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Full-Text Articles in Business
Managing Projects In Context: Responding To Strategic Drivers, Lynn Crawford, Terry Cooke-Davies
Managing Projects In Context: Responding To Strategic Drivers, Lynn Crawford, Terry Cooke-Davies
Lynn Crawford
Project management as a field of practice initially focused on the standalone project and on development of generic standards, largely ignoring context. This has been challenged by attempts to provide useful categorizations of projects according to their different attributes, including aspects of context, and there is increasing interest in application of different project management approaches according to project type. Recognition of project management as an organizational capability has been a more recent development, but models and standards for organizational project management have been subject to a similar one size fits all approach. Recent research into the value of project management …
Factors That Influence And Are Influenced By Change Projects, Anat Nahmias, Lynn Crawford, Marge Combe
Factors That Influence And Are Influenced By Change Projects, Anat Nahmias, Lynn Crawford, Marge Combe
Lynn Crawford
Organizational changes are often achieved through disciplined project management. Change management and project management are two disciplines that draw upon different theoretical frameworks but rely on each other to achieve an organizational goal. While organizational change deals with stakeholders, relationships, and strategy, project management is focused on achieving tasks through a linear, logical process. As a result of these opposing focuses and the requirement to lead projects together, the relationship between the two can create tension. Achieving an organizational change has additional challenges beyond this potential tension between the two disciplines. The organization in which the project changes are being …
A Study Of Project Categorisation Based On Project Management Complexity, Alicia Aitken, Lynn Crawford
A Study Of Project Categorisation Based On Project Management Complexity, Alicia Aitken, Lynn Crawford
Lynn Crawford
This study explores the use of project complexity categorisation as a means of understanding and applying the competencies required to manage projects across a portfolio of project types including projects of an innovative nature. The data for this study includes one hundred and twenty project descriptions and ratings of complexity by project managers of their current (or most recent) project according to project management complexity factors developed to support global project management competency standards. The data was collected as part of a global study into project management competence, complexity and behaviours conducted over the course of 2005 and 2006. This …
Governance And Support In The Sponsoring Of Projects And Programs, Lynn Crawford, Terry Cooke-Davies, Brian Hobbs, Les Labuschagne, Kaye Remington, Ping Chen
Governance And Support In The Sponsoring Of Projects And Programs, Lynn Crawford, Terry Cooke-Davies, Brian Hobbs, Les Labuschagne, Kaye Remington, Ping Chen
Lynn Crawford
Several factors have combined to draw attention to the importance of sponsoring projects and programs. One factor is that after several decades of attempting to improve success rates of projects by focusing on project-based management and the project management competence of practitioners, convincing evidence demonstrates that success or failure of projects is not entirely within the control of the project manager and project team. Contextual issues are crucial in influencing the progress and outcomes of projects, and a key theme that has emerged is the importance of top management support. Another factor that has drawn attention to the sponsorship role …
Developing A Basis For Global Reciprocity: Negotiating Between The Many Standards For Project Management, Lynn Crawford, Julien Pollack
Developing A Basis For Global Reciprocity: Negotiating Between The Many Standards For Project Management, Lynn Crawford, Julien Pollack
Lynn Crawford
Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and Project Management, where certification and licensure are either necessary to practice or to demonstrate individual competence and capability. In many professions there is no basis for international reciprocity of professional standards. This paper documents the development of a standard for global reciprocity between already existing professional standards in the field of Project Management. Data are based on personal involvement by the authors and interviews with participants. This discussion addresses different approaches to standardisation, how common issues in the standardisation process have been addressed, and how the hindering influence …
Government And Governance: The Value Of Project Management In The Public Sector, Lynn Crawford, Jane Helm
Government And Governance: The Value Of Project Management In The Public Sector, Lynn Crawford, Jane Helm
Lynn Crawford
Governance is an emerging theme that has been associated in the public sector with a real political need to satisfy stakeholders by demonstrating accountability and transparency while effectively implementing policy. Many initiatives relating to governance are generated by a need for improvement of organizational performance and ability to implement and adapt to change. These generally take the form of projects and programs encouraging a variety of project management implementations in the public sector. This article reports on examination of the expectations and realization of value from investment in project management in four Australian public-sector organizations with particular reference to the …
Exploring The Complexity Of Projects: Implications Of Complexity Theory For Project Management Practice, Svetlana Cicmil, Terry Cooke-Davies, Lynn Crawford, Kurt Richardson
Exploring The Complexity Of Projects: Implications Of Complexity Theory For Project Management Practice, Svetlana Cicmil, Terry Cooke-Davies, Lynn Crawford, Kurt Richardson
Lynn Crawford
Exploring the Complexity of Projects: Implications of Complexity Theory for Project Management Practice explores the process and findings of the implications of the complexity theory for project management theory and practice. The golden triangle (project deadline, budget and output) makes the standard definition of project management processes, skills and knowledge paradoxical and divorced from practice. This monograph contains research of management processes and capabilities in innovative project settings and highlights the challenges in contemporary project management practice. This research suggests that in order to define and conceptualize project complexity, the building blocks of project must be more properly defined. These …
Senior Management Perceptions Of Effective Project Manager Behavior: An Exploration Of A Core Set Of Behaviors For Superior Project Managers, Alicia Aitken, Lynn Crawford
Senior Management Perceptions Of Effective Project Manager Behavior: An Exploration Of A Core Set Of Behaviors For Superior Project Managers, Alicia Aitken, Lynn Crawford
Lynn Crawford
Successful project managers continually demonstrate a core set of behaviors that enable them to effectively lead project teams. This paper examines an exploratory study attempting to distinguish the core behaviors--as determined by senior managers--of effective project managers. In doing so, it defines the study's six interview questions that 41 senior managers were asked to answer in relation to 32 personality dimensions and 20 behavioral competencies. It overviews the key previous studies on the behavioral profiles of superior-performing project managers; it explains the authors' research methodology and reports the research findings, identifying the seven necessary personality characteristics common among successful project …
Perceptions Of Effective Project Manager Behaviour, Alicia Aitken, Lynn Crawford
Perceptions Of Effective Project Manager Behaviour, Alicia Aitken, Lynn Crawford
Lynn Crawford
Effective project management is as much about demonstration of appropriate behaviours as it is about the application of project management skills. Practitioners and researchers are interested in understanding the behavioural profile of “superior” project managers. Cheng and Dainty’s (2005) research into the behavioural profile of “superior” project managers is one of the first research steps into this field. This research identified twelve behavioural competencies that distinguished “superior” project managers in a sample drawn from the construction industry. Another aspect of the behavioural characteristics of project managers has been explored by Muller and Turner (2006) in their investigation of the differing …
Global Body Of Project Management And Knowledge, Lynn Crawford
Global Body Of Project Management And Knowledge, Lynn Crawford
Lynn Crawford
Extract: This chapter presents an overview of the current principal project management standards and guides for project management knowledge and performance, including a comparison of their content and coverage and an indication of their use in assessment and as a basis for qualifications. Current developments and potential future directions are also reviewed. © Copyright John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007
How Standard Are Standards: An Examination Of Language Emphasis In Project Management Standards, Lynn Crawford, Julien Pollack, David England
How Standard Are Standards: An Examination Of Language Emphasis In Project Management Standards, Lynn Crawford, Julien Pollack, David England
Lynn Crawford
In light of current work toward the development of global standards for project management, this paper analyzes differences between a selection of various countries’ existing project management standards. The analysis is conducted using computational corpus linguistics techniques, resulting in the identification of similarities and differences between the standards of five countries. © Copyright Project Management Institute, 2007
Professional Associations And Global Initiatives, Lynn Crawford
Professional Associations And Global Initiatives, Lynn Crawford
Lynn Crawford
Extract: Communities of practice (Wenger, 1998) are formed when people doing similar things realize they have shared interests. They recognize that there are opportunities to improve both their practices and their performance by sharing knowledge and experience. The project management professional associations as we know them today began in this way: as informal gatherings and forums for networking and exchanging ideas and information. © Copyright John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007
Developing Project Management Capability Of Organizations, Lynn Crawford, J Turner
Developing Project Management Capability Of Organizations, Lynn Crawford, J Turner
Lynn Crawford
Extract: In the realm of multiple projects and programmes, the need for organizational capability becomes obvious if only because the management of outcomes is no longer within the confines of a single project or the responsibility and authority of a single project manager. When an organization recognises that business change and corporate strategy can be delivered through projects, there is realization that project management capability needs to be able to support doing the project right, doing the right projects and doing this consistently across all the organization's projects (Cooke-Davies 2004b). Organizational project management capability is therefore increasingly seen as a …
How Generic Are Project Management Knowledge And Practice?, Lynn Crawford, Julien Pollack
How Generic Are Project Management Knowledge And Practice?, Lynn Crawford, Julien Pollack
Lynn Crawford
At the heart of managing projects is a complex paradox: Projects are widely considered unique endeavors, yet the effort to implement a project usually involves using a generic set of standardized practices. This article examines the complexity involved in relying on standardized practices to manage projects, focusing on conflict of using generalized processes to realize unique endeavors. In doing so, it identifies three types of standards and overviews the literature on the benefits and the problems involved in standardizing project management practices and in implementing these practices to manage projects. It then outlines the responses to a survey that the …
Developing Individual Competence, Lynn Crawford
Developing Individual Competence, Lynn Crawford
Lynn Crawford
Extract: The competence of project management personnel is a subject of concern to businesses and individuals. Businesses realize that the competence of their employees is vital to corporate performance. When coupled with an increasing recognition of the importance of projects in achieving business goals, organizations become concerned with the project management competence of their people. For individuals, job opportunities in project management and increasing demand by business for evidence of project management competence fuels concern for professional development in the interests of employability, career development and job satisfaction. Further, project management professional associations see the certification of the competence of …
Aligning Capability With Strategy: Categorizing Projects To Do The Right Projects And To Do Them Right, Lynn Crawford, J Hobbs, John Turner
Aligning Capability With Strategy: Categorizing Projects To Do The Right Projects And To Do Them Right, Lynn Crawford, J Hobbs, John Turner
Lynn Crawford
Organizations achieve project success by both doing the right projects and doing projects right. This article examines the relationship between using project categorization systems and achieving project success. In doing so, it defines the purpose of project categorization systems and describes the challenges in developing such systems. It also reviews the field's literature on categorizing projects. It then outlines this study's six-step methodology to develop a holistic project categorization system, a process that involved a literature survey, focus group meetings, and Web-based questionnaire. It analyzes the findings from both the focus group and the questionnaire; it evaluates the three multi-dimensional …
Causes Of Delay And Cost Overruns In Construction Of Groundwater Projects In Developing Countries: Ghana As A Case Study, Yaw Frimpong, Jacob Oluwoye, Lynn Crawford
Causes Of Delay And Cost Overruns In Construction Of Groundwater Projects In Developing Countries: Ghana As A Case Study, Yaw Frimpong, Jacob Oluwoye, Lynn Crawford
Lynn Crawford
Delay and cost overruns are common in construction projects and groundwater construction projects in Ghana are not an exception. The paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey conducted to identify and evaluate the relative importance of the significant factors contributing to delay and cost overruns in Ghana groundwater construction projects. Respondents of this survey included personnel from owners, consultants and contractors involved in groundwater projects in Ghana. The results of the study revealed the main causes of delay and cost overruns in construction of groundwater projects included: monthly payment difficulties from agencies; poor contractor management; material procurement; poor technical …