Te Wu, Huy Will Nguyen, Young Hoon Jung and Isabelle Yi Ren
Organizations have always faced the possibility of disruptions. Traditional approaches, such as shifting risks through insurance or improving organizational resiliency, view…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizations have always faced the possibility of disruptions. Traditional approaches, such as shifting risks through insurance or improving organizational resiliency, view disruptions as threats. This study aims to propose a new perspective where disruptions can also be opportunities. By adopting project portfolio management (PPM), organizations can develop proactive capabilities to manage uncertainty and prepare to exploit future disruptions.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on publicly available research reports, company reports, professional standards and press reports, this study describes key features of PPM and provides detailed practical guidance on how to apply PPM in daily operations, especially in preparation for the next disruption.
Findings
The key steps in applying PPM in daily operations are: align portfolios and projects with strategic goals and objectives; establish a robust governance framework; optimize resource capability and capacity; build and implement appropriate implementation methodologies; continuously monitor, review and optimize the project portfolio; and develop a culture that embraces risks, innovation and adaptability.
Research limitations/implications
This research has several limitations and implications. On limitations, the study was constrained by publicly available data, an in-depth interview with a consulting firm and a survey based on convenient sampling. These limitations will impact the generalizability of the findings. On implications, this paper shows how organizations can prepare for future disruptions by applying PPM. There are other ways to prepare for the unpredictable future, and further research is needed to explore other methods.
Practical implications
The results of this study have important practical implications for all organizations and in all sectors. Major disruptions are matters of “when,” not “how,” and responsible organizations need to pay attention. Based on the PPM discipline, this research provides an approach for business executives and project management practitioners to tackle this challenge. Furthermore, portfolio managers should use this information to promote and advocate for more disciplined planning to confront the uncertain future.
Social implications
The findings of this paper carry important social implications. As the recent events showed the vastness of disruptions, from extreme heat to fires in Maui, sitting idly and waiting passively for an unpredictable future is not an option. This paper advocates the need for more awareness and preparation for future disruption by applying PPM. Furthermore, this research provides concrete guidelines for organizations and practitioners to consider as they confront the unknown. Additional research should investigate other effective strategies to meet the challenges of an uncertain and volatile future.
Originality/value
This study offers practical steps on how organizations may manage not only to survive but also to thrive in an uncertain and volatile world.
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While it is common for most C-suite executives to have substantial project responsibilities, many do not have a strong understanding of project management leading to significant…
Abstract
Purpose
While it is common for most C-suite executives to have substantial project responsibilities, many do not have a strong understanding of project management leading to significant failures. As projects are the main mechanisms for implementing changes, project performance has disproportional impact on the competitiveness and viability of organizations. This paper aims to attempt to raise awareness of the Chief Project Officer (CPO) role and lay out important skills and capabilities that are needed for managers to ascend to this role as well as key topics of concern when preparing the mindset to be a successful CPO.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have based this research on reviewing publications from the project management journals and publications, interviews of project management professionals and drawing from our industry experience in the field of project management.
Findings
Most organizations have project managers, either formal or informal, to lead projects. As project environment intensifies across industries, larger organizations rely on a project executives and project management office to oversee projects and performance of C-suite tasks. However, these projects and project management office (PMO) managers often lacks the authority and legitimacy to fully carry out the expected function. This is a clear gap in organizational management, and the gap is growing as more resources are dedicated to projects. Many organizations are equipped with the human resource to develop a CPO, the authors identify five main skills and 20 key topics that are crucial to the success of this vital role.
Originality/value
While the awareness of the CPO is still in its infancy, most organizations have equivalent or emerging senior project executive roles that may evolve and become CPOs. Today, organizations are increasingly pushed to pursue project-oriented structures to a rapidly changing environment, global market and fast-paced technological advances. It is likely that the CPO role will grow and become a crucial component in top management teams in the coming years to help organizations in moving forward to achieve their strategic goals and objectives.
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Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, project management was undergoing gradual shift and moving from traditional ways of working toward embracing digitization. The COVID-19 pandemic…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, project management was undergoing gradual shift and moving from traditional ways of working toward embracing digitization. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this transformation. This paper highlights the importance of digital project management (DPM), its adoption of digital technologies, the changing role of digital project manager, significant and abrupt swing in the rise of virtual teams and the benefits and challenges of remote project teams. This paper aims to discuss the latest development in project management and to lay out the rationale why DPM is here to stay even after the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The author has based this research on reviewing publications from the project management journals and publications, interviews of project management professionals and analyzing data from a project management consultancy.
Findings
The pandemic accelerated the digitalization of project management including the adoption of digital tools and technologies, embracing an agile approach to implementing projects; working collaborative in remote teams; and breaking traditional barriers of geography, time zones and fundamentally how project teams collaborate.
Practical implications
Project management is being digitized, changing how teams work. Fueled by the pandemic, DPM accelerated its momentum. The rate of adoption is likely to be strong after the pandemic. Organizations and individuals should consider embracing DPM but with the full knowledge of both benefits and challenges.
Originality/value
DPM is still in its early days even though the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated its use. Today and likely after the pandemic, organizations and people are increasingly embracing digital technologies, remote teams and agile project management approaches to project management. It is likely that in the foreseeable future, nearly all project managers will be digital project managers, giving rise to the importance of understanding the challenges and benefits and building the digital skills for both individuals and organizations.
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Hsin-Te Wu and Kuo Cheng Chung
This study aims to focus on the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) course. As AIoT has many theoretical theories and students usually have little interest in learning the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to focus on the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) course. As AIoT has many theoretical theories and students usually have little interest in learning the protocols, the experiments can help stimulate their curiosity. Due to the environmental factor, the teaching requires assistive videos and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to understand students' learning conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
The experimental design generally follows the course theories going from easy to complex, and students can extend the acquired concepts to other project development, yet, without in-depth knowledge about the experiment, resulting in limited creativity.
Findings
The assessment analysis can reveal whether students have grown from the teaching. The final analysis at the end of the term can show learners' conditions; meanwhile, students can deliver their level of satisfaction. The click-and-mortar teaching environment provided in this research can improve learning setting and quality, solidifying learners' proficiency.
Originality/value
The research result has proved the feasibility of the proposed method. Apart from showing the experimental steps, the video also explains the corresponding theories, helping students reinforce experimental knowledge and boost learning willingness.
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This paper seeks to examine the further integration of machine translation technologies with cross language information access in providing web users the capabilities of accessing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to examine the further integration of machine translation technologies with cross language information access in providing web users the capabilities of accessing information beyond language barriers. Machine translation and cross language information access are related technologies, and yet they have their own unique contributions in handling information in multiple languages. This paper aims to demonstrate that there are many opportunities to further integrate machine translation with cross language information access, and the combination can greatly empower web users in their information access.
Design/methodology/approach
Using English and Chinese as the language pair for studying, this paper looks at machine translation in query translation‐based cross language information access at multiple important aspects, which include query translation, relevance feedback, interactive cross language information access, out‐of‐vocabulary term translation, and data fusion. The goal is to obtain more insights about the wide range usages of machine translation in cross language information access, and to help the community to identify promising future directions for both machine translation and cross language access.
Findings
Machine translation can be applied effectively in many places in the whole cross language information access process. Queries translated by a machine translation system are high quality and are more robust in handling potential untranslated terms. Translation enhancement, a relevance feedback method using machine translation generated returned documents, is not only a valid technique by itself, but also helps to generate more robust cross language information access performance when combined with other relevance feedback techniques. Machine translation is also found to play a significant role in resolving untranslated terms and in data fusion.
Originality/value
This set of comparative empirical studies on integrating machine translation and cross language information access was performed on a common evaluation framework, and examined integration at multiple points of the cross language access process. The experimental results demonstrate the value of further integrating machine translation in cross language information access, and identify interesting future directions for both machine translation and cross language information access research.
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Hardik Shah, Shilpa Jain and Vipul Jain
Teams have become the dominant mode of work in contemporary organizations and critical for successful completion of various tasks, projects and overall organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
Teams have become the dominant mode of work in contemporary organizations and critical for successful completion of various tasks, projects and overall organizational effectiveness. Organizational factors such as organizational culture have often been investigated as contributing to team performance since it is difficult to develop and engage teams. But the effect of (organizational) team culture on team effectiveness (TE) has received less support. Therefore, this paper examines how factors such as organization team culture (OTC) affect different dimensions of TE in a power sector organization which has undergone a business transformation resulting in adoption of team-based work structures.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey instrument capturing the variables of organizational team culture and TE was administered to mid-level managers in a power sector organization in India. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the model fit for the proposed model.
Findings
A key finding of the research was that team culture (OTC dimensions) (i.e. participation, communication, trust, training inputs and support and support for teamwork) contribute to TE.
Originality/value
OTC and its impact on creating effective teams, particularly in the power sector, is an original contribution of this research. The OTC and TE framework may be used to diagnose team weaknesses and concerns and to design effective HR interventions.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Through an organization examining its performance, assessing its resources, and creating a flexible but sustainable project portfolio, a firm can successfully navigate severe crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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Cheng‐Wu Chen, Chien‐wen Shen, Chen‐Yuan Chen and Ming‐Jen Cheng
A tension leg platform (TLP) is a vertically moored, floating structure which is normally used for offshore oil/gas production. However, these types of structures can be damaged…
Abstract
Purpose
A tension leg platform (TLP) is a vertically moored, floating structure which is normally used for offshore oil/gas production. However, these types of structures can be damaged by vibration responses that are too large. The purpose of this paper is to consider the influence of the external waves on oceanic structures.
Design/methodology/approach
A mathematical model of an ocean environment was constructed, in which wave‐induced flow fields cause structural surge motion, then solutions to the mathematical model were analytically derived.
Findings
The Takagi‐Sugeno (T‐S) fuzzy model is employed in the approximation of the oceanic structure. The stability analysis of the TLP system is carried out using the Lyapunov direct method.
Practical implications
The dependence of the wave‐induced flow field and its resonant frequency on the wave characteristics and the structural properties of the platform, which include width, thickness and mass, can be drawn using a parametric approach.
Originality/value
Mathematical modeling is applied to find the wave‐induced displacement due to the surge motion. The vibration of the mechanical motion of the platform structure caused by wave force is also discussed.
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Paulo Rita, Tiago Oliveira, António Estorninho and Sérgio Moro
This study aims to present a model drawn on both the extension of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) and the perceived value for explaining consumer…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to present a model drawn on both the extension of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) and the perceived value for explaining consumer behavior toward mobile hospitality services (MHS) from two perspectives: intention to use and recommendation.
Design/methodology/approach
The partial least square (PLS) was applied to data gathered from 348 validated responses to a survey to test a number of research hypotheses.
Findings
Results found that the proposed conceptual model explains 62 per cent of the intention to use of MHS and 51 per cent of the variation in the recommendation. Perceived value plays a role in explaining both the intention to use and recommend MHS, with both constructs also helping in explaining behavior intention, to which effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and performance expectancy also contribute.
Originality/value
This research goes beyond perceived value by combining it with a cornerstone model, UTAUT2, used in technology adoption studies. The paper addresses updated MHS that include but are not limited to mobile hotel reservations.
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Yi‐Long Jaw, Ru‐Yu Wang and Carol Ying‐Yu Hsu
Although the concept of branding has been considered extensively in products and services, branding in Chinese is a relatively emerging phenomenon. This paper aims to present the…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the concept of branding has been considered extensively in products and services, branding in Chinese is a relatively emerging phenomenon. This paper aims to present the enlivenment of branding in Chinese within the cross‐strait markets of Taiwan and Mainland China, which underlies various ideologies.
Design/methodology/approach
This study primarily reviews literatures of brand and brand name translation, defines the essentiality of brand naming, and outlines the branding strategies for entering cross‐strait markets. Furthermore, this study validates the using of substantially interpreted brands that support the authors' four developed propositions.
Findings
This study compares substantially interpreted brands in cross‐strait markets with a reference to commonly used translation methods. The results illustrate interesting ideologies among cross‐strait markets and can help managers achieve global brand recognition.
Research limitations/implications
Since China and Taiwan share the same Chinese culture, the qualitative method proposed by the present authors is more applicable to practitioners who are eager to pursue branding in cross‐strait markets. Thus, the relevant techniques may not be applicable to people less familiar with Chinese culture.
Practical implications
The qualitative case study provides an advisable method for branding in Chinese. The results of this study can provide greater understanding of the various ideologies in cross‐strait markets, as well as help managers achieve global brand recognition.
Originality/value
The various ideologies from branding is complex, especially for those involved with linguistic essentials. Previous research has mainly focused on managerial‐based branding and customer‐based branding. This paper extends the interest into enlivening inspirations.