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on Project, Program and Portfolio Management |
| By: | Szymon Zaleski; Rafal Michalski |
| Abstract: | Management of successful IT projects in a sustainable manner is influenced by numerous factors. Organizational awareness of the necessity of engaging all project stakeholders is an important issue that helps in meeting project sustainable development goals. While there are many studies on the success factors of IT software projects, there is still little coherent research on the success factors of IT service projects. The purpose of this article is to contribute in filling this gap by attempting to identify success factors of the IT services project involving both traditional and agile approaches and considering sustainable development, specifically in terms of the stakeholders’ role in project management. We conducted questionnaire-based research involving 155 IT service project managers. The results of the study were subjected to exploratory factor analysis. As a result, we presented and thoroughly formally examined the factorial model of success components in the IT service industry. We distinguished four factors: (1) agile techniques and change management, (2) organization and people, (3) stakeholders and risk analysis, and (4) work environment. The results were compared with analogous studies found in the literature. The research showed that both traditional and agile management approaches coexist, meet sustainable development goals, and are significant for the successful management in IT service projects where all stakeholders play an important role. |
| Keywords: | success factors; IT services; project management; sustainable development; project stakeholders |
| JEL: | D20 D29 L00 L11 L15 L8 L86 M15 O22 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahh:wpaper:worms2110&r= |
| By: | Boss, Viktoria (TUHH); Ihl, Christoph (TUHH); Dahlander, Linus (ESMT Berlin); Jayaraman, Rajshri (ESMT Berlin and University of Toronto) |
| Abstract: | Organizations constantly strive to unleash their entrepreneurial potential to keep up with market and technology changes. To this end, they engage employees in practices like corporate crowdsourcing, incubators, accelerators or hackathons. These organizational practices emulate independent “green-field” entrepreneurship by relinquishing hierarchical control and granting employees autonomy in the choices of how to conduct work. We aim to shed light on two such choices that are fundamental in differentiating hierarchical from entrepreneurial modes of organizing work: (1) choosing projects ideas to work on and (2) choosing project teams to work with. Both of these choices are typically pre-determined in hierarchies and self-determined in entrepreneurship. We run a field experiment in an entrepreneurship course carefully designed to disentangle the separate and joint effects of granting autonomy in both choosing teams and choosing ideas compared to a pre-determined base case. Our results show that high autonomy in choosing implies a trade-off between personal satisfaction and objective performance. Self-determined choices along both dimensions promote subjective well-being in a complementary way, but their joint performance impact is diminishing. After ruling out alternative explanations related to differing project qualities and homophilic team choices, the detrimental performance impact of too much choice seems to be related to the implied cognitive burden and overconfidence. |
| Keywords: | teams; ideation; entrepreneurial performance; field experiment; |
| JEL: | L23 L26 M5 |
| Date: | 2019–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:204&r= |
| By: | Lavagnon Ika; Gilles Paché (CRET-LOG - Centre de Recherche sur le Transport et la Logistique - AMU - Aix Marseille Université) |
| Abstract: | There is no doubt that the way in which vaccination has been carried out since the first vaccines against Covid-19 were put on the market at the end of 2020 will constitute a textbook case in the coming years that will be dissected by generations of students in project management and logistics. Indeed, the exceptional scientific feat of developing vaccines with a remarkable immune response in just a few months is indicative of the ups and downs of the vaccine strategy in many countries. The article examines the case of Canada, based on a mode of governance that overlaps decision-making bodies (federal and provincial governments), and which has sorely lacked a coherent action plan. Lessons can be learned to prevent success in a project with failure in health policy. |
| Abstract: | À n'en point douter, la manière dont se déroule la vaccination depuis la mise sur le marché des premiers vaccins contre la Covid-19, fin 2020, constituera dans les prochaines années un cas d'école qui sera disséqué par des générations d'étudiants en gestion de projet et en logistique. En effet, l'exceptionnel exploit scientifique de mettre au point en quelques mois des vaccins à la remarquable réponse immunitaire dénote avec les soubresauts et errements de la stratégie vaccinale dans de nombreux pays. L'article s'intéresse au cas du Canada, fondé sur un mode de gouvernance qui superpose les instances décisionnelles (gouvernement fédéral et gouvernements provinciaux), et qui a manqué cruellement d'un plan d'action cohérent. Des leçons peuvent en être tirées pour éviter que la réussite d'un projet s'accompagne de l'échec en matière de politique sanitaire. |
| Keywords: | Canada,Covid-19,logistique,projet,vaccination |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03190775&r= |
| By: | Laurentsyeva, Nadzeya (LMU Munich) |
| Abstract: | This project studies collaboration in highly skilled, nationally diverse teams. An unexpected international political conflict makes national diversity more salient among existing and potential team members. I exploit this natural experiment to quantify the role of social, identity-driven, costs for performance and formation of diverse teams. Using microdata from GitHub, the world’s largest hosting platform for software projects, I estimate the causal impacts of a political conflict that burst out between Russia and Ukraine in 2014. I find that the conflict strongly reduced online cooperation between Russian and Ukrainian programmers. The conflict lowered the likelihood that Ukrainian and Russian programmers work in the same team and led to the performance decline of existing joint projects. I provide evidence that the observed effects were not driven by economic considerations. Rather, the conflict activated national identities and shifted programmers’ taste for teammates and projects. My results highlight the role of identity-driven concerns that can distort existing and prevent future collaborations, otherwise profitable from an economic perspective. |
| Keywords: | teams; diversity; conflict; national identity; open source; |
| JEL: | D22 D74 F23 F51 J71 |
| Date: | 2019–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:226&r= |
| By: | Dorota Kuchta; Jerzy Grobelny; Rafal Michalski; Jan Schneider |
| Abstract: | The paper proposes a new visualisation in the form of vectors of not-fully-known quantitative features. The proposal is put in the context of project defining and planning and the importance of visualisation for decision making. The new approach is empirically compared with the already known visualisation utilizing membership functions of triangular fuzzy numbers. The designed and conducted experiment was aimed at evaluating the usability of the new approach according to ISO 9241-11. Overall 76 subjects performed 72 experimental conditions designed to assess the effectiveness of uncertainty conveyance. Efficiency and satisfaction were examined by participants subjective assessment of appropriate statements. The experiment results show that the proposed visualisation may constitute a significant alternative to the known, triangle-based visualisation. The paper emphasizes potential advantages for the proposed representation for project management and in other areas. |
| Keywords: | fuzzy number visualisation; fuzzy number vector representation; visual processing; project uncertainty; usability |
| JEL: | C00 D01 D03 D20 D29 D81 D83 D87 L00 L11 L15 L86 M15 O22 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahh:wpaper:worms2111&r= |
| By: | Howell, Sabrina T. (New York University); Rathje, Jason (U.S. Air Force Academy); Van Reenen, John (MIT Sloan School of Management); Wong, Jun (NYU Stern) |
| Abstract: | When investing in research and development (R&D), institutions must decide whether to take a top-down approach – soliciting a particular technology – or a bottom-up approach in which innovators suggest ideas. This paper examines a reform to the U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program that transitioned from "Conventional topics," which solicit specific technologies, to "Open topics," which invite firms to suggest any new technology that may be useful to the Air Force. The reform seeks to address challenges facing military R&D, in particular a less innovative defense industrial base. We show that the Open program attracts new entrants, defined as younger firms and those without previous defense SBIR awards. In a regression discontinuity design that offers the first causal evaluation of a defense R&D program, we show that winning an Open award increases future venture capital investment, non-SBIR defense contracting, and patenting. Conventional awards have no effect on these outcomes but do increase the chances of future defense SBIR contracts, fostering incumbency. The bottom-up approach appears to be a mechanism behind Open's success. For example, winning has a positive effect on innovation even in less specific Conventional topics. The results suggest that government (and perhaps private sector) innovation could benefit from more bottom-up, decentralized approaches that reduce barriers to entry, minimize lock-in advantages for incumbents, and attract a wider range of new entrants. |
| Keywords: | innovation, defense, R&D, procurement |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O38 H56 H57 |
| Date: | 2021–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14297&r= |
| By: | Sabrina T. Howell; Jason Rathje; John Van Reenen; Jun Wong |
| Abstract: | When investing in research and development (R&D), institutions must decide whether to take a top-down approach — soliciting a particular technology — or a bottom-up approach in which innovators suggest ideas. This paper examines a reform to the U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program that transitioned from “Conventional topics,” which solicit specific technologies, to “Open topics,” which invite firms to suggest any new technology that may be useful to the Air Force. The reform seeks to address challenges facing military R&D, in particular a less innovative defense industrial base. We show that the Open program attracts new entrants, defined as younger firms and those without previous defense SBIR awards. In a regression discontinuity design that offers the first causal evaluation of a defense R&D program, we show that winning an Open award increases future venture capital investment, non-SBIR defense contracting, and patenting. Conventional awards have no effect on these outcomes but do increase the chances of future defense SBIR contracts, fostering incumbency. The bottom-up approach appears to be a mechanism behind Open's success. For example, winning has a positive effect on innovation even in less specific Conventional topics. The results suggest that government (and perhaps private sector) innovation could benefit from more bottom-up, decentralized approaches that reduce barriers to entry, minimize lock-in advantages for incumbents, and attract a wider range of new entrants. |
| JEL: | H56 H57 O31 O32 O33 O36 O38 |
| Date: | 2021–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28700&r= |
| By: | Poonam Ravindranath; Paolo Abarcar; Cullen Seaton; Candace Miller; Arif Mamun |
| Abstract: | The Mt. Coffee Support Activity, addresses environmental and social risks associated with the rehabilitation of Mt. Coffee Hydropower Plant and aims to increase productive uses of electricity. |
| Keywords: | Liberia, MCC, water, pipeline, LWSC, evaluation |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:395157c5d05e452b9b2cc83942349c0a&r= |
| By: | Paolo Abarcar; Poonam Ravindranath; Cullen Seaton; Candace Miller; Arif Mamun |
| Abstract: | The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) Training Activity, which aims to improve the technical capacity of the energy sector workforce through improved training for LEC staff and technicians. |
| Keywords: | Liberia, MCC, energy, training, LEC, evaluation |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:350836bcc6584f49ba1a38fe396d2bc1&r= |