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Towards Improved Project Management Practice: Uncovering the Evidence for Effective Practices Through Empirical Research
328
by Terence John Cooke-Davies
Terence John Cooke-Davies
Towards Improved Project Management Practice: Uncovering the Evidence for Effective Practices Through Empirical Research
328
by Terence John Cooke-Davies
Terence John Cooke-Davies
Paperback
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Overview
Projects are important to industry, but project performance continually disappoints stakeholder expectations. Organizations react to this performance problem in many ways, and purchase consultancy, training, methods and tools as possible solutions. There is no published evidence that any of these solutions are consistently successful in improving project performance. This thesis answers the question, "What can be done to improve project management practices, and thus project performance?" by demonstrating that a novel form of continuous action research can contribute such evidence.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781581121285 |
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Publisher: | Dissertation.Com |
Publication date: | 08/01/2001 |
Pages: | 328 |
Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.73(d) |
Table of Contents
1.0 | Thinking about projects and project management | 17 |
1.1 | Summary | 17 |
1.2 | What projects are and what some key terms mean | 17 |
1.3 | The importance of projects to industry | 20 |
1.3.1 | The conceptual basis to project management | 21 |
1.4 | Project management in its social and economic environment | 23 |
1.4.1 | Projects in a pre- and proto-capitalist society (before c. 1850) | 24 |
1.4.2 | The era of classic capitalism: project management from c. 1850 to c. 1950 | 27 |
1.4.3 | The era of "managerial capitalism": project management from c. 1950 to the mid-1980s | 29 |
1.4.4 | The era of "intellectual capitalism": project management since the mid-1980s | 32 |
1.5 | Project management today--how industry thinks about projects | 34 |
1.5.1 | How project performance is measured in industry | 35 |
1.5.2 | The need for improvement: why so many projects are seen to fail | 38 |
1.6 | Research questions that this thesis will attempt to answer | 40 |
1.7 | Conclusion | 40 |
2.0 | The worldview of the project manager | 43 |
2.1 | Summary | 43 |
2.2 | Which practices have been correlated to project success and project failure? | 44 |
2.2.1 | Baker, Murphy and Fisher | 46 |
2.2.2 | Pinto and Slevin | 46 |
2.2.3 | Lechler | 48 |
2.2.4 | The implications of "critical success factors" | 50 |
2.3 | What a worldview is and how it can be made visible | 50 |
2.4 | The project management "worldview" | 52 |
2.4.1 | "Praxis"--What a project manager does | 52 |
2.4.2 | Salient elements of the "praxis" | 53 |
2.4.3 | Validation of the core "praxis" elements | 57 |
2.4.4 | A review of the "praxis" elements | 58 |
Summary of themes, topics and terms | 59 | |
Theme 1 | Practices relating to the nature of the particular project | 60 |
Theme 2 (Topic 6) | Practices relating to the stages the project will need to pass through | 72 |
Theme 3 | Practices relating to "beneficial change" that the project is intended to accomplish | 73 |
Theme 4 | Practices relating to the people that are associated with the enterprise | 81 |
2.5 | A systemic view of the project manager's worldview | 90 |
2.5.1 | Correlations of empirical research with the systemic worldview | 92 |
2.6 | How can the search be conducted for improved project management practice? | 95 |
2.7 | Conclusion | 96 |
3.0 | Research methods and underlying theory | 99 |
3.1 | Summary | 99 |
3.2 | Fundamental research issues of philosophy, knowledge, reality and language | 100 |
3.2.1 | Preliminary considerations of philosophy | 102 |
3.2.2 | What is going on when people gain "knowledge"? | 104 |
3.2.3 | Epistemic Considerations | 107 |
3.3 | Developing an appropriate research procedure | 112 |
3.3.1 | The role of Community in the Acquisition of Knowledge | 117 |
3.4 | A new research methodology | 119 |
3.5 | Conclusion | 125 |
4.0 | Developing and applying the new research model | 127 |
4.1 | Summary | 127 |
4.2 | Three Cycles of Action Research | 128 |
4.3 | The First Cycle of Action Research | 130 |
Step 1 | Assemble the network | 133 |
Step 2 | Agree Topics | 133 |
Step 3 | Write questions and scoring guidelines | 133 |
Step 4 | Analyse data and publish report | 134 |
Step 5 | Select topics for individual workshops | 134 |
Step 6 | Hold interactive learning workshops | 135 |
Step 7 | Review the year's learning and consider a second cycle of activity | 135 |
4.3.1 | Experience gained in practice | 136 |
Assembling a network | 136 | |
Defining the programme of work | 137 | |
Identifying and gathering the data | 138 | |
Sharing and learning from the information | 138 | |
4.4 | The Second Cycle of Action Research: Challenging Perceptions | 140 |
Step 1 | Hold SD modelling workshop | 140 |
Steps 2 and 3 | Develop project-level database structure and build project-level database Mk I | 141 |
Step 4 | Populate database with 10 pilot projects | 142 |
Step 5 | Collect additional project data | 142 |
Step 6 | Analyse project-level data | 142 |
Step 7 | Workshops on specific topics | 143 |
4.5 | The Third Cycle of Action Research: Refining the Method | 143 |
4.5.1 | Developing the Mk II data collection instrument, and establishing the habit of continuous learning | 145 |
4.5.3 | Developing the Corporate Practice Questionnaire version 3 and an organisational project management maturity model | 149 |
4.6 | Adding the Final Element: Interpretation and In-house Support | 150 |
4.7 | Conclusion: The Origins of the Research Method in Three Cycles of Development | 151 |
5.0 | What does the data show?--Illustrative analyses from two data sets | 155 |
5.1 | Summary | 155 |
5.2 | How data are used by the networks | 156 |
5.2.1 | Applying the data in workshops | 156 |
5.2.2 | Building on the data in working parties | 158 |
5.2.3 | Combining insights with fresh analysis | 159 |
5.3 | The Corporate Practice Questionnaire | 161 |
5.3.1 | How organisations use the CPQ | 162 |
5.3.2 | Illustrative results produced from the CPQ | 164 |
5.3.3 | Individual company indications | 173 |
5.4 | The data collection instrument (DCI) | 176 |
5.4.1 | Project type and industry environment | 177 |
5.4.2 | Project results | 184 |
5.4.3 | Strategic decisions | 189 |
5.4.4 | Project management practices | 192 |
Chaid Analysis | 194 | |
Bivariate Correlations | 197 | |
Further investigation of the correlations | 199 | |
5.4.5 | Conclusions about effective practices | 202 |
5.4.6 | A "relative" spin-off from a "positivist" search | 204 |
5.5 | Conclusion: The link between project management practices and project performance | 206 |
6.0 | Conclusions and further work to be done | 209 |
6.1 | Summary | 209 |
6.2 | Answers to the research questions | 209 |
6.3 | The contribution made by this research programme | 211 |
6.3.1 | A research-driven approach to project improvement | 212 |
6.3.2 | An innovative research method | 212 |
6.3.3 | Enhancement of the project management worldview | 213 |
6.3.4 | An international inter-company community of practice | 213 |
6.3.5 | Specific results that pave the way for project management benchmarking | 213 |
6.3.6 | Locating projects in the context of strategic bus. improvement | 214 |
6.4 | Developing benchmarking techniques for use with projects | 214 |
6.4.1 | Three difficulties to overcome | 214 |
Few project management processes produce the project's primary product or service directly | 214 | |
Different projects contain different profiles of risk | 215 | |
Projects are executed within differing organisational environments | 216 | |
6.4.2 | Two ways to progress towards a benchmarking capability | 216 |
Incorporate existing performance data | 216 | |
Extend the range of performance measures | 217 | |
6.5 | Improving comparability of data | 218 |
Improved comparability for the CPQ | 218 | |
Improved data categories for the DCI | 219 | |
6.6 | Applying systems thinking and system dynamics | 219 |
6.6.1 | Deepening understanding of the project management worldview | 220 |
The "people side" of project management | 220 | |
Benefits management | 221 | |
Understanding project strategies | 222 | |
6.6.2 | Developing a predictive model | 223 |
Developing a new research instrument | 223 | |
Developing a "flight simulator" | 225 | |
6.7 | Conclusion | 225 |
Reference List | 227 | |
Appendix I | Portrait | |
Appendix II | Landscape |
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