IS research seminar - AU Purepure.au.dk/portal/files/121890089/IS_research_seminar_27.02.18_LKH_v1... · • Focus moves from internal issues, like resource allocations problems (e.g

IS research seminar

February 27, 2018

“My research”

v/Lars K. Hansen

WHO AM I?

2

› Educations & Certification› PhD in Information Systems, Aalborg

University› M.Sc. in Social science (Cand.soc), Aalborg

University› Certified Project Manager

(PRINCE2, MS Project, IPMA)

› Experience› Started at Aarhus University 1. Oct. 2017› External lector at ITU› Municipality of Copenhagen› Projectum› Økonomi- og Erhvervsministeriet

› +10 years experience in project and portfolio management

› Teaching

› Projects and business development

› IT Projects and program management

› IT projects and portfolio management

› Agile portfolio management

› IS Philosophy of Science and Research

› Research Areas

› Rethinking project portfolio

management

› Agile and adaptive project portfolio

management

LARS KRISTIAN HANSEN

27 FEB 2018 ASSISTANT PROFESSORAARHUS UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

GOAL OF THE PRESENTATION

To present and get feedback on:

- My research pipeline

- My ongoing research




RESEARCH STRATEGY

To be leading in research on project portfolio

management (PPM)

To rethink what we know on PPM:

By reviewing the literature

By investigating four organizations applying

agile principles

Research pipeline




BACKLOG

My research strategy is organized via my

Publication backlog

SPRINT BACKLOGTo do In progress Done

Towards rethinking

Project portfolio management

EURAM paper

Rethinking Project portfolio

management: a literature review

International Journal of Project

management

Project portfolio management: a review

International Journal of Management

Reviews

Rethinking project portfolio

management in practice: a case study

of a public organization

DAPMARC4 paper

Rethinking project portfolio

management in practice: a case study

of four agile organizations

IRIS 2018 / International Journal of

Project management

Ongoing research

27 FEB 2018 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR


AARHUS UNIVERSITY


TOWARDSRETHINKING

PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

PAPER #1




TOWARDS RETHINKING PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

• A paper on reviewing the PPM literature

• The first version of the paper is submitted to

EURAM

• Will be developed to a paper targeting

International Journal of Project Management




AREA OF CONCERN

• Western societies increasingly get projectified

(Jensen et al., 2016)

• Projects constitute a major part of the

organizational budgets and strategic

development (Schoper et al., 2017)

• Thus, project portfolio management (PPM) is key




AREA OF CONCERN

• Project portfolio management, have until

recently been dominated by rational

assumptions (Blichfeldt & Eskerod, 2008)

• This may unjustifiably leave out matters on

which could and probably should be

investigated




RESEARCH QUESTION

• This paper should be considered as the first step

in our effort to conceptualize future PPM

research directions

• We apply following research questions:

• (1) How is our understanding of PPM

developing over time?

• (2) How can future research expand the PPM

research area?




THEORETICAL FRAME: SVEJVIG AND ANDERSEN (2015)

(Adopted from Svejvig and Andersen, 2015)




METHOD

• Utilizing literature review methods

• Appling a simple search string in Scopus:

‘project portfolio management’

• We searched two periods to capture a

potential historical development

MOST CITED PPM PUBLICATIONS OF ALL YEARS

MOST CITED PPM PUBLICATION FROM 2013-2018

APPLYING OUR THEORETICAL LENS

MOST CITED PPM PUBLICATION OF ALL YEARS: DISTRIBUTIONS OF NODES

MOST CITED PPM PUBLICATION FROM 2013-2018: DISTRIBUTIONS OF NODES

CPM CONCEPTS IN THE TWO STOCKS

RPM CONCEPTS IN THE TWO STOCKS




EMERGING TRENDS

#1 Increased focus on human actors:

• Has taken a more central place in the newest

publications. Earlier research puts more focus

on providing models with detailed guidelines

(e.g. Archer and Gahasemzadeh, 1999)




ARCHER AND GAHASEMZADEH (1999)




EMERGING TRENDS

#2 Broader accept of alternatives to rational

explanations:

• Matinsuo and colleagues question the ability of

rationality to capture the complexity and

uncertainty of PPM in real life organizations

(Martinsuo, 2013; Martinsuo et al., 2014)

• Rational based research suggest countering

complexity and uncertainty by adding more

rationality, e.g. better calculations or models




EMERGING TRENDS

#3 Increased focus on adapting to a faster

changing world:

• Organizations’ ability to cope with constant and

fast change imbue much of the new PPM

research

• Focus moves from internal issues, like resource

allocations problems (e.g. Engwall and

Jerbrant, 2003), towards focus on the world

outside the parent organization




ENGWALL AND JERBRANT (2003)

27 FEB 2018 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR


AARHUS UNIVERSITY


RETHINKING PROJECT PORTFOLIO

MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE: A CASE STUDY OF A PUBLIC

ORGANIZATION

PAPER #2




RETHINKING PPM IN PRACTICE: A CASE STUDY OF PUBLIC ORGANIZATION

• A paper invited and submitted to DAPMARC4

• Used to test and learn about using the RPM

framework in empirical research

• Drawing on the case database from my PhD.

dissertation




AREA OF CONCERN

• Resents years accelerated interest in PPM and

reports of its shortcomings in practice

• Need for showing how organizations may

diagnose and rethink their exciting PPM

practices

• Utilizing the rethinking project management

framework is one way…

THEORETICAL FRAME




METHODOLOGY

• Data collected during November 2010 to marts

2012 as a part of my PhD project (Hansen,

2013)

• Data used to publish a range of papers on PPM

structures

• My focus was on how IT projects relates to the

organization’s portfolio level, and observed

challenges




METHODOLOGY

• Interviews and re-interviews with six IT

managers, interviews with nine IT project

managers, one business executive and three

directors

• Collecting 73 documents and data from 3

observations studies and a workshop




CASE




FINDINGS: TRAITS OF CPM




FINDINGS: TRAITS OF RPM




DISCUSSING FINDINGS

• The two perspectives’ concepts manifest

themselves on different hierarchical levels:

• Top management uses the vocabulary and

requests the values emphasized by CPM:

executability, linearity and simplicity

• Lower hierarchical levels describe their

reality by using terms of the RPM: uncertainty

and complexity




POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS




DISCUSSING FINDINGS

The CPM perspective’s tendency to take a

normative stance—a stance outlining how

things should be (Deetz, 1996) - appeals to top

executives

• The RPM perspective favors local and

emergent phenomena and thus captures the

experience of the IT managers and employees




DISCUSSING FINDINGS

• The overall picture is cultural homogeneity

despite pluralistic business areas and

decentralized governance

• Sociability and multiplicity are core features

• Social processes shape how projects are

managed

• Decentralized responsibility and authority

• Decisions rely on consensus, this often results

in lengthy decision processes or status quo.




CONCLUDING REMARKS

Existing practices frustrate some managers and

executives

BUT, Newport’s practices apparently secure

well-thought, long-term sustainable, well-

implemented and local adapted PPM

practices.




REFERENCES

Archer, N. P., & Ghasemzadeh, F. (1999). An integrated framework for project portfolio selection. International Journal of Project Management, 17(4), 207-216.

Blichfeldt, B. S., & Eskerod, P. (2008). Project portfolio management–There’s more to it than what management enacts.

International Journal of Project Management, 26(4), 357-365.

Deetz, S. (1996). Crossroads—Describing differences in approaches to organization science: Rethinking Burrell and Morgan and

their legacy. Organization science, 7(2), 191-207.

Engwall, M., & Jerbrant, A. (2003). The resource allocation syndrome: the prime challenge of multi-project management?

International Journal of Project Management, 21(6), 403-409.

Frey, T., & Buxmann, P. (2012). It Project portfolio Management-a Structured literature Review. Paper presented at the ECIS.

Hansen, L. K., & Kræmmergaard, P. (2013). Discourses and theoretical Assumptions in IT Project Portfolio Management: a review of

the literature.

Jensen, A., Thuesen, C., & Geraldi, J. (2016). The projectification of everything: projects as a human condition. Project

Management Journal, 47(3), 21-34.

Martinsuo, M. (2013). Project portfolio management in practice and in context. International Journal of Project Management, 31(6),

794-803.

Martinsuo, M., Korhonen, T., & Laine, T. (2014). Identifying, framing and managing uncertainties in project portfolios. International

Journal of Project Management, 32(5), 732-746.

Morris, P. W., Pinto, J. K., & Söderlund, J. (2012). The Oxford handbook of project management: OUP Oxford.

Schoper, Y.-G., Wald, A., Ingason, H. T., & Fridgeirsson, T. V. (2018). Projectification in Western economies: A comparative study of

Germany, Norway and Iceland. International Journal of Project Management, 36(1), 71-82.

Svejvig, P., & Andersen, P. (2015). Rethinking project management: A structured literature review with a critical look at the brave

new world. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), 278-290.




Advice is welcome




COMMENTS

THE END

AARHUS UNIVERSITY


Documents

IS research seminar - AU Purepure.au.dk/portal/files/121890089/IS_research_seminar_27.02.18_LKH_v1... · • Focus moves from internal issues, like resource allocations problems (e.g