Miia Martinsuo

Project Portfolio Control and Portfolio Management Performance in Different Contexts

This article investigates the nature and relationship of project portfolio control techniques and portfolio management performance, and how this relationship is moderated by situational idiosyncrasies of internal and external dynamics, industries, governance types, and geographic location. A worldwide questionnaire with 242 responses was used, of which 136 high-performing responses were filtered out for quantitative analysis of best practices. Three portfolio control factors were identified: portfolio selection, portfolio reporting, and decision-making style. Two measures for portfolio management performance were identified: achievement of desired portfolio results and achievement of project and program purpose. The results indicate that different portfolio control mechanisms are associated with different performance measures. A contingency model was developed, including moderating effects by contextual variables.

Project strategy: strategy types and their contents in innovation projects

Purpose – Previous literature on project strategy has adopted the narrow view that a project is to be conducted under the governance of a single strong sponsor or parent organization. The purpose of this study is to provide a critical analysis on prior project management (PM) literature addressing different context‐specific strategies of single projects.Design/methodology/approach – Literature analysis.Findings – There are two important determinants in the projects context that affect the strategy of a single project: a projects autonomy in its environment and the complexity of projects stakeholder environment. Based on these two determinants, we characterize four types of alternative positions that projects can have in their context: parents subordinate and autonomous projects that occur in a stakeholder environment that is not complex, and projects with weak and autonomous positions in a complex stakeholder environment. The developed project strategy framework is applied in the context of innovation...

Personal commitment, support and progress in doctoral studies

Earlier research on doctoral education has associated study progress with the student’s own capabilities and faculty support. The purpose of this study is to investigate how students’ personal commitment and various forms of support, as well as their complementary effects, explain progress in doctoral studies. Data were collected by a questionnaire survey among doctoral students of industrial engineering and management in Finland. The study investigates the effect of: (1) support from supervisor, peers and employer, and (2) students’ commitment in terms of setting goals, time and plans. The results show that plan commitment and peer support, as well as goal commitment and supervisor support, together have a positive effect on study progress. In turn, time commitment and peer support, and time commitment and supervisor support, jointly lead to better research progress.

Project-based management as an organizational innovation: drivers, changes and benefits of adopting project-based management

This paper examines project-based management as an organizational innovation. Institutional theory and innovation diffusion literature suggest that the drivers for adopting an organizational innovation may differ across organizations, and that the drivers may be linked with the timing of the innovation. A survey questionnaire was used for data collection, and the sample consisted of 111 companies representing a variety of industries. The results of this study identified external pressure and internal complexity as drivers for introducing project-based management. The degree of process change, depth of project-based management adoption, and local success of project-based management introduction as changes caused by adopting project-based management are examined. The study also reveals benefits from introducing project-based management in the form of improvement in project culture, and efficiency improvement.

Value Management in Project Portfolios: Identifying and Assessing Strategic Value

Projects are expected to bring value to their constituents. Value management in project portfolios has centered on the maximization of commercial value and identification of future business prospects. In this study, the goal is increased understanding of the identification and assessment of strategic, non-commercial value in project portfolios. We map the relevant dimensions of strategic value and supplement previous frameworks with the non-commercial aspects. Ecological, societal, and learning values have only been studied conceptually and qualitatively in earlier research. We propose future research on these values in quantitative settings and exploring collective sensemaking as part of project portfolio value management.

Project autonomy in complex service development networks

Purpose – Earlier research has investigated project autonomy only in the context of one parent organization, and not sufficiently in complex stakeholder environments. This paper aims to examine project autonomy and its formation in a complex stakeholder environment. The purpose is to increase understanding on project autonomy, its formation, enablers, and barriers in a complex stakeholder environment, particularly in service development networks.Design/methodology/approach – An embedded case study strategy of 11 service development projects are employed within the same non‐profit parent organization, each with their unique, complex stakeholder networks. Data were collected through interviews with key informants both in the projects and their parent organization and content analyzed.Findings – The results reveal that project autonomy appears in constant interplay with the surrounding stakeholder environment. Four types of context‐dependent autonomy are characterized in the projects: isolated, privileged, n...

Teaching the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation: Experimenting with Team Learning and Cross‐Organizational Integration

How can the extremely uncertain front end of innovation – managing the fuzzy front end – be taught to graduate students? This paper describes and analyses experiments with experiential, problem-based learning focused on the front end of innovation. The focus is on the learning and cross-organizational integration of student teams; factors that have been identified as central to the success of teams involved in the front end of innovation. An experiential course, ‘From an idea to a business plan in product development’, was developed in conjunction with an actual company, and piloted with four student groups in 2007 and 2008. Data on this novel course were collected through participant observation, team self-assessment and questionnaires. This paper reports favourable results for the effectiveness of the course design; it discusses the impact of team size and cross-organizational team composition on team performance; and identifies the implications for teaching the front end of innovation.

The impact of relational norms on information technology project success and its moderation through project governance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of relational norms on project success in different project governance contexts. Design/methodology/approach – A worldwide web-based questionnaire yielded 200 responses. Results from regression analyses supported the hypothesis that relational norms impact project success. Hierarchical regression analyses showed the moderating effect of governance and control on the relationship between relational norms and project success. Findings – Relational norms in the buyer-supplier relationship are positively associated with project success. This relationship is moderated by the strictness of project governance, especially the level of flexibility left to the project manager. Lower levels of managerial flexibility are detrimental to project success in cases of weak relational norms and supportive of project success in cases of high relational norms. Research limitations/implications – Academic implications stem from the indication that control has a low...

Professional socialization of electrical engineers in university education

University educators constantly seek ways in which courses and curricula would promote students’ professional development in line with the needs of industries. The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for analysing professional socialization particularly in the context of electrical engineering education and explore factors associated with professional socialization. We analysed professional socialization as the degree to which graduates perceive they have adopted domain-specific capabilities and ways of thinking. We carried out an Internet questionnaire among electrical engineering graduates (n=99) at Helsinki University of Technology, completed statistical analyses, and as a result identified technology adoption, professional benefit, and scientific thinking as dimensions of professional socialization. The findings contribute by demonstrating a domain-specific analysis approach for estimating professional socialization in electrical engineering and by suggesting further tests for the framework in both in electrical engineering and other professional domains.

Knowledge integration between the change program and the parent organisation

Change programs interact with the surrounding parent organisation to access resources, support and knowledge relevant to their goals. Prior research has investigated knowledge integration particularly in product development and not sufficiently between change programs and their parent organisations. More research is needed on knowledge integration during the entire lifecycle of change programs. The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding on the situated practises used for knowledge integration between a change program and its parent organisation during the program lifecycle. We use a qualitative single-case study methodology in a successful public-sector change program to develop and test a framework on knowledge integration practises and roles, and to reveal knowledge integration practises regarding organisational and project management routines during the programs lifecycle. The results report evidence on the situatedness and dynamics of knowledge integration, and on the rather improvisational nature of project management even in highly institutionalised contexts.