The management of project management: A conceptual framework for project governance

For an organization to create optimal value from its investment in projects there must be a clear link between the outputs created by the projects and the requirements of the organization's business strategy. This means that organizations that have a structure in place for aligning the project deliverables with their organizational goals will be better placed to realize their investment in projects, and achieve the value defined by their business strategies. This paper examines existing research, ideas and concepts of project governance and enterprise project management, and offers a framework to build on current theory development and practice. Synthesizing existing literature of project/program management, governance and portfolio management, this paper proposes four key elements to improve the performance of projects and hence create value for organizations. These four elements are (1) portfolio management: focused on selecting the right projects and programs to support the organization's strategy, and terminating ones that no longer contribute to the business success of the organization; (2) project sponsorship: providing the direct link between the executive and the project or program manager, focused on the whole project lifecycle; (3) Project Management Office (PMO): providing oversight and strategic reporting capabilities; (4) projects and program support: the effective support and management of projects and programs are the measures of an effective governance system. The purpose of the framework described in this paper is to provide guidance to organizations in the development of effective project governance to optimize the management of projects.     

‘Management by projects’: the management approach for the future

The trend toward the project-oriented company, performing simultaneously a network of internal and external projects, creates the demand for the management approach ‘Management by Projects’. The specific feature of ‘management by projects’ is that the management of single projects, the management of the network of projects and the management of the relationships between the company and the single projects are considered. For the successful management of the project-oriented company, instruments of ‘Management by Projects’ are presented.     

The cumulative power of incremental innovation and the role of project sequence management

In innovation and project management studies incremental development projects are perceived as theoreticlly and organisationally uninteresting. By means of a longitudinal study of product improvement projects at an automobile firm, this paper challenges such views and shows how the cumulative impact of the studied sequence resulted in a competitive repositioning of the company's product portfolio during a financially difficult period. Project managers achieved this by transcending the separation between exploration and exploitation projects; they not only adhered to time, cost and quality goals but also tried out new ways of testing and experimenting with controversial technical ideas. The paper analyzes the intensive inter project learning that generated these ambidextrous capabilities and emphasizes that practices at the project-level need to be buttressed by expanded management learning and capability development also at the sequence level.     

The integration of ideation and project portfolio management — A key factor for sustainable success

Effective management of single projects is no longer sufficient. In today's business market, proactive management of the whole project portfolio has become increasingly important for achieving long-term success and competitive advantage. At the front end of projects, opportunities are discovered, ideas are created, and the foundation for later project, portfolio, and, eventually, corporate success is laid. This paper contributes to the project management body of knowledge by combining the front end view on projects with the holistic view of managing project portfolio landscapes. It focuses on establishing a framework for conceptualization of the relationship between ideation and project portfolio management in product development environment by relating ideation portfolio management, front end success, and project portfolio success, and lays the groundwork for further empirical research. The overarching topic I address is the conceptualization of how ideation can facilitate and sustainably improve portfolio success in the product development environment in the long-term.     

Analysis of the risk-sharing ratio in PPP projects based on government minimum revenue guarantees

Public-private partnership (PPP) projects have been widely applied in infrastructure construction. A suitable risk distribution strategy is crucial for promoting negotiations between the government and investors. The government usually provides guarantees to investors to distribute risk. However, an excessive guarantee increases the government's financial burden, whereas an insufficient guarantee reduces the confidence of the investors participating in the project. In a minimum revenue guarantee (MRG), the government subsidizes the investors the difference between the actual revenue and the government guarantee line if there is a loss. In PPP power plant and highway projects, investors' revenues come from two sources: government guarantees and the project company's self-sale. To support project companies and to optimize the projects' benefits, the government should set a reasonable benchmark for purchase amounts. Based on the traditional principal-agent model, this paper introduces the reciprocal preference theory to analyze the risk-sharing ratio most suitable for the government. Then, an optimal incentive mechanism is established to guarantee the project's income. The results indicate that by setting a different guarantee strategy for different participants, the government can utilize reciprocal preference to incentivize investors to exert more effort during a partnership and avoid moral hazard.     

Recent developments in engineering education

The use of portfolio theory allows the consideration of correlation between projects and may rationalize the selection of the projects and capital budgeting. Positive coefficient of correlation increases the risk for a portfolio, while negative coefficient decreases the risk. On the other hand, the expected return of a portfolio may increase or decrease due to project correlation. The correlation between projects is due to several casual factors which are of different importance and contribution to project correlation. The importance and the level of contribution of each factor can be estimated based on experience and judgement. Experience and judgement may easily be expressed in semantic measures rather than mathematical terms. Classical portfolio theory fails to incorporate subjective information. The semantic measures can be translated into mathematical values using the fuzzy set theory. A method by which project correlation may be estimated based on experience and judgement is proposed. The method utilizes the fuzzy set theory to estimate the coefficient of correlation and the judgement uncertainty. Then, the total risk of a portfolio can be estimated.     

Identifying,framing and managing uncertainties in project portfolios

Uncertainties in the organization, external environment and from single projects may hamper project portfolio performance unless managed properly. This paper introduces a framework on uncertainties and their management in project portfolios and pursues increased understanding on how managers can take uncertainty into account better. We explore uncertainties, how managers frame them as opportunities or threats, and the actual practice of managing them across ten R&D project portfolios. The framework on project portfolio uncertainties and their management is further refined based on the empirical results. As key contributions, we show evidence on the balanced existence of three types of uncertainties, the threat bias in their framing, and the dominance of rational, opportunity driven mechanisms of control in uncertainty management. We discuss the context-dependent practice of project portfolio management and the need to complement rational mechanisms with structural and cultural, for project portfolio management to become a dynamic capability.     

Development of project engineers

Responsibility for planning and coordinating part or all of a specific task or project is typically an engineer's introduction to management. A summary of evidence from engineers on the needs of such jobs is presented, and the way that these needs can be met by continuing education and on-the-job opportunities is discussed.     

基于在险价值的房地产项目组合管理的风险平衡研究

对房地产企业而言,在多项目管理的环境中,有效的项目组合管理对企业工程项目管理有着关键性的作用。引入实物期权来衡量房地产项目在投资决策阶段的价值,用蒙特卡洛模拟得出项目实物期权价值的概率分布;并引入风险价值的概念,在VaR、CVaR 的基础上,针对项目的实物期权价值提出了在险实物期权价值、条件在险实物期权价值（RoVaR和C-RoVaR）来衡量房地产项目的风险。建立了项目组合平衡模型,用来描述合适的潜在投资项目来平衡目前项目组合的风险,对投资决策提供支持,同时概括了项目组合平衡的基本步骤。     

基于DEA 的建设工程项目组合配置协同评价研究

随着建筑市场的不断发展和扩大,建设工程多项目管理逐渐成为一项新兴的管理模式。建设工程多项目管理不确定性高、影响关系复杂,现有的单项目管理理论未能将多项目间的复杂协同关系纳入管理过程中,难以为建设工程项目组合协同管理提供支撑。为解决此问题,提出了建设工程项目组合配置协同效果评价指标体系,采用数据包络分析模型（DEA）构建了建设工程项目组合配置协同效果评价模型。并通过案例分析证明了所构建评价模型能够有效量化项目组合配置协同效果,缩小项目组合选择范围,为协同视角下的建设工程项目组合管理提供理论依据。     

基于PIP 的城市轨道交通工程多项目群进度管理研究

随着我国建设工程项目规模的不断扩大,项目复杂性也在逐渐加大,许多大型工程项目都以“项目群”的形态出现。对于多项目群工程,项目各参与方之间信息传递的快慢、共享程度的高低将在很大程度上影响工程目标的实现,特别是进度目标。结合城市轨道交通工程多项目群项目建设特点,探讨基于Internet 技术的项目信息沟通解决方案,构建以PIP（项目信息门户）应用为基础的进度管理模型,采用PIP 作为项目管理平台进行多项目群进度管理的过程及实施效果。以苏州城市轨道交通工程为例阐述了项目建设过程。     

The three roles of a project portfolio management office: Their impact on portfolio management execution and success

Project portfolio management offices (PPMOs) are a subset of project management offices (PMOs) that handle collections of multiple single projects and programmes, i.e. portfolios. PPMOs are centralised organisational units that cater to the demands of various stakeholders by performing specialised tasks. They are initiated by their organisation's leadership in response to increasing management challenges originating from project portfolios. Although there has been considerable research on PMOs in general, not only a clear understanding of multi-project PMOs' activity patterns set in specific contexts like project portfolio management, but also both existence and mode of multi-project PMOs' contribution to successful performance are still lacking. By quantitatively analysing PPMOs in 278 portfolios, we identify three different activity patterns, which are interpreted as distinctive roles. We show a significant positive effect of PPMOs' coordinating and controlling roles on performance in terms of project portfolio management quality, which is a predictor of portfolio success.     

Value creation through project risk management

Risk management is a common and widely adopted project practice. Practitioners use risk management based on a common assumption that risk management adds value to projects. Yet, in the complex and ambiguous environment of a project, value is often subjective. If this is the case, then how do stakeholders perceive project risk management to create value? This paper presents a literature review and an empirical study of project risk management as a means of creating value. The empirical study is based on interviews, analyzed through qualitative analysis, to unravel the subjective value of project risk management. Specifically, we addressed how practitioners perceived the connection between project risk management practices and value creation. We found that stakeholders' perceptions of value played an important role in how value was created through project risk management. What a stakeholder perceives to be important, such as the prospective outcomes of a project, influences the perceived value of a given project risk management practice. The empirical findings indicate the need for a contextualized understanding of the value of project risk management, and thereby provide a more nuanced view of the variety of forms through which project risk management can create value. The findings question the “universal ideal” of PRM value creation portrayed in the academic and practitioner literature.     

IT project management control and the Control Objectives for IT and related Technology (CobiT) framework

Motivated by scarce academic consideration of project management control frameworks, this article explores usage, value and structure of frameworks with a focus on the popular Control Objectives for IT and related Technology (CobiT) construct. We attempt to add to an empirically validated structure of internal control over IT project management by including CobiT's views on the intended domain of content. Results from the empirical survey indicate that the metrics suggested by CobiT are regarded as feasible and important by project management professionals, and are regularly used in controlling practice. Experience, regularity of significant projects and the size of the hosting organisations, however, seem to be stronger moderators of success rates than the use of a management control system with or without support of CobiT. CobiT's suggestions are of generic nature and in particular useful for programme performance management. The latent dimensions of project quality on process and activity levels were not validated and gaps to other project assessment models were identified.     

Selecting an approach to project time and cost planning

A portfolio of methods for project planning is outlined and related to two approaches to project management. The focus of the discussion is the need to treat uncertainty and risk at different levels of modelling complexity. The need for methods that are tailored to the circumstances is emphasized, no single approach being best in all circumstances.     

Relationships between project governance and information technology governance and their impact on project performance

This research endeavors to address the question of how to enhance project performance through exploring the relationships among information technology (IT) governance, project governance and project performance. The research utilizes an empirical survey methodology. The survey of 533 working professionals in various industries renders 282 usable responses or a response rate of 53.91%. The results suggest that both IT governance and project governance have a positive impact on project performance. Moreover, we found that three dimensions of IT governance (i.e., strategy setting, value delivery, and performance management) are positively associated with project performance while all three dimensions of project governance (i.e., portfolio direction, project sponsorship as well as project effectiveness & efficiency, and disclosure & reporting) are positively associated with project performance. Additionally, the alignment between IT governance and project governance is also found to be positively associated with project performance. These findings provide evidence to project management professionals in regard to IT governance and project governance being part of the operational strategy in facilitating the success of projects. It also demonstrates the importance of the alignment strategy between IT governance and project governance in enhancing project performance.     

Technological invention to product innovation: A project management approach

The optimal allocation of resources at the firm level to transform emergent technological invention into commercially successful products depends on the effective assessment and selection of projects. This study develops a multidisciplinary model for differentiating, prioritizing, and selecting investment in technological projects within an organization’s portfolio. Approaches from project portfolio and strategic technology management are integrated to explore how a particular product within a diverse project portfolio may be prioritized and developed. Our results suggest that the application of the suggested model to a portfolio of biotechnology projects may enhance the assessment of internal capabilities and external competitiveness, thereby providing a basis for firms to prioritize and preferentially allocate scarce resources within a portfolio of heterogeneous technologies.     

Different alliance relationships for project design and execution

The IMEC research programme (International Programme on the Management of Construction projects) performed an extensive benchmarking study of some 60 large engineering projects around the world during the period from 1995 to 1999. The purpose of the study was to identify best practice within different areas of management of such projects. While much of the focus of the study was on the front-end phase of the projects, some aspects of project design and execution were also addressed. This paper explores the findings of the IMEC study in this respect, with an emphasis on different models for alliance relationships in the design and execution phases. A model consisting of four different configurations of the dynamics of project development and execution has been identified. Two of these are based on a traditional arms’ length relationship in the design and execution phases. These traditional relationships have been explored in numerous existing publications and are, therefore, not dealt with specifically in this paper. The two configurations displaying a relational approach in the design and execution phases, termed “partners in design and execution” and “relational development and execution”, are described in detail. Perhaps the most important finding from the study is that there is no one “best practice” or “best configuration” for managing projects—the best-suited approach is highly dependent on the project in question and its characteristics.     

External stakeholder strategic actions in projects: A multi-case study

Although understanding external stakeholders' influence is important to achieving success, little attention has been paid to their influence strategies in project management. This paper aims to explore combinations of actions that external stakeholders normally pursue to influence construction projects, and to hypothesise factors affecting the use of these combinations. A theoretical framework of stakeholder strategic actions was proposed and applied, and a multiple-case study in the Vietnamese construction industry was employed. Three combinations of influence strategies were identified: communication and credibility building were employed concurrently by organised groups in projects affecting the environment; direct action and conflict escalation were exerted together by unorganised groups in cases leading to displacements of the locals; and coalition building was combined with communication by both groups irrespective of projects' impacts. The utilisation of a combination can be affected by the selection of lobbying actions and characteristics of individual strategies, and stakeholders' motives, attributes and perceptions.     

Knowledge entrainment and project management: The case of large-scale transformation projects

An increasing number of change processes and initiatives are organized and implemented as projects, often through the formation of ‘large-scale transformation projects’ (LST), involving a great number of specialists, departments, partners, development work, and knowledge bases. The theoretical foundation that supports the choice of managing change as projects and, in effect, the role of project management has received surprisingly little attention in the current literature. In this paper, we present a model where the success of change initiatives is explained by the quality of project management, which in turn is determined by the quality of knowledge integration. The outlined model highlights knowledge integration as a process determined by the scope and speed of change, which typically result in problems with synchronization of activities within an LST project. Our model draws on the idea of ‘knowledge entrainment’ to explain the fact that different parts (organizations, teams, individuals) tend to develop different time orientations and hence rely on different cycles of knowledge processes. This has important effects on the absorptive capacity of the involved parts of the project and the amount of information and knowledge that the project can digest. This paper discusses different knowledge-entrainment mechanisms and their effects on the role and practice of project management. Empirical data from an LST project in Posten, one of Northern Europe’s largest messaging and logistics operators, illustrate the model. The paper contributes to the analysis of the relationships between knowledge integration and time, particularly in LST projects.