Ad hoc Articles

R. Louw, H. Steyn & C. van Waveren

Abstract
Several studies indicate the value of knowledge management in improving organisational performance. While the benefits of effective knowledge management are undeniable, literature suggests that, due to the temporary nature of project teams, knowledge is generally not managed efficiently by project-based organisations.
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Suzaan Pretorius, Herman Steyn & Taryn J. Bond-Barnard

It is widely accepted that project leaders should adapt their behaviour to meet the unique leadership demands of a variety of situations. Recently, vertical and shared (horizontal) leadership has gained prominence, especially in project management literature. Several factors are believed to play a role in determining an appropriate balance between these two leadership styles. This study explores the influence of project types, the stage in the project life cycle, organisational project management maturity and the level of trust and collaboration between project team members on the appropriate balance of leadership styles in projects.
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I.P. Meyer, T.J. Bond-Barnard, H. Steyn & J. Jordaan

Globally-expanding organisations, trying to capitalize on distributed skills, are increasingly using virtual project teams to shorten product development time and increase quality. These virtual teams, distributed across countries, cultures and time zones, are required to use faster and better ways of interaction. Past research has however shown that virtual teams using computer mediated communication (CMC) instead of face-to-face communication are less cohesive as they struggle with mistrust, controlling behaviour and communication breakdowns.
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Taryn Bond-Barnard, Lizelle Fletcher & 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Taryn Jane Bond-Barnard & Herman Steyn

A contact centre (a.k.a. call centre) is used to facilitate and manage communication in a South African national programme to repair government infrastructure. An important question is how the contact centre benefits the programme and its projects. This study discusses the findings from a survey which quantified the realised programme benefits when the communication between team members in a programme was improved by utilising a contact centre.
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