Maxwell Chipulu

A Multidimensional Analysis of Project Manager Competences

Projects are important to industry. Project manager (PM) competences are important in project success. Yet, current competence studies largely rely on small-sample, homogenous PM surveys which could suffer from uncontrollable biases and may not be generalizable. Often, the studies disregard industry specificity. We attempt to address these issues by exploring the key competences employers require from PMs across multiple industry sectors. We code the contents of 2306 online project management job advertisements in the U.K., the U.S., Canada, China, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore for frequently occurring keywords. Using three-way multidimensional scaling (MDS), we extract six dimensions of competence present in the coded keywords: 1) industry-specific and generic skills over project management knowledge/expertise; 2) project management knowledge/expertise over industry-specific and generic skills; 3) (senior) managerial skills; 4) (positive) personal traits; 5) project management methodology experience and professional qualifications; and 6) risk management over a project life cycle. We find that typically industry puts more weight on generic skills than project management knowledge/expertise, replicating previous PM survey-based results. We believe, however, that the main contribution is our finding that different industry sectors place significantly different levels of salience on the six dimensions. We discuss the practical implications of the results.

Exploring the impact of cultural values on project performance: The effects of cultural values, age and gender on the perceived importance of project success/failure factors

Purpose – This study aims to explore the impact of cultural values on the importance individuals assign to project success/failure factors (PSFFs). Design/methodology/approach – Themes emerging from 40 interviews of project practitioners based in Brazil, China, Greece, Nigeria, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and the USA are integrated with literature evidence to design a survey instrument. One thousand three hundred and thirteen practitioner survey responses from the eight countries are analysed using multi-group, structural equation modelling. Findings – Ten project success/failure indicators (PSFIs) are found to reduce to two main PSFFs: project control and extra-organisational goals and project team management/development and intra-organisational goals. It is found that the levels of importance individuals assign to both factors are dependent, not only on age and gender, but also cultural values measured as constructs based on Hofstedes individualism, masculinity, power distance and uncertainty avoidance d...

The criticality of risk factors in customer relationship management projects

Customer relationship management (CRM) remains an area of considerable interest in contemporary project management literature, due to its association with high failure rates. This research examined the criticality of four risk factors. Quantitative data analyzed using PASW17 were collected from a sample of 250 CRM project practitioners. Although we found strong evidence to support the focus on these risk factors, which include “user training,” “top management support,” “business strategy and technology alignment,” and “effective project feedback,” the authors found that, although some risk factors may be identified as “critical,” their criticality is dependent on the context of the project.

User adoption of mandatory enterprise technology

Purpose – Drawing on extant technology acceptance literature, the purpose of this paper is to critically examine the impact of mandatory enterprise technology adoption in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered from a survey of stockbrokers operating on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange on two occasions over a four year period. Expert forecasting (TSModel) algorithms were employed to assess attitudinal changes of users on mandatory system adoption.Findings – The results suggest that over time, users (stockbrokers) developed an increasingly negative perception of the technology, thus emphasising the need for managers to focus on subjective imperatives that might impact the adoption of mandated technology.Practical implications – Africa remains neglected in relation to information systems/information technology (IS/IT) research. This has driven the authors’ interest in seeking to understand how contextual peculiarities specific to Africa could play a significant role in an understand...

An analysis of interrelationships between project management and student‐experience constructs

This article seeks to explore, through the utilization of correlational analysis, how the parameters that impact the student experience may be interrelated. We found that the experiences of students studying project management appear to be heavily influenced by e-resource provisions and the actual experiences that the students are subjected to when using virtual learning environments (VLEs). These findings support previous research acknowledging that information and communications technology (ICT) plays an important role in teaching and learning project management. Students’ experience of interpersonal skills also correlated uniquely and significantly with other constructs, supporting the premise that learning is integral to the development of interpersonal skills. Discussion surrounds the interdependency of student experiences adding to their learning and how future research should consider larger and more diverse samples to establish exactly what constructs detract and/or add to their learning in project management, which could then contribute to pedagogical discourse in other disciplines.

Unconventional competition - drawing lessons from the military

We explore aspects of unconventional competition between firms. In particular, we address two critical questions. The first is: what happens when firms decide to compete outside the rules and frameworks of conventional competition? In other words, how should firms react to competitors who employ unconventional means of competition that differ from recognised Western ethical and legal norms? Secondly, we examine whether current warfare models provide guidance to firms facing such unconventional competition. To address these two questions, we seek to draw lessons from decision‐making approaches adopted by the military. We come to the conclusion that businesses can learn a great deal from how the military deals with unconventional competition.

Heterogeneity and perception congruence of project outcomes

This study examines the impact of project manager and practitioner heterogeneity on congruent perceptions of the outcome of service operations projects. More specifically, the study focuses on congruence in the formation and subsequently revision of project outcome perceptions of service operations. Data were obtained from 1413 project management practitioners and subsequently analysed using multi-layered and combined statistical methods. The results suggest that perception congruence, that is relationships or agreements between different stakeholders, may be impacted by age and role heterogeneity of project managers and practitioners, but not gender.

Forecasting in airforce supply chains

Purpose – The UK Chinook helicopter is a utility and attack helicopter being operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). Its versatile nature is of enormous importance to the strategic capability of the RAFs operations. The purpose of this paper is to utilise systems‐based forecasting to conduct an evaluation of inventory and forecasting systems being used to support its maintenance programme.Design/methodology/approach – A case study is conducted. Data are collected from existing monthly Component Repair (CRP) data and performance evaluation of software. For propriety reasons, all data have been sanitised.Findings – Analysis of the current inventory and forecasting system suggests a possible lack of forecasting precision. Current non‐specific formulation of forecasting techniques implied several of the cost drivers demands were being miscalculated. This lack of precision is possibly a result of the smoothing value of 0.01 being too low, especially as the results of statistical modelling suggest that current...

Advanced inventory planning and forecasting solutions: a case study of the UKTLCS Chinook maintenance programme

This article which advances on earlier published work by the authors, evaluates the forecasting performance of the inventory planning and forecasting support system used by Boeing’s United Kingdom Through Life Customer Support to manage inventory for the maintenance of the Royal Air force fleet of Chinook helicopters. Focussing mainly on a sample of the spare-part components considered most influential on maintenance costs, limitations in the current forecasting system are identified. Approaches for improving forecasting performance are explored using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)-based tools. It is found that generic proprietary inventory and forecasting systems can be enhanced by using VBA tools that allow detailed examination of each component’s demand time series. For propriety reasons, all data have been sanitised.

Consumer action in response to ethical violations by service operations firms: the impact of heterogeneity

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine whether individual demographic and socio-cultural factors affect actions taken by consumers in relation to ethical violations and failure (or perceived ethical violations and failure) by service operations firms. Design/methodology/approach – Data collection was undertaken over a two-year period, from 2011 to 2013, and involved sampling 3,155 respondents from 19 countries. Data analysis was undertaken utilizing hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). Findings – Findings suggest that although both individual demographic factors (age and gender) and societal differences do affect ethical actions taken by service consumers, inter-societal cluster variations have a more significant effect on the ethical action than individual demographic differences do. Originality/value – For service operations firms, the study findings offer evidence on the need for constant readjustment of service attributes in line with the ethical dispositions of the different demographic an...