Identifying and overcoming the challenges of implementing a project management office

With the ongoing challenge of successfully managing information technology (IT) projects, organizations are recognizing the need for greater project management discipline. For many organizations, this has meant ratcheting up project management skills, processes, and governance structures by implementing a project management office (PMO). While anecdotal evidence suggests that implementing a PMO can be quite difficult, few studies discuss the specific challenges involved, and how organizations can overcome them. To address this gap in existing knowledge, we conducted a Delphi study to (1) identify the challenges of implementing a PMO for managing IT projects, (2) rank these challenges in order of importance, (3) discover ways in which some organizations have overcome the top-ranked challenges, and (4) understand the role of PMO structure, metrics, and tools in the implementation of a PMO.We identified 34 unique challenges to implementing a PMO and refined this list to 13 challenges that our Delphi panelists considered most important. The top-three challenges were (1) rigid corporate culture and failure to manage organizational resistance to change, (2) lack of experienced project managers (PMs) and PMO leadership, and (3) lack of appropriate change management strategy. Through follow-up interviews with selected panelists, we identified a series of actions that can be taken to overcome these challenges including having a strong PMO champion, starting small and demonstrating the value of the PMO, obtaining support from opinion leaders, hiring an experienced program manager who understands the organization, bringing the most talented PMs into the PMO implementation team, adopting a flexible change management strategy, and standardizing processes prior to PMO implementation. The interviews were also used to better understand the role of PMO structure, metrics, and tools. In terms of PMO structure, we found that ‘light’ PMOs were more likely to be implemented successfully. Most organizations eschew formal metrics, instead relying on subjective indicators of PMO success. Lastly, it appears that PMO tools are difficult to implement unless a project management culture has been established.     

基于Web的流程驱动工程项目管理系统研究与实现

本文阐述了基于Web的工作流系统的体系结构,介绍了工程项目管理系统的需求;以事件的流程驱动来设计工作流引擎,以PUSH模式进行事务处理克服了菜单方式下被动式应用的缺点;采用嵌入式工作流管理系统与应用系统集成,增进了工作流系统的灵活性和扩展性;以电信工程项目管理作为创建实例来设计工作项的处理状态。系统能有效地提高工程项目管理的效能。     

Multi-Grid, Multi-User Workflows in the P-GRADE Grid Portal

Computational Grids connect resources and users in a complex way in order to deliver nontrivial qualities of services. According to the current trend various communities build their own Grids and due to the lack of generally accepted standards these Grids are usually not interoperable. As a result, large scale sharing of resources is prevented by the isolation of Grid systems. Similarly, people are isolated, because the collaborative work of Grid users is not supported by current environments. Each user accesses Grids as an individual person without having the possibility of organizing teams that could overcome the difficulties of application development and execution more easily. The paper describes a new workflow-oriented portal concept that solves both problems. It enables the interoperability of various Grids during the execution of workflow applications, and supports users to develop and run their Grid workflows in a collaborative way. The paper also introduces a classification model that can be used to identify workflow-oriented Grid portals based on two general features: Ability to access multiple Grids, and support for collaborative problem solving. Using the approach the different potential portal types are introduced, their unique features are discussed and the portals and Problem Solving Environments (PSE) of our days are classified. The P-GRADE Portal as a Globus-based implementation for the classification model is also presented. The work described in this paper is supported by the Hungarian Grid project (IHM 4671/1/2003), by the Hungarian OTKA project (No. T042459) and a collaboration project with the University of Reading.     

A multi-level, multi-theory perspective of information technology implementation

Abstract.  Much of information technology (IT) implementation research has focused on individuals' acceptance of IT by examining their behaviour when faced with new IT and the antecedents of these behaviours. As they are frequently undertaken within a project framework, IT implementations also entail the application of project management practices in order to be successful. Based on the premise that antecedents of lower level theories are frequently determined by the outcomes of a higher level theory, the present paper illustrates how organizational-level decisions, examined from the perspective of economics theories, can help explain the antecedents of project risk management at the project and individual levels. To do so, the paper describes an IT implementation effort which went through three phases; the first two of which were abandoned versions of the same project. An organizational-level analysis of the case from an economics perspective and its project-level analysis from a risk management perspective show how organizational-level decisions influenced the antecedents at the project and individual levels, providing a more complete understanding of the IT implementation in question, an understanding which neither a theory approach nor a level perspective could provide on its own.     

Extraction of decision alternatives in construction management projects: Application and adaptation of NSGA-II and MOPSO

The time-cost trade-off problem is a known bi-objective problem in the field of project management. Recently, a new parameter, the quality of the project has been added to previously considered time and cost parameters. The main specification of the time-cost trade-off problem is discretization of the decision space to limited and accountable decision variables. In this situation the efficiency of the traditional methods decrease and applying of the evolutionary algorithms is necessary. In this paper, two evolutionary algorithms that originally search the decision space in a continuous manner including: (1) multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) and (2) nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA)-II, are considered as the optimization tools to solve two construction project management problems. These problems are both in discrete domain including two or tree objectives, separately. In this regard, some procedures has been suggested and then applied to adopt both algorithms capable in solving the problems in a discrete domain. Results show the advantages and effectiveness of the used procedures in reporting the optimal Pareto for the optimization problems. Moreover, the NSGA-II is more successful in determining optimal alternatives in both time-cost trade-off (TCTO) and time-cost-quality trade-off (TCQTO) problems than the MOPSO algorithm.     

Developing final as-built BIM model management system for owners during project closeout: A case study

To apply final as-built BIM models to facility management (FM) during the operation phase, it is important for owners to obtain an accurate, final as-built model from the general contractors (GCs) following project closeout. Confirming the accuracy of the final as-built BIM model is one of the most important works executed by owners to meet the accuracy requirement of final as-built models for FM. However, many practical problems arise relating to the management of final as-built models such as final as-built model mismatch, the lack of available final as-built models, and the entry of incorrect non-geometric information into the final as-built models. To solve these practical problems, this study develops a Final As-built BIM Model Management (FABMM) system for owners to handle final as-built BIM model inspection, modification, and confirmation (BMIMC) work beyond project closeout. The proposed approach and system can be used to manage the status and results of BMIMC management work for the final as-built BIM model to be performed. The proposed approach and system were applied in a case study in a selected building in Taiwan to verify and demonstrate its practical effectiveness. This study identifies the benefits, limitations, and conclusions of the FABMM system, and presents suggestions for its further application.     

Improving information systems students’ teamwork and project management capabilities: Experiences from an innovative classroom

This paper describes an innovative teaching project that was developed and implemented to help MIS students improve their systems development “soft skills” in areas such as teamwork, group development, and project management. The project focused on improving students’ understanding of Systems Analysis and Design (SA&D) concepts by training and assigning students in an advanced SA&D course as formal team leaders and project managers for student groups in the introductory SA&D course. Students used CASE and Project Management tools to understand and apply course concepts. Faculty and students used e-mail facilities and interactive World Wide Web pages to facilitate both personal and broadcast communication among the multiple participants. This approach was used in two different semesters, with insights from the first implementation serving as the basis for improvements in the classroom activities the second time. Results suggest the pedagogical approach has significant conceptual value, but major logistical and operational problems must be overcome for successful implementation. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

物联网科普展馆中项目管理的研究与应用

近些年来随着人们对科学知识的需求程度日渐增高,科普展馆作为向公众展示科普教育的一个重要场所得到了迅速发展。但是由于科普展馆建设缺乏相应的项目管理理论,其建设过程存在很大的问题。目前这块领域比较空白,很少有学者做过深入的研究。本研究首先介绍了科普展馆建设的意义和建设过程中存在的一些问题,然后通过系统研究将项目管理理论引入科普展馆的规划、设计和实施的全面建设中,提出了科普展馆建设流程模型,并结合无锡感知中国博览园综合馆序厅的建设实例阐述这一建设流程模型,为科普展馆中教育质量的提高和展示效果的增强提供了一定的理论和现实依据。     

A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO PRIORITIZE PROJECT ACTIVITIES THROUGH FUZZY RANKING

Effective management of project activities is a critical issue for project managers, especially when the projects are complex. This is more essential for projects where the number of activity attributes is numerous. In such circumstances, prioritizing of project activities is an important issue and can enable better management of projects by focusing more on the most critical activities. However, in many cases prioritizing project activities can be a difficult task because some of the activity attributes might not be expressed easily in crisp terms. In this article, a practical fuzzy rating and ranking approach is proposed to prioritize project activities with fuzzy attributes. The proposed approach is also tested through an example problem from the literature.     

Comprehensive change management concepts. Development of a participatory approach

During the last years, many change projects in organizations did not have the planned success. Therefore at first, the causes for these failures and the success factors contributing to organizational change have to be discussed. To get better results, a comprehensive change management concept has been developed and tested in an ongoing research project. By using concepts for an integrated assessment and design of organizations, an approach for analyzing the current situation has been elaborated to identify “lack of integration” in the change initiatives of a company. To realize an integrated overall approach of modernization by harmonizing different methods and concepts, first, one has to prove their relationship to policy and strategy (vertical harmonization). The second step is to take into account the fact that there has to be a logical fit between the single concepts (horizontal harmonization). But even if all elements are logically coherent, that does not mean that the people working in the company also see this coherence. Therefore, in addition to the “logical fit”, one has to examine the “psychological fit”. In the end, a concept for analyzing the status quo in an organization as a result of “objective data” and “subjective data” originated.

Subsequently, instruments for harmonizing different modernizing concepts have been applied. As part of the comprehensive change management concept participatory ergonomic approaches have been used during the project. The present study shows this approach in the case of one company.     

Knowledge-based techniques to increase the flexibility of workflow management

This paper describes how knowledge-based techniques can be used to overcome problems of workflow management in engineering applications. Using explicit process and product models as a basis for a workflow interpreter allows us to alternate planning and execution steps, resulting in an increased flexibility of project coordination and enactment. To gain the full advantages of this flexibility, change processes have to be supported by the system. These require an improved traceability of decisions and have to be based on dependency management and change notification mechanisms. Our methods and techniques are illustrated by two applications: Urban land-use planning and software process modeling.     

信息系统集成项目的风险管理流程及方法研究

针对当前信息系统集成项目中存在的一些风险问题,本文结合系统集成项目的特点为主要依据,对系统集成 项目中的风险类别分析、流程及管理方法等进行深入探索与研究,目的在于加大对系统集成项目的风险管理力度,以此来确保 系统集成项目顺利开展。     

Ami: promoting a quantitative approach to software management

In this paper we first review the state of the art in software measurement. We then explain how measurement should be used in a goal-oriented manner in project management and describe the ami (application of metrics in industry) approach to achieving this. Finally we consider the ami project as an example of successful technology transfer and look at the variety of tactics used for dissemination of the approach in response to the needs of today's growing software measurement community.     

电力基建工程项目管理信息系统的总体设计

为了解决电力系统基建项目管理中存在的问题,通过总结电力工程项目管理的经验和教训,并借鉴基建工程管理的先进经验和成果,设计了一种电力基建工程项目管理信息系统,给出了设计系统的总体结构及其各子系统的功能模块,最终完成了系统开发。本系统的各项功能均符合设计需求,能够改进和规范电力工程项目管理。     

小规模协作研发资源管理系统的设计与实现

针对小规模协作研发中存在成员之间交互不及时、文献资料管理不系统、项目信息及项目进度更新不及时等问题,设计和实现基于小规模协作研发的资源管理系统,主要包括交互平台、文献管理、系统信息管理等3个分系统。本系统选择实体关系模型对数据库进行建模,采用B/S结构,并使用C#的Windows编程完成界面和代码设计。本文设计和实现的资源管理系统软件占用资源少,能为团队研发提供高效的管理服务,提高团队协作研发进度,是研发团队管理高效的工具。     

The Contribution of the Project Management Office: A Balanced Scorecard Perspective

Many organizations turn to project management offices (PMOs) in order to increase project efficiency, cut costs, and improve success rates in project delivery. However, many PMOs face the challenge of a lack of recognition of their contribution, leading to the need to repeatedly justify their existence. This article provides new insights into the success and failure of PMOs and also provides the rationale and structure for a holistic approach to establishing and sustaining a PMO.     

网络管理的多agent范型

网络管理系统是大规模的分布式软件系统 ,伸缩性和灵活性是今天的网络管理技术面临的两大难题 .软件 a-gent为这些难题提供了出色的解决方法 .本文首先指出当前网络管理中存在的问题 ;在此基础上 ,提出基于多 agent的网络管理结构 ;为了证明其技术可行性 ,专门建立了基于 agent的网络流量管理实验系统 .对该系统的评估证明了软件agent非常适合于开发分布式网络管理系统 ,具有实时性高、可扩充性好、自治能力强的特点 ,而且与传统系统相比 ,这种系统的建立、修改和升级更加经济     

Software project management audits

This paper shows how project audits can be used to uncover project strengths and weaknesses. Three audits are described and findings of the audit teams are summarized. Audits helped identify organizational problems, lacking management discipline, and software testing approaches useful to other projects. The issue of product sales versus disciplined project management was faced in all three audits. How this issue was handled is discussed and related to the success or lack of it for each project.     

基于本体匹配的数字卡通项目异构知识集成方法研究

在数字卡通项目开发过程中知识的管理和共享面临诸多难题.该文将本体匹配技术应用到数字卡通项目异构知识管理中,给出了一种可行的数字卡通项目知识共享解决方案,并且在该解决方案的框架内探讨了适用于数字卡通项目的本体匹配技术.