Virtual Project Management Tools in an Oil-Producing Environment - Research Paper Example

Running head: Signature Assignment Concept Paper Submitted to Northcentral Graduate Faculty of the School of Business and Technology Management in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION By Felix J. Ekpo Highland, California September, 2012 Proposed topic…………………………………..…………………………………………2 Introduction…… 2 Brief Review of the Literature …3 Statement of the Problem 5 Purpose of the Study 6 Research Questions 6 Hypotheses 7 Research Method 9 Research design………………………………………………………………9 Possible strengths and weaknesses………………………………………….9 Threats to validity…………….……………………………….…………….10 Operational definition of variables…………………………………………10 Construct……………………………………………………………………10 Measurements…………………………………….…………………………10 Proposed sample…………………………………….……………………….11 Sampling methods……………………………….……………………………11 Ethical issues…………………………………………..………………………11 Data and Treatment of involved data………………………………………….11 Power analysis…………………………………………………………………12 Expected problems………………………………..……………………………12 Conclusion ………………………………………………………..……………………………12 References ………………………………………………………….…………………………..13 Proposed Topic The research’s proposed topic is, ‘Virtual Project Management: The current state of virtual project management tools in an oil producing environment, and how to understand the current and future abilities in terms of successful project implementations’. This study evaluates the current state of virtual project management tools in an oil-producing environment to determine the effect technologies on projects’ decentralized members and organizations at large. Introduction Dynamism in management that has led to environmental features such as globalization, flattened hierarchy, increased regulatory scrutiny, and fragmented enterprises identifies the importance of Virtual management tools in any business organization. An insight into virtual management tools and their significance therefore facilitates an understanding of the current and future state of project management. Team players can for example use several collaboration tools to overcome decentralization challenges and to support team collaboration and sharing of ideas towards ensuring successful project implementation. The use of virtual management tools, in addition to creating a contemporary type of project management, identifies potential challenges that may arise during project implementation especially in an oil-producing environment. Applied tools in an oil-producing environment should for instance aid development of exceptional leadership qualities, highly performing team players, clarity of methodology and knowledge at the point of exploit. A good example is the installation and use of real time sensors that offers a proactive approach to asset management in an oil producing company. Literature Review Virtual management tools play important roles in coordinating virtual teams towards a cohesive environment. This is because virtual management tools initiates attachment among team members that can either between the members themselves or between a member and the organization. The association among team members is however identified to be more significant in developing cohesion among virtual team members (Ren, et al, 2012). The significance of such a developed level of cohesion among virtual team members however relies on the administrative approach of managing the teams. While there exist two management approaches for virtual teams, centralized management and decentralized management, application of virtual management tools towards a centralized virtual team facilitates successful management than a decentralized approach. Effectiveness of centralized virtual management tools is particularly manifested in management scopes such as “training, development, standard organizational processes, technology, and leadership” (Curlee, 2008, p. S85). Virtualization tools also have an identified significant effect on developed trust among team members. Identified as a trust moderator, application of virtual management tools and the applied approach to implementing such tools becomes important in any virtual management set up. Similarly, the globalized oil industry that is susceptible to a wide range of competitive forces and even possible internal competition among workers identifies the importance of trust among virtual team members. While virtual tools application that facilitates trust may be beneficial towards effective management and achievement of a solid virtual team, poor virtual tools or even poor management of such tools may be detrimental to managing such environments like in oil production that is becoming heavily dependent on virtual teams (Bierly, Stark and Kessler, 2009). A management of a virtual tools based team must therefore consider such factors as communication approach among team members, the level of significance of the involved project and the complexity of the project in order to enhance management of virtual teams. This is because the factors have direct impacts on the behavior of team members (Reed and Knight, 2011). Consequently, a number of areas have been identified to be critical to successful management of virtual teams and application of virtual tools in industrial applications. Establishing clear goals for defining expected efforts and behavior, ensuring proper management of communication tools and motivating team members are examples. Continuous assessment of the involved virtual tools and application of tools that facilitate collaboration are also fundamental (Hamilton, Hodkinson and Bayatt, 2010). Inability to manage virtual teams in the oil exploration environment may therefore result in stagnation of productivity that is not priority in a competitive environment. With collaborative features for sharing of resources and standards, workflow, management of project knowledge, document handling, and their related functionality, the value of project management is greatly optimized. In addition, there are graphical capabilities and elements that enable decision makers to visualize and realize the desired balance of projects and people, strongly align portfolios with the goals of the organization, and above all ensure that the organization remain in synchronism with strategic objectives in the oil environment. The increasing productivity in the oil industry also identifies the need for effective management of virtual teams and the applicable virtual tools (Creswell, 2009). Problem Statement While rich literature exists with respect to the benefits of virtual teams to an organization’s success, the significance of virtual management tools, challenges facing management of such teams and the involved tools and possible approaches to overcoming the challenges, little literature exists on quantitative relationship between the factors. Further, no significant research has been done to explore the factors within the scope of oil producing environment. This identifies information gap in virtual management in the oil-producing environment for exploration. Purpose Statement This research aims at exploring relationship among factors within the circle of virtual project management in oil production environment and how such factors can be applied to optimize the value of virtual project management in the industry. Research Questions Q1. Does the current state of virtual project management tools in an oil-producing environment vary, if at all, in different oil producing environments leading to oil producing challenges? This question will be handled using both qualitative and quantitative approach. The quantitative approach will make use of historical data, and information from previous research conducted on the same topic to determine the various challenges in oil producing environments. For example, Mobil Producing Corporation use of MS SharePoint to coordinate project activities. Current challenges in oil producing environments will also be determined. In the supplement, two open-ended research questions from the previous data will be evaluated qualitatively to find out what extra factors influence the tools used in oil producing environment. Q2. Do challenges within the circle of project management in an oil-producing environment affect the process of producing oil? This question will be analyzed using qualitative methods. This method will be used to determine the challenges within the circle of project management within the oil-producing environment. A question will be considered to determine the added input in supporting the tools, but also the use of this extra input throughout the complete project management cycle. The question will be used to determine how often tools throughout precise modules influence oil producing environment. Lastly, how that approach compares with the generally conclusion of consequence. Q3. Do the tools used in oil producing environment optimizes the value of virtual project management within the oil-producing environment? This question will be used to evaluate how the tools used in project management optimize the value of project management. Here, the researcher will use the qualitative method to analyze the research questions by comparing responses with past research conducted in the same area. A research hypothesis will be tested to determine if there is a relationship between the tools and the values of project management. Q4. Is there a significant relationship between tools used in a global project management market and the roles the tools can play in the enriching project information flow? This question will be analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. A correlation coefficient will be used to establish the relationship between the tools used in project management and the role they played in the enrichment of project information flow. Ones the relationship is determined, qualitative research will be used to explain outputs obtained in relation to the literature review. A hypothesis will be tested to explain significance different between the two variables using cross tabulation. Hypotheses The research questions leads to the following sets of hypothesis. H10: There is no significant variation in state of virtual tools across different oil production environments. H1a: There is a significant variation in state of virtual tools across different oil production environments. H20: Challenges within the circle of project management in an oil-producing environment does not affect the process of producing oil H2a: Challenges within the circle of project management in an oil-producing environment affects the process of producing oil H30: Tools used in oil producing environment does not optimize the value of virtual project management within the oil producing environment H3a: Tools used in oil producing environment optimizes the value of virtual project management within the oil producing environment H40: There is no significant relationship between tools used in a global project management market and the roles the tools can play in the enriching of project information flow H4a: There exists a significant relationship between tools used in a global project management market and the roles the tools can play in the enriching of project information flow Summary Virtual teams and their operations are significant elements of the oil production environment. Their significance is worth studying because they are very sensitive to environmental factors and they also largely influence the productivity in the oil production environment. Since oil production is a lucrative venture that attracts a good number of explorers in the world, it is vital for involved companies to understand the dynamic nature of the environments to minimize the possibility of incurring losses or even halting the process of oil production due to unpredicted challenges in virtual teams. Moreover, in order to move the oil production industry forward the use of intelligent surveillance and sensors should not be ignored. Furthermore, the integration of virtual management tools with the existing systems in the oil-producing environment may be difficult. In fact, a substantial amount of valuable data collected by explorers today is neither utilized nor is it disseminated to people who can make use of it. Complex problems facing oil production therefore require a clear understanding of virtual tools for effective data analysis. Interpreting the collected data into vital information will help enhance informed business decision-making. Research methods Research design: The research intends to use a mixed research approach, comprising of both quantitative and qualitative research designs, in exploring the research questions and hypotheses. The two methods will facilitate an understanding of the relationship between the factors and the reasons behind the realized forces affecting effectiveness of virtual teams and virtual tools in managing organizations within the oil production environment. Possible strengths and weaknesses: Application of the mixed research method has an advantage of eliminating possible disadvantages of both qualitative and quantitative research in the study. It further identifies a wider scope for the research results towards more informed conclusions. Its weakness is however the additional resources that would be avoided through adoption of a single design. Threats to validity: The research is susceptible to threats to internal and external validity. While threats to internal validity include maturation, historical and selection confounds, failure to achieve a representative sample identifies threat to external validity (Salkind, 2010). Operational definition of variables: Independent variables: The study involves a number of independent variables in each of the offered research question. The variables include, with considerations in different contexts, oil production environments, tools used in oil producing environment, and tools used in a global project management. Dependent variables: Similarly, dependent variables, as applied in each research question’s context, are current state of virtual project management tools, process of producing oil, value of virtual project management, and project information flow. Construct: The research seeks to establish relationships between virtual tools, virtual teams and virtual team management, and success in oil production environments. This is however, an unexplored field and the research assumes an open approach towards establishing the relationships. Its design only relies on the research questions and sets of hypotheses for methodology. The developed construct will then be ‘operationalized’ through a further test on an independent section of the population. Measurements: The research will rely on online questionnaires and observations for data collection. The variables’ factors will be generated by a preliminary survey among virtual team management consultants in the oil production industry for development of the final questionnaires. Further, the research will apply observation to determine qualitative factors within the study. Proposed sample: The research plans to use a randomly selected sample within the oil production environment with the only criteria that the teams be virtual teams within the industry. The sample will therefore be open to various demographic factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, and educational level among other factors. Sampling methods: Stratified random sampling will be adopted for the research. This is because of its advantages of eliminating bias and ensuring representative ability of the sample to enhance both internal and external validity. Ethical issues: A number of ethical concerns are expected in the research process. These include issues of informed consent, beneficence, and anonymity. The research design will make provisions for compliance to the ethical concerns before seeking ethics board’s approval of the provisions. The study intends to use consent forms that participants shall read, understand, and consent to before participation. Terms to participation such as participant’s protection from harm during the process, and anonymity in communication of research findings shall be included as conditions in the consent form. This will ensure adequate ethical considerations (Mcnee and McCabe, 2006). Data and Treatment of involved data: The research anticipates both quantitative and qualitative data. Qualitative data will describe the quantifiable characteristics of the variables while qualitative data will involve subjective expertise opinion that have been developed from experience in managing virtual teams within the oil production environment. While qualitative data will be analyzed from a subjective perspective, quantitative data shall be analyzed using SPSS for descriptive statistics and inferential relationships. The same software will be used to check for completeness of the data and existence of outliers for possible corrective measures. Power analysis: Power analysis was conducted using analytical approach. This involved determination of required level of significance followed by selection of the appropriate type of distribution and determination of the proportions within the selected boundaries (Murphy, Myors and Wolach, 2012). Expected problems: The research expects to encounter challenges in reliability of the collected data. This is expected to arise from possible dishonesty from participants as well as confounds such as maturation effects. Adequate measures shall however be taken to ensure that the threats, if they occur, are accounted for. Conclusion This study applies a combination of qualitative and quantitative research designs to explore underlying factors in involved variables in management of virtual teams and virtual management tools. It plans to use a stratified random sampling approach and descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze its data. The research also promises ethical consideration besides controlled threats to validity and reliability. References Bierly, P., Stark, E. and Kessler, E. (2009). Moderating effects of virtuality on the antecedents and outcome of NPD team trust. J Prod Innov Manag. (26) 551- 565. Curlee, W. (2008). Modern virtual project management: the effects of a centralized and decentralized project management office. Project Management Journal. (001) S83- S95. Hamilton, G., Hodgkinson, J. and Byatt, G. (2010). MManaging virtual project team. American Society for the Advancement of Project Management. Retrieved from: http://asapm.org/asapmag/articles/VirtualTeams.pdf Mcnee, C. and McCabe, S. (2006). Understanding nursing research: Reading and using research in evidence-based practice. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Murphy, K., Myors, B. and Wolach, A. (2012). Statistical power analysis: Asimple and general model for traditional and modern hypothesis tests. New York, NY: Routledge. Reed, A. and Knight, L. (2010). Project risk differences between virtual and co-located teams. Journal of Computer Information. Retrieved from: http://iacis.org/jcis/articles/Reed_Knight_51_1.pdf Ren, Y. et al. (2012). Building member attachment in online communities: applying theories of group identity and interpersonal bonds. MIS Quarterly. (36.3) 841- 864. Salkind, N. (2010). Encyclopedia of research design. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Read More