Homeworking Project Management & Agility as the New Normal in a Covid-19 World

The Covid-19 global pandemic crisis has had a deep and profound impact on fundamental elements of society, the economy, and the environment as a whole. Key organisations, businesses, sectors and industries vital for delivering crucial projects have been affected by the relatively fast onset of Covid-19 on a global scale. As a result, organisational routines and project management processes that would have focused on established methods and practices have incurred dramatic changes leading to a greater emphasis on agility as part of a more exhaustive strategic Covid-19 world, where new routines and processes become embedded as the new normal. This research focuses on the increased demand in Homeworking Project Management (HPM) and more significant agility requirements across dispersed virtual project management teams. Initial insights from semi-structured interviews with a cross-section of 12 high-level project professionals suggest that; (i) Transitional homeworking project management processes have a direct impact on collaborative and operational routines; (ii) There is a greater level of demand on agility with HPM teams which do not necessarily have the organisational infrastructure to support these, (iii) Technological resources are becoming a primary concern with inequality of information across HPM teams, and (iv) Increasing critical bottlenecks across dispersed HPM teams is adversely affecting tenable project outcomes.

GENERAL APPROACH TO PROJECT MATERIAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

The subject matter of the article is the processes of managing the material resources of the project. The goal of the work is to form a generalized approach to the management of material resources project by determining and formalizing the management processes of them. The following tasks were solved in the article: the processes of managing material resources project, which based on the process approach, are formed; place of these processes in the PMBOK structure is defined, these processes are integrated with other project management processes; a formalized presentation of the project management processes of the project is given; tools and methods of managing material resources of the project are identified. The following methods used are – methods of system analysis, decision-making theory, and inventory management theory. The following results were obtained – with target to make informed management decisions, it was proposed to allocate a separate area of knowledge, within which the processes of the management of material resources of the project are formed, their possible connection with the groups of PMBOK processes is shown. Based on the process approach, presentations of the processes were formalized. They are elements of managing material resources of projects. They define inputs and outputs, show interrelations with other processes of a specific area of knowledge, provide basic recommended tools and methods. Conclusions: the processes management resource described in the PMBOK methodology are analyzed. This made it possible to form possible directions for improving the project's resource support. It is noted that the solution to this problem depends on the management of the material resources of the project. A separate area of knowledge has been highlighted, within the framework of the processes of management of material resources project – the processes of evaluating material resources, procurement management and supply, distribution of material resources, managing material resources. They define inputs and outputs, show interrelations with other processes of a specific area of knowledge, provide basic recommended tools and methods. The results obtained can be useful when managing projects at any stage of the life cycle.

Exploration of latent barriers inhibiting project management processes in adopting smart building technologies (SBTs) in the developing countries

Purpose While smart building technologies (SBTs) implementation ensures sustainability, their adoption is hampered by latent barriers, especially in project management processes. These latent barriers must be addressed to facilitate the successful and widespread adoption of SBTs. Therefore, this study aims to explore the significant latent barriers inhibiting the project management processes in adopting SBTs in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach A positivist research philosophy couched within a deductive approach was adopted to undertake a quantitative questionnaire survey of 227 project management and design team participants. Descriptive and inferential analytical tools (including a one sample T-test and exploratory factor analysis) were then adopted to interpret data collected. Findings The results reveal that the “high cost of smart sustainable materials and equipment” is the major significant barrier hindering the adoption of SBTs in developing countries. Latent barriers were: “structure and time-related barriers,” “construction-related barriers” and “human, policy and cost-related barriers”. Originality/value The study contributes novel insights into the prevailing nascent discourse on SBTs from the perspectives of construction project managers and design teams in developing countries, particularly. Furthermore, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that ascertains the significant barriers inhibiting project management processes in adopting SBTs in developing countries.

A Study of Project Management Processes for Sustainable and Successful Projects in Software Industry: Expectations vs Perceptions of Managers

Project Management Processes (PMPs) are essential to avoid project failures due to the complexity and nature of projects in the software industry, particularly in emerging economies. The software industry is growing rapidly in Pakistan with an increasing number of local, regional and international clients. The project managers who are familiar with PMPs are therefore needed for the proper implementation of these processes, which will lead to sustainable and successful software projects. However, very limited studies have analyzed the expectations and perceptions of the project managers of these PMPs. In order to fill this gap, therefore, this study examined the role of PMPs in the sustainable development and success of software projects by documenting the expectations and perceptions of managers. A structured questionnaire is designed to collect data from 143 participants working in software houses. SPSS is used for the processing and analysis of data using selected statistical tools. The results show a clear difference in expectations and perceptions for PMPs, which means that project managers are of a less rational, sentimental and emotional nature. The findings of this study also show that the male segment is dominant in the software industry which may be due to of Pakistan’s specific social and cultural environment. There is however no significant difference between expectations and perceptions of both male and female project managers for PMPs. The findings of this study will help researchers, practitioners, academics and other stakeholders in the software industry.

A Review on Software Project Management Ontologies

This article aims to provide the reader with a comprehensive background for understanding current knowledge and research works on ontologies for software project management (SPM). It constitutes a systematic literature review behind key objectives of the potential adoption of ontologies in PM. Ontology development and engineering could facilitate substantially the software development process and improve knowledge management, software and artifacts reusability, internal consistency within project management processes of various phases of software life cycle. The authors examined the literature focusing on software project management ontologies and analyzed the findings of these published papers and categorized them accordingly. They used qualitative methods to evaluate and interpret findings of the collected studies. The literature review, among others, has highlighted lack of standardization in terminology and concepts, lack of systematic domain modeling and use of ontologies mainly in prototype ontology systems that address rather limited aspects of software project management processes.

СИСТЕМНИЙ ПІДХІД ДО УПРАВЛІННЯ ПРОЄКТАМИ

The article presents the author's approach to building a gnoseological model of project management research from a system approach. The aim of the article is to form the conceptual principles of the theoretical and methodological basis for the analysis of project management processes based on axiomatic conditions of consistency. The methodological basis of the research was the theses of classical and modern economic theory and the research work of domestic and foreign scientists on project management issues. The author's methodological concept is based on the unification, within a systematic paradigm, of the Marxist school of political economy and the principles of the institutional trend. The basic hypothesis of the research was the assumption that it is possible and expedient to use a descriptive methodology for identifying systems to requests for managing investment projects as open systems. Statement of the basic material. Methodological analysis has shown that the system is an integrity which is capable of self-development, formed by a sufficient set of elements that are able to reproduce themselves and function relatively independently, united by a network of significant structural, genetic and subordinate links. In the analysis of investment projects, the content of these links is presented through the investment legal relationship. From the point of view of the system paradigm, an investment project can be regarded as an organisational, financial and technically conditioned integrity, formed by a sufficient set of elements (property, property rights and other values) capable of self-reproduction and united by an investment legal relationship that establishes structural and subordinate relationships. It has been proved that the circulation area is a necessary and sufficient condition for the integrity of investment projects, transforms individual capital into public capital and ensures its circulation and reproduction. Also, the axiomatic condition of unity for investment systems is implemented through a set of formal and informal rules (laws) of composition. Originality and practical relevance of the research. The theoretical and methodological concept has theoretical significance and can be transformed into an appropriate applied toolkit for developing scientific and practical recommendations for project management. Conclusions and prospects for further research. The conceptual theoretical and methodological basis for the analysis of project management processes based on axiomatic conditions of consistency allows us to define the system triad of an investment project and formally identify the basic system components. Further research will focus on the development of instrumental and methodological support for project management.