Wenche Aarseth

Holistic performance management: an integrated framework

Purpose – The work presented aimed at developing an integrated framework for holistic performance management.Design/methodology/approach – The research was carried out using an action research approach. A case study was used as the basis for developing a pilot framework for performance management, involving both employees in the case organization and researchers. The research is based on theoretical contributions within performance management, total quality management, and trend analysis.Findings – A generic holistic performance management framework is outlined, encompassing diverse areas that need to play together and reinforce each other to give full effect to an organization. The main focus is a case study of a bank office, where a tailored version of the performance management framework was developed to give a setting where all these elements now are harmonized and work together.Research limitations/implications – The framework must be viewed as a pilot that should be further tested in other types of ...

Practical difficulties encountered in attempting to implement a partnering approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present practical difficulties in attempting to implement a partnering approach.Design/methodology/approach – The paper comprises empirical evidence from case studies in Norway and Canada and an extensive literature review on partnering.Findings – The authors identified a lack of shared understanding of key partnering concepts, missing initial effort to establish shared ground rules, communication difficulties in inter‐organizational relationships and unclear (perceived) roles and responsibilities. In existing partnering literature, a large number of construction studies have identified conceptual partnering models. However, studies that describe partnering models to take these practical difficulties into account have not been found and the paper develops a practical model that outlines the phases of a typical partnering effort.Research limitations/implications – Partnering has both a legal/contractual side and a management/collaboration side. This paper looks at ...

Managing organizational challenges in global projects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to complement the research that has been done in global projects so far and has two objectives: to study organizational challenges in global projects, compared with those of traditional projects; and to define and analyze the main organizational challenges the project team members and project managers meet when assigned to global projects. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a survey sent to 550 project managers and people working in a global environment, data from 246 respondents, and 30 interviews with senior project team members. Findings – The results show that the main organizational challenges are managing the external stakeholders in the global project; the local government in the country, local content demand, local authorities, local industry, and lack of support from the base organization and management. One of the conclusions is that companies need a relationship management approach to managing these challenges in global projects. Origin...

Key factors for management of global projects: a case study

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from a case study from a large energy company in terms of what seems to influence the success rate of global projects. While the literature contains much research on success factors in traditional projects, limited findings have emerged when it comes to success in global projects. The portfolios of global projects are continuously increasing in extent, and these projects contribute highly to growth and innovation in developing countries. Understanding better how to manage such projects for best results and transfer of knowledge and economic activity to host countries is therefore a relevant direction of research. The research presented in this paper is based on data from a case company, comprising of survey data from 246 global project managers and staff as well as 30 interviews with senior expatriates. The areas pointed to by the data as most important for global project success are presented in two proposed models for global project management. In total, the two highest-ranking areas were organisational global project support and stakeholder and relationship management with the host countries and their various actors.

Defining project partnering

Purpose Due to observed problems in real-life projects stemming from the lack of a unified definition, the purpose of this paper is to formulate a new definition of project partnering (PP) through documenting the specific characteristics researchers attribute to this approach. Design/methodology/approach PP definition phrases extracted from a literature review were sorted into a basic framework of who, what, how, when and where. In a web-based survey, a group of experts marked the phrases from the literature review as being specific, generic, or irrelevant to PP. The expert group comprised highly ranked and experienced PP researchers. Based on the survey results, a new definition was formulated. The new definition specifies the participants, the objectives and the knowledge, skills, tools and techniques applied to pursue the objectives in PP. A verification survey of the expert group gave a 78-96 per cent combined approve and support score for each element of the new definition. Findings PP and a partnering project are defined by a framework encompassing three basic dimensions: participants, objectives, knowledge, skills, tools and techniques applied to pursue the objectives. The new definition is: “project partnering is a relationship strategy whereby a project owner integrates contractors and other major contributors into the project”. Through commitment to mutual project objectives, collaborative problem solving and a joint governance structure, partners pursue collaborative relationships, trust and improved performance. The new definition indicates that PP neither varies with early contractor involvement nor gain and pain share, but varies with the degree of mutual project objectives, collaborative problem solving and joint governance structure. Originality/value PP is a complex concept with no widely accepted definition. The basic framework applied to the formulation of the definition in this project can also be applied to define and implement a partnering project and to define and distinguish between other relationship-based procurement forms.

A project management issue of new technology developments: A case study on lack of human factors’ attention in human–robot interaction:

The complexity of today’s sociotechnical systems has prompted researchers and practitioners to advocate new holistic approaches to safety. However, many engineering standards, methods and processes for addressing technical, human and organizational factors do not fully reflect this. This article investigates known project management challenges and how they can explain the lack of attention to human factors issues in the design and development of new technology. As such, the work contributes to a research stream investigating why the human factors discipline is repeatedly marginalized in engineering projects. This article reports on findings from a case study – a research and innovation project developing technology and concepts for human–robot collaboration. We conclude that a narrow focus on early project phases and insufficient information coordination contribute to marginalizing the role of human factors in the design and development of new technology.

Partnering in offshore drilling projects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate to which extent partnering practices observed in earlier research focussing on the construction industry are applied in offshore development drilling projects. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews earlier research on project partnering and the relationship-based procurement (RBP) taxonomy. The taxonomy is then empirically applied to describe partnering practices in an incentive-based drilling project in Norway. Findings Many elements of project partnering observed earlier in construction projects were found to characterize offshore development drilling projects. However, as assessed using the RBP framework, the authors found that partnering elements in observed context rated consistently lower than elements previously reported in the construction industry, indicating a lower maturity of partnering practices in the studied context. Practical implications The present study provides a multi-dimensional and systematic description of partnering practices in offshore drilling projects. Project owners can utilize this information to identify partnering elements requiring particular emphasis when initiating and managing drilling projects. Based on the findings, such elements include transparency and open-book auditing, integrated risk mitigation and insurance practices and establishment of authentic leadership. The findings further imply that partnering models cannot be directly applied across industry boundaries but must be tailored to fit the salient characteristics of each context. Originality/value The paper systematically describes to which extent specific partnering elements of the RBP taxonomy are applied in offshore drilling projects.