The project is dead. Long live the project Unterhitzenberger, Christine
International journal of project management,
October 2023, 2023-10-00, Volume:
41, Issue:
7
Journal Article
•Using the ConAC framework, 1.039 causal factors were identified in 176 construction accidents.•Factors most identified were worker actions, risk management and immediate supervision.•Worker actions ...is the outcome of many other causal factors.•Immediate supervision is a key causal factor connecting management and worker actions.•Risk management is a key causal factor and strongly connected to immediate supervision and worker actions.
The aim of this study was to add to the relatively sparse literature on accident causality in the construction industry by identifying frequent causal factors and connections between causal factors. Using the Construction Accident Causation (ConAC) framework, 176 relatively severe construction accidents investigated by the Labour Inspection Authority in 2015 were analysed. The seven factors most identified were (in rank order): (1) worker actions, (2) risk management, (3) immediate supervision, (4) usability of materials or equipment, (5) local hazards, (6) worker capabilities, and (7) project management. A set theoretic approach was used to identify causal connections between causal factors. Risk management, immediate supervision and worker actions were found to be key causal factors and strongly connected. The analyses identified seven causal factors consistently connected to worker actions, for example immediate supervision and local hazards. Immediate supervision was found to be strongly connected to both worker actions and risk management, underlining the importance of the supervisor controlling unsafe conditions/acts and planning the work to reduce risk. Strong connections were also found between risk management and immediate supervision, and between risk management and worker actions. Risk management and immediate supervision is to a large degree about planning and risk control at different levels, underlining the importance of risk being addressed at different levels and by different actors in construction projects.
This paper examines how to design project control modes to improve knowledge integration under different types of uncertainty. Uncertainty can be the precondition of project control choice, and it ...gives rise to the differing relations between project control (behavior, outcome, clan and self) and knowledge integration. We have conducted a multiple case study from the engineering, software, machinery and infrastructure industries, and examined the project controls design effectively dealing with high uncertainties. On the basis of control theory and knowledge-based theory, this article compares project control modes impact from the three knowledge integration dimensions of efficiency, scope and flexibility. Findings suggest that behavior control improves knowledge integration efficiency under uncertainty related to computational complexity, self-control improves knowledge integration efficiency under uncertainty related to project novelty, clan control enhances knowledge integration flexibility under uncertainty related to ambiguity of user requirements, outcome control enhances knowledge integration scope under uncertainty related to technological complexity. These findings are integrated into a model of the choice of project controls. Implications of these results are drawn, and directions for future research are suggested.
•The design of project control modes in different industries has been examined.•Uncertainty can be the predictor of control mode selection.•Project uncertainty can be an opportunity for knowledge integration.•Different types of uncertainty give rise to the differing relations between project control (behavior, outcome, clan and self) and knowledge integration.
Project managers seem to be puzzled in resolving the global dilemma of project failures across industries. Hence, the present study introduces project management innovation (PMI) as a determinant of ...project success (PS) and explores whether project governance (PG) and high-performance work practices (HPWPs), strengthen this relationship. To confirm these propositions, study data using adapted scales were collected from project professionals representing software development companies in the emerging IT industry in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to examine the hypothesized relationships and encourage PMI-guided solutions for project failures. SEM results statistically validated that project success is positively influenced by PMI, whereas this relationship is significantly strengthened through the moderating influence of PG and HPWPs, respectively. Theoretically, the present research is the first of its kind to introduce and empirically examine these untested relationships between PMI, PG, HPWPs, and PS in a single framework. These novel findings hold strategic value for both project managers and organizational leaders who oversee a range of project portfolios. Long-lasting advantages and superior achievements can be reinvigorated through PMI, after departure from traditional approaches and answering calls for new solutions to new problems in managing projects. Moreover, project governance and HPWPs should be reconfigured to oversee, as well as meet the special needs of each unique project.
Abstract
In the engineering project management process, through the use of computer technology, can improve the enterprise management of the comprehensive benefits of engineering projects. This paper ...first describes the connotation and status quo of project management and the important application advantages of computer technology in project engineering, and discusses the application strategy of computer application technology in project management for the reference of readers.
Purpose
In this paper, the authors challenge traditional views of project management and sustainable development as purportedly complementing each other. Rather, the authors apply a projectification ...perspective from a multi-disciplinary approach to sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how we can better understand the interface between projects and sustainable development through the study of its practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors do this by outlining the global and the local dimensions of sustainable development as a business objective. For that reason, the authors also make a distinction between sustainability in projects and sustainable development through project coordination.
Findings
From the framing of sustainable development as projectification, the authors contribute with a set of research implications on how to proceed towards a better understanding of sustainable development through project coordination.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to a growing field of interest regarding the interfaces between project management and sustainable development.
Project management is more efficient and effective when project stakeholders are socially aligned on what the project objectives are and how they should be achieved. This outcome occurs because ...social alignment reduces the friction amongst stakeholders each time a project management decision is made. Yet, how social alignment develops or dissolves over time in a complex project is unknown. This research develops a dynamic model of social alignment and misalignment, and it identifies some of the project controls that appear to affect their development. Drawing on interview and observational data from 17 respondents involved in a complex health-IT project over a two-year period, we show that social alignment and misalignment involve eight stages – separation, disrespect, lack of cross-discipline participation and social misalignment through to learning, respect, cross-discipline participation and ultimately, social alignment. The research has implications for how researchers theorize social alignment in complex projects and how practitioners can facilitate its development.
•A dynamic model of social alignment and misalignment is developed.•Research based on a longitudinal study over 2 years involving a complex IT project.•Project controls that may affect social alignment and misalignment are identified.•Social alignment and misalignment appear to involve eight stages.
The objective of this paper is to describe the research followed in creating a generalized, readiness assessment tool for mining projects. We start by highlighting the need for the assessment tool ...and then progress towards explaining the methodology followed during the study. The selection and finalization of the list of elements, sections, and categories that make up the unweighted values are described, followed by a summary of the weighting process applied. The outcome of this process is a weighted readiness assessment tool for mining project studies. The main benefits of the tool are that it will guide decision-makers and project managers through the definition phases of the project and improve the likelihood of project success.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relative importance of project management (PM) competences across the different stages of a software project life cycle to identify competence ...development gaps and opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
A deductive and quantitative approach was adopted to address the research questions with a web-based survey for data collection.
Findings
After reviewing the context of competences and PM competences, the importance of the PM competences overall and for specific stages in the project life cycle was analysed. The result highlights that functional and meta-competences are perceived to be the most important competence dimensions for software project practitioners.
Originality/value
This study makes three contributions. First, it consolidates PM competences into a set of 20 within four competence dimensions. Second, it prioritises these competences across the software project life cycle. Third, it identifies the significance of the inter-relationship between PM competences and project life cycle to reveal PM competence development gaps and opportunities.
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