Research in the 90s in Project Management


Research in the ‘90s in Project Management

Table 4 shows the number of papers published in the Project Management Journal and PM Network between 1990 and 1999 classified against the fifty CRMP BoK topics.

Table 4: The Number of Papers Published in the Project Management Journal and PM Network between 1990 and 1999 Classified against the CRMP BoK Topics

1.0 General: 12

1.1 Project Management

1.3 Portfolio Management: 2

1.2 Program Management

1.4 Project Context: 38


2.0 Strategic

2.1 Project Success Criteria: 14

2.4 Risk Management: 7

2.2 Strategy/Project Management Plan: 3

2.5 Quality Management: 5

2.3 Value Management

2.6 Safety, Health, & Environment: 1

2.7 Ethics


3.0

Control: 12

3.1

Work Content & Scope Management: 3

3.2

Time Scheduling/Phasing: 22

3.3

Resource Management: 7

3.4

Budgeting & Cost Management: 2

3.5

Change Control: 3

3.6

Performance Management: 10

3.7

Information Management: 7

4.0

Technical

4.1

Design, Production, & Hand-Over Management: 6

4.2

Requirements Management

4.3

Technology Management: 1

4.4

Estimating: 7

4.5

Value Engineering: 1

4.6

Modeling & Testing

4.7

Configuration Management: 2

5.0

Commercial

5.1

Business Case

5.2

Marketing & Sales: 2

5.3

Financial Management: 7

5.4

Procurement: 9

5.5

Bidding: 2

5.6

Contract Management: 5

5.7

Legal Awareness

6.0

Organizational: 1

6.1

Life-Cycle Design & Management

6.1.1

Opportunity

6.1.2

Design & Development

6.1.3

Production

6.1.4

Hand-Over

6.1.5

(Post) Project Evaluation Review [O&M/ILS]: 1

6.2

Organization Structure: 9

6.3

Organizational Roles: 9

7.0

People: 3

7.1

Communication: 5

7.2

Teamwork: 12

7.3

Leadership: 4

7.4

Decision-Making: 3

7.5

Negotiating & Influencing: 1

7.6

Conflict Management: 1

7.7

Project Management Competency Development: 10

7.8

Personnel Management: 4

The most popular topics are papers or books dealing with:

  • Examples or issues relative to particular project contexts (application areas): 38

  • Time scheduling/phasing: 22

  • Project success criteria: 14

  • Control: 12

  • Project management in general: 12

  • Teamwork: 12

  • Performance management: 10

  • Project management competency development: 10

  • Organization structure: 9

  • Procurement: 9

  • Estimating: 7

  • Financial management: 7

  • Information management: 7

  • Resource management: 7

  • Risk management: 7

  • Design & production management: 6

  • Communication: 5

  • Contract management: 5

  • Quality management: 5

These 204 papers or book reviews on these nineteen topics account for 83 percent of all the papers published in the Project Management Journal and PM Network during this period. The large number of papers (17 percent) dealing with contextual issues certainly attests to an interest in the practical application of project management. Of the twenty-two papers on scheduling, seventeen are on operational research [technique] based issues; of the remaining five, only three[4] relate overtly to business performance. Indeed of the total 204 papers, arguably only nineteen (approximately 10 percent) refer explicitly to business-related performance at all.[5],[6] (Note, however, how the number increases in frequency post-1996.) There is little on strategy, nothing on value management (VM), none on requirements management, none on the business case, and just one on value engineering (VE). There are however, nine on procurement and four others on bidding and contract management.

The exact numbers should not be treated too definitively—for example, Cleland's 1991 paper Product Design Teams: The Simultaneous Engineering Perspective (a) could be classified as being under design, phasing, or teams (we took the latter) and (b) is related, via improved cycle times, to business performance. However, the point basically is demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of papers do not make any real connection between project management and business performance.

Table 5 shows the number of papers published in IJPM between 1990 and 1999 classified against the CRMP BoK topics. Here the situation is a little better, though not much.

Table 5: Papers Published in IJPM between 1990 and 1999 Classified against the CRMP BoK Topics

1.0 General: 47

1.1 Project Management

1.3 Portfolio Management: 8

1.2 Program Management: 7

1.4 Project Context: 100


2.0 Strategic: 3

2.4 Risk Management: 42

2.1 Project Success Criteria: 11

2.5 Quality Management: 19

2.2 Strategy/Project Management Plan: 4

2.6 Safety, Health, & Environment: 3

2.3 Value Management

2.7 Ethics: 1


3.0

Control: 24

3.1

Work Content & Scope Management: 6

3.2

Time Scheduling/Phasing: 30

3.3

Resource Management: 3

3.4

Budgeting & Cost Management

3.5

Change Control: 3

3.6

Performance Management: 5

3.7

Information Management: 19

4.0

Technical: 3

4.1

Design, Production, & Hand-Over Management: 5

4.2

Requirements Management: 3

4.3

Technology Management: 2

4.4

Estimating: 7

4.5

Value Engineering: 2

4.6

Modeling & Testing

4.7

Configuration Management: 5

5.0

Commercial: 2

5.1

Business Case: 2

5.2

Marketing & Sales: 1

5.3

Financial Management: 10

5.4

Procurement: 19

5.5

Bidding: 10

5.6

Contract Management: 9

5.7

Legal Awareness: 2

6.0

Organizational: 3

6.1

Life-Cycle Design & Management

6.1.1

Opportunity

6.1.2

Design & Development

6.1.3

Production

6.1.4

Hand-Over

6.1.5

(Post) Project Evaluation Review [O&M/ILS]

6.2

Organization Structure: 5

6.3

Organizational Roles: 10

7.0

People: 19

7.1

Communication: 1

7.2

Teamwork: 8

7.3

Leadership: 5

7.4

Decision-Making: 5

7.5

Negotiating & Influencing

7.6

Conflict Management: 1

7.7

Project Management Competency Development: 21

7.8

Personnel Management: 2

The most popular topics are:

  • Examples or issues relative to particular project contexts: 100

  • Project management in general: 47

  • Risk management: 42

  • Time scheduling/phasing: 30

  • Control: 24

  • Project management competency development: 21

  • Information management: 19

  • People: 19

  • Procurement: 19

  • Quality management: 19

  • Project success criteria: 11

  • Bidding: 10

  • Financial management: 10

  • Organization roles: 10

  • Contract management: 9

  • Portfolio management: 8

  • Teamwork: 8

  • Program management: 7

  • Performance management: 6

  • Communication: 5

  • Configuration management: 5

  • Estimating: 5

  • Decision-making: 5

  • Leadership: 5

  • Organization structure: 5

  • Program management: 5

  • Resource management: 5

These 459 papers or book reviews on these twenty-seven topics account for 93 percent of all the papers published in IJPM during this period. IJPM is much more clearly research focused than PM Network and (even) the Project Management Journal . The number of papers is greater and its coverage, on the whole, broader. The large number of articles makes it virtually inevitable that there is considerable "techy-ness" for many of the papers—the forty-two on risk management being a case in point. There are twenty-five papers in the technical area, compared with the Project Management Journal and PM Network seventeen, with a more even coverage. (Seven of the Project Management Journal and PM Network papers were on estimating.) There is a strong emphasis on procurement and related contract matters (forty-one, with a further ten on financial management). There are papers on business case and marketing and sales though, at two and one respectively the proportion is minute. In fact, of the 501 papers published in IJPM during the decade, we would estimate only thirty-eight as explicitly relating project management and business performance.[7] Even doubling this number to allow for an over-harsh classification, the percentage is still less than 15 percent.

Table 6 presents the combined numbers of papers from the three journals.

Table 6: The Combined Numbers of Papers from the Project Management Journal & PM Network (1990–99) and IJPM (1990–99)

1.0 General: 59

1.1 Project Management

1.3 Portfolio Management: 10

1.2 Program Management: 7

1.4 Project Context: 148


2.0 Strategic: 3

2.4 Risk Management: 49

2.1 Project Success Criteria: 25

2.5 Quality Management: 24

2.2 Strategy/Project Management Plan: 7

2.6 Safety, Health, & Environment: 4

2.3 Value Management

2.7 Ethics: 1


3.0

Control: 36

3.1

Work Content & Scope Management: 10

3.2

Time Scheduling/Phasing: 52

3.3

Resource Management: 10

3.4

Budgeting & Cost Management: 2

3.5

Change Control: 2

3.6

Performance Management: 18

3.7

Information Management: 26

4.0

Technical: 3

4.1

Design, Production, & Hand-Over Management: 11

4.2

Requirements Management: 3

4.3

Technology Management: 3

4.4

Estimating: 12

4.5

Value Engineering: 3

4.6

Modeling & Testing

4.7

Configuration Management: 7

5.0

Commercial: 2

5.1

Business Case: 2

5.2

Marketing & Sales: 3

5.3

Financial Management: 17

5.4

Procurement: 28

5.5

Bidding: 12

5.6

Contract Management: 14

5.7

Legal Awareness: 2

6.0

Organizational: 4

6.1

Life-Cycle Design & Management

6.1.1

Opportunity

6.1.2

Design & Development

6.1.3

Production

6.1.4

Hand-Over

6.1.5

(Post) Project Evaluation Review [O&M/ILS]: 1

6.2

Organization Structure: 14

6.3

Organizational Roles: 11

7.0

People: 22

7.1

Communication: 6

7.2

Teamwork: 20

7.3

Leadership: 9

7.4

Decision-Making: 8

7.5

Negotiating & Influencing: 1

7.6

Conflict Management: 2

7.7

Project Management Competency Development: 31

7.8

Personnel Management: 6

The most popular topics are:

  • Examples or issues relative to particular project contexts: 148

  • Project management in general: 59

  • Risk management: 49

  • Control: 36

  • Project management competency development: 31

  • Procurement: 28

  • Information management: 26

  • Project success criteria: 25

  • Quality management: 24

  • People: 22

  • Teamwork: 20

  • Performance management: 18

  • Financial management: 17

  • Contract management: 14

  • Organization structure: 14

  • Bidding: 12

  • Estimating: 12

  • Design & production management: 11

  • Organization roles: 11

  • Portfolio management: 10

  • Work content & scope management: 10

  • Leadership: 9

  • Decision-making: 8

  • Configuration management: 7

  • Program management: 7

  • Strategy: 7

  • Personnel management: 6

  • Communication: 5

  • Resource management: 5

As one would expect, the very great proportion of the combined set of papers is focused on intra-project management topics—though with the obvious proviso of the 148 (20 percent) on the project context. Even procurement and the related areas of finance and contracts, which together provide fifty-nine papers, only account for 8 percent of the total. And project success criteria (twenty-five) is, overall, very low (3 percent). Strategy is even lower (seven: 1 percent). VM is zero! (VE is three—not much better.) Requirements management equally scores a dismal three.

[4]Those by Thamhain (1993), Ibbs, Lee, and Li (1998), and Leach (1999).

[5]Those of Mark (1992), Feney (1992), Christensen (1993), Ryder (1993), Thamhain (1993), Ingram (1994), Blanchard (1995), Tan (1996), Jiang (1996), Pascale et al. (1997), Shenhar et al. (1997), El-Najdawi and Liberatore (1997), Jannadi (1997), Robinson (1997), Christensen and Gordon (1998), Leach (1999), Lidow (1999), Baccani (1999), and Chang (1999).

[6]The ten on performance management refer predominantly to earned value.

[7]Tighe (1991), Rhyne and Whyte (1991), Gyeszly (1991), Barnes (1991), Leong (1991), Ireland (1992), Frizelle (1993), Tiong et al. (1993), Lisburn et al. (1994), Mansfield et al. (1994), Reijners (1994), Wearne (1994), Kayes (1995), Wateridge (1995), Sunde and Lichtenberg (1995), Belassi and Tukel (1996), Ongunlana (1996), Quartey (1996), McElroy (1996), Jafaari et al. (1996), Laufer et al. (1996), Kirby (1996), Chan (1997), Gabriel (1997), Voropayev (1998), Love et al. (1998), Gupta (1998), Eden et al. (1998), Wateridge (1998), Lopes and Flavel (1998), Grundy (1998), Clarke (1999), Archer and Ghasemzedah (1999), Tam (1999), Lim and Mohammed (1999), Hendricks et al. (1999), Kog et al. (1999), and Atkinson (1999)—no doubt there are others: the list is intended to be indicative, not exhaustive.




The Frontiers of Project Management Research
The Frontiers of Project Management Research
ISBN: 1880410745
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 207

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