UMD Theses and Dissertations
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
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Item An Analysis of a Project Management Oversight Committee as a School Improvement Model in One School District(2018) Alston, Anthony Reginal; Imig, David G; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)There are persistent and significant gaps in performance between various racial and ethnic sub-groups, particularly between African American and White groups of students, on both state assessments and discipline measures (Rothstein, 2014). Effectively closing the gap requires improving the performance of all students while accelerating the achievement of low-performing student groups in order to catch up to their higher-performing peers. Researchers have found that a variety of school, community, economic and familial factors correlate with low student performance and the achievement gap, but views are mixed on how to improve performance for all and narrow the gap (Alliance for Excellence Education, 1999; Cancian & Danziger, 2009; Jacob & Ludwig, 2009; Janet, 1999; Mitra, 2011; Organization for Economic Co-Operation (OECD), 2012). Over the past decade, federal, state and local policies have made the improvement of low-performing schools and the closing of the achievement gap a top priority. This descriptive quantitative study focused on the efforts of one Mid-Atlantic system to address low performance among certain groups of students using a Project Management Oversight Committee (PMOC) model. The model utilizes data and a heightened level of accountability to yield quick, yet sustainable growth and progress. For this study seven schools (three high schools, two middle schools and two elementary schools) were identified as a result of persistent participation in the process. The academic and discipline data were reviewed to determine trends in performance. In addition to the achievement and demographic data, a satisfaction survey was reviewed to understand the impact of the PMOC process in improving low student performance. Analysis of the data did not find any relational impact upon achievement data. Although the PMOC process did not have the promised impact, it does not deminsh the possibilty that there were gains that would not have occured if the process had not been used. Based on these findings,it is recommended that the system consider allocating funding for further studies to examine the impact of the PMOC process.Item Mathematical Model and Framework for Multi-Phase Project Optimization(2016) Shafahi, Ali; Haghani, Ali; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research aims to assist investors of “real” tangible assets such as construction projects in making an optimal portfolio of phased and regular projects which will yield the best financial outcome calculated in terms of discounted cash flow of future anticipated revenues and costs. We use optimization techniques to find the optimal timing and phasing of a single project that has the potential of being decomposed into smaller sequential phases. Existence of uncertainties is inevitable especially in cases in which we are planning for long durations. In the presence of these uncertainties, full upfront commitment to large projects may jeopardize the rationality of investments and cause substantial economic risks. Breaking a big project into smaller stages (phases) and implementing a staged development is a potential mechanism to hedge the risk. Under this approach, by adding managerial flexibilities, we may choose to abandon a project at any time once the uncertain outcomes are not favorable. In addition to the benefits resulting from hedging unfavorable risks, phasing a project can transform a financially infeasible project into a feasible one due to less load on capital budgets during each time. Once some phases of a project are delayed and planned to be implemented sequentially, it is important to prepare the infrastructure required for their future development. Initially, we present a Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) model for the deterministic case with no uncertainties that considers interrelationships between phases of projects such as scheduling and costs (economy of scales) in addition to the initial infrastructural investment required for implementation of future phases. Pairing possible phases of a project and doing them in parallel is beneficial due to positive synergies between phases but on the downside requires larger capital investments. Unavailability of enough budgets to fully develop a profitable project will cause the investment to be carried out in different phases e.g. during times when the required capital for developing the next phase (or group of phases) is available. After, presenting the model for the deterministic case, we present a scenario-based multi-stage MIP model for the stochastic case. The source of uncertainty considered is future demand that is modeled using a trinomial lattice. We then present two methods for solving the stochastic problem and finding the value of the here and now decision variable (the size of the infrastructure/foundation). Finding the value of the here and now decision variable for all scenarios using a novel technique that does not require solving all the scenarios is the first method. The second method combines simulation and optimization to find good solutions for the here and now decision variable. Lastly, we present a MIP for the deterministic multi-project case. In this setting, projects could have multiple phases. The MIP will help the managers in making the project selection and scheduling decision simultaneously. It will also assist the managers in making appropriate decisions for the size of the infrastructure and the implementation schedule of the phases of each project. To solve this complex model, we present a pre-processing step that helps reduce the size of the problem and a heuristic that finds good solutions very fast.Item INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS IN NONPROFIT UNIVERSITY: A PROJECT GOVERNANCE PERSPECTIVE(2016) Ghosh, Soumajit; Cui, Qingbin; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The universities rely on the Information Technology (IT) projects to support and enhance their core strategic objectives of teaching, research, and administration. The researcher’s literature review found that the level of IT funding and resources in the universities is not adequate to meet the IT demands. The universities received more IT project requests than they could execute. As such, universities must selectively fund the IT projects. The objectives of the IT projects in the universities vary. An IT project which benefits the teaching functions may not benefit the administrative functions. As such, the selection of an IT project is challenging in the universities. To aid with the IT decision making, many universities in the United States of America (USA) have formed the IT Governance (ITG) processes. ITG is an IT decision making and accountability framework whose purpose is to align the IT efforts in an organization with its strategic objectives, realize the value of the IT investments, meet the expected performance criteria, and manage the risks and the resources (Weil & Ross, 2004). ITG in the universities is relatively new, and it is not well known how the ITG processes are aiding the nonprofit universities in selecting the right IT projects, and managing the performance of these IT projects. This research adds to the body of knowledge regarding the IT project selection under the governance structure, the maturity of the IT projects, and the IT project performance in the nonprofit universities. The case study research methodology was chosen for this exploratory research. The convenience sampling was done to choose the cases from two large, research universities with decentralized colleges, and two small, centralized universities. The data were collected on nine IT projects from these four universities using the interviews and the university documents. The multi-case analysis was complemented by the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to systematically analyze how the IT conditions lead to an outcome. This research found that the IT projects were selected in the centralized universities in a more informed manner. ITG was more authoritative in the small centralized universities; the ITG committees were formed by including the key decision makers, the decision-making roles, and responsibilities were better defined, and the frequency of ITG communication was higher. In the centralized universities, the business units and colleges brought the IT requests to ITG committees; which in turn prioritized the IT requests and allocated the funds and the resources to the IT projects. ITG committee members in the centralized universities had a higher awareness of the university-wide IT needs, and the IT projects tended to align with the strategic objectives. On the other hand, the decentralized colleges and business units in the large universities were influential and often bypassed the ITG processes. The decentralized units often chose the “pet” IT projects, and executed them within a silo, without bringing them to the attention of the ITG committees. While these IT projects met the departmental objectives, they did not always align with the university’s strategic objectives. This research found that the IT project maturity in the university could be increased by following the project management methodologies. The IT project management maturity was found higher in the IT projects executed by the centralized university, where a full-time project manager was assigned to manage the project, and the project manager had a higher expertise in the project management. The IT project executed under the guidance of the Project Management Office (PMO) has exhibited a higher project management maturity, as the PMO set the standards and controls for the project. The IT projects managed by the decentralized colleges by a part-time project manager with lower project management expertise have exhibited a lower project management maturity. The IT projects in the decentralized colleges were often managed by the business, or technical leads, who often lacked the project management expertise. This research found that higher the IT project management maturity, the better is the project performance. The IT projects with a higher maturity had a lower project delay, lower number of missed requirements, and lower number of IT system errors. This research found that the quality of IT decision in the university could be improved by centralizing the IT decision-making processes. The IT project management maturity could be improved by following the project management methodologies. The stakeholder management and communication were found critical for the success of the IT projects in the university. It is hoped that the findings from this research would help the university leaders make the strategic IT decisions, and the university’s IT project managers make the IT project decisions.Item THE FEASIBILITY OF USING WEB-BASED TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF DREDGING PROJECTS(2016) Vecino, Gustavo Angel; Skibniewski, Miroslaw J; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The research investigates the feasibility of using web-based project management systems for dredging. To achieve this objective the research assessed both the positive and negative aspects of using web-based technology for the management of dredging projects. Information gained from literature review and prior investigations of dredging projects revealed that project performance, social, political, technical, and business aspects of the organization were important factors in deciding to use web-based systems for the management of dredging projects. These factors were used to develop the research assumptions. An exploratory case study methodology was used to gather the empirical evidence and perform the analysis. An operational prototype of the system was developed to help evaluate developmental and functional requirements, as well as the influence on performance, and on the organization. The evidence gathered from three case study projects, and from a survey of 31 experts, were used to validate the assumptions. Baselines, representing the assumptions, were created as a reference to assess the responses and qualitative measures. The deviation of the responses was used to evaluate for the analysis. Finally, the conclusions were assessed by validating the assumptions with the evidence, derived from the analysis. The research findings are as follows: 1. The system would help improve project performance. 2. Resistance to implementation may be experienced if the system is implemented. Therefore, resistance to implementation needs to be investigated further and more R&D work is needed in order to advance to the final design and implementation. 3. System may be divided into standalone modules in order to simplify the system and facilitate incremental changes. 4. The QA/QC conceptual approach used by this research needs to be redefined during future R&D to satisfy both owners and contractors. Yin (2009) Case Study Research Design and Methods was used to develop the research approach, design, data collection, and analysis. Markus (1983) Resistance Theory was used during the assumptions definition to predict potential problems to the implementation of web-based project management systems for the dredging industry. Keen (1981) incremental changes and facilitative approach tactics were used as basis to classify solutions, and how to overcome resistance to implementation of the web-based project management system. Davis (1989) Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to assess the solutions needed to overcome the resistances to the implementation of web-base management systems for dredging projects.Item Managing Risk Assessment Stakeholder Engagement Processes: A Case Study(2014) Leveridge, M. Dianne; Baecher, Greg; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Risk engineers conduct comprehensive risk assessments for many types of large projects, often singularly focused on the technical assessment and its value to the technical engineering team. Limiting or excluding community stakeholder involvement from the assessment process increases stakeholder skepticism, apprehension, and mistrust regarding safety, health and welfare of those stakeholders living or working nearby. Social experts have repeatedly documented connections between perception framing, communication processes, and risks. This research considers the connections between stakeholder perceptions and communication plans associated with risks listed in the risk register, and communication plans designed based upon including social expert suggestions for six projects: three bio-safety laboratories; two levee system assessment projects; and one Superfund site. The project risk assessment value is researched through the lens of risk perception and communication planning via the risk register. The concept of a Risk Perception Management (RPM) Plan developed in collaboration with social science experts and integrated with the risk register is presented. This research shows how the RPM concept iteratively captures stakeholder perceptions to build associated communication plans, thus increasing risk assessment value for stakeholders and decision-makers.Item GOVERNANCE STRATEGIES FOR ENTERPRISE APPLICATION SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATIONS(2013) Ghosh, Saumyendu N.; Skibniewski, Miroslaw J; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Enterprise application system implementations are highly complex implementations that automate several business functions, such as financials, accounting, supply chain, customer services management, human resources management and reporting among others. This study aims at providing an alternative view of organization's enterprise application system (EAS) acceptance. Despite the large body of literature, there are still empirical inquiries to investigate the EAS system implementation from adopters' perspectives and how to identify risks in a multi-stakeholder and dynamic environment. The thesis consists of three essays on various aspects of relationship between enterprise application implementation in a multi-stakeholder environment and project governance. Valid measurement scales for predicting organization's acceptance of enterprise systems are in short supply. The first essay develops and validates new scales for two specific variables, integration and inter-dependency risks. These variables are hypothesized as key determinant for organizational success of enterprise application implementations by mitigating risks involved in a multi-stakeholder environment. A model of organization acceptance of enterprise systems was developed using these two scales and then tested for reliability from a total of 365 users and nine application groups. The measures were validated using ten different direct measures with reliabilities between 0.72 and 0.96. Integration risk was significantly related with perceived ease of use, consultant's product knowledge and training provided to the end users. Inter-dependency risk was significantly correlated with perceived usefulness, consultant's industry and product knowledge. Both integration and inter-dependency risks are significantly related with success of the new enterprise application. This study would benefit project executives by offering valuable managerial insights that enable them to appreciate and improve integration and inter-dependency of stakeholders. Implications for theory and practice are discussed for two sub-groups: that less experienced resources treat risks differently than more experienced resources, and business applications compared to technical enterprise applications. Academic community has not addressed governance of enterprise application projects that involve dynamic environments and how to mitigate integration and inter-dependency risks. In the second essay it is argued that acceptance of the system from end users is not enough? Adopters of new enterprise wide information technology solutions get most benefit when the solution continues to be adaptable when business, environment or other organizational priorities change - therefore making an implementation sustainable. The second essay discussed characteristics of sustainability of enterprise application implementation from organizational perspective. A case study was used to validate the characteristics of sustainability. The thesis sought to demonstrate the causal relationship between the organization's preparedness for sustainability and the emergence of implementation problems. The study extracted insight into the criticality of certain factors and the type of problems making decisions under weak governance situation. The third essay develops determinants for project governance success of enterprise application implementations by mitigating risks in a multi-stakeholder environment. This essay develops and validates new scales for five specific variables. Definitions of five variables were used to develop a model that was presented for content validity and then tested for reliability from a total of 117 project executives globally. The measures were validated with reliabilities between 0.73 and 0.94. Relationships between five measures were broken down to meaningful components and a three tier project governance structure was proposed to mitigate integration and inter-dependency risks in a multi-stakeholder environment.Item Measuring the Impact of Training in the Implementation of Project Management Information Systems(2012) McCarty, Andrew; Skibniewski, Miroslaw; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Organizations can use training to maximize the benefits realized through the implementation of project, program, and portfolio management software. However, the relationship between Project Management Information System (PMIS) training and the creation of organizational value is not well understood. The goal of the research is to create a better understanding of current industry project management software training practices and outcomes. This research investigates training utilization and outcomes in the PMIS industry, the prevalence, relative effectiveness and efficiency of several commonly used training delivery methods at increasing PMIS outcomes, and the relationships of individual and organizational characteristics on outcomes. An expansive multi-disciplinary review of existing scholarly literature was undertaken to develop a framework for the measurement of project management software training outcomes. Expert input from a panel of 9 practitioners averaging 16.7 years of professional experience related to PM, and 15.1 years of years of professional experience related to PM software usage was used to objectively select a small number of the best-scoring elements of the proposed framework for inclusion in a survey to be administered to practitioners. In total, 1,021 completed surveys were collected and analyzed using statistical methods. Research findings suggest statistically significant differences in consumption rates, effectiveness and efficiency among the examined training delivery methods. This research may contribute to training that is more effective and more efficient, based on the unique requirements of each individual and organization, at a reasonable cost. The methodologies and findings of this research have immediate implications in improving the planning, delivery, and measurement of PMIS training.Item ESTIMATING THE IMPACT OF BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING (BIM) UTILIZATION ON BUILDING PROJECT PERFORMANCE(2012) Parvan, Kiavash; Haghani, Ali; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Many benefits of utilizing the Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology have been recognized and reported in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry literature. However, it seems that the construction industry still hesitates to fully adopt BIM. As some researchers suggest, the root cause may be in the lack of understanding of whether and how BIM improves project outcomes. This research aims to shed some light on this matter by studying the impact of BIM utilization on building project performance. This research follows a model-based approach as opposed to statistically analyzing the project outcomes with and without BIM utilization. The construction project supply chain is modeled at the design and construction activity level to represent the project behavior in terms of cost over time. As traditional project management tools as well as statistical methods are not able to consider the dynamic nature of the projects such as feedbacks, time delays and non-linear relationships, this research uses system dynamics methodology to model the project supply chain. The project supply chain model is calibrated with two sets of the projects; with BIM and without BIM. The two calibrated models, Non-BIM and BIM-utilized, are used to estimate the outcomes of a hypothetical set of the projects. The outcomes are compared in terms of the project performance indexes to analyze the BIM impact on the project performance. Since relatively few projects that utilized BIM were found, this research employs expert elicitation (EE) technique to capture the required knowledge from the industry to estimate the parameters of the BIM-utilized model. The EE is used to build a causal model to capture the impact of BIM utilization on the Non-BIM project model parameters in the absence of sufficient BIM-utilized project data.Item PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (THE CASE OF ETHIOPIAN CONTRACTORS)(2011) Yimam, Abadir Hassen; Skibniewski, Miroslaw J; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research has studied the maturity of PM in the construction industry of developing countries; in the course, the research has also identified two major gaps in the existing maturity models and, proposed a PM maturity model to address the gaps and adapt it to the developing countries context. Using the model, maturity assessment of contractors in Ethiopia is undertaken and, low level of PM maturity (Informal practice of the basic processes) is found. Further, the research found ISO certified contractors‟ PM maturity to be higher than those which are not. Similarly, the PM maturity of contractors which took part in Capacity Building Program is found to be higher than those which did not take part .Likewise, Road contractors PM maturity is found to be higher than Building contractors. Moreover, the research found higher maturity level for material, procurement, cost, financial, time, and human resource management. Risk and safety management are found to be the least matured PM areas.Item An Integrated Change Model in Project Management(2010) Cheung, Man; Cable, John H; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Organizations need to change constantly for their survival and success, and project management has been extensively used to implement organizational change. However, studies show only less than 20 percent of organizational change projects actually succeed. This may indicate the lack of a valid model for project managers to successfully implement and manage organizational change projects since what is currently available is a wide range of organizational change models that neither are in a project management context nor pay adequate emphasis on the people-side of change. Under these circumstances, this paper has attempted to build an integrated change model in a project management context. To construct such a change model, we integrates widely cited change models in the organizational change field and the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) (Prochaska, DiClemente, 1984, 1994) in the individual behavior change field with the project management process groups (PMI, 2008).