I want to start my thesis for a PHD degree in project management, am in the phase of choosing the topic and defining the problematic.
As I work in a governement departement, I tought about a subject related to organization maturity in project management at public sector companies and its impact in organization efficiency. The idea still not clear in mind, so I'm still digging deep to find an interesting topic.
Another question is about the epistemological perspective of project management.
If any one can help me with this two question or share me his/her view, I'll be thankful.
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Asmaa Saving Changes...
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Richard MaltzmanPortfolio Manager| EarthPM LLCAndover, Ma, United States
How about the concept of sustainability in PM? Decision making with the long term in mind even though the timeline of a PM stops at project handover? Lots of opportunities here... Saving Changes...
Thank you Richard for your answer, I'll make some research to know more about the concept of sustainability in PM.
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John FarlikProgram & Project Management| SPX FLOWWaxhaw, Nc, United States
Asmaa,
In my work with coaching people with their dissertations I've found that the following tenets tend to help.
1. Always think in terms of independent (IV) and dependent variables (DV). For example: If you're thinking of the government PM maturity space, I would consider something like the following:
How does the existence of well-defined strategic goals affect Project Management Maturity levels in government organizations in Morocco?
Notice that there is a relationship between well-defined strategic goals and PM maturity. This is merely an example of a simple, yet effective problem statement.
2. Always think about where you will be getting your data. Whether you are collecting quantitative, qualitative or mixed method data, think about where it will come from. Will you be holding interviews and looking for clustering in the qualitative method or will you be sending out a survey via Qualtrics/Survey Monkey to garner some continuous data regarding project success rates?
3. The problem statement then needs to be distilled down to one or more research questions which then should include a null (Ho:) and an alternative (Ha:) hypothesis for quantitative studies or propositions for qualitative studies.
4. Be specific. The variables you mention (PM maturity, organizational efficiency) are very broad. Try to narrow them down to a more specific measure. Perhaps you will be doing this in your research questions as I mention above and that would be great.
Bottom line: I think that the PM maturity and org efficiency relationship is a good one that other researchers have listed as areas of interest. I'm sure you've found that in your research as well. Saving Changes...
I thought also about sector maturity, in the same country not all sectors have the same maturity, and not all of use project management in the same why.
But I need data to verify that, so my topics will be limited by the data available. Saving Changes...
"More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
