The PUS project – a successful collaborative research project

Prior to the PUS project, a lot of work had done on the issue of uncertainty analysis both in Norway and abroad, and much of this work has carried out in the early phase (‘front end loading’) of the projects. However, less research had been done on the issue of how to manage opportunities and threats in a project’s life cycle in a practical manner. Furthermore, not much research had been done on the project owner role with respect to the management of uncertainty from the start of the project to the phase where the intended benefits of the project are realized.

Uncertainty management must not only be established at the project level. Rather, it is important that uncertainty management becomes a vital part of the organization’s management philosophy.

Although current uncertainty management is to a large extent developed and implemented from the project’s perspective, many organizations normally discuss the possibility of viewing uncertainty management from the project owner’s and senior executive’s perspective. Practical uncertainty management in a project owner perspective concerns practical uncertainty management techniques and tools for managing uncertainty from the project owner’s perspective. In addition, it emphasizes giving adequate focus to managing uncertainties (threats and opportunities) in projects, and on contributing to create a positive culture that promotes effective and efficient uncertainty management in project organizations.

The main industrial partners of the PUS project were:

x Statoil (an international energy company with operations in 34 countries, headquartered in Norway)

x Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property Management (Statsbygg) x Telenor (one of the world’s largest mobile operators, with 33,200 employees worldwide in

2008, headquartered in Norway)

x Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation (Forsvarets logistikkorganisasjon) x Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen)

x Norwegian government agency for railway services (Jernbaneverket)

Figure 9 Major industrial partners in the PUS project

The PUS research project aimed to explore uncertainty management in projects in a broad and empirical perspective. In this regard, the project chose to focus on the project owner’s perspective.

The way a project owner looks at his or her project is not limited to the ‘iron triangle’ of time, cost, and quality, on which a project manager normally focuses. A project owner focuses also on the effects or benefits of his or her project. In addition to the PUS project’s consideration of project managers, its project owner’s perspective led to the development of a broader understanding of projects – a broader understanding of objectives, uncertainties (both opportunities and threats), and the consequences associated with projects.

A project owner has rights to and is responsible for the project. He or she is also responsible for the risks connected to the project’s cost and its future(P. T. Eikeland, 1999). Olsson, Johansen, Langlo, and Torp (2007, p. 7) state:

The beauty behind the concept of a project owner lies in the fact that a project owner has incentives for weighing costs against benefits for a project. Project owners are therefore expected to strive for project governance aimed at maximizing the value from the project.

To gain a complete picture of how to manage uncertainty from an owner’s perspective, the PUS project was divided into two equal main parts:

x uncertainty management – theoretical view/contribution x uncertainty management – the practical view/contribution

To examine and understand a phenomenon (in this case uncertainty management) in a complex (or seemingly complex) environment with many factors that affect the outcome is a demanding task. In the PUS project, we tried to integrate researchers’ ambitions to deliver excellent and breakthrough results in various development projects initiated by the participating organizations. Figure 10 shows the research frame work for the PUS project.

The company’s use of

Management of opportunities Proactive project culture of uncertainty

Figure 10 Methodological framework for the PUS project

The PUS project aimed to focus on leadership and the culture connected to the practical management of uncertainty in major public and private projects, and had five objectives from the beginning:

1. To develop a theory/knowledge base within uncertainty management leadership

2. To develop project-specific means for identifying and managing uncertainty in collaboration with the organizations participating in the project

3. To test the theoretical foundation and project-specific means in case projects from the project participants (participating companies)

4. To gather experience-based knowledge across companies

5. To develop a maturity model with concrete Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for managing uncertainty.

The PUS project had an additional aim to shed light on the project owner’s role related to uncertainty management throughout the project life cycle. Uncertainty analysis was already well established as concept, but there was less research on the issue of how to manage opportunities and threats in a project’s life cycle in a practical manner. Furthermore, there was not much research on how and what the project owner’s role should be with respect to management of uncertainty from the very start of the project to the phase when the intended benefits of the projects are realized. The PUS project had a keen interest in finding out how large organizations’ thinking patterns and actions

associated with the identification and management of uncertainty in projects was developed and managed.

Uncertainty management must not only be established at the project level; it is also important that uncertainty management becomes a vital part of the organization’s management philosophy.

Although current uncertainty management is to a large extent developed and implemented from the project’s perspective, many organizations discuss the possibility of viewing uncertainty management from the project owner’s and senior executive’s perspective. In addition to looking at uncertainty management from the project owner perspective, the PUS project placed emphasis on giving adequate attention to opportunities in managing uncertainties in projects, and contributing to create a positive culture that would promote effective and efficient uncertainty management in project organizations.