56,681 research outputs found
Risk Management in the Arctic Offshore: Wicked Problems Require New Paradigms
Recent project-management literature and high-profile disasters—the financial crisis, the BP
Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the Fukushima nuclear accident—illustrate the flaws of
traditional risk models for complex projects. This research examines how various groups with
interests in the Arctic offshore define risks. The findings link the wicked problem framework and
the emerging paradigm of Project Management of the Second Order (PM-2). Wicked problems
are problems that are unstructured, complex, irregular, interactive, adaptive, and novel. The
authors synthesize literature on the topic to offer strategies for navigating wicked problems,
provide new variables to deconstruct traditional risk models, and integrate objective and
subjective schools of risk analysis
Managing Well Integrity using Reliability Based Models
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The excessive complexity of national marine governance systems - Has this decreased in England since the introduction of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009?
With successive Government restructuring and the introduction of the Marine and Coastal Access Act in 2009, this paper revisits a previous set of organograms created in 2006 indicating the government departments with responsibilities relating to the marine and coastal environment in England in 2014. The 2009 Act presented an opportunity to harmonise marine management by simplifying the complexity in England through a radical restructuring of marine governance; however this is apparently not the case with many overlapping responsibilities still existing. This paper provides an overview of the 2009 Act, discussing some of the significant changes like the creation of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), examines the current structure of marine management in England following its enactment and highlights the continued overlaps in jurisdiction, responsibilities and complexity of the government agencies with a marine remit. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd
Information Systems Skills Differences between High-Wage and Low-Wage Regions: Implications for Global Sourcing
Developing Information Systems (IS) skills for a company’s workforce has always been challenging, but global sourcing growth has caused the determination of needed IS skills to be more complex. The increased use of outsourcing to an IS service provider and from high-wage regions to low-wage regions has affected what IS skills are required globally and how to distribute the workforce to meet these needs. To understand what skills are needed in locations that seek and those that provide outsourcing, we surveyed IS service provider managers in global locations. Results from 126 reporting units provide empirical evidence that provider units in low-wage regions value technical skills more than those in high-wage regions. Despite the emphasis on commodity skills in low-wage areas, high- and low-wage providers value project management skills. Low-wage regions note global and virtual teamwork more than high-wage regions do. The mix of skills and the variation by region have implications for domestic and offshore sourcing. Service providers can vary their staffing models in global regions which has consequences for recruiting, corporate training, and curriculum
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Diverse virtual social networks: Implications for remote software testing teams
This paper evaluates offshore outsourcing in the IT testing industry and determines what conditions determine its success. There is particular focus on the influence of diversity in teams on group relationships. Two studies are described: the first, investigated the perceptions of professional software testers on the critical factors of offshore outsourcing; and the second study looked at the ability for diverse teams to form close working relationships through virtual networks. We find that overt diversity factors inhibit interaction across nationality boundaries. The limitations of virtual networks for fostering personal communications is apparent in preventing group members from overcoming the initial aversion to mix with out-group members, which could be achieved with closer and more personal communications between members with different diversity factors in normal face to face communications. Where software testing teams are outsourced globaly, and must rely on virtual communications, there seems potential for significant difficulties in developing close working relationships, which on the one hand, can be negative for group cohesion, but one the other hand, can be positive for encouraging imparitality
Governance of Offshore IT Outsourcing at Shell Global Functions IT-BAM Development and Application of a Governance Framework to Improve Outsourcing Relationships
The lack of effective IT governance is widely recognized as a key inhibitor to successful global IT outsourcing relationships. In this study we present the development and application of a governance framework to improve outsourcing relationships. The approach used to developing an IT governance framework includes a meta model and a customization process to fit the framework to the target organization. The IT governance framework consists of four different elements (1) organisational structures, (2) joint processes between in- and outsourcer, (3) responsibilities that link roles to processes and (4) a diverse set of control indicators to measure the success of the relationship. The IT governance framework is put in practice in Shell GFIT BAM, a part of Shell that concluded to have a lack of management control over at least one of their outsourcing relationships. In a workshop the governance framework was used to perform a gap analysis between the current and desired governance. Several gaps were identified in the way roles and responsibilities are assigned and joint processes are set-up. Moreover, this workshop also showed the usefulness and usability of the IT governance framework in structuring, providing input and managing stakeholders in the discussions around IT governance
Bringing Global Sourcing into the Classroom: Experiential Learning via Software Development Project
Global sourcing of software development has imposed new skill requirements on Information Technology (IT) personnel. In the U.S., this has resulted in a paradigm shift from technical to softer skills such as communications and virtual team management. Higher education institutions must, consequently, initiate innovative curriculum transformations to better prepare students for these emerging workforce needs. This paper describes one such venture between Marquette University (MU), U.S.A. and Management Development Institute (MDI), India, wherein IT students at MU collaborated with Management Information Systems (MIS) students at MDI on an offshore software development project. The class environment replicated an offshore client/vendor relationship in a fully virtual setting while integrating communications and virtual team management with traditional IT project management principles. Course measures indicated that students benefited from this project, gained first-hand experience in the process of software offshoring, and learned skills critical for conduct of global business. For faculty considering such initiatives, we describe the design and administration of this class over two semesters, lessons learned from our engagement, and factors critical to success of such initiatives and those detrimental to their sustenance
Malaysia and China students’ feedback on the implementation of critical thinking pedagogy: a case study
Having a knowledgeable and highly skilled human capital is an important factor for Malaysia to transform its economy towards achieving a developed nation and high-income status by the year 2020. Hence, the Malaysian government strives to improve the enrolment of local and international post-graduate students by providing an effective learning process to ensure their quality. This research aimed at describing the impact of critical thinking pedagogy using case-based learning in curriculum studies course among postgraduate students. It was a case study with qualitative approach. Interview technique was used in this study whereby five students who enrolled in curriculum studies course were selected as the respondents. The study sample underwent learning through critical thinking pedagogy using SCSCBL interactive application. Overall, the findings showed that the teaching approach of using the case-based learning can promote critical thinking skills among pre-service and in-service teachers. This study has provided positive implications on the postgraduates’ soft skill development as preparation for their future career
Managing the trade-off implications of global supply
The cost versus response trade-off is a growing logistics issue due to many markets being increasingly characterized by demand uncertainty and shorter product life cycles. This is exacerbated further with supply increasingly moving to low cost global sources. However, the poor response implications of global supply are often not addressed or even acknowledged when undertaking such decisions. Consequently, various practical approaches to minimising, postponing or otherwise managing the impact of the demand uncertainty are often only adopted retrospectively. Even though such generic solutions are documented through case examples we lack effective tools and concepts to support the proactive identification and resolution of such trade-offs. This paper reports on case-based theory building research, involving three cases from the UK and USA used in developing a conceptual model with associated tools, in support of such a process
Risk Profiles in Individual Software Development and Packaged Software Implementation Projects: A Delphi Study at a German-Based Financial Services Company
The aim of this paper is to compare risk profiles of individual software development (ISD) and packaged software implementation (PSI) projects. While researchers have investigated risks in either PSI projects or ISD projects, an integrated perspective on how the risk profiles of these two types of information system (IS) projects differ is missing. To explore these differences, this work conducted a Delphi study at a German-based financial services company. The results suggest that: First, ISD projects seem to be more heterogeneous and face a larger variety of risks than the more straightforward PSI projects. Second, ISD projects seem to be particularly prone to risks related to sponsorship, requirements, and project organization. Third, PSI projects tend to be predominantly subject to risks related to technology, project planning, and project completion. Finally, in contrast to available lists of risks in IS projects and irrespective of the project type, the paper found a surprisingly high prominence of technology and testing-related risks
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