Developing organisational capabilities through customer-led systems integration projects: the case of the major project BT 21st Century Network in the UK

Traditional approaches to systems integration in major projects take the strategy of selecting a supplier-led prime/systems integrator. Although this strategy pushes a significant amount of risk to the supplier, project performance may suffer due to lower engagement of the customer in the anticipation of potential issues involving a major project. Thus, this research investigates the implications of the customer, as opposed to a selected external supplier, assuming the role of systems/prime integrator. A case study approach is conducted on the major project BT 21st Century Network (BT21CN) to demonstrate that customer-led systems integration projects may provide more balance in the relationship and distribution of risks between supplier and customer, having a positive impact on project performance and on accelerating the development of BT’s organisational capabilities

The Differences between an Internal and External Project Manager

The differences between an Internal and External Project Manager (IPM & EPM) are usually overlooked in the project management literature. However these differences may have a significant importance when selecting a project manager, having possible adverse impact on the overall project performance if these differences are not properly considered. This paper elaborates a framework for the differences between an IPM and EPM and tests it against three organisations using quantitative (survey) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews) research methods. The research concludes that both types of PMs should not be viewed within the same light, as they each have a different role, skillset, issue management style and project success rate. In particular, IPMs tend to deploy a more ‘reactive’, whereas EPMs tend to use a more ‘proactive’ management style. Also, moving from IPM to EPM is frequently seen as a career progression. These differences may have major implications on how project managers are selected, promoted and recruited.The differences between an Internal and External Project Manager (IPM & EPM) are usually overlooked in the project management literature. However these differences may have a significant importance when selecting a project manager, having possible adverse impact on the overall project performance if these differences are not properly considered. This paper elaborates a framework for the differences between an IPM and EPM and tests it against three organisations using quantitative (survey) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews) research methods. The research concludes that both types of PMs should not be viewed within the same light, as they each have a different role, skillset, issue management style and project success rate. In particular, IPMs tend to deploy a more ‘reactive’, whereas EPMs tend to use a more ‘proactive’ management style. Also, moving from IPM to EPM is frequently seen as a career progression. These differences may have major implications on how project managers are selected, promoted and recruited

Th e Dynamics of Capabilities in the Transition to Telecommunications Next Generation Networks

This paper examines the dynamics of capabilities in the transition to the socalled Next Generation Network (NGN), in the telecommunications industry. This transition is occurring in major incumbent fixed  telecommunications operators like BT (British Telecom), France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, among others, where the innovation gap seems to be more challenging compared to mobile operators and cable TV companies. We analyze the capabilities development of BT in the United Kingdom, using documentary and interview data. The main conclusion is that, during the transition, capabilities vary rapidly in intensity: at the very beginning, strategic capabilities infl uence the decision-making and defi ne the transition, and then project capabilities are put in place to deploy the strategy, until functional capabilities take over and maintain the evolutionary path of the technology until a next major transition may occur

Limitações das Atuais Soluções em Software: Uma Visão para Desenvolvimento de Ferramentas em Gestão de Proje

Diante do atual estado da evolução tecnológica, a Gestão de Projetos torna-se cada vez mais importante dada a crescente complexidade dos projetos. Neste cenário as soluções de software existentes no mercado mostram-se ineficientes face ao dinamismo e aumento do número de variáveis que precisam ser controladas pelo gestor. Este artigo apresenta um estudo que visa verificar as atuais limitações dos softwares de auxílio ao gestor de projetos, demonstrando como novas tecnologias de desenvolvimento de software podem contribuir para a construção de ferramentas mais eficazes. Sistemas de informações construídos sobre os novos modelos de desenvolvimento podem ajudar no controle de projetos onde as atuais ferramentas apresentam limitações. A metodologia utilizada neste estudo foi a revisão bibliográfica para esclarecer quais são os novos modelos de desenvolvimento, como desenvolve-se um projeto e como aplicam-se suas ferramentas de controle. Este trabalho termina apresentando sugestões em que o uso destas novas metodologias demonstra bom potencial para futuras implementações pelo fato de serem flexíveis, por oferecer respostas em um menor prazo e por oferecer formas de tratar a não linearidade característica dos novos projetos