Browsing by Author "Geraldi, Joana"

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    Contextual Intelligence in Programme and Project Management: A preliminary framework for configuring resources to meet strategic objectives
    (Cranfield University School of Management, 2009-04) Maylor, Harvey; Murray-Webster, Ruth; Geraldi, Joana; Lupson, Jonathan; Giudici, Alessandro
    The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly it explores a key development from Operations Management, (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1985) and tests whether it provides insights into the practices of Programme and Project Management (PPM). Through an empirical study, it is found to provide a number of important insights, including that, in general, PPM is limited to a ‘stage two’ performance aspiration on the Hayes & Wheelwright four-point scale for competitive manufacturing, with a prevailing focus on conformance to standards. The resulting question is, ‘how does an organisation develop its PPM capability beyond stage two? Achieving stage three and beyond requires that resources are configured, not to conform to a standard, but to meet the strategic needs as defined by the organisation and any end ‘customers’ for the work. Secondly, the paper considers the research question, ‘what elements of an organisation designed for programme and project-based working can be configured to meet particular strategic requirements?’ It describes the investigation of this question in a field study of 11 cases to determine the nature of the elements of configurability, and hence to generate key decision areas for PPM. The results of this study provide a preliminary framework for determining what would constitute stage 3 - effectiveness in programme and project-based operations (PPOs). The paper concludes that the theoretical insights from Operations Management used in this paper offer a future direction for research on PPOs and sets out a research agenda.
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    Innovation in project management: Voices of researchers
    (Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2009-09-11T00:00:00Z) Geraldi, Joana; Turner J, Rodney; Maylor, Harvey; Hobday, Mike; Brady, Tim
    This paper reports and reflects on the discussions about the nature of the discipline of project management that took place during the 8th conference of the International Research Network of Organizing by Projects (IRNOP VIII), held in Brighton in September 2007. The discussions started with the provocative motion "This house believes that we no longer need the discipline of project management". The arguments are organised in the following areas: the use of the traditional body of knowledge by practitioners and by academics; the use of project management as a knowledge field by practitioners and by academics. The discussions indicate that project management research is in a fruitful moment of revolution of paradigms. We wish that the new paradigm accepts the plurality of research in projects and we need discussions supporting and also refusing the "motion", and by this means, proposing answers, rather than the answer, to the future of "the project management discipline".
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    Mind the gap: Towards performance measurement beyond a plan-execute logic
    (Elsevier, 2023-05-08) Maylor, Harvey; Geraldi, Joana; Budzier, Alexander; Turner, Neil; Johnson, Mark
    Project performance measurement aims to identify deviations from intended goals and reduce ‘the gap’ between actual and expected performance. However, despite extensive measurement and control efforts, the gap is hard to close and, intriguingly, not necessarily related to the project's perceived performance, which is what will ultimately influence a stakeholder's satisfaction. Based on service quality research, this study explores the differences between perception and expectations of performance. Our mixed method study involving eighteen interviews and 85 survey responses in an IT-enabled change context shows that expectations and perceptions are fundamentally different concepts. As they are different, managing the gap between expectations and perceptions may be a nugatory task. The paper expands the literature on project performance measurement by questioning its foundations and offering a first step towards developing a more dynamic and subjective understanding of project performance that is consistent with a project's evolving nature.
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    Reconciling Order and Chaos in Multi-Project Firms
    (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2009-01) Geraldi, Joana
    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the key findings of a doctoral thesis aimed at exploring how multi-project companies reconcile order (efficiency, control, clar-ity) and chaos (creativity, trust, uncertainty, ambiguity). Methodology: The research was focused on multi-project firms in general and CoPS (Complex Products and Systems) producers in particular (companies involved usually as main contractors in construction and engineering projects). It followed three phases: Ex-ploratory phase (literature review and interviews), Conceptualisation phase (abductive elaboration of the model based on field and longitudinal studies in a multi-project firm), and Validation phase (deductive validation of the model through multi-case study). Findings: The thesis proposes a model to map order and chaos of companies, depart-ments, projects or people based on the complexity faced by the tasks and the flexibility of the organizational structure to deal with it. The analysis of how departments moved in this map led to several findings, such as in the case of mis-balance, higher flexibility is preferable to excessive control. Practical implications: The model provides project practitioners with a tool to evaluate and make sense of the degree of necessary project flexibility, and how this can and should change across the project and disciplines. Originality/Value: This paper assists practitioners and academics to reflect on organisa-tional structures of multi-project companies, how these vary over time and how to avoid the bureaucratisation or the chaotification of structures.
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    The Titanic sunk, so what? Project manager response to unexpected events
    (Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2010-08-31T00:00:00Z) Geraldi, Joana; Lee-Kelley, Liz; Kutsch, Elmar
    Projects are inherently uncertain and face unexpected events, from small changes in scope to unforeseen client's bankruptcy. This paper studies how project managers respond to such events and how successful and unsuccessful responses differ from the perspective of the practitioner. We analysed 44 unexpected events faced by 22 experienced project managers in defence and defence-related organisations. The project managers compared two unexpected events that they faced, one that they considered the response successful and the other unsuccessful. We identified three pillars supporting successful responses to unexpected events: (1) responsive and functioning structure at the organisational level, (2) good interpersonal relationship at the group level and (3) competent people at the individual level. The events and respective responses analysed suggest that improvement in project management can be achieved by better managing these three pillars, allowing project and programme managers to "create their own luck". (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.