Contemporary issues project management pdf

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Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Corlane Barclay To Joy Elizabeth Bryson my youngest sister and Michael Bryson my youngest brother , who have through their lives taught me Downloaded by [ In recent decades, developing nations have been increasing their utilization of projects as vehicles to drive economic and social development through formal application of project management principles.

Anecdotal and some empirical evidence suggest that practitioners may not be effectively applying best principles and practices of project management, with the result that organizations, including government organizations, in too many cases do not successfully manage important projects.

This phenomenon presents a deep challenge for economies that are already faced with severe financial and other resource constraints. For example, the media continuously report on incidences of persistent overspending in govern- ment projects and problems of delayed work as a result of improper planning and risk management, which exacerbate the draining of the already overburdened cof- fers of these countries.

This, in turn, slows national development. Contributing factors to this seemingly endless cycle are the ineffective application of project man- agement standards and techniques, the lack of suitably qualified and experienced project managers, and the paucity of resources that are relevant to their context.

An analysis of the academic discourse i. Even though experiences from other regions are beneficial, it is even more imperative to share and provide insights that have strong contextual relevance to regional experiences.

Thus, practitioners and researchers can rely on techniques and experiences from shared experiences which enhance significance within cultural, economic, or politi- cal dimensions.

Note that important lessons, opportunities, and innovations can be fostered, too; therefore, we also seek to examine some of the opportunities and lessons that can be harnessed and applied to areas of similar and different contexts. This book is aimed at addressing current limitations in the literature through the provision of, and sharing of, shared experiences, insights, and best practices that are specific to the context of these economies to improve applicability relatedness and chance of adoption.

The book will share ideas, insights, and experiences in all forms of business projects that may include a core information and communica- tions technology ICT artifact or is supported by ICT to deliver the specific arti- fact, product, service, or result. We expect that this book will be of particular interest to persons in industry and government across various sectors and functions, including ICT development, environment, law, government and capacity building, education, banking and finance, health, and other areas.

The book consists of 17 chapters from various contributors representing various parts of the world, including Brazil, Jamaica, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These chapters are categorized into four sections. The discourse highlights the range of perspectives, experiences, and issues in managing different types of projects across different domains and countries and emphasizes the similarities and nuances in managing projects where the strategies can resonate in an area that is relatively underrepresented.

The first section, Considerations in Managing Successful Projects, provides an overview of foundational issues pertinent to managing successful projects. The challenges encountered in managing small software shops in Pakistan, project escalation, the implications for risks in effectively managing projects and programs, and the quality considerations in managing business and technology projects are presented.

The third section, Observations and Cases from Industry, provides case studies and experience in managing diverse projects, to include the implications of knowl- edge movements in building design projects; knowledge management practices in projects situated in Caribbean organizations; implications of project leadership a national e-learning project in Jamaica; and contextualization of the process of law- making in the Caribbean in a formal project management outlook.

Downloaded by [ An overview of the evalu- ation technique is provided, followed by a demonstration of it in evaluating and identifying project success criteria for data mining projects. Assess intercultural strengths and weaknesses ii. Select appropriate trainings iii. Select general cultural training iv. Align trainings with available resources v. Re-evaluate your cultural awareness The major limitations of the study are:- i.

The intercultural training competency program has to be fused with other project activities, therefore it is difficult to isolate the activities prescribed in the model with other project activities ii. Also, preparing the project team for international project assignment, the time may not be enough. There is a clear flow of ideas as derived from the other models in relationship to the intercultural training competency model. The conclusions are strong, but their implementation may be difficult due to a number of reasons i.

Relative to theory, the study proposes the content of the intercultural management competency training program. The main purpose of the paper is to highlight the fact that understanding and participating in the exchange of cultural information through intercultural communication with people of other cultures is important for positive team relationships and effective productivity for the whole group.

Therefore when people work in multicultural teams, they bring with them their beliefs, values and preferences and they will judge people from other cultures based on theirs.

In terms of evidence, the author bases his arguments on the work of previous researchers on the cultural background of people and how it influences their behavior when in multicultural teams and this where the role of the leader of a multicultural team is important.

The results of the study reveal quite interesting ideas. The leader in a multicultural team must play a crucial role in getting the team members focus on a common goal by developing a common vision in order to build an atmosphere of trust within the group, implement practices that help to change attitudes, build understanding and confidence among the team members.

Had this study been carried out by more than one person, it would have revealed a much richer body of findings. One person might have missed out important ideas. Overall, the study is important in that it has clearly highlighted the link between culture, leadership, communication and decision making in a multicultural team.

The main purpose of the paper is to discuss problems faced by Cross Cultural Teams and proposed strategies to cope with this challenge. The conceptual basis of the paper is to highlight the fact that in a globalized world economy, companies are expanding their business in international markets and therefore recruiting people from various backgrounds, with different ways of communicating, different religions, and different working styles and as a result of these differences, managers face challenges while working with people of diverse cultures.

The research approach used is using secondary data from journals, magazines, internet and reports. The author acknowledges that there is a lot of research done on Cross Cultural Teams with different objectives but the bottom line is that the managers of these Cross Cultural Teams face a lot of challenges.

He makes no specific reference to previous research in this specific area. In terms of logical flow of arguments, the author is articulate in the way he makes his recommendations He gives recommendations at two levels - at organizational level and at Team level.

At Organizational level the author recommends measures like creating a corporate culture, training staff on cultural differences, provide platform for staff self evaluation, managers should build relationships with communities where the business is located, and respectful treatment of employees ii.

Overall the study is very important and provides valuable information for companies expanding in other markets in different geographical locations and those with challenges in working with Cross Cultural Teams. The rationale of the study was to examine how culture affects Trust Building Process in International Projects The researchers base their work on several studies done before in the field of multiculturalism and its impact on the trust Building process.

The authors first highlight the importance of culture in trust building. The research uses extensive literature review in order to come up with a model comprised of critical factors necessary for trust building in international project stakeholders. They particularly base their work on the models developed by McAllister, ; Rousseau, et al, The researchers however point out that despite these earlier models, on building trust, not much by way of empirical research has been done on cultural effects on trust building in international projects.

The conceptual basis for the paper is that multiculturalism has become an important component of the increasingly global nature of projects and with it has come new challenges.

The study thus aimed at examining how culture affects trust building in international projects. The researchers collected evidence for their work by analyzing literature on work done before. The analysis is qualitative in nature and they do not state how many pieces of work were analyzed i.

In terms of interpretation of the findings, the researchers explain clearly their findings and there is a logical flow of ideas.

They explain clearly relative to literature the importance of trust in projects, the concept of trust in relation to project stakeholders. The recommendations are general and shallow. They are not specific.

The conclusions are okay based on the nature of research. They are all based on previous work on the subject. Finally this study is important in that it emphasizes importance of trust building in multicultural environments as this is one of the critical success factors in achieving project goals. The major factors in the trust building model the researchers developed are good communication skills, behaving reliably, showing commitment, being sincere, being benevolent, competent, acting with integrity, working towards project milestones and establishing common goals.

The paper thus contributes to theory. Each project is unique and must be managed in its uniqueness in order to achieve the project results. One of the most important things to look at is the role of stakeholders for successful execution of a project, which if not well handled may result in project failure. In other words, stakeholders are individuals or groups of individuals who are in one way or another impacted by a project, therefore engaging stakeholders effectively enables them to render all the necessary support to the project so that project goals are achieved.

The strategic issue being considered in this assignment is the role of a key stakeholder in this case the Cooperatives in liberalization of the coffee industry in Uganda as well as implementation of the coffee subsector revitalization activities.

The gist of this discussion is about a strategic mistake made by the Government of Uganda of not engaging a key stakeholder during the liberalization of the coffee industry and how this has adversely affected the performance of the industry resulting in decreased coffee production, deteriorating quality of coffee produced, low farm gate prices to the smallholder farmers.

Coffee is the biggest earning cash crop in the country close to USD M annually. Most coffee is grown in the central region. From the s during colonial rule all through up to late s, the coffee industry was being run by cooperatives.

The small holder farmers were members of the primary cooperative societies and the primary societies constituted the cooperatives unions The small holder farmer would harvest their coffee berries, dry them and deliver them to primary cooperative societies where the coffee was weighed and recorded. The primary society would deliver the coffee to the Cooperative Union which did the processing into beans removing the husk in order to get the coffee beans which would be processed into coffee for consumption in the domestic market and the bulk of the coffee beans exported through the government created Coffee Marketing Board CMB.

When cooperatives had money crop finance , they would pay the farmers upon delivery of the coffee, and when they were short of cash, they would pay the farmers after exporting the coffee. The coffee Marketing Board created a Buffer Fund which was aimed at paying the smallholder farmer a stable and reasonable farm gate price to ensure that they benefit and keep in production regardless of increase or decrease of coffee prices at the world market.

Government divested itself of the responsibility to run many sectors of the economy. Government preferred to transfer this responsible to the private sector. This also involved relegating the role of cooperatives in running coffee, tea and cotton sub sectors.

The government also licensed private companies to trade in coffee. The government created the Uganda Coffee Development Authority UCDA to play the advisory and regulatory role while marketing role was left to the private firms. The Cooperatives which used to organize and support the farmers in coffee production and marketing were left out of the picture. Poor prices to the small holder farmer ii. Coffee quality was compromised as buyers rush to buy anything they can find without minding about the quality iii.

Farmers cut down coffee trees and resorted to other enterprises such as horticulture, and as a result there has been decreasing acreage under coffee, in effect production has steadily declined. The private companies just come with their money to buy coffee from the farmers moreover at very low prices; as a result both production and quality have considerably gone down.

The cooperatives used to support the farmers with inputs, knowledge, marketing and ensuring that quality is well maintained. As a result of the liberalization of the coffee industry, in which one of the key stakeholders- the Cooperatives was relegated in favor of the private sector, the problems have increased i.

The problem is further exacerbated by the aging coffee trees as well as the effect of coffee wilt disease which in some areas has almost wiped out the coffee crop. This problem is best addressed by promoting good husbandry practices, a key role which the cooperatives were playing. Instead of relegating the Cooperatives allegedly because of their inefficiency, the government would have come up with strategies to develop the capacity of the cooperatives to enable them compete with the private sector.