Outline the dominant/standard project management approach which is based on identifying risks.

Recent research in project studies showed an increasing attention towards the link between project management and flexibility. Project practitioners are exploring various governance arrangements that can make the project management more flexible. Capital engineering projects, especially large and complex, have often attracted criticism for their performance. A flexible project management approach could help mitigate issues such as environmental uncertainty, which in turn should aid towards better decision making.

 

The essence of a flexibility is to raise awareness of the changing and dynamic project environment. It is recognized that the complex and changing context of projects makes it impossible to make reliable predictions, and instead of predicting and correspondingly avoiding changes, changes need to be incorporated in the project. In other words: “the project manager should be empowered with flexibility to deal with unforeseen circumstances as they see best, and with the owner giving guidance as to how they think the project should be best achieved.”[1]

 

Your task

By considering the above, you are asked to produce a report that:

  • Outlines the dominant/standard project management approach which is based on identifying risks.
  • Makes a case that challenges the existing approach
  • Provides a new ideology that drives the organisation owning the project
  • Summarises the report’s findings and discusses implications of these findings
  • Produces an actionable agenda.

 

Please note: the report’s narrative should address the two points highlighted in orange above, not just a section.

 

Format structure

The following structure should be used:

 

Section
Introduction
Analysis
Recommendations

 

 

Marking criteria

 

Section Weighting
Introduction 15%
Analysis 45%
Recommendations 30%
Presentation 10%

 

Refer to the mark criteria below to understand how each section will be graded

 

 

 

Mark criteria breakdown

 

Section Weighting
1. Introduction

 

The Introduction should briefly introduce:

·      The problem statement,

 

The standard/dominant project management approach for identifying risk is well illustrated by Kardes et al 2011. He used the following diagram below to illustrate such approach.

 

 

Problem with this approach, is the problem statement for this assignment.

 

An approach like this when used in Capital engineering projects, especially large and complex, have often attracted criticism because of their inflexibility.

 

When talking about the problem statement in the introduction please refer to this dominant/ standard approach illustrated in the diagram above ( paper attached above) and explain how this approach is inflexible and the consequences of this.

 

 

·      The objectives of the report,

 

The objective Is to make a case that challenges the existing approach (the dominant/standard one), the one that challenges the existing approach needs to make the project management more flexible so project managers can cope with the ever-changing environment. Inflexibility is a significant problem in the standard/dominant approach mentioned above.

 

·      provide insights regarding the report’s findings and

·      summarise the report structure.

 

 15%
3. Analysis

 

Using academic literature sources, address the following questions:

 

3.1      What is process flexibility, and how, if used, can improve the project management approach?

 

 

3.2 How can we make the project management process more flexible?

 

I propose when addressing this question to use ROR.

 

Real options reasoning (ROR) is as an ideal framework for futureproofing complex infrastructure,

 

which in turn will make the project management more flexible. (Please make sure this is correct its only my opinion)

 

The following academic paper talks about ROR and futureproofing

 

(Talking About Futureproofing: Real Options Reasoning in Complex Infrastructure Projects) by Ilias Krystallis, Giorgio Locatelli, and Niamh Murtagh)

 

 

3.3 Provide descriptive cases i.e., examples of how governance allowed for a more flexible project management approach.

 

Use past academic literature sources which contain examples when addressing this question.

 45%

 

 

 

(10%)

 

 

 

 

(20%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(15%)
Recommendations

 

Your concluding section should:

  • Provide managerial recommendations as a reflection of your analysis. This should be an actionable agenda (Who, what, when, how).
 30%

 

 
Presentation

  • Use clear Headings.
  • Your paper should not go beyond the word limit
  • You are strongly advised to use tables and figures to summarise key points of the literature review or findings (wherever possible)
  • Do not include an abstract/Exec summary
  • Do not include a table of contents
  • Use Harvard style for referencing sources
  • Arguments are made stronger if they are supported by evidence (i.e. source)
  • Introduce and Cross-reference any table or figures in the main text
 10%
Total 100%

 

 

 

 

Word Count/Length

The paper should be 3,300 words (including tables, figures, reference list) in length. A 10% above the word limit is allowed. The paper should draw on theory and concepts and this must be referenced.