Project Management Institute
PMI Project Management Research Program
Request for Research Proposal

Background

Reviews of on-going projects under various names in various contexts, such as project assessments, project reviews, project audits and project health checks are an essential part of project governance and management, and provide essential feedback regarding the status of a project. When projects are created at various levels, it is important to have reasonable means of assessment to see whether the projects have achieved or are going to achieve their planned goals.

There is very little guidance in the standard literature on how to undertake such reviews. PMBOK Process 10.3 asks for “Performance reporting” – but with the exception of Earned Value, there is no guidance on how to actually go about this activity. In the expanded version of the British Body of Knowledge, the Pathways book, Wateridge (2002) offers different terms such as project-implementation reviews (which considers “the reasons behind the variances between the plan and actual spend and effort” and “what would have been done differently with the benefit of hindsight”), project health-checks (which look at the stakeholders’ view of the direction of the project and whether the project as a whole is moving in the direction to succeed), and project audits (particularly looking at fraud), but again only gives general guidance. Similarly, the fourth edition of the Gower Handbook has a chapter on Conducting Audits (by Huemann) but without specific guidance. PRINCE2 gives some guidance.

Given that this is such a valuable activity, research is needed into questions such as:

─  How common are project reviews? If they are not carried out – why not? Lack of awareness,  difficulty, lack of standard methods, or what reasons?

─  How should project reviews be carried out – what practices are better in what contexts? Is there need for a standard in this area?

─  Are there effective assessment frameworks in other areas (such as IT audit, quality management, etc.) from which project management can learn?

- How can project assessments help provide the customer with quality control and project assurance?

─ How can project reviews deal with problems of complexity? In particular, how can they give early-warnings of problems that are time-lagged and only become evident some time after causation?

The research should look across the key issues and challenges in assessing projects; research need not be restricted to the questions above; they are simply indicative of the types of research that could be undertaken. Studies including the piloting of proposed models would be welcome.

Research Proposals Requested

The PMI Research Program is seeking proposals for research that deal with Project Assessments. They should be titled, “Response to RFP: Project Assessments.” The investigation team should incorporate the following deliverables for the completed project as well as others deemed appropriate by the project evaluation team:

1.    Documented and annotated literature search and other sources of background information.

2.      Discussion of the specific research methodology used for hypotheses testing.

3.      Discussion of the acceptability of these methods and measures.

4.      A one-year project may be considered exploratory in nature and would require status reports, as requested, to the Research Member Advisory Group liaison assigned to the project and a final report suitable for publication in a well reputed peer reviewed journal.

5.      A project longer than one year is considered a full project and may be eligible for multi-year funding. As above and dependent on the anticipated duration, the project will require reports as requested. Additionally, there will be required one or more interim papers for presentation at a peer reviewed conference or symposium as well as a final report suitable for publication in a well reputed peer reviewed journal.

6.      Investigators may be asked to: present preliminary or final findings at a PMI Research Program Working Session; or, participate in a telephone conference with the Research Member Advisory Group should they deem it necessary to clarify the status and direction of the research.

7.      A final report ready for publication as a book, monograph or product appropriate to the subject matter, as described previously in this section, with copyright assignment to the PMI.

8.      The contribution this research will make to the project management community.

Proposal Resources and Schedule

PMI Research Program financial resources for this investigation are limited to $30,000 U.S. in total, regardless of the agreed to project duration. Therefore, the Program seeks proposals from researchers who will have access to other financial resources needed to plan, conduct, and complete this investigation. Researchers must also be able to independently obtain data and/or participants for the research investigation without reliance on PMI.

The initial research proposal must be received by 30 June 2008. Following evaluation, selection and notification by 4 August 2008, expanded proposals will be required by 15 September 2008. The research grant decisions will be made by 24 October 2008. The completed signed contract must be received by 22 December 2008. Initial payments will be forwarded per agreed contract dates in 2009. 

The deadline for all dates is 5:00PM (1700) US Eastern Time (-5 GMT).

 Proposal Submissin and Evaluation Process

 The PMI Research Program-Supported Research Project Requests may be viewed at http://www.pmi.org/Resources/Pages/Current-Research.aspx. 

An initial proposal of approximately three pages, in 12-point type, must include:

• -  The project title
• -  The name(s) of the researcher(s)
• -  Relevant credentials
• -  Affiliated institution(s)
• -  Underlying hypothesis
• -  Preliminary strategy to accomplish the goal
• -  Conceptual plan of action
• -  Expected outcome or deliverable(s)
• -  Anticipated completion date
• -  Proposed cost of the research
• -  Other sources of funds for this project
• -  Potential source(s) of data and/or participants
• -  Other information deemed relevant by the submitter

The proposal should be accompanied by curriculum vitae for the primary investigators. This is not to be counted as part of the three pages of the preliminary proposal.

 Following the initial process of receipt, evaluation and selection, expanded proposals of no more than 10 pages will be solicited from those chosen to be finalists. The proposal should contain a more detailed explanation of the information included in the initial proposal along with the investigative approach, potential barriers to success and possible approaches to overcoming the barriers.

Acceptance of a research proposal will require the signing of a mutually amenable work-for-hire research-grant agreement covering specific deliverables, status reports, payment schedule, intellectual property rights, and other relevant terms. Copyright assignment of the final report to PMI will be part of the research-grant agreement. However, the researcher will be able to use the data and content from their work for other professional endeavors. Any publication of the work by the authors must be approved in writing by PMI.  Evaluation of the submitted proposals and selection of proposal(s) for funding will be completed by the PMI Research Program Team. Their decision(s) will be final.

Proposal Submissions

E-mail submission of the proposals is preferred, but postal mail will be acceptable for this preliminary, first round process as well as for the final, second round proposal for those selected. Please put “Project Assessments” in the subject line of the emails.

Project Management Institute
Research Department
14 Campus Boulevard
Newtown Square, PA  19073-3299 USA
Telephone: +1-610-356-4600 x 5067
Fax: +1-610-356-1656
E-mail: jeanmarie.martin@pmi.org

For complete details on the RFP process, please visit: http://www.pmi.org/Resources/Pages/Research-Request-for-Proposal-Process.aspx.

Please direct any questions about the desired investigation(s) or the personal submission and evaluation process to Jean Marie Martin, PMI Research Coordinator, at +1-610-356-4600, extension 5067 or jeanmarie.martin@pmi.org.