the people living there; far beyond ‘just’ providing health care and work opportunities. Education is at the core of the necessary efforts to successfully deliver this system, changing minds and hearts.

The First World Trade Center Project: A Historical Tribute to a Great Mega Project

Vered Holzmann, Donald Olson, Randall Vendetti, Aaron Shenhar — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +1100

The tragic collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 could not erase the memory of one of the most successful projects in history. The project set standards of excellence in project management for years to come. Using a retrospective look at the construction management of the WTC during the 1960s and 1970s, we show how the vision of great leadership and a determined organization transformed the economy of one of the most important cities in the world.

Project Management Performance Assessment in the Non-Profit Sector

John Lannon — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +1100

As the non-profit sector becomes increasingly dependent on projects to achieve its strategic goals, the use of formal project management processes can help to demonstrate to stakeholders that an organisation is taking steps to improve its performance. However the adoption of processes drawn from the for-profit sector does not always yield the desired results. In particular existing performance management systems and quality management systems are unsuitable for the implementation, measurement, and improvement of project management practices in the sector. A new model is therefore proposed for non-profit project management performance assessment. This is based on a conceptual analysis of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) business excellence model, a project management performance assessment model used primarily in for-profit environments, and an assessment of criteria particular to non-profit organisations. The model is multi-dimensional, flexible, and accounts for multiple stakeholder views. After using it, non-profit organisations can reflect on their performance, create an improvement plan, and use the model again to test their progress.

Is the Flipped Classroom Method Useful for Teaching Project Management?

Helgi Thor Ingason, Gisli Runar Gudmundsson — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +1100

A teaching method known as the flipped classroom has become increasingly popular in recent years and the method is now widely used around the world at all levels of the education system. This paper seeks to examine and elucidate the concept of the flipped classroom method as well as scrutinize its varying manifestations within educational settings, focusing particularly on the question of whether the teaching method is a fruitful teaching strategy for project management. Data gathering was based on an analysis of research literature focusing on the application of the flipped classroom as well as interviews conducted with both teachers and students associated with a master’s degree program in project management at Reykjavik University. The interviews sought to extract perspectives of both teachers and students with regard to their experiences of the flipped classroom method in contrast to conventional teaching methods. Finally, the paper will present the findings from an analysis comparing test results from an international certification examination in project management for two groups of students. One group attended lessons where the flipped classroom method was applied whereas the other group was instructed using traditional teaching methods.

The findings of the study reveal that the flipped classroom method is a fruitful and relevant strategy for teaching and learning project management. The findings show that the students were more positive toward the method than the teachers. Furthermore, the students were generally more receptive to new teaching methods than the teachers were. 60% of the students who attended lessons that used the flipped classroom claimed that it had aided them in preparing for the certification examination.

The Story of a Village: A Case Study in Strategic Planning at Enyinndakurom, Ankaful, Central Region, Ghana

Wynette Redington — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +1100

The development of a strategic plan for an African village can seem a daunting task, especially if the village is one created from diverse beginnings and different cultural origins, where ethnicity, language and custom are not homogenous. In this article the authors explore the outcomes of the traditional top down approach. They contrast this with a collaborative approach, bottom up, and propose the use of management strategies more commonly found in an industrial environment. Deploying a case study approach the development and implementation of a strategic plan for a post-leprosy rehabilitation village near Elmina in Ghana, West Africa is described and evaluated.

Learned helplessness is often an outcome of intervention aid. By approaching a project with a top down approach, the dependency of a community can become ingrained. However a partnership approach with the villagers is hoped to engender a sense of ownership in the community, motivating optimism. The authors believe that the possibility of engagement with the village is greatly strengthened using collaborative approach, and that this is key to a successful outcome. The concept, strategy and initial results as well as the ongoing sustainability of the strategy are described. The underlying hypothesis is that by empowering an impoverished and disenfranchised community with tried and trusted, modern management methods, engagement as well as success can be achieved.

The client-side project manager: A practitioner of Design

Greg Stewart Usher, S. Jonathon Whitty — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +1100

SYNOPSIS
Our research adds to the client-side project management body of literature by demonstrating that these professionals display all the characteristics of Design Thinking Mentalities, Thinking Styles and Practices as identified by Hassi and Laakso (2011a) and that they utilize a broad range of the Design Thinking tools identified by Liedtka (2015) and Johansson-Sköldberg et al. (2013) when they deliver construction projects.
RELEVANCE FOR PRACTICE/EDUCATION
Our findings indicate that client-side project managers should view their role differently to what has been traditionally accepted. The use of Design Thinking within the project management construct highlights that practitioners need to develop skills and tools that address, not just the compliance and control elements of project management, but also information gathering and problem solving techniques. This change of perspective creates opportunities for project managers to broaden their skill set in order to be able create further value in the Construction process.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Our research uses a Grounded Theory methodology to explore the ‘lived experience’ of client-side project managers to determine if they utilize Design Thinking when managing Construction projects. This is achieved by creating a framework from the work of Hassi and Laakso (2011a), Johansson-Sköldberg et al. (2013) and Liedtka (2015) to guide semi-structured interviews with a cohort of ten client-side project managers.
MAIN FINDINGS
Our research provides evidence of Design Thinking Mentalities, Thinking Styles, Practices and Tools being utilized by client-side project managers when delivering Construction projects. Our findings also identifies 15 project management tools used by client-side project managers when delivering Construction projects and highlight that the practice of client-side project management should not be viewed exclusively as part of the ‘Implementation’ process.
RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS
Our results support existing research on client-side project management and expand the Project Management body of literature by demonstrating how client-side project managers employ Design Thinking to handle poorly-defined projects.

Implementation of evidence based practice in a development project on nurse students’ clinical education

Hanna-Leena Melender — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +1100

Synopsis: The evidence based practice (EBP) movement started at the beginning of 1970s in the field of medicine. The famous definition by Sackett et al. (1997, p. 2) defined evidence-based medicine as ‘the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients’. The idea of EBP was later introduced to other fields of professional practice in health and social care, as well as to the education of health professionals such as nursing education. The project named Knowledge in development (KID) focused on the development of clinical preceptorship in the context of nursing. Clinical preceptors are registered nurses and practical nurses who have the responsibilities of caring for patients and teaching nursing students at the same time. Nursing teachers working in the KID project were enthusiastic to implement the evidence based practice approach in the project work, by using different evidence bases.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to present how evidence based practices in the project work were implemented and to describe the experiences of the project group members about the implementation of EBP.

Project setting: Two universities of applied sciences, two vocational institutes and four health-care organizations in Western Finland.

Year of project: 2009-2013

Target readers: Primarily project practitioners, project managers and teachers on the health care sector.

Lessons learned: Based on the experiences gained in this project, the use of an evidence based practice approach in planning and implementing a development project in health care clinical and educational settings is recommended.

Competencies highlighted: Information literacy

Related theory: The structure of different evidence bases presented by Rycroft-Malone et al. (2004), including research, clinical experience, patients, clients and carers, and local context and environment.