An overview of recent research results and future research avenues using simulation studies in project management

This paper gives an overview of three simulation studies in dynamic project scheduling integrating baseline scheduling with risk analysis and project control. This integration is known in the literature as dynamic scheduling. An integrated project control method is presented using a project control simulation approach that combines the three topics into a single decision support system. The method makes use of Monte Carlo simulations and connects schedule risk analysis (SRA) with earned value management (EVM). A corrective action mechanism is added to the simulation model to measure the efficiency of two alternative project control methods. At the end of the paper, a summary of recent and state-of-the-art results is given, and directions for future research based on a new research study are presented

Explainable machine learning for project management control

Project control is a crucial phase within project management aimed at ensuring —in an integrated manner— that the project objectives are met according to plan. Earned Value Management —along with its various refinements— is the most popular and widespread method for top-down project control. For project control under uncertainty, Monte Carlo simulation and statistical/machine learning models extend the earned value framework by allowing the analysis of deviations, expected times and costs during project progress. Recent advances in explainable machine learning, in particular attribution methods based on Shapley values, can be used to link project control to activity properties, facilitating the interpretation of interrelations between activity characteristics and control objectives. This work proposes a new methodology that adds an explainability layer based on SHAP —Shapley Additive exPlanations— to different machine learning models fitted to Monte Carlo simulations of the project network during tracking control points. Specifically, our method allows for both prospective and retrospective analyses, which have different utilities: forward analysis helps to identify key relationships between the different tasks and the desired outcomes, thus being useful to make execution/replanning decisions; and backward analysis serves to identify the causes of project status during project progress. Furthermore, this method is general, model-agnostic and provides quantifiable and easily interpretable information, hence constituting a valuable tool for project control in uncertain environments

Citizen Gain: The Economic Benefits of Naturalization for Immigrants and the Economy

Citizenship brings many benefits to immigrants, the opportunity to participate more fully in our democracy through the right to vote being primary among them. But beyond the clear civic gain is an often overlooked economic benefit: for a variety of reasons, naturalized immigrants are likely to see a boost in their family incomes that can benefit their children, their communities and the nation as a whole.Why is the economic importance of naturalization -- the process by which immigrants become citizens -- so often overlooked? Part of the reason is that much of the heated debate around the economic effects of immigration in the U.S. tends to focus on the unauthorized (or "illegal") population. The economic evidence in this arena points in multiple directions -- positive gains at an aggregate level, negative effects on specific sectors of the labor market, mixed impacts on government coffers -- but lost in that discussion is the fact that nearly three-fourths of all immigrants are either naturalized citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs), those who have legal status and may be eligible to naturalize but have not yet done so. What would happen if those individuals who were eligible to naturalize actually chose to do so? How much would their economic situation improve -- and what would be the effects on the overall economy? If such gains are possible, how could policymakers help to encourage even higher rates of naturalization? In this policy brief, SIIS tackles these questions by combining individual-level data from the Census Bureau's 2010 Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) with the most recent data on the number of LPRs eligible to naturalize from the U.S. Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS). This brief begins with a review of the literature, drawing out both theory and evidence on why naturalization might be associated with a higher earnings trajectory. The authors then discuss the data used and the regression models developed; and make a number of choices along the way to insure that the estimates presented here are as conservative as possible. The brief then discuss how the wage trajectory might change over time -- benefits would actually accrue over a number of years -- and then examines the possible impacts on aggregate earnings and the overall economy.The brief concludes with a discussion of the policy implications, particularly how these benefits might be made clear to those who have not yet naturalized and how new financial and other vehicles could be used to induce higher levels of naturalization

The Impact of the Last Planner System on Construction Project Performance in Terms of Schedule and Cost

When speaking of project performance, historically, improvements in practice have been held in higher regards than improvements in management theory. Yet, it is argued that enhancement in practice cannot be achieved without improved theory. This research investigates and compares Management by Results (MBR) and Management by Means (MBM), as two primitive and competing conceptualizations of management underlying prevailing project management and control systems. The Earned Value Method (EVM) and the Last Planner System (LPS) are found to be based on MBR and MBM view respectively. According to existing literature, the LPS, as a MBM-based system, is claimed to be more efficient in comparison with EVM in cost and schedule performance. Yet, more quantitative research is required to be carried out in this area. This research starts with a comprehensive structured literature search of MBR and MBM-based control and management systems in terms of cost and schedule performance with the aim of figuring out which system is more appropriate to today’s construction projects with a high level of complexity and uncertainty and where tasks are highly interdependent. Structured literature review and three different statistical data analyses are used as the methodology of this research. The data of over seventy construction projects is statistically analyzed in order to test the research hypothesis that the LPS, as a project planning and control method, positively influences the project performance in terms of cost and schedule. The results display that projects implementing the LPS are superior to projects with traditional management method in terms of schedule performance, yet, there is no significant difference between their cost performance

Employment Retention and Advancement Project: Results from the Post-Assistance Self-Sufficiency (PASS) Program in Riverside, California

A random assignment evaluation of a voluntary postemployment program for workers who recently left welfare shows participants had increased employment and earnings during the first two years of follow-up

Retirement Wealth Accumulation and Decumulation: New Developments and Outstanding Opportunities

Analysts have raised serious questions about current workers' ability and inclination to save enough for retirement. This is of obvious policy interest given the need to reform national retirement income programs. In the present paper we examine recent research developments regarding retirement wealth accumulation and decumulation. Our goal is to identify new developments and outstanding opportunities to encourage a more sensible process of growing and then drawing down retirement wealth.

Stability of earned value management: Do project characteristics influence the stability moment of the cost and schedule performance index

Stability of the Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI(t)) refers to the moment in the project life cycle at which the CPI and SPI(t) are accurate and constant. For a project manager a reliable CPI and SPI(t) is essential for taking corrective actions in time to keep the project on budget, planning and scope. The focus of this paper lies on identifying project characteristics which in uence this mo- ment of CPI and SPI(t) in the project life cycle. Both existing theories from earlier academic research and newly identi ed project characteristics are tested by using empirical data from nine projects executed by an engineering and consultancy company in the Nether- lands. It is found that some project characteristics in uence the moment of CPI and SPI(t) in the project lifecycle whereas other do not. The results of this paper contribute to the body of knowledge on EVM and might provide valuable information to project managers who consider to use EVM in their projects. The results of this research also point out new areas to explore the understanding of the stability of CPI and SPI(t)