scholarly journals Performance measurement embedded in organizational project management of general contractors operating in Poland

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eryk Głodziński

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss contemporary knowledge relevant to the application of performance measurement (PMe) in the concept of OPM and to compare findings from a literature review with solutions recommended for utilization by managers from general contractors operating in Poland. There are few studies related to the mentioned topic, much fewer describing the geographical area of Eastern Europe. Design/methodology/approach Triangulation of research methods was selected. First literature review, next desk research and finally descriptive statistical analysis and interview were conducted. The research methods were applied in three steps whose beginnings overlapped and the mid-term findings from one study complemented others. Findings PMe should be focused on management and governance issues. Its evaluation is related to various organizational levels (permanent organization, portfolio, program, project, construction site and supply chain), most of them are under valuated by practitioners. The conducted study pointed out that there are numerous supporting tools and measures applicable in organizational project management (OPM). The managers recommend combining various tools in one comprehensive OPM system, to limit multiple manual incorporations of the same data to the various databases. The managers call to increase the practical usefulness of researchers’ proposals, to educate the construction managers in the application of complex performance systems and to promote portfolio thinking. Originality/value The comparison of performance measurement solutions proposed by academia with experience collected from Polish construction managers could support the better application of theoretical ideas in practice.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Oppi ◽  
Cristina Campanale ◽  
Lino Cinquini

PurposeThis paper presents a systematic literature review aiming at analysing how research has addressed performance measurement systems’ (PMSs) ambiguities in the public sector. This paper embraces the ambiguity perspective that PMSs in public sector coexist with and cope with existing ambiguities.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a literature review in Scopus and ScienceDirect, considering articles published since 1985, and the authors selected articles published in the journals included in the Association of Business Schools' Academic Journal Guide (Chartered ABS, 2018). Of the 1,278 abstracts that matched the study’s search criteria, the authors selected 131 articles for full reading and 37 articles for the final discussion.FindingsThe study's key findings concern the elements of ambiguity in PMSs discussed in the literature. The study’s results suggest that ambiguity is still a relevant problem in performance measurement, as a problem that is impossible to be solved and therefore needs to be better understood by researchers and public managers. The analysis allows us to summarize the antecedents and consequences of ambiguity in the public sector.Research limitations/implicationsThe key findings of the study concern the main sources of ambiguity in PMSs discussed in the literature, their antecedents and their consequences. The study results suggest that ambiguity exists in performance measurement and that is an issue to be handled with various strategies that can be implemented by managers and employees.Practical implicationsManagers and researchers may benefit from this research as it may represent a guideline to understand ambiguities in their organizations or in field research. Researchers may also benefit from a summary list of the key issues that have been analysed in the empirical cases provided by this research. Social implicationsThis research may provide insights to limit ambiguity and thus contribute to improve performance measurement in the public sector.Originality/valueThis research presents a comprehensive review on the topic. It provides insight that suggests what future research should attend to in helping to interpret ambiguity, considering also what should be done to influence ambiguity.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rola Imad Fanousse ◽  
Dilupa Nakandala ◽  
Yi-Chen Lan

PurposeThis article provides the first systematic review of literature on effective organisational practices for reducing innovation project uncertainties to promote project performance. Innovation is the lifeblood of organisations, while simultaneously being one of the most challenging processes to manage. This systematic review seeks to examine best practice for reducing uncertainties and thus mitigate the high failure rates in innovation projects.Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides a systematic review of the literature on innovation project management and encourages an understanding of how intra-organisational collaboration reduces uncertainty and thus increases project performance.FindingsBased on an analysis of the systematic literature review findings, the impact of intra-organisational collaboration in reducing uncertainties in innovation projects is uncovered. Three types of project uncertainties were found to be dominant in the context of innovation project management: task, technological and market uncertainties. Five dimensions of intra-organisational collaboration are also identified, namely collaborative relationship, collaborative leadership, communicating and sharing information, trust formation and joint decision-making.Originality/valueThe authors situate five intra-organisational collaboration dimensions as key mechanisms that yield organisational learning as an outcome. On the other hand, they also uncovered that organisational learning is a key enabler in the relationship between intra-organisational collaboration and task, market and technological uncertainties reduction. Therefore, intra-organisational collaboration is identified as a critical practice in enhancing the performance of innovation projects. The study proposes a multi-dimensional conceptual model, providing a mechanism for furthering a research agenda for improving the performance of innovation projects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 1541-1578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olufunke Olufunmi Oladimeji ◽  
Heather Keathley-Herring ◽  
Jennifer A. Cross

PurposeThis study investigates system dynamics (SD) applications in performance measurement (PM) research and practice. A bibliometric analysis was conducted to investigate the maturity of this research area and identify opportunities for development.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to provide a comprehensive and rigorous review of the existing literature. The search was conducted on 10 platforms identifying 97 publications, which were evaluated using bibliometric analysis.FindingsThe analysis revealed that applications of SD are most commonly used in the PM system design phase to model organisational performance. In addition, the bibliometric results showed a highly dispersed author set, with most studies using exploratory methods, suggesting that the research is in a relatively early stage of development. The results also showed that over 50 per cent of the causal models were not validated, emphasizing an important methodological gap in this research area.Research limitations/implicationsThis SLR is limited to indexed publications on 10 platforms, the search strategy was relatively precise and only available papers in English language were used for the literature review.Practical implicationsPM systems supported by SD can help managers understand and improve organisational behaviours by addressing dynamic complexities and relationship between variables. This study evaluates the maturity of this research area including information about the current development of this area and opportunities to build on existing knowledge.Originality/valueThis study identifies how SD approaches are applied to PM and highlights areas that require further research consideration. This paper is the first of two publications to result from this study and focuses on evaluating the current state of this research area.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 311-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andika Rachman ◽  
R.M. Chandima Ratnayake

Purpose A systematic literature review is performed to reveal the state-of-the-art in the implementation of lean principles in the petroleum industry. This paper aims to generate a conceptual framework and reveal research gaps with respect to lean concept application in the petroleum industry. Design/methodology/approach After formulating research questions, the search strategy is generated, followed by data extraction, literature review and synthesis of the results. The search covers any studies in peer-reviewed scientific journals and conference proceedings in the period 1990-2017 that discuss the implementation of the lean concept in the petroleum industry. Findings The lean concept has been used to improve operational and technical aspects, contractor/supplier relationships, team organization and project management practice in the petroleum industry. Based on the literature review, a conceptual framework is generated comprising four main elements: leadership and commitment from management, employee involvement, cooperation and trust with contractors/suppliers and lean project management. These elements are the pillars that are founded on lean philosophy and principles to support technical/operational improvement in the organization. The types of literature identified indicate that the subject of the study is still immature. Research limitations/implications This study focuses only on the upstream sector of the petroleum industry, which restricts the generalizability of the results to midstream and downstream businesses. Practical implications This paper provides knowledge and information regarding the current state of lean implementation in the petroleum industry. The developed conceptual framework provides general guidance for practitioners regarding lean implementation in the petroleum industry, and is also expected to support research on theory building. Originality/value Few studies have discussed the application of the lean concept in the petroleum industry. This paper contributes a platform for researchers and practitioners to comprehend how the lean concept has been applied in the petroleum industry, and provides a foundation for further studies on lean implementation in the petroleum industry.


2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 592-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hella Abidi ◽  
Sander de Leeuw ◽  
Matthias Klumpp

Purpose – This paper aims to identify the state of the art of performance measurement and management in humanitarian supply chains; to categorize performance measurement indicators in the five supply chain phases of Gunasekaran and Kobu (2007) and evaluate them based on the evaluation criteria of Caplice and Sheffi (1995); and to define gaps and challenges in this field and give insights for future research in this domain. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review has been conducted using a structured method based on Denyer and Tranfield (2009) and Rousseau et al. (2008). The state of the art on humanitarian supply chain performance management with a focus on measurement frameworks and indicators and their applications in practice is classified in three categories. The first category is the definition and measurement of success in humanitarian supply chains. The second category is managing performance, which focuses on describing and analyzing the actual practice of managing performance. The third category shows the challenges in performance management that humanitarian supply chain actors deal with. Findings – Findings reveal that performance measurement and management in humanitarian supply chains is still an open area of research, especially compared to the commercial supply chain sector. Furthermore, the research indicates that performance measurement and management in humanitarian supply chains has to be developed in support of the supply chain strategy. Based on the findings of the literature review on performance measurement and management in the commercial and humanitarian field, a first classification of 94 performance measurement indicators in humanitarian supply chains is presented. Furthermore, the paper shows key problems why performance measurement and management systems have not been widely developed and systematically implemented in humanitarian supply chains and are not part of the supply chain strategy. The authors propose performance measurement guidelines that include input and output criteria. They develop a research agenda that focuses on four research questions for designing, deploying and disseminating performance measurement and management in humanitarian supply chains. Practical implications – The result helps the humanitarian supply chain community to conduct further research in this area and to develop performance measurement frameworks and indicators that suit humanitarian supply chains. Originality/value – It is the first systematic approach to categorize research output regarding performance measurement and management in humanitarian supply chains. The paper shows the state of the art in performance measurement and management in humanitarian supply chains and develops a research agenda.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 312-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uwe Wieland ◽  
Marco Fischer ◽  
Marcus Pfitzner ◽  
Andreas Hilbert

Purpose – Based on a systematic literature review, requirements on a PPMS are identified in order to derive concrete demands and design features for such a system by using quality function deployment (QFD). The purpose of this paper is to formulate a proposal for design recommendations toward a holistic, customer-oriented Process Performance Measurement System (PPMS). Design/methodology/approach – A literature review is used to identify customer demands and design features that characterize a PPMS. To determine the critical design features of a customer-oriented solution, the QFD method is applied. Findings – The paper confirms that there is currently no published concept for an integrated, holistic PPMS. Therefore it provides a first approach to the formulation of a design recommendation based on the customer requirements and design features. A literature-based weighting facilitates a first identification of critical design features. The identified conditions specify the context which can be regarded as a prerequisite for the application of the system. Research limitations/implications – As a result of the investigation, two main issues were identified, which restrict the complete development of a House-of-Quality matrix and therefore require further research: First, no reliable relationships between the customer requirements and design features could be derived from the conducted content analysis and second, no correlations between the identified design features could be detected. Practical implications – The paper provides a design basis for specific application systems and their information requirement analyses. It can also serve as an evaluation basis for existing software products in the market. Originality/value – The connection of a literature review with the QFD procedure transfers a consolidated state of PPMS research into an applicable design recommendation and therefore supports rigor and relevance of the research.


2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilherme Malucelli ◽  
Marcos T.J. Barbosa ◽  
Marly Monteiro de Carvalho

Purpose When plans fail, the form of making it happen leads to improvisation in practice, which is not sufficiently approached yet in the project management (PM) field. The main reason for the lack of research is that improvisation is predominantly seemed in a negative perspective. Due to the relevance of improvisation in the PM field, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why improvisation is applied in the PM context. This research address two questions: which are the key topics and studies linked with improvisation in the PM context?: how do the origin factors and the purpose influence improvisation in PM context? Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review was carried out through the merging of bibliometric analysis and content analysis. The systematic literature review aims to identify and synthesize the research on the theme, applying structured, transparent and replicable procedures for each phase of the process. These studies focus mainly on the identification of literature standards based on publication reviews. The sampling process follows the flow summarized in Figure 1. The searching process was based on two selected databases, the Web of Science and Scopus. The search strings applied were: (improvisation OR bricolage) AND “project management.” Findings The evolution of publications has shown the existence of a growing interest in the articles relating to improvisation and PM in recent years. The literature on improvisation in the PM context, allows to identify the key related constructs, origin factors and purposes. It also identifies the core relation among these constructs. The understanding of the effect of origin factors on the key related constructs was achieved. Improvisation appears not only as a strategy for adapting when dealing with urgent demands, but also as a team skill. Research limitations/implications As a limitation related to the research methods adopted, their exploratory nature is acknowledged, implying some subjectivity in the content analysis of the surveyed sample. The databases, search strings and selection criteria may also have narrowed the research sample. This study shows a lack of research on knowledge management, experience and resilience that can be a drive for future research. Other interesting insights for future research are that some origin factors are more related with some related constructs than others. Practical implications As practical implications, project practitioners can better understand how improvisation is related to PM. The results can bring insights to professionals such as to explore improvisation in uncertainty and complex environments, and to improve aspects like adaptation, intuition and innovation needs. Improvisation can be understood as a way to improve project results considering that it is a mechanism of management in the face of the inherent environment pressure and is related to ones who have experience and is not necessarily a consequence of lack of planning. Originality/value This paper contributes to the current literature in two ways. First, there is in-depth understanding of the literature on improvisation in the PM context, which allows to identify the key related constructs, origin factors and purposes. Moreover, it identifies the core relation among these constructs. Second, understanding of the effect of origin factors on the key related constructs was achieved.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Amicarelli ◽  
Christian Bux

PurposeGiven the importance of food waste in the economic, social, health and environmental dimensions, the purpose of this work is to detect, through a systematic and configurative literature review on food-waste-measurement methodologies, the global approaches, characteristics, limitations, opportunities and results applied within the literature. The analysis of these papers provides useful information about how far we are from international action plans and, therefore, how we need to direct programs and policies to measure and reduce food waste and ensure food security and food safety.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have conducted a systematic, configurative literature review on food waste measurement methodologies applied only within empirical studies published in academic peer-reviewed scientific journals. Based on the Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/1597 of May 3, 2019 (OJEU, 2019) regarding common methodologies and minimum quality requirements for the homogeneous assessment of food waste quantities and composition, the authors investigated the issue on Web of Science Core Collection (WoS) from June 2000 to June 2020. The authors researched keywords within article titles, abstracts and author keywords by utilizing 34 different research strings.FindingsThe proposed review particularly refers to following topics: measurement methodologies applied according to the Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/1597; editorial placement and publication timeline; geographical area; food supply-chain stage and publication journals; and the main features, limitations, opportunities and results for each measurement methodology as presented by authors. Among the first 48,000 results, only 58 academic articles are perfectly in line with the aim of the review, highlighting the lack of standardized methodologies, the limits of those proposed and the deficiency of comparable results to achieve sustainable international goals.Originality/valueThe proposed review is one of the few concerning food waste measurement methodologies. Food waste measurement is essential to rebalance the actual inadequate food system and to switch it toward a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly one, thereby (1) managing the human nutrition system paradox of hungry, undernourished and over-weight people; (2) reducing food insecurity; (3) ensuring each living being's access to healthy, nutritious and sustainable food; and (4) reducing environmental impacts (neutral or positive impact) and the loss of biodiversity and mitigating climate change.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 590-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Øyvind Kvalnes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how the concept of honesty can shed light on misreporting issues in projects. Research on honesty can be useful for practitioners and researchers in project management, in order to understand and counter the withholding and distortion of relevant information from projects. In moral psychology, dishonesty is often explained as a result of moral neutralization. The paper provides an account of how neutralization can lead to dishonesty in projects. Design/methodology/approach – The current study is based on a literature review of research on misreporting and dishonesty in projects, and of relevant generic studies of honesty. Findings – The author concludes that the phenomenon of moral neutralization can explain dishonesty and misreporting in projects. Honesty can be encouraged by identifying attempts at moral neutralization, and rendering them unacceptable. At the core of this position is the view that the level of honesty amongst project members is most adequately understood and explained from a circumstance rather than a character approach. Research limitations/implications – The paper is based on a literature review, and needs to be supported by further empirical studies within project management. Practical implications – The suggested primacy of a circumstance approach to honesty implies that project practitioners should be aware of the phenomenon of moral neutralization. Even people of good moral character can become involved in neutralization, in order to render misreporting acceptable. The central practical challenge can thus be to recognize tendencies of neutralization in one's own and other people's moral reasoning. Originality/value – The main contribution of this paper is to introduce the concept of honesty in general, and the concept of moral neutralization in particular, to project management research and practice. The paper also suggests concrete ways to redirect attention from character to circumstances, based on more general research findings in social and moral psychology.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 418-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fredrik Karlsson ◽  
Ella Kolkowska ◽  
Frans Prenkert

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to survey existing inter-organisational information security research to scrutinise the kind of knowledge that is currently available and the way in which this knowledge has been brought about. Design/methodology/approach The results are based on a literature review of inter-organisational information security research published between 1990 and 2014. Findings The authors conclude that existing research has focused on a limited set of research topics. A majority of the research has focused management issues, while employees’/non-staffs’ actual information security work in inter-organisational settings is an understudied area. In addition, the majority of the studies have used a subjective/argumentative method, and few studies combine theoretical work and empirical data. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that future research should address a broader set of research topics, focusing especially on employees/non-staff and their use of processes and technology in inter-organisational settings, as well as on cultural aspects, which are lacking currently; focus more on theory generation or theory testing to increase the maturity of this sub-field; and use a broader set of research methods. Practical implications The authors conclude that existing research is to a large extent descriptive, philosophical or theoretical. Thus, it is difficult for practitioners to adopt existing research results, such as governance frameworks, which have not been empirically validated. Originality/value Few systematic reviews have assessed the maturity of existing inter-organisational information security research. Findings of authors on research topics, maturity and research methods extend beyond the existing knowledge base, which allow for a critical discussion about existing research in this sub-field of information security.


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