An assessment of the impact of front-end project initiation activities on the long-term deliverability of major projects

评估前端项目启动活动对重大项目长期可交付性的影响

• 批准号: 2229577
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Bath
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2229577
• 关键词: assessment; impact; front; end; project

Context / ObjectivesSince the evolution of project management as a research discipline, the field has suffered from chronic lack of understanding surrounding the complexity and challenges facing the initiating phase (i.e. project front-end) of large-scale projects (Lundin and Söderholm, 1995; Davies, 2017). There has been a fundamental lack of research into the ways that projects have been set up after the policy phase but before the project enters the business as usual phase.This research addresses that gap through an investigation into the activities completed at the front-end of large-scale projects in order to help better understand, and provide reasoning behind, why this under-researched stage in the project life-cycle can have such a significant impact upon a projects end result (Artto, 2011). Extant literature evidences the importance of front-end practices and concedes that front-end activities can often be the root of cause of 'success' or 'failure' highlighting the considerable need for further research (Morris, 2013).Many authors support the view that the front-end practices contribute significantly to the successful execution of projects (Edkins et al, 2013; Samset & Volden, 2016). The aforementioned previous studies merely seem to highlight the importance of front-end practices however. They detail the importance of front-end activities usually in relation to one specific case study example. This research will consider front-end practices more broadly and assess the impact of initiation activities on a macro scale, drawing out key emerging themes and good practice across a range of projects being delivered within a range of contexts.Methodology / DataThis research will adopt a mixed-methodology approach obtaining primary data from project delivery professionals within different government departments alongside utilising secondary sources of data available from external agencies such as the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA). The rich primary data will be obtained through semi-structured interviews and observations with key stakeholders involved in the front-end delivery process. The secondary data analysis will involve content analysis completed through the scrutinising of existing reports (IPA/IfG) and key performance measures providing details on longer term measures of project performance.One key advantage with this project concerns the accessibility to high quality and appropriate data sources. Building on access to large-scale projects via the ESRC funded Project X and HPC Supply Chain Innovation Lab, will allow unique access to rich primary and secondary datasets to advance management theory, practice and policy with regard to large-scale projects.Application / ImpactThe impact arising from this research is likely to be significant. There have been calls for more research into this specific area of project delivery knowledge from within both academia and government (Edkins et al, 2013; Cabinet Office, 2019). Existing research highlights the opportunity for value creation in the front-end of projects however no study has had the time, nor the resources to be able to provide an in-depth, comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of different activities completed within the front-end and the resultant impacts (Attro, 2016).This research possesses significant potential not just through its contribution to academic theory but also in relation to social and economic value creation for the UK. This research has significant potential to positively impact the 133 major projects with a net whole life cost of £442 billion pounds currently being undertaken by the UK government (IPA, 2019). As illustrated through existing research links (e.g. Project X) it is clear to see that the UK government are actively looking to academia to help improve and shape their practice (Project X, 2018). As a result, this research is likely to be greatly utilised in a governmental context.

背景/目标自项目管理作为一门研究学科的演变以来，该领域一直缺乏对大型项目启动阶段（即项目前端）所面临的复杂性和挑战的理解（Lundin和Söderholm，1995; Davies，2017）。在政策阶段之后但在项目进入“一切照旧”阶段之前，对项目的设立方式基本缺乏研究，本研究通过调查大型项目前端完成的活动来填补这一空白，以帮助更好地理解项目，并提供背后的推理，为什么项目生命周期中这个研究不足的阶段会对项目的最终结果产生如此重大的影响（Artto，2011）。现有文献证明了前端实践的重要性，并承认前端活动通常是“成功”或“失败”的根源，这突出了进一步研究的必要性（Morris，2013）。许多作者支持前端实践对项目成功执行有重大贡献的观点（Edkins等人，2013; Samset & Volden，2016）。然而，前面提到的研究似乎只是强调了前端实践的重要性。它们详细说明了前端活动的重要性，通常与一个具体的案例研究示例有关。这项研究将更广泛地考虑前端实践，并在宏观范围内评估启动活动的影响，在一系列不同背景下交付的一系列项目中，绘制出关键的新兴主题和良好实践。方法/数据本研究将采用混合-方法论方法从不同政府部门的项目交付专业人员那里获得主要数据，同时利用现有的次要数据来源基础设施和项目管理局（IPA）等外部机构。丰富的原始数据将通过与参与前端交付过程的关键利益攸关方进行半结构化访谈和观察来获得。二级数据分析将涉及通过审查现有报告（IPA/IfG）完成的内容分析，以及提供项目绩效长期衡量详细信息的关键绩效衡量指标。通过ESRC资助的Project X和HPC供应链创新实验室访问大型项目，将允许独特地访问丰富的主要和次要数据集，以推进大型项目的管理理论，实践和政策。应用/影响这项研究产生的影响可能是显着的。学术界和政府都呼吁对项目交付知识的这一特定领域进行更多研究（Edkins等人，2013;内阁办公室，2019）。现有的研究强调了在项目前端创造价值的机会，但没有任何研究有时间，也没有资源能够对前端完成的不同活动的有效性及其产生的影响进行深入全面的评估（阿特罗，（2016年）。这项研究不仅对学术理论有贡献，而且对创造社会和经济价值也有重大的潜力，英国.这项研究具有巨大的潜力，将对英国政府目前正在进行的133个重大项目产生积极影响，这些项目的整个生命周期净成本为4420亿英镑（IPA，2019年）。正如通过现有的研究链接（例如项目X）所示，很明显，英国政府正在积极寻求学术界帮助改善和塑造他们的实践（项目X，2018）。因此，这项研究很可能在政府背景下得到很大利用。