Technology and Project Management (Essay Sample)

Technology and Project Management
Potential Benefits and Challenges in Using Technology to Co-Create and Co-Manage Projects
Combined Master Thesis Proposal
By: [Name]
A Thesis Proposal Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate Schoolin partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
MS in Project, Program Management and Business Development 
Department of [Name],University of [Name]
June 2012
Student Name
Student N°Student’s nameProgramme LevelProgramme Name

Proposed Project Title
Technology and Project Management: Potential Benefits and Challenges of Using Technology-Based Methodologies to Co-Create and Co-Manage Projects
Advisory Committee
PositionNameExpertise/SpecializationSignatureProgramme DirectorLead SupervisorSecond Supervisor
Copyright and Originality
[Name] ©2012
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The author hereby certifies that the research proposed herein shall be an original scholarly work, not copied, adopted or submitted elsewhere for academic and or any other purposes whatsoever, and that, all parts of this article have originally been written by the author unless otherwise attributed to original authors in the footnotes and corresponding bibliography. No part of this work should be copied or adapted in any way and form without the express written permission from the author.
Table of Contents
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Student Name  PAGEREF _Toc321296359 \h
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Proposed Project Title  PAGEREF _Toc321296360 \h
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Advisory Committee  PAGEREF _Toc321296361 \h
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Copyright and Originality  PAGEREF _Toc321296362 \h
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Table of Contents  PAGEREF _Toc321296363 \h
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SECTION 1  PAGEREF _Toc321296364 \h
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1.0 Project Description  PAGEREF _Toc321296365 \h
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1.1 Definition and Scope of the Research Topic  PAGEREF _Toc321296366 \h
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1.2 Rationale and Significance – Motivation for Research  PAGEREF _Toc321296367 \h
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1.3 Corporate/ Industry Application of Research  PAGEREF _Toc321296368 \h
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SECTION 2  PAGEREF _Toc321296369 \h
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2.0 Research Background  PAGEREF _Toc321296370 \h
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2.1 General Overview of the Subject  PAGEREF _Toc321296371 \h
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2.2 Focus of the Research  PAGEREF _Toc321296372 \h
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SECTION 3  PAGEREF _Toc321296374 \h
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3.0 Research Aims  PAGEREF _Toc321296375 \h
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3.1 Research Objectives  PAGEREF _Toc321296376 \h
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3.2 Research Questions  PAGEREF _Toc321296377 \h
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3.3 Expected Outcomes of the Research  PAGEREF _Toc321296378 \h
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3.4 Contribution to Existing Knowledge and Practice  PAGEREF _Toc321296379 \h
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SECTION 4  PAGEREF _Toc321296380 \h
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4.0 Research Methodology  PAGEREF _Toc321296381 \h
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4.1 Choice of Research Methodology  PAGEREF _Toc321296382 \h
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4.2 Research Phases  PAGEREF _Toc321296383 \h
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4.3 Resources for the Research  PAGEREF _Toc321296384 \h
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4.3.1 Academic Resources  PAGEREF _Toc321296385 \h
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4.3.2 Pedagogical Resources  PAGEREF _Toc321296386 \h
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4.3.3 Financial Resources  PAGEREF _Toc321296387 \h
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4.3.4 Personal Resources  PAGEREF _Toc321296388 \h
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4.4 Research Methods, Tools & Techniques  PAGEREF _Toc321296389 \h
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References  PAGEREF _Toc321296390 \h
17

Technology and Project Management: Potential Benefits and Challenges in Using Technology to Co-Create and Co-Manage Projects
SECTION 1
1.0 Project Description
1.1 Definition and Scope of the Research Topic
The most common and significant challenge in project management is the constrain of resources, time and scope (Ireland, 2006; Chatfield & Johnson, 2007). Efficient project management relies on reducing human, machinery, time and capital costs and still attaining the most optimal results. This requires an excellent ‘resource planning and allocation’ practice (Ireland, 2006, p. 110). If by using a certain project management methodology can enable a project attain its goals and objectives with lesser personnel, faster, with lesser resources and with minimal inconveniences, then such a methodology will the most ideal in contemporary organizations (Chatfield & Johnson, 2007). As organizations learn how to optimize their resources and still pursue greater competitiveness in contemporary tough economic times, project management scholars and practitioners have now turned their focus towards determining the most optimal project management methodologies and practices.
It is in this interest that the proposed study seeks to investigate whether the use of modern technology can enable organizations optimize their project management practices. Traditionally, organizations operated with minimal and oftentimes absent communication channels between departments and teams. A project management team had to operate independently, oftentimes from remote regions, and make weekly or monthly reports to a central agency. Today however, communication technologies have made it possible to integrate departments and organization functions in a way that enable real time data availability, synchronized communication, virtue collaboration and networked systems. An organization can have a singular creative marketing team whose team members are located in different countries across the globe. Nokia can have its production design team in Germany, its marketing team in the USA, its Public Relations team in Britain and its manufacturing team in China. Yet it is possible for these teams to collaborate on a single project despite their geographical localities using modern-day communication and project management platforms.
Instead of having different but similar projects running under different departments and personnel, today it is possible to have simultaneous centralized projects being created and managed by the same team. Quoting a recent McKinsey survey, the Project Management Institute points out that “nearly 60 percent of senior executives believe building a strong project management discipline is a top-three priority for their companies as they look to the future” (2010, p. 3). Co-creating and co-managing projects is among the new ways companies are harnessing their potential towards future competitiveness. The proposed study hopes to investigate the potential advantages and disadvantages posed by the new technology-based project management methodologies such as co-creating and co-managing.
1.2 Rationale and Significance – Motivation for Research
Adoption of technology is often determined by several factors. A technology only gains widespread adoption if has potential benefits such as saving costs, improving efficiency, improving productivity and solving existing problems (Rogers, 1986). Postulating on theories of what he called technology diffusion, Roger (1995) argued that the features of a particular innovation are central in determining its adoption rate and extent. Derivatively therefore, the beneficial and challenging features attributable to technology-based project management co-creation and co-management practices will determine whether the practices gain widespread usage.
The researcher is particularly interested in investigating how technology-based project management methodologies can impact contemporary organizations because, it is the benefits they portend and the challenges they pose, that will determine whether technology will become part of project management practices. The researcher, whose current and future career interests lie in project management, is particularly interested to know how technology-aided co-creation and co-managing will impact on the cost, time, resources and results of project. If technology-based project management methodologies help on optimizing project expenditure and improving results, then the researcher will celebrate and recommend an insightful way of helping project management scholars and practitioners attain its fundamental objective.
1.3 Corporate/ Industry Application of Research
The proposed research shall in its totality target business organizations that rely on project management. Since almost all contemporary organizations need and have a project management department as standard practice, the proposed study hopes to arrive at findings that are generalizable to all types and sizes of organizations across the globe. However, for the purposes of the study’s implementation, the researcher will focus only on the project management arms of the three major telecommunication companies in France namely Siemens, Orange Group and Erickson. The study hopes to establish how this sector and the particular players have employed technology in co-creating and co-managing their projects, and by so doing...