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on Project, Program and Portfolio Management |
| By: | Avagyan, Vardan; Camacho, Nuno; Van der Stede, Wim; Stremersch, Stefan |
| Abstract: | Innovation project selection is a decision of major relevance to firms. Errors in this decisionmay have serious consequences for firms, especially as many firms struggle with optimiz-ing innovation project selection decisions. In their pitches to innovation decision-makers,project teams invariably present financial projections on their innovation projects, whichoften include best- and worst-case scenario presentation. Despite the potential influencethe presentation of such financial projections has on firms’ innovation project selectiondecisions, this topic has not received sufficient attention in the literature. This study exam-ines the role of scenario presentation on financial projections in innovation project selec-tion by conducting two conjoint experiments among 2,425 managers and 11 follow-upinterviews with senior executives. First, the findings of this study suggest that firms shouldhelp project teams present small- rather than large-range scenarios. This is important for atleast the 57% of firms surveyed in this study where project teams are reported to present‘too wide’ and ‘too extreme’ scenarios. Second, firms seeking to promote transformationalinnovation in their innovation pipeline should make the presentation of small-range sce-narios required for an innovation proposal to be presented to a project selection commit-tee. This is relevant for 79% of surveyed firms that would like to select moretransformational than core innovation projects and especially for the half of which thatcurrently do not require scenario presentation. Third, project teams with less expertiseshould develop scenarios analytically rather than intuitively and convey the project’sstrategic merit to decision-makers to help increase innovation project selection likelihood |
| Keywords: | innovation; innovation project selection decisions; financial projections; finance; marketing-accounting interface; marketing-finance interface; new product development; scenario presentation |
| JEL: | M40 L81 |
| Date: | 2021–10–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:112474&r= |
| By: | Antonio Bassanetti |
| Abstract: | Capacity development is one of the IMF’s core activities. Its impact is monitored through a Results-Based Management framework. Using for the first time the resulting dataset, the paper investigates how the likelihood of achieving targeted outcomes correlates with macroeconomic conditions and project-specific characteristics. Results indicate a positive correlation with per capita GDP growth and the involvement of resident advisors and regional centers. Results also confirm lower chances of achieving targeted outcomes for fragile, conflict-affected, and small states as well as in complex projects. These findings inform Fund CD strategy, prioritization and delivery to help member countries achieve better outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Capacity Development, Evaluation, Results-Based Management |
| Date: | 2021–12–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2021/285&r= |
| By: | Grégory Jemine (HEC Liège); François Pichault (HEC Liège); Christophe Dubois (Université de Liège) |
| Abstract: | As a result of growing financial pressures and changing space demands, universities are increasingly looking to modernize and rationalize their workspaces through projects of New Ways of Working (NWoW). So far, extant research has mostly investigated the managerial construct of NWoW and its outcomes on organizational members, leaving the design process leading NWoW to be implemented in local contexts understudied. By contrast, the present study sets out to redefine NWoW as open-ended projects of organizational change that are unavoidably ambiguous and conflictual, hence seeking to overcome the tendency to conceal tensions arising at early stages of the change process under the abstract black-box of "resistance to change". It is shown that ambiguity, simultaneously understood as an organizational problem causing tensions and as a rhetorical resource enabling collective action, plays a major role in the design process of such equivocal projects. The paper further advances our understanding of ambiguity as a multifaceted concept to bridge between individual rationalities and collective decision-making in the course of complex design processes. |
| Keywords: | NWW,NWoW,Ambiguity,Academic workspaces,Organizational change,Workspace design,New Ways of Working,Espace de travail,Ambigüité |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03419339&r= |
| By: | Pham Tran Lan Phuong; Nguyen Van Thai |
| Abstract: | O Lam Commune in Tri Ton District, An Giang Province in Vietnam experiences serious water shortages all year round, especially in the dry season. Moreover, owing to its mountainous topography, the local people, especially women, face numerous challenges in accessing water for domestic use. Unfortunately, although women are globally considered the main actors in water management, they are often excluded from planning, formulating, and implementing management policies. This study, therefore, examined gender issues in relation to water use and management of Khmer men and women in four villages of O Lam Commune. Interviews, focus group discussions, and Participatory Rural Appraisal tools were conducted in Phuoc Loc, Phuoc Loi, Phuoc Tho, and Phuoc Long villages. The results reveal the relationship between gender roles and the physical environment, particularly upland rice farming systems. Women primarily manage water in the household; consequently, lack of access to water affects them more significantly than men. Furthermore, since they travel longer distances and carry heavy loads of water, they spend more time collecting water. This reduces the time they have to fulfill their reproductive roles and partake in income-generating activities. In addition, women face several barriers that limit their participation in decision-making in water management projects. These barriers include traditional norms that assign and expect men to be the dominant decision makers; high illiteracy levels among women; and women’s lack of time to participate in water-related project activities due to their reproductive and productive roles, such as labor inputs in agriculture. This study recommends that water-related policies and projects should ensure gender equality in increasing access to water resources and building capacity training programs. Women’s participation in water-related activities will enhance their knowledge and provide them with various platforms to share their perspectives on water use and management. |
| Keywords: | Khmer ethnic minority women, women’s participation and decision-making, gender relations to water, reproductive and productive gendered roles, water management, gender equality, Vietnam |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sag:seadps:2021:511&r= |
| By: | Czarnitzki, Dirk; Giebel, Marek |
| Abstract: | We utilize a new survey experiment to evaluate the existence and degree of financial constraints for R&D in the economy. The experiment does not only allow to deduct the presence of financial constraints, but also to evaluate their economic significance. Using data on German companies, we find that financial constraints for R&D exist but that their relevance might have been overestimated in the literature. Most R&D projects that have not been implemented because of financial constraints turn out to have low expected marginal rates of return. While this findings stands in some contrast to other studies, we also find several results that are in line with the literature: young firms are most constrained and the constraints occur at the intensive margin, i.e. our results do not suggest that non-innovative companies are deterred from innovation. Instead, highly innovative companies are restricted by the capital market. |
| Keywords: | Innovation,Financial Constraints,Survey Experiment |
| JEL: | G30 O30 O31 O32 L21 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:21084&r= |
| By: | Dafne Accoroni; Eunice Cascant; Lauren Dixon; Noémie Dominguez (iaelyon School of Management, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Magellan); Emily Mugel; Catherine Mercier-Suissa (iaelyon School of Management, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Magellan); Maité Pinchon; Nancy Ottaviano |
| Date: | 2021–11–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03450408&r= |
| By: | Pairault, Thierry |
| Abstract: | Although little research exists on business engagement between French and Chinese companies in Africa, Thierry Pairault offers in this policy brief many significant examples of French and Chinese engagement. While African governments want to carry out infrastructure projects at the lowest cost, they also want to ensure projects are carried out according to certain technical standards they are familiar with. Hence, at least in French-speaking countries, we see the choice of Chinese contractors to build and French engineering firms to supervise and manage. Read on to see how the future of any cooperation will lie with the business sector, and with individual firms. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:caripb:502020&r= |
| By: | Chen, Yunnan |
| Abstract: | Explore Yunnan Chen's analysis of railway construction as a manifestation of China's economic statecraft in Africa. As African leaders have eagerly leveraged the railway sector, this paper looks through the lens of African agency to examine the case of Ethiopia's Chinese-financed railway projects, including the Addis- Djibouti Railway, contrasting it to Ethiopia's experience with subsequent European/Turkish financed projects. Chen shows the opportunities, missed and taken, by Ethiopian actors in leveraging external partners, focusing on areas of technology and skills transfer. Ultimately, the different financing arrangements entail different relationships—one politicized, one commercial—offering different scopes of bargaining power: while the political relationship offers greater flexibility regarding financing, the commercial project has been more successful for exercising agency in relation to contractors. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:caripb:522021&r= |