Lipika Swarup will present the proposal for the thesis, “Exploring the role of project priority on the application of project delivery practices in a group of multiple projects,” as a candidate of the PhD of Architecture–Engineering–Construction Management on Wednesday 11 December at 12:00pm.
Title: “Exploring the role of project priority on the application of project delivery practices in a group of multiple projects”
By Lipika Swarup, PhD-AECM Candidate
Date: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Time: 12:00-2:00pm
Location: TBD
PhD Advisory Committee
Dr. Erica Cochran Hameen (Chair), PhD, Assoc. AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University
Dr. Matthew Mehalik, Adjunct Professor, Heinz College, School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University
Dr. Peerasit Patanakul, Associate Professor of Management, Business & Management, Project and Supply Chain Management, and MPM programs, Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Sinem Mollaoglu, Associate Professor and Program Director, Construction Management, School of Planning, Design, and Construction, Michigan State University
Abstract
The primary aim of this study is to, “explore the influence of project priority on the application of project delivery practices and further the effects of those adopted practices on the performances of lower prioritized projects and overall GrMP.”
Both academia and industry recognize that projects are rarely delivered in isolation and are generally part of a set of projects under one project manager. This understanding leads to the premise of this study that projects by virtue of being within the same set must influence the delivery of each other; and the extent of the influence would be dependent upon the priority of the project. To confirm or deny this premise the current study poses the research question, “How does project priority influence the application of project delivery practices (PDP) and further how do those adopted practices in higher priority projects via interdependencies affect the performances of lower priority projects within the same Group of Multiple Projects (GrMP)?”
In this pursuit the first step is to recognize this project organization hierarchy i.e., multiple projects under one project manager. Currently, there is great ambiguity in terms of nomenclature about this level. A significant portion of literature addresses this group as a ‘portfolio’ which, by definition, is a grouping aimed at achieving organizational objectives and can include multiple project managers. Therefore, the first objective of this study intends to resolve the ambiguity within nomenclature.
For the remaining objectives, the study will adopt a mixed-methods (QUAN-QUAL) methodology for data collection and analysis. First, quantitative data will be collected via surveys and further analyzed utilizing chi-square tests and multiple regression. The survey will be administered in each project individually over a period of 6 months. Next, the qualitative samples will be nested within the quantitative samples for further analysis. Data will be collected via structured interviews and analyzed via pattern matching, cross-case synthesis and, analytic induction. The expected deliverables and contributions of this thesis research are 1) the standardization of nomenclature within project portfolio management; 2) a framework to identify the effects of project level changes on the overall GrMP; and 3) a list of critical project delivery characteristics at the GrMP level.