The 9th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Data Acquisition and Advanced Computing Systems: Technology and Applications

21-23 September, 2017, Bucharest, Romania

Implementing a Project Management Approach

for Public-Funded Projects in HEIs
Olga Mikhieieva1; Ala Nuseibah2; Carsten Wolff3; Christian Reimann4
1
M.Sc., Scientific assistant, Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts – FH Dortmund (Germany);
PhD aspirant, Kyiv National University for Construction and Architecture (Ukraine),
Staufenstr. 15, 44139 Dortmund, Germany; e-mail: olga.mikhieieva@fh-dortmund.de;
2;
M.A., PhD student, Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts – FH Dortmund (Germany);
e-mail: ala.nuseibah@fh-dortmund.de;
3;4
Professor, Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts – FH Dortmund (Germany);
e-mail: 3carsten.wolff@fh-dortmund.de; 4christian.reimann@fh-dortmund.de

Abstract — There are two main project management
(PM) approaches: waterfall and agile. Recently, the
variations of both, so-called ‘hybrid’ approaches have
appeared, opening a new field of research questions.
The article represents the state of art in the field of
hybrid approaches, in order to analyze their application for
managing public-funded projects in higher educational
institutions (HEIs). It summarizes the results of the study on
the EuroPIM project case – a funded project implemented
within the consortium of five European HEIs.
Due to the execution of the project within the portfolio
of other HEIs’ projects, during its implementation a decision
has been made to implement the elements of an agile
approach for managing the project within the existing
project portfolio. Thus, a hybrid approach per se is to be set
up.
Such an approach has to be analyzed in terms of the
implementation for public-funded projects in HEIs. The
existing project management system plays a big role in this
process. Therefore, it has to be considered as well.
Keywords—hybrid approach; project management system;
managing projects in HEIs
I. INTRODUCTION
According to Cooper [1], managers should consider
the combination of different approaches in project
management and make use of their advantages to deal
with different types of projects. Boehm and Turner [2]
argued that it is the organization’s responsibility to adopt,
arrange, and to put in place a repository of compatible
process assets to support specific projects. Thus, the
existing PM approaches, such as waterfall, agile, hybrid,
etc. have to be explored in order to define the most
effective tools and methods.
In such organizations as higher education institutions
(HEIs), many research and educational activities are
implemented. These activities include characteristics of a
project, such as unique results, temporary endeavors, and
the management of events with determined beginning and
end. Managing projects within a HEI also requires the
alignment of their objectives, resources, and deadlines
with other activities and administration procedures in a
specific HEI. Besides that, many projects are supported by
numerous funding organizations, state funds or HEIs’
budgets, which involve specific limitations in budgeting
schemes and reporting requirements. If any of the PM
approaches is applied in HEIs, normally, its methods and
tools belong to a waterfall approach. However, the scope
of projects might include a number of partner HEIs
increasing the complexity of stakeholder management. As
a result, many changes occur in the project scope and
requirements, and a hybrid approach can be implemented
to address the challenges mentioned above.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Among the most important benefits of the hybrid
approach are the following [3]:
- Faster and more adaptive response to changing
customer needs
- Builds in voice-of-customer in a much more pro-
active and effective manner than traditional
methods
- Improves team communication
- Deals with the resourcing issues more directly
- Reduces cycle time and is more productive.
Some large-size IT companies already implemented
the hybrid approach in managing projects [1]. This
approach is also used for new-product developments by
manufacturers of physical products, such as food, toys and
even heavy industrial equipment [3]. Moreover, it can be
useful for projects that deal with fluid markets where
things change quickly. Other authors discussed the idea of
developing hybrid approaches as a potential solution to
improve the performance of innovation projects [4], [5].
Even national defense and other larger systems find ways
to develop methodologies that incorporate agility in order
to meet customer’s expectations [2].
 There have been a few applied studies and
developments on the hybrid approach implementation.
The iterative and visual project management method
(IVPM2) is a hybrid framework that combines key
elements from the stage-gate model and agile practices
[6]. This framework can be adjusted to the needs of
specific types of organizations and projects, allowing
multiple levels of planning, execution and controlling [7].
Another example is the combination of the Capability
Maturity Model Integration with Scrum that brings a
synergy effect and reduces drawbacks of each approach
[8]. Binder et al. [9] investigated the waterfall and agile
models and developed a hybrid model through combining
agile principles with the structure of the ISO 21500
standard.
III. MAIN IDEA
A. The EuroPIM project case description
In the European Union and specifically in Germany,
the development of higher education institutions has been
supported by numerous funding organizations. HEIs can
be funded to conduct different activities, including those
which are performed in the form a project with a defined
budget, deadlines, and scope. As HEIs are mostly
structured as a functional organization, the
implementation of such projects often requires changes in
its administration processes and management. The more
funded projects the HEI conducts, the higher the role of
project management in the HEI’s management.
Project management tools and approaches are
beneficial as they help to manage the budgeting from
different sources (state, funding organizations, etc.), the
allocation of labor of different HEI’s structures (the HEI’s
staff, project staff, outsourcing), as well as stakeholder
expectations, etc. The size and conditions of the budgeting
and international scope of the funded project might cause
changes in the HEI’s administration, and consequently,
issues to be addressed.
Funding organizations create their own impact on the
HEI’s activities and their own implementation of the
project itself. They provide their own requirements and
procedures that define how the funds should be
transferred, reimbursed, and used. There are defined
procedures that describe the planning of activities, the
receiving of funds by the HEI, the accounting to the
funding organization, and the reporting.
This interaction between the funding organization and
the HEI also requires specific communication and
planning. In case the HEI has more than one funded
activity or receives money for a major size project, it gets
more difficult to meet deadlines, achieve the defined
goals, and satisfy all stakeholders. Thus, the task of a
project team is to establish an appropriate project
management system, which will ensure project success.
Moreover, the appropriate project system is supposed to
be transferable and available for further usage.
In 2015, Fachhochschule Dortmund (FH Dortmund)
received a grant from the German Academic Exchange
Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst,
further DAAD) to fund its cooperation with four other
European universities in the frame of two master
programs and one research group. The DAAD is the
world’s largest funding organization for the international
exchange of students and researchers [10]. The name of
the project is the European Partnership for Project and
Innovation Management (EuroPIM). The total project
budget is approximately 730,000 euro and the duration of
the project is 4 years. There are different stakeholders
involved, both, outside and inside of the FH Dortmund.
These are the four partner universities from the European
Union (EU) and the local administration departments of
FH Dortmund, leading to additional language issues in the
project.
First of all, the project implementation involves a wide
usage of both, the German and English language. The
involved master programs and scheduled events are
conducted in English, participants from the partner
universities (located in Belgium, Spain, Lithuania and
Norway) communicate in English, while the FH
Dortmund administration, including communication and
documentation, is run in German.
Secondly, the DAAD Euro-PIM is the largest
international project that has ever been conducted in FH
Dortmund so far where the administrative staff has to deal
with participants from different cultures and with a
different level of English language skills. New
international activities require changes in administrative
rules and procedures to ensure effective project
organization and project communication.
Besides the full-time members of the consortium, there
are two newly joined and one associated partner HEIs
who participate in the project activities. Thus, the amount
and complexity of documentation and project work
increases.
Another aspect of the project is the amount of
involved team members. Due to the character of the
project and relatively low salaries in the German HEI
sector, project team members join and leave the project, in
average every 3-6 months, which is a very high rate in
comparison to the project duration – 4 years. Moreover,
most of the project team members are occupied at another
linear positions in FH Dortmund and, in many cases,
subordinates not of the project director but of linear
administrative heads of the departments.
The goals of the Euro-PIM project are achieved
through the accumulative effect of the activities, or so-
called measures performed. Within the project scope,
activities are different events for students and teachers
from FH Dortmund and four partner universities. For
example, in each project year such events as block week
modules, a research conference and a summer school are
planned.
B. The scope of the study on a project manamagement
approach
The purpose of this article is to explore how a PM
system in projects in HEIs can employ non-traditional PM
approaches, such as a hybrid one.
In order to develop and implement any PM approach,
it is essential to define a PM system applied at the current
stage of a project. The PM system implies how the project
is organized. As the scope of the study focuses on HEIs, it
is more likely that, in HEIs, PM systems are set up in a
traditional way like the waterfall approach.
Thus, the usage of a hybrid approach has to be
justified based on the analysis of the current PM system. It
includes the following steps. First, the existing gaps and
desired improvements need to be detected. In other words,
it is necessary to define the requirements for the future
PM system based on the respective PM approach. Then,
the benefits and challenges of each approach in managing
projects within HEIs have to be studied. Furthermore, the
prerequisites for the transition to each of the approaches
are to be analyzed. Based on these data, a transitional
scheme can be developed and tested with the engagement
of the key project stakeholders.
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Accessed on: Oct. 01 2017.