CS3.1.3

1. CS3.1.3 Are Interpretative and Critical Research Methods Useful for Research in Project Management? Dr Shankar Sankaran TUESDAY 9 OCTOBER, 2007 Project Management - Setting the Standard Australian Institute of Project Management National Conference 2007 Hobart Tasmania October 7 – 10, 2007

2. Researching the ActualityinProject Management A/Prof. Shankar Sankaran University of Technology Sydney AIPM National Conference, Hobart Setting the Standard 8th October 2007

3. Rethinking Project Management Theory about Practice Lifecycle model of projects & PM Theories of complexity of projects & PM Theory in Practice Practitioner as a trained technician Practitioner as reflective practitioner (Winter et al 2006: 642)

4. Rethinking Project Management Theory for Practice Projects as instrumental processes Projects as social processes Product creation as primary focus Value creation as primary focus Narrow conceptualisation of projects Broader conceptualisation of projects (Winter et al 2006: 642)

5. What is researching the actuality? • Focusing on social processes and how practitioners think in action – solving problems at the ‘swamp’. (Schon 1983) • How do practitioners interpret their own actions? • Critical dialogue with practitioners who interpret their own experience • Use interpretative and critical research methods such as rich ethnographic studies and action research Cicmil et al 2006

6. What is critical and interpretative research? • Interpretative • Knowledge is socially constructed by human actors. • It is not value free. • Inquirer and informant may change their perceptions • Critical • Reality is historically constructed and produced and reproduced by people. • Focuses on oppositions, conflicts and contradictions • Tries to eliminate causes of alienation and domination (Walsham 1976, Myers 1995/2007)

7. Case Research • Characteristics • Lack of current knowledge about issue • Phenomenon studied is complex • Phenomenon is contemporary and dynamic • Multiple sources of evidence required to make sense • Design • Tries to replicate a series of experiments • Single, multiple or embedded cases • Confirmation/disconfirmation • Triangulation • Visualizing data analysis (Yin 2003. Carson et al 2001)

8. Action Research • Characteristics • Starts as a ‘fuzzy’ problem • Need for action (change) based on critical reflection (understanding) • Participative and usually qualitative • Data based rather than theory based • Design • Addresses a real concern faced by a person, group or organization • Informants are actually co-researchers • Rigour through using a variety of methods • Theses is often not written like a conventional thesis

9. 1. Connecting knowledge to people • DPI Forestry was being corporatised – To compete with private sector • Lost revenue due to litigation – information storage and retrieval issue • Started off as an IS project (knowledge not used due to political reasons) • System analyst wants to use action research

10. Methodology • Started with a survey to determine AR projects • Surveyed administrators, executives, professional & technical staff. • Survey done through personal or group interviews • Analysis of the survey led to main gaps in information and knowledge in DPI. • Prioritised four projects to be implemented using an action research approach.

11. 2. Action Plan: Migration to single database environment project (MSDEP) 1. Action Plan: Business intelligence reports (BIRP)

12. 4 . Action Plan: Electronic document and records management system (eDRMS). 3. Action Plan: Intranet redevelopment of ForWeb (IRFW)

13. 2. Complex health information system • Waitemata district health board provides publicly funded primary and secondary care to a population of 450,000 • Implementing a series of clinically focused ICT Systems • Single login interface to view all patient data, medical alerts, past treatment history and tests • An electronic medical document repository • Real time patient tracking system for the emergency care centre • Surgical audit system • Electronic referral status messaging and discharge summaries for primary care • Electronic signoff of laboratory results

14. Methodology Outline • AR used due to theory-building emphasis, focusing on change and learning, flexible and responsive to deal with emergent issue in a complex changing system. • Methods used • Participant observation • Personal and action research group feedback • Convergent interviews • Document examination • Triangulation by continuously seeking for disconfirming evidence

15. Stepping Stone Projects Concept Reality Foundation SAFE Projects Crossing the acceptance Gap. You are weaving fibres together to create a beautiful rug not stacking cans in a supermarket

16. Interesting observations • PM helps to drive processes along but in a complex system it was not possible to fix scope and timelines in concrete • PM methodology unable to deal with wider systemic issues, ambiguities, emergent phenomenon, challenges and opportunities that arose • The project team recognised that they were ambassadors of how ICT could empower health systems not monitors of time, scope, cost and quality • Healthcare requires critically reflective practitioners able to cope with complex ambiguity in real time.

17. 3. Cultural risks in international projects • Australian PM of international construction projects • Attitudes towards commercial aspects of project • PM tools not professionally applied • Not honouring contracts • Differences in communication methods and value systems • Poor use of modern technologies • Fear of applying new methods to manage projects.

18. Methodology • Embedded case study of ten cases (projects) • Multiple sources of evidence • Observations (unobtrusive and participant) • Semi structured interviews • Secondary documents • Data analysis • Cross case analysis for common patterns

19. Cultural risks • Business methods and ethical issues were most observed issues • Ethical issues affecting project performance • Bribery and corruption • Lack of respect to honour contracts • Seeking free perks to provide cooperation • Expectation of gifts • Cultural issues most prevalent during implementation • Also provided conclusions about personal attributes of PM and PM teams.

20. Managing cultural risks • Project team to develop cultural awareness to differences between own and host country culture • Employ a cultural interpreter (not a language interpreter) • Undertake a cultural risk analysis • Employ a PM with cross-cultural skills

21. 4. A Diagnostic System for Defence • Contractor developing software for defence projects in Singapore • Handover of projects to client not very smooth • Changes often required after hand over • Turnover of young engineers • Traditional method of developing expert systems was not working

22. Seven Step Process Action to improve situation 7 Taking Action Problem situation unstructured 1 Define Feasible and Desirable changes 6 Comparison of 4 with 2 5 Finding out Problem situation Expressed 2 Real World Build Conceptual Models 4 Model World Root Definition Of Relevant Systems 3 Systems Thinking (Checkland 1999)

23. Dialectical Model of SSM • Between Immersion (Rich Picture) and Essence (Root Definition). Experience the problem fully and stand back and define its features • Between the Essence (Root Definition) and the Ideal (Conceptual Model) . Find an ideal model to achieve the same transformation. • Between the Ideal and Reality thinking about improvement to the situation or the ideal. • Between Plans and Implementation where plans are implemented, monitored and improved.

24. Application to a Diagnostic Model • Modeller immerses in the problem situation by getting to know a vehicle well and understands an aspect of vehicle operation • Modeller forgets the real vehicle and focuses on developing a diagnostic model • Modeller performs a task analysis to define all inspection and repair tasks required by the model • The test plan is verified against the real vehicle • This four stage inquiry is repeated until other vehicle operations are simulated.

25. Comparison of projects • Better way to manage projects using an emergent and responsive approach • Improvement to own situation. • Problems were approached differently based on the ‘reality’ of the situation • A variety of methods were used to suit the situation • Informants actively participated in the research • All four projects contributed to both theory and practice

26. Rethinking PM Research • Traditional PM is the language of design, regularity and control. It is prescriptive. • Real projects are complex social settings unpredictable (ambiguous and uncertain) with control and collaborative interactions between diverse actors. • PM in practice is a social conduct, defined by history, context, individual values and wider structural frameworks • Actuality Research has a deep interest in the lived experience of project actors to describe what is really going on in ‘projects’ to explore skills and knowledge that result in social and political actions in managing them. Cicmil, Williams, Thomas & Hodgson 2006: 675-686