Tailoring PMI and OGC frameworks for IT project portfolio management

Tese de Doutoramento - Programa Doutoral em Tecnologias e Sistemas de InformaçãoPrivate non-profit organizations that are dedicated to developing research and development (R&D) projects with the University, through a context of interface between Universities and companies, are currently recognized in Portugal as Technological Interface Centres. These organizations develop applied research projects between TRL 4 and 8 for companies in close collaboration with the research units of the Universities. As with any organization with no budget coming from the state, its main strategy is to efficiently and effectively manage the project portfolio to ensure control of execution costs as well as the expected quality of projects delivered to customers and partners. The currently available project portfolio management frameworks are not sufficiently clear as to how processes or practices suggested to practitioners should effectively be applied. In the specific field of Information Technology (IT), there is at least one framework for supporting portfolios management, but the level of detail in the adoption of the practices is (insufficiently) generic. This thesis intends to configure an IT project portfolios management framework, based on the coordinated (extended subsets) adaptation of the two main frameworks currently in the area: PMI and OGC. This configuration required the alignment between PMI and OGC frameworks, through a map of dependencies between processes, as well as the mapping between artefacts and processes. As a case study to test this framework, a Portuguese organization was chosen, formally recognized as a Technological Interface Centre, where two portfolios of IT projects in R&D contexts were characterized and analysed in light of the framework's techniques.As organizações privadas sem fins lucrativos que se dedicam a desenvolver projetos de investigação e desenvolvimento junto das Universidades, através de um contexto de interface entre Universidades e empresas, são atualmente reconhecidas em Portugal, como Centros de Interface Tecnológicos. Estas organizações desenvolvem projetos de investigação aplicada entre TRL 4 e 8 para as empresas, em colaboração estreita com as Unidades de Investigação das Universidades. Como em qualquer organização, sem orçamento proveniente do Estado, a sua estratégia principal é gerir com eficiência e eficácia o portfólio de projetos, de modo a garantir o controlo dos custos de execução, bem como a expetativa de qualidade dos projetos entregues aos clientes e parceiros. As frameworks de gestão de portfólio de projetos atualmente disponíveis não são suficientemente claras em relação à forma como processos ou práticas sugeridas aos profissionais devem efetivamente ser aplicados. No domínio específico das Tecnologias da Informação (TI) existe, pelo menos, uma framework de suporte à gestão de portfólios, mas o nível de detalhe na adoção das práticas é (insuficientemente) genérico. Com esta tese pretende-se configurar uma framework de gestão de portfólios de projetos de TI, a partir da adaptação coordenada (extended subsets) das duas principais frameworks atualmente existentes na área: a do PMI e a do OGC. A referida configuração exigiu o alinhamento entre frameworks do PMI e OGC através dum mapa de dependências entre processos, bem como o mapeamento entre artefactos e processos. Como estudo de caso para experimentar a referida framework, foi selecionada uma organização portuguesa, formalmente reconhecida como Centro de Interface Tecnológico, onde dois portfólios de projetos de TI em contextos de I&D foram caracterizados e analisados à luz das técnicas da referida framework.Este trabalho foi desenvolvido com o apoio financeiro da Associação CCG/ZGDV – Centro de Computação Gráfica

Organisational ventriloquism in a project centered organization : a qualitative inquiry into the effects of ritualized mimeticisomorphism within a project centered organization

The management of projects has been area of intense study for many years, yet few researchers have ventured outside parameters of the mainstream concerns. This research aims to move outside the parameters of mainstream project management research, in order to explore other perspectives, with the purpose of illuminating new concerns and agendas. An abductive research strategy within a single case study was utilized to obtain rich data and new insights. This research seeks to uncover the social forces that influence the adoption of mainstream project and programme management standards and structures. The literature revealed that mainstream project management has idealogical foundations rooted within a 'Cartesian-Taylorist' paradigm and these have affected the development of programme management. The empirical findings indicated that a superficial understanding existed regarding the motivation for the adoption of project management standards and structures, within the case company. In addition, it was noted that the adoption of these project management standards and structures was perceived to provide more control and legitimacy. A consequence of these practices, within the case organization, is that it created a strong resource dependence on external consultants. The theoretical explanations illuminated that the desire for control, reducing uncertainty and the need for competitiveness serve as social forces towards the adoption of mainstream project and programme management standards and structures. Furthermore, the research explored the consequences of this phenomenon, within the case organisation

Exploring projectification in the public sector: the case of the next stage review implementation programme in the department of health

Objective: Public projects are used to delivery policy objectives. From a financial perspective, the Major Projects Authority (MPA) estimated a whole life investment of £488 billion for 199 major projects in 2014, only a small subset of the total number of public projects. Given the financial exposure, the impact of endemic public project failures could put the economic health of the nation at risk. This thesis studies the challenges facing public projects. It applies an organisational capabilities lens to investigate projectification, when organisations shift away from functional-based organising (FBO) toward project-based organising (PBO). Research Design: This study adopts an interpretivist research paradigm, with a constructionist epistemology and an idealist ontology, and employs an abductive research strategy. Structurally, it follows the Cranfield Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) methodology, with a linking document that summarises three complementary research projects: a systematic literature review (SLR) followed by two empirical studies that investigate the Department of Health (DoH) during the early phases of the Next Stage Review Implementation Programme (NSRIP). The findings are derived from over 250 academic literature sources, 100 government publications and 41 semi-structured interviews. ...[cont.

Benefits Management and Its Applicability in the Australian Public Sector

The existing project management (PM) literature on Australian public sector benefits management practices is generally more normative and aspirational than grounded in practice. A literature review for this study found various research gaps in existing literature. The existing literature highlights the struggle organisations face in managing benefits, starting with benefits identification and formulation, but it does not say much about the challenges these organisations face in this process. Various benefits management frameworks are available in the PM literature, but these are either conceptual or lack evidence of being used in practice. The PM literature also lacks debate on the effectiveness of project governance and the role of project and benefits owners in managing benefits in Australian public sector organisations. There is insufficient information in the PM literature on enablers and inhibitors of benefits management in Australian public sector organisations. In order to fill these gaps in the extant literature, this study posed two main questions: 1) How is benefits management being practised in the Australian public sector? 2) What are the inhibitors and enablers of benefits management in the Australian public sector? This study employed the thematic analysis (TA) method to inductively identify current benefits management practices in the Australian public sector at the federal level. Based on 35 semi structured interviews with practitioners actively involved in benefits across six public sector organisations, this study identified seven major themes through the analysis of the interview data. While this study confirmed various findings from previous research, it also discovered many benefits management practices previously yet unidentified in the literature. This study is the first extensive study of benefits management practices in the Australian public sector, acknowledging the few limited studies conducted in the Australian public sector context

Investigating benefits realisation process for enterprise resource planning systems

This research aims to investigate the benefit realisation process for ERP systems so as to develop a benefit realization road map whereby organisations can realize the maximum potential of their ERP systems. This research covers two areas: mechanism of implementation and the destination to change (i.e. road map). It has been found that project management and benefits management approaches are necessary for recouping benefits from investing in Information Technologies (IT) projects. Thus, Project Benefits Governance Framework (PBGF) is developed, and later tested, by combining the two approaches for the sake of realising the expected benefits from investing in IT initiatives. Because ERP demands radical changes in organisations, the neo-institutionalisation theory was adopted to apply PBGF on ERP so that the ERP success is improved. The key connecting element between PM and BM in PGBF is the blueprint design. ERP orchestration framework is developed to show how investments in ERP resources and organisational complementary resources shall be orchestrated so that ERP benefits can be realised effectively. Thus, benefits are classified into three levels (automating, planning, and innovating benefits), and each level needs a specific blueprint. All of these blueprints constitute the ERP benefits road map. Each blueprint consists of attitudes, skills, organisation characteristics, technologies, and ERP department human resources competencies. Based on these results, ERP Business Innovation framework is developed and tested. ERP benefits maturity assessment tool is developed for assessing organisations’ status to show weaknesses and strengths in their ability to recoup different ERP benefits by benchmarking with the three blueprints. This research has contributed by integrating and institutionalising benefits management practices and project management practices. Moreover, it is novel in adapting the orchestration theory to understand how ERP resources shall be composed to achieve benefits efficiently. Finally, it demonstrates that ERP can be a source of innovation if the innovating benefits are managed deliberately

Collective learning in strategic Public Private Partnership (PPP) procurement systems for social infrastructure

This thesis explores how organisations involved in temporary joint ventures established for strategic Public Private Partnership (PPP) procurement systems arrange themselves and learn collectively so as to deliver a portfolio of social infrastructure, in terms of meeting or exceeding agreed performance criteria for whole-life value for money and environmental sustainability. This PhD research fulfils a gap in theory about the systematic way in which organisations involved in strategic partnerships can learn collectively and how this affects their performance. Theories and tools that underpin organisational learning and collective learning affiliated to temporary organisations are considered. The research also examines insights into the principles of value for money and partnering in construction, risks and benefits in complex procurement, project-based environments, total quality management, systems thinking and performance improvement inherent to strategic PPP procurement systems. The novel and unique contribution to theory made by this thesis is the exploration of how the parties to this complex form of PPP learn collectively. How learning can reveal itself in permanent construction organisations has been well researched by scholars, as has how learning can take place in temporary organisations that are often seen in the construction sector. However, what is lacking is a common understanding of how this learning occurs in a complex hybrid form of organisation, one where multiple permanent public and private sector organisations are working together strategically to form new long-term temporary organisations on a repeating basis. This research tries to understand how learning can take place in this specific hybrid organisational structure. It is a relatively rare and complex organisation type that can be proposed by governments to attempt to procure projects in a more systematic way instead of piecemeal, and taking a whole-life value approach to projects. The critical evaluation takes the case of Building Schools for the Future (BSF) in England, a highly ambitious capital programme that commenced in 2003, and was summarily cancelled in July 2010. Its aim was to transform all English secondary (and later also primary) schools into shining examples of 21st-century education provision, setting new norms for the schools estate. The work comprises a critical evaluation of strategic PPP procurement systems for the delivery of social infrastructure under BSF, called Local Education Partnerships (LEPs). The exploratory research is based on a mixed method comprising both quantitative and qualitative elements to identify, by taking a phenomenological approach, what the key objects studied (key LEP participants and LEP-built schools) share in common. Of the 44 LEPs that were established, 12 have been investigated as a form of strategic PPP procurement in England, as well as 600 schools worth approximately £9bn delivered by all LEPs between 2006 and 2015 as part of the legacy BSF programme. Any LEPs that had reached financial close prior to the programme termination date were analysed, especially those that had reached high levels of maturity. Performance parameters of schools procured through LEPs for value for money and environmental sustainability are identified and analysed across the procurement stages: design, build, maintain and operate. Further data is obtained from a major survey of 72 participants involved in 12 operational LEPs, along with information about their contractual and financial PPP and Private Finance Initiative (PFI) development and delivery structures. The theoretical base is drawn from management science domains of organisational learning. Based on the analysis and findings, learning collectively in PPPs appears to be a crucial factor for improvement in getting better whole-life value for money and environmentally sustainable assets. For that reason, a learning framework called the Asset Value Enhancement Model (AVEM) is introduced and discussed using elements of systems thinking, continuous improvement and total quality management. It embeds collective learning over time from organisations involved in a long-term strategic partnership, as the underlying assets travel through their lifecycle. The circular nature of the model (double-loop learning and Plan-Do-Check-Act) calls for a joint commitment, shared culture and aligned communication to cultivate ongoing value to the public and steady returns to the private sector, beyond merely project-specific improvement. After applying the AVEM in the context of LEPs, the research study concludes that the collective learning from eight contract performance mechanisms is diverse. The achievement of these performance requirements can be a good basis upon which to measure the success of the public private partnership in BSF. The results steer a wider discussion on interpolated theories of organisational learning, and especially how to achieve collective learning in strategic PPP procurement systems for social infrastructure. The research does not intend to promote nor criticise the legacy policy of BSF. Neither does it intend to make a political statement regarding the current and/or previous government. It does critically monitor, analyse and evaluate the complex procurement method using LEP companies that underpin the legacy BSF policy, and appraise the assets they have created. In particular, it looks at how learning collectively emerges between projects within a LEP (project-based) and the organisations involved in and between LEPs (inter-organisational). The procurement method is similar to that for the Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) companies in healthcare and the hub companies for social infrastructure in Scotland, and not too dissimilar to other forms of bundled PFIs in the UK and worldwide. Beyond its academic value, this research might encourage understanding of and collective learning in a long-term strategic PPP when thinking about future innovations in procurement policy, both in the UK and abroad. The results may also inform the future policy and practice of strategic PPP procurement systems about how to deliver and manage infrastructure portfolios better, based on hard metric asset-level data

The management of complexity in project management – a qualitative and quantitative case study of certified project managers in Germany

With the increased globalization and expansion of the markets worldwide, companies have to struggle with increased competition. Therefore, organisations have begun to offer advantages such as a personalisation of products to potential customers. Market conditions and legal policies can make it challenging to predict whether those ad-vantages can be realized. Project managers are often in the position of having to fulfil these requirements; in continuously changing influencing factors that make tasks diffi-cult to manage. These circumstances create complexity. Frequently, managers are una-ware that complexity has created problems in a specific project. Often, the traditional standards of project management no longer provide a sufficient support to managers of complex projects. This research investigates how current standards of project management address com-plexity, and whether a supplement is necessary. Complexity strengtheners are investi-gated. One standard Project Management Institute (PMI) is selected as an example to analyze the influence of strengtheners on PM-processes. A funnel model is developed based on these research findings. This is aimed to help managers in their daily practice and support them in categorizing the complexity of their projects. Based on this model, managers should be able to recognize the actual strengtheners of complexity and which processes of their project are affected. Finally, a possible adaption of the standard is re-searched. A proposition for a new comprehensive guide is designed to support manag-ers carrying out complex projects. The key managerial implication of this research is the development of a five-step model for handling complexity in projects: forming, storming, norming, performing, and ad-journing. Furthermore, the intent of this thesis is to make a valid contribution to the management literature. For handling complexity the new funnel model should close the gap between the recognition of complexity in a project and underlying causes. The new five-step model thus provides project managers helpful guidelines for handling complex projects. This research applies a mixed method, consisting of a survey (quantitative method) and focus interviews (qualitative method) with experts of project management (PMI) in Germany. There are approximately 4.900 PMI certified project managers in Germany; more than 170 participated in the survey (3.6%). This is considered sufficient to provide reliable results for this research. Further, three focus interviews deepen the knowledge and validate the results of the survey: Complexity is an actual problem in project man-agement. Existing standards are sufficient for project management, but complexity can-not be standardized. This thesis proposes to help project managers to resolve project complexity by providing guidelines for navigating through complex projects

What is project governance? Disclosing the source of confusion and revealing the essence of governance

The governance of project work is well discussed in the extant literature that explores the relationship between projects and their parent organisations. And governance is a well-known term amongst senior management, project practitioners, and stakeholders. However, as this thesis reveals and attempts to address, ‘what is governance’ is actually the subject of much confusion across scholarly literature, practitioner publications and project managers themselves. Identifying and resolving such confusion is fundamental to progressing the discipline because, as proposed by this thesis, governance is the system by which projects are directed and controlled. This thesis by publication: 1. Identifies the definitional confusion surrounding project governance, governance generally and many other associated project management terms. 2. Develops a ‘refined’ definitional method for resolving confusion concerning conceptual definitions. 3. Applies this method to develop refined (internally consistent) definitions of governance and related and associated terms. 4. Reveals the lack of genericity at the core of some project management practitioner documents and methodology. 5. Identifies and resolves 10 different issues that cause definitional confusion in conceptual terms. 6. Provides a philosophical justification for the resolution of each of these issues by critically examining Aristotle’s, Mill’s, Wittgenstein’s, and Popper’s work in relation to definitions. 7. Develops a set of axioms and definitional rules for avoiding conflict resulting from definitional confusion. 8. Proposes a theory of meaning for conceptual terms in management