Evaluating the quality of project planning: a model and field results

Faulty planning will result in project failure, whereas high-quality project planning increases the project's chances of success. The paper reports on the successful development and implementation of a model aimed at evaluating the quality of project planning. The model is based on both the abilities required of the project manager and the organizational support required for a proper project management infrastructure. The model was validated and applied by 282 project managers in nine organizations, where strong and weak planning processes were identified and analysed

Planning effort as an effective risk management tool

In project management, high levels of risk are considered to be a significant obstacle for project success. This paper investigates whether improving the project plan can lead to improved success for high-risk projects. A quality of planning index was designed to explore how the presence of high risk affects the quality of planning and project success. The index includes managerial aspects such as costs, human resources, procurement and quality, as well as organizational support aspects based on organization maturity models. In a field study based on data collected from 202 project managers regarding their most recent projects, it was found that the levels of risk at the beginning of projects has no effect on their final success. Drilling down to find an explanation for this surprising phenomenon, we found that in the presence of high risk, project managers significantly improve their project plans. Hence, in high-risk projects, better project plans improve all four dimensions of project success: schedule overrun, cost overrun, technical performance and customer satisfaction. However, in low-risk projects, better project plans did not contribute to reducing schedule or cost overruns. In other words, while endless risk management tools are developed, we found that improving the project plan is a more effective managerial tool in dealing with high-risk projects. Finally, the paper presents the most common planning tools currently being used in high-risk projects

The Effects of Demographic Characteristics on Employees’ Motivation to Participate in the In-Service Training Courses based on the Modified Expectancy Theory

Modified expectancy theory provided a useful framework for assessing employee behavior in learning, decision-making, and motivation. The purpose of current study is to determine the effects of demographic characteristics on employees’ motivation based on the modified expectancy theory. Population was the employees of National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company in Isfahan and Kurdistan. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used for data analysis. Finding reveals that the type of employment influences expectancy, intrinsic instrumentality, extrinsic valence, and motivation of employees for participating in the in-service training courses in the oil industry setting. Additionally, employee’s education influenced widely extrinsic instrumentality. Key words: Modified expectancy theory; Demographic characteristics; Motivation Résumé: La théorie de l'espérance de modification/de la mise à jour a fourni un cadre utile pour évaluer le comportement des employés dans l'apprentissage, la prise de décision, et la motivation. Le but de l'étude présente est de déterminer les effets des caractéristiques démographiques sur la motivation des salariés fondée sur la théorie de l'espérance de modification. Les sujets d'étude sont les employés de la Compagnie nationale iranienne de la distribution des produits pétroliers à Ispahan et Kurdistan. L'analyse multivariée de la variance (ANMDVA) a été utilisée pour l'analyse des données. Le résultat révèle que le type d'emploi influe sur l'espérance, l'instrumentalité intrinsèque, la valence extrinsèque, et la motivation des employés à participer aux cours de formation en service dans le cadre de l'industrie pétrolière. De plus, la formation des employés a une grande influence sur l'instrumentalité extrinsèque. Mots-clés: Théorie de l'espérance de modification; Caractéristiques démographiques; Motivatio

Impact of Employee Motivation on Employee Performance

Employee motivation is considered as a force that drives the employees toward attaining specific goals and objectives of the organization. Now days, it is one of the sizzling issue in organizations since every wants to make best use of their financial and human resources. Main purpose of this study is to inquire that what kind of factors influence employ motivation in Pakistan and finding up to which extent motivation affects the employ performance. Data is collected from 160 teachers of Government and private schools by using self-administered questionnaire. Regression analysis is applied to find the effect of employee motivation on employee’s performance involving four variables employee motivation, employee performance, intrinsic rewards and employee perceived training effectiveness. The results of this study show that significant and positive relationship exists between employee motivation and employee performance. It is also concluded that intrinsic rewards has a significant positive relationship with employee performance and employee motivation. This study concludes that employee perceived training effectiveness has a negative relationship with motivation. It is also proved from to their responses, they were provided with the training courses but this training was not implemented by them in their routine teaching as they considered it to be ineffective. They were not satisfied with the training provided to them and this affected their motivation to teach. Keywords: Employee Motivation, Employ Performance, Intrinsic Rewards, Employee Perceived Training Effectiveness

Acceptance of Technology with Network Externalities: An Empirical Study of Internet Instant Messaging Services

Many researchers have examined the technology acceptance model (TAM) that Davis (1986) created to predict the voluntary use of information systems. However, TAM\u27s primary focus is on how ease of use and usefulness influence acceptance, without looking at the effects of network externalities. In this study, we examined adoption behavior involving Internet-based instant messaging services (IMS). A questionnaire was used to collect data on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived number of users for external network utility, and technology utility. The results indicate an acceptable goodness-of-fit statistic for our proposed TAM model, which combines the original TAM concept and network externality theory. The results also support the importance of network externalities in considering IT acceptance

Informal eCollaboration Channels: Shedding Light on “Shadow CIT”

There is some evidence of the unabated proliferation of employee-autonomous, informal in an enterprise sense, collaborative information technologies (CITs) to perform collaborative activities despite huge investments in CIT enterprise systems. This article will introduce the metaphorical construct of “shadow CIT” (similar to “shadow IT” – Raden, 2005; Schaffner, 2007) to describe the strategic choice to use autonomous CITs instead of formal enterprise CITs. “Shadow IT” has been defined by Raden (2005) as a set of IT tools used “for performing IT functions but not part of the mainstream IT organization” (p.1). Similarly, “shadow CIT” solutions are employee-autonomous: they are not implemented as part of the organisational IT infrastructure, neither have they received any targeted organisational investment. Several research questions are explored in this paper. The existence of “shadow IT” has been argued to imply a failure on the part of enterprise IT to provide all of the services to meet their users‟ needs. Does the existence of “shadow CIT” imply a failure of enterprise CITs of a similar kind? If shadow CITs are found to be [capable of] filling gaps within enterprise CITs, what kind of gaps are these? Often, without being able to articulate why, users appear to shun solutions and good architecture within enterprise CITs in favour of the ability to get their work done through autonomous “shadow” solutions. What kind of motivation may be driving such decisions

A comparative Study on acceptance technologies between an integrated Software (MAXIMO) and an ERP (SAP) in British Gas (BG) Tunisia

Abstract This study develops an extended model to compare (BG) Tunisia The last five years have seen an explosion in the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, such as those offered by SAP. Recent research indicates that the market for ERP applications will grow by 32 per cent over the next five years representing 43 per cent of the applications' budgets of organisations. ERP systems are intended to provide standard application programmes that support the execution of activities throughout the organisation. In theory, they enable the integration of operations, through common data processing and communications protocols

Yhteistyöjärjestelmien käyttö ja toimivuus henkilöstön osaamisen kehittämisen ja ylläpidon näkökulmasta

Methods used in the traditional institutional education do not alone meet the needs for renewal and learning in organisations, because present-day work environments are changing so fast. Often training outside working context may results in such competences and knowledge that are already outdated at the moment of their application. Knowledge requirements, demands for innovativeness and knowledge sharing, distributed project work and the development of technologies create new learning requirements. Responding to these challenges requires skilled personnel, who are capable of renewing their competences and skills through their work practices and by reflecting them. In addition, the intensive working pace often prevents employees from participating in traditional training. First part of the study is based on literature, and examines theories on competence development, learning mechanisms, and the use, implementation and outcomes of collaborative working environments. Second part is a case study, which demonstrates the benefits and challenges related to the implementation and use, and perceived benefits and challenges of a virtual meeting system in a large global enterprise. The meeting system was mostly used for internal meetings and training in the enterprise. Employees can enrol to these sessions using their own computer connected to the internet. Some or even thousands of employees can participate at the same time. At the moment of data gathering, there were only a limited amount of users, who were mainly members of executive teams and management teams of internal projects. With the help of the system, distributed teams met weekly, and steering group and department meetings were arranged. The system was also used for internal product and sales training. According to the interviewees, the use of the virtual meeting system enhanced communication and information sharing and improved personnel's work motivation. The use of the system also increased cost savings and competitiveness of the enterprise. The main challenges of the use were related to technical problems and unfamiliar communication style.Perinteinen työn ulkopuolella toteutettava institutionaalinen koulutus ja sen menetelmät eivät riitä tyydyttämään työorganisaatioiden uudistumisen ja oppimisen tarpeita, koska nykyaikaiset toiminta- ja työympäristöt muuttuvat nopeasti. Monesti työn ulkopuolella saatu koulutus on vanhentunutta jo soveltamisvaiheessa. Uusia oppimistarpeita luovat niin tietointensiivisyys, vaatimukset innovatiivisuudesta ja tiedon jakamisesta, projektimainen ja hajautettu työ kuin teknologian kehityskin. Näihin haasteisiin vastaaminen edellyttää osaavaa henkilöstöä, joka uusintaa tietojaan ja taitojaan käytäntölähtöisesti työn tekemisen ja reflektoinnin kautta. Lisäksi kireä työtahti estää usein perinteiseen koulutukseen osallistumisen. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan kirjallisuuteen perustuen osaamisen kehittämistä, oppimisen mekanismeja sekä yhteistyötä tukevia teknologisia järjestelmiä niiden käyttötarkoituksen, käyttöönoton ja vaikutusten näkökulmista. Tapaustutkimuksena selvitetään yhden suuren globaalin yrityksen sähköisen kokousjärjestelmän käyttöönottoa, käyttöä sekä käytön koettuja hyötyjä ja haasteita. Tutkimuksen kohteena ollutta kokousjärjestelmää käytettiin yrityksessä enimmäkseen sisäisiin neuvotteluihin ja koulutukseen. Sähköisiin tilaisuuksiin voi osallistua oman internetiin kytketyn tietokoneen äärellä, ja niissä voi olla mukana muutama tai jopa tuhansia henkilöitä samaan aikaan. Tutkimusajankohtana kokousjärjestelmää käytti suhteellisen rajattu kohderyhmä, johon kuului etenkin johtoryhmien ja sisäisten projektien vetoryhmien edustajia. Järjestelmän avulla saatiin kokoon hajautetut tiimit niin viikko-, johtoryhmä- kuin osastopalavereihinkin. Järjestelmän avulla toteutettiin myös yrityksen sisäistä tuote- ja myyntikoulutusta. Kokousjärjestelmän koettiin tehostavan vuorovaikutusta ja tiedon välittymistä ja parantavan henkilökunnan motivaatiota. Lisäksi nähtiin, että kokousjärjestelmän käyttö johti taloudellisiin säästöihin ja kilpailukyvyn paranemiseen. Järjestelmän haasteiksi koettiin erilainen vuorovaikutus ja tekniset ongelmat

AS BCS Itera tulemustasusüsteemi arendamine

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