Taryn Bond-Barnard, Lizelle Fletcher and Herman Steyn

Growth in computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies such as instant messaging (IM) and video conferencing (VC) has led to a need to explore the utilisation and influence of these tools on the quality of project communication, which must still be established. This article reports the results of a survey conducted among 210 project practitioners using CMC in various industries to determine how, why and what each medium is used for, and how these media influence factors that promote quality communication. Some results showed that the use of both instant messaging and video conferencing in projects is moderate.
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Taryn Jane Bond-Barnard and Herman Steyn

This paper reports on a survey with 160 respondents that explores whether the perception of practitioners involved in projects in developing countries – regarding variables of an existing model that predicts trust, collaboration and success in a project – differ from those of their counterparts in developed countries. The results of a Mann-Whitney U test indicate that the model of project management success, verified in previous research, is applicable to both projects in developing and developed countries.
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Jaco van der Linde and Herman Steyn

Depending on the specific needs of the host companies, Project Management Offices (PMOs) are created and mandated for different reasons. As a result of varying mandates and functions of PMOs, there is no agreed upon method to determine the value of a PMO. By studying a case of an organization that recently implemented a PMO, this paper provides some insight on ways to determine the value of a PMO. Three new methods of determining the value of PMO are proposed.
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Herman Steyn

Abstract

A model that links the management of individual projects to corporate strategy is used as the basis for identifying typical shortcomings in the processes that synchronize projects with corporate strategy. The processes that link projects to strategy include project screening, project portfolio design and project prioritization, as well as overall scheduling of key resources and projects. A list of typical shortcomings in practice is presented to guide organizations in improving their internal processes. The list can also serve as a basis for future case study research in industry. A project management office (PMO) as well as a person with the role of project portfolio manager can contribute significantly to managing the processes that link strategy to individual projects.
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