Ad hoc Articles

10 May 2016

Jaco van der Linde & 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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10 May 2016

Ntokozo H. Nkiwane, Werner G. Meyer & Herman Steyn

Abstract
With large infrastructure backlogs in Africa, well-controlled projects will play a significant role in African infrastructure development. In this paper, the monitoring and/or directive use of Earned Value Management (EVM) is investigated and linked to project management maturity. This case study also investigates the use of EVM based on the financial and schedule risk distribution among project role players, and the effect of EVM on project performance. The results show minimal use of EVM in the directive control of projects; at best, the directive use of EVM is found to be implied rather than deliberate and methodical.
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30 November 2015

H. Steyn & R. Schnetler

The number of projects a person can handle simultaneously is a relevant factor in strategic planning and in project portfolio management. Internationally the de facto standard seems to be that a person should not work on more than two or three projects simultaneously; but several factors could influence this figure. Empirical evidence indicates that, in some South African sectors, people tend to work on many more than two or three projects simultaneously. In this paper, factors that influence the number of projects a person can work on are identified so that they can be investigated in further studies.
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01 November 2015

T.J. Bond-Barnard & H. Steyn

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. The main finding of the study is that proximity (the extent to which a practitioner is co-located with his team members) is greater for developing countries than for developed countries.
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08 June 2015

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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23 February 2015

R. Schnetler, H. Steyn & P.J. van Staden

This paper investigates the characteristics of matrix structures and their relationships with drivers of project success, such as communication, collaboration, and trust between project team members. Matrix characteristics that were expected to correlate positively with project success mostly did correlate with the success drivers. However, characteristics expected to impact negatively on project success did not show such significant correlations; some even correlated positively with success drivers.
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13 May 2014

B. Binneman & H. Steyn

This paper describes appropriate project selection criteria and gate review-point criteria for government agencies that fund technology innovation projects in South Africa. Data was gathered via a Delphi survey in which seven expert respondents participated. The most significant project selection criteria and relevant gate reviewing criteria were established. The proposed basic framework consists of fourteen selection criteria, their associated weights, and forty relevant gate reviewing criteria. Commercial risk and feasibility was considered the most important criterion, followed by the team’s skills and competence in second place. The use of these criteria when considering investment in technology innovation projects could improve the likelihood of commercial success.
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31 December 2013

Project Management South Africa, December 31, 2013

Authors: Carl Marnewick, Les Labuschagne, Herman Steyn, Mariki Eloff & Dr Peter Tobin

Despite the facts that projects are indispensable for economic development, and that corporate and national strategies are implemented by way of projects, the success rate of projects remains dubious. Project management maturity of organizations is normally measured on a 5-point scale that ranges from Level 1 (little or no formal process) to Level 5 (optimized processes; measured and continually improved upon). The Prosperus Report 2008 described the results of an extensive survey that determined the organizational project management maturity in South African IT organizations, as well as the success of the related IT projects.
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01 October 2013

Taryn Jabe Bond-Barnard, Herman Steyn & Inger Fabris-Rotelli

Call centres are increasingly being utilised in public sector programmes to facilitate and manage communication between numerous stakeholders. Yet, the impact of call centres on projects has not been investigated. This paper reports on a survey with 92 respondents that assessed the impact of a call centre for a repair and maintenance programme. An empirically verified model is presented to illustrate the relationship between call centre communication and project performance.
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06 September 2013

T.J. Bond-Barnard & H. Steyn

A South African national programme to repair government infrastructure uses a contact centre (or call centre) to facilitate and manage communication. An important question is: How does the contact centre benefit the programme and its projects? This study discusses the findings of a survey that quantified the benefits of the programme when the communication between team members in the programme was improved by using a contact centre. The results show that, by using a contact centre to improve the communication between project team members, their perception of communication effectiveness, quality of project deliverables, service delivery, and customer satisfaction of the programme dramatically increases.
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01 September 2013

W.J. Human & H. Steyn

Although millions of people globally are displaced annually, resettlement has a poor history for achieving the objective of leaving people who are resettled ‘no worse off after project implementation than before’. While excellent guidelines and policies for resettlement have been established, resettlement/displacement projects still do not succeed in resettling affected peoples in a way that they are eventually better off. Consensus was reached by a Delphi panel of experts on a set of guidelines for resettlement projects. It is proposed that, supplementing the existing frameworks and guidelines for resettlement with well-established project management principles - including a phased project management approach - the chances of executing a resettlement project successfully are much higher.
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01 January 2013

F.C. de Jager & H. Steyn

This paper compares the organisational strategic drivers of a South African mining house with those of industries abroad. It furthermore compares the key competencies or capabilities of the mining house with those of the overseas industries. A Delphi panel comprising of fourteen experts - with a combined experience base of over 240 years - provided the data. The strategic drivers as well as the key competencies of the South African mining house showed marked similarities to industries such as petrochemical and engineering & construction industries abroad.
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