Conflict Resolution

Conflict Resolution in Virtual Teams

Project Management Methodologies

Whilst many projects are carried out on a daily basis within a single organisation and with minimal formality, there are at the other extreme, complex projects that are multi-organisational and significant in terms of the resources the project consumes, the outputs the project produces and legacy of outcomes that it leaves. This paper discusses Conflict Resolution in Virtual Teams and thus critically analyzes the appropriateness of project management methodologies and tools when used to tackle current issues in the professional practice of project management.

The 'management of projects' (MoP) school of thought builds on the more traditional execution orientated project management school of thought by broadening the required range of expertise, from the technical to the strategic and by exploring the front-end project issues. MoP is practised widely in a number of sectors such as aerospace, defence, information and communication technology, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, process engineering, and construction. Here, MoP (obviously including first class PM) is business critical to the organisations that exist to serve these markets and achieving project success is paramount. This means that in addition to delivering projects to the traditional project management metrics of time, cost, and quality/performance, one must also take account of the greater variety of specific success criteria that each set of sponsors/clients/users will have, typically orientated to the strategic or policy intent that drove the initial need for the project.

In this world of projects there is a powerful argument for exploring projects in the construction industry. The size of the construction industry in many modern economies remains large. The economic contribution is typically in the range 5-10% of GDP and the sector involves a large range and number of companies registered, workers employed, and training required. The projects that are the industry's delivery mechanism remain a challenge in terms of achieving ex ante aims and expectations for clients and other key stakeholders. This is reflected in the stock market valuation of many publicly-listed construction companies.

In this context, this paper explores a range of qualitative methodological approaches drawn from the area of managerial and organisational cognition (MOC), employed to understand more fully and rigorously the attributes of issues that have now fallen under the term 'The Management of Projects (MoP)' in the construction sector. Four research enquiries were conducted, each exploring specific aspects of a total of 11 construction projects in different environments. Each had a specific focus in an area of the projects that had been poorly researched at the time. These were:

(1) The management of design.

(2) The issue of conversion of building structure for alternative use.

(3) The modern use of heritage buildings.

(4) The challenges of a modern procurement practice.

These separate research endeavours reflect a growing interest in the earlier stages and strategic imperative underpinned by those that have adopted an MoP frame of reference, and this is reflected in the revisions to the bodies of knowledge that serve the profession of project management. With this expanding understanding of project issues and challenges, the social science researcher is ...