In this research, data were collected from both team members of earlier projects and Project Managers of these projects from the three considered business units, and not from external staff that knows little about project management, but more about the project results. This was because the research was supposed to compare and discover variances in how project management is perceived amongst different Project Managers, their team members and regarding to which organization they work for. This helped to collect more reliable and accurate data. The use of multiple data sources mitigates the probable problem of construct validity (Yin 2013). Four types of data sources were used in this research project:
1) Documentation: Individual document sources such as organizational charts, organizational culture survey results, company project management methodology, and the company general management methodology were accessed via the organizational website of the companies (Helsebygg Midt-Norge 2015) (St. Olavs driftsservice 2015, St. Olavs Hospital 2015). Some information was also accessed through the book
“Prosjektet” (Hellerud 2011).
2) Direct observation: Updated news published on the internet as well as press releases was viewed to understand clearly the strategic visions and goals of the three business units. The researchers also kept their eyes on organizational changes, and new directives and initiatives related to project management.
3) Interviews: The business unit’s potential stakeholders of project management were identified and the subject area was discussed with them.
46 4) Survey: The data collected via survey questionnaire were used descriptively, and no relevant statistically significant correlations were found. The reason for this might be the small sum of survey respondents.
3.4.1 Interview
The researchers issued the interview objects by finding the Project Managers in the three organizations that could help the researchers with finding a result to the research questions.
Yin (2013) recommends using unstructured or semi-structured interviews in case studies, that must be more “guided conversations rather than structured queries” (Yin, 2013, p. 106). The questions in such type of interviews will be better suited to the interviewees and make it easier to identify the important areas that require deeper inquiry.
In this research a sample list of Project Managers were selected for a qualitative interview. All together six face-to-face interviews were conducted, and their responsible project departments are showed in figure 4-1, section 4. There were three Project Managers from St. Olav’s Hospital (BU1), two Project Managers from Helsebygg (BU2) and one Project Manager from the Faculty of Medicine at NTNU (BU3). All the interviews were audio taped and took approximately 60 – 90 minutes. All the interviews were conducted on confidential basis; no names or personal details are mentioned in this report.
In this research case study semi-structured interviews were conducted between January and March 2015. A semi-structured interview guide was developed before the interviews, which can be seen in Appendix A.
Some general questions were asked in the beginning to smooth the conversations. Some of the questions from the list were not applicable for particular interviews, hence they were skipped; vice versa, some issues popped up during the interviews and were discussed in a more detailed matter. This technique validated the use of a more flexible approach and helped understanding the advantage of the case study for collecting deeper data. In order to reduce preconceptions about gender, three out of six interview objects were females while three interview objects were males. The survey, on the other hand, does not distinguish between male and female, only between organization and level of experience.
List of question included the following area:
1) The organizational environment and general projects 2) The Project Manager’s competences
47 3) The project team organizing and leadership
4) The project management success factors
Some interview objects preferred to speak in the Norwegian language, which only one of the researchers speaks fluently. To not waste precious time, only this researcher will participate in the Norwegian interviews, while the other one, who does not speak Norwegian, will do other useful and valuable work for the report. Three interviews were held in English and the other three in Norwegian. Later on all the interviews were transcribed in English and the data were analyzed by the researchers.
3.4.2 Survey
The main purpose of the survey was to enhance data collection from the Project Managers, resource owners and project sponsors who works with different project related department within BU1, BU2 and BU3, which can share their valuable experience. The survey questions were grouped in four areas and can be found in the Appendix B.
The respondents for the survey were selected by the interview objects, who passed the survey forward to those people they found most qualified to answer it. Some of the respondents were also selected by the researchers according to the organizational map of the three respective business units. These respondents were chosen because it seems as one of the best ways to gain quality information directly from experienced people and to collect the most accurate and relevant data as possible to support the theory for the research.
The survey was deployed for one month period from 12th of March to 11th of April 2015. The respondents received the invitation through e-mail, and two reminders were sent within the period to increase the response rate. The data collected from the survey response was analyzed by the two researchers together to make a valuable discussion and critique of the empirical data.
In the survey, the researchers asked more specifically about success criteria regarding each of the three elements; the projects, the project team members, and the Project Manager to find the answer of project management success factors. Table 3-1 describes the various factors which are related to the project management success.
48 The project The project team members The Project Manager 1) Uniqueness of project
Table 3-1 – Factors considered for the project management success