Danish University Colleges
Challenges in Collaborative Research Projects
Harboe, Peter Georg
Publication date:
2021
Link to publication
Citation for pulished version (APA):
Harboe, P. G. (2021). Challenges in Collaborative Research Projects. Paper presented at Paper DEvelopment Workshop DAPMARC21.
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Challenges in Collaborative Research Projects Abstract
Collaborative research projects are a distinct set of projects. This study was undertaken in a Danish university college to identify the key project management issues and implications for project managers’ education in these projects.
The findings indicate that the key project management issues of collaborative research
projects depend on contractual issues and the distance to partners, making it difficult to track performance and ensure allocation of the best resources.
An education program must include tools and time to address these issues and present cases where the issues and paradoxes appear in conjunction.
Keywords: Collaborative Research Projects, Project Management Education
1. Introduction
The Board of Research Center Managers at VIA University College, Jutland, introduced launched an education program for project managers in collaborative research projects. To prepare the program, 11 experienced practitioners were interviewed. The findings from these interviews led to the content, structure, and a didactic approach for the program, and the interviews led to several findings on the challenges of project management in collaborative research projects that could interest a wider audience.
This study is presented in five sections. Section 2 presents the definition of collaborative research projects and discusses the title and role of a project manager in these projects.
Section 3 introduces the background with three motives for the study. Section 3 describes the research question and methodology. Section 5 presents the findings, a discussion of further implications for education, and the conclusion.
2. Definitions
Collaborative research projects are defined as “jointly financed, planned, and executed by a consortium of academic, public, and industry partners often with interdisciplinary resources and competences to fulfill the project goals” (Brocke & Lippe, 2015).
The definition indicates that the complexity of collaborative research projects differs from traditional research projects, as described in the complexity matrix by Turner and Crawford, 2013)
Collaborative research projects placed in model af project types from Turner and Crawford, 2013
Research projects are defined as Type 4 “Walking in the fog” types with unclear goals and methods. The definition of collaborative research projects uses the terms “execution” and
“consortium of different partners.” These projects move from Type 4 to more fixed and defined projects in the middle between the types. The implication is that collaboration research
projects should be considered as a mix of project types.
The definition of project manager is debatable because the list of collaborative projects in the public funding repositories (DFIR, 2020) shows that a manager of collaborative research projects is not called a project manager but a coordinator. For example, the Horizon 2020 projects funded by the European Commission have defined the legal obligations of a
coordinator and the responsibilities regarding access to the databases regulating the funding and rights to assign other roles to the database (European Commission, 2013). However, there are no other descriptions of the role and activities to manage the Horizon 2020 projects.
Several consultancies (i.e., www.enspire.science and www.bestprac.eu.) offer their own descriptions of the role, but no public authority or funding organization describes the role and responsibilities. In the following sections, the term project manager is used to cover the aspects of the manager of collaborative research projects.
3. Background
This study has three underlying motives: the societal motive because there is a considerable volume of collaborative research projects, to study the actuality of projects and to recognize the lack of studies in this area.
3.1 Background Motive 1: Considerable resources in collaborative research spending The growing size and increasing activity in the field is the first motive for collecting data in project management of collaborative research.
The spending in the EU on collaborative research projects will average 210 billion DKK in 2021–2023 (EU Horizon). In 2018, the spending on collaborative research projects in
Denmark, including EU Horizon projects, governments spending, and private funding was 18 billion DKK (DFIR, 2020).
The level of spending in collaborative research projects is the main motivation for this study.
4. Background Motive 2: Rethinking project management
The second motive for this study is recognizing that in the past 20 years, studies on project management have been developing with a more holistic and pluralistic understanding of the field under “rethinking project management.” Svejvig and Andersen (2015) explain and
establish the structure of the development of the research area. They identify five perspectives of rethinking project management researchers: contextualization, social and political aspects, rethinking practice, the actuality of projects, and broader conceptualization.
One of these perspectives, the actuality, is a relevant motive in relation to collaboration research because the category outlines “the need to study how projects are actually carried out or empirical studies of the actuality of projects.” This study follows Blomquist et al. (2010), who move toward “project as a practice approach” in research.
The opportunity to question the practice and issues in the practice of project management in collaborative projects should, therefore, be used.
5. Background Motive 3: Literature review of collaboration research projects
The third motive for this study is extensive studies on collaborative research projectmanagement by Brocke and Lippe (2015), who identified the need for a dedicated empirical investigation. They present a list of findings from the literature and argue that project managers need support in finding the right tools and methods for managing collaborative research projects, which is also a motive for this study.
6. Research question
The three background motives for this study raise the following research questions: What are the key project management issues in collaborative research projects? What are the
implications for the education program?
7. Method
As the research question is explorative in nature, the method follows several qualitative steps with conclusions drawn between the steps (Figure 1).
The first step involved an interview with the chairman of the Board of Research Centers, who highlighted education and selected six project managers of collaborative projects and five managers of the local research centers for further qualitative questioning. Two online sessions were undertaken with this group, and the main issues were identified. Following these
sessions, eight explorative interviews were conducted with eight experienced practitioners to substantiate the issues with cases.
All sessions and interviews were documented in synchronous notes, that is, during the
comments and discussions, notes were taken online and were visible to the participants. When the cases were written, the participants were invited to comment on the cases. Only two had then commented and only with short comments of appreciation.
Figure 1: Steps in the method
8. Findings
The findings from the explorative sessions and interviews provided issues, key findings, and topics for the cases.
Practitioners and research center managers who participated in the first two sessions identified issues and topics in several iterations concerning the management of projects considering the requirements for an education program. (See Enclosure A)
The sessions resulted in issues and topics in three distinctive groups: the project managers’
toolbox, contractual and internal support, and relationships and identity of the project manager (Figure 2).
Initial identification of purpose with the chairman of the Board
Research Centers
11 Practitioners comment on and priotize
issues in collaborative research from 5
paradoxes
Explorative interviews with 8 practitioners to establish cases and
examples
Comments on 7 cases
Figure 2. The three main issues in collaborative research projects In the first issue titled “Toolbox,” the research managers and research project managers listed issues for the project manager to provide a direction and overview in the project and assuring the use of key tools to monitor progress and adjust the project plan and activities.
In the second issue titled “Contracts and internal support,” the project managers asked for an understanding of the legal frameworks for the projects and an introduction to the support from internal resources in project administration, legal, and communication.
In the third issue titled “Relations and identity,” the topics focused on the questions of how to manage relationships with partners in the project and handle the role of a project manager along with the role of a researcher. All participants had this duality of managing the project and working with the research. Thus, the issue of crisis management and handling of conflicts was covered.
To explore concrete topics for the cases in the education program, inputs were sought from the eight selected project managers.
The interviews were structured to hear one or two specific cases; however, in all interviews, the project managers mentioned various examples of issues and challenges. Therefore, the initial plan for a structured interview was discarded. The inputs from these interviews were listed and grouped into four specific topics to be covered in the cases.
The specific issues included the following topics:
a) Speed in the initial first phases
Given the funding organizations’ demands, project managers experience short decision times and tight deadlines in the initial phase of the projects.
b) Limited authority
Given the collaborative nature of the projects, the project manager has limited ability to direct and adjust the participants’ activities in the course of the projects, which becomes evident if the results are considered inadequate or not as expected and the project manager should handle critical feedback from partners.
c) Competences and resources
Given the speed in the initial phases and because participant organizations have autonomy, project managers experience challenges in selecting and de-selecting participants in the projects and in that the resources vary in the project phases regardless of prior agreements, especially in the final phase when reporting and writing articles were planned.
d) The performance is hard to track until it is too late
Given the nature of collaborative research and iterations that appear in the research process, performance and progress is difficult to monitor closely. Partners report the results and progress, but they often arrive at a stage when it is difficult to adjust the plans.
Therefore, writing articles for journals and contributing to research papers are delayed because resources are spent earlier in the project.
Toolbox
•Providing direction and overview
•Using key tools to monitor and adjust
Contracts and internal support
•Standard
agreements and deviations
•Support from the host- organization
Relationships and identity
•Relations to particiants
•The role of the project
manager
The topics are formed on the basis of seven cases for the education program.
9. Discussion
The issues and topics from the project manager’s perspective revealed several tensions and problems arising for the project managers in collaborative research projects. Table 1 lists these tensions and problems.
Tensions and problems Explanation
Establishing a common direction Owing to the diversity of partners and
participants in collaborative research projects, the project manager experiences a challenge with common visions and goals
Understanding contractual consequences Because the collaborative research projects are a miniscule part of the activities in the
participating organizations, a contract becomes important in projects management
Recognizing the dual role as a project
manager and a researcher Because the resources are limited, there is no full-time dedicated project manager and the management tasks are handled along with research tasks
Compressed time for decisions Owing to the nature of funding and short openings for funds, the project manager should establish the project vision, goals, and
agreements with partner organizations in a short span
Establishing authority Because the partners in the projects contribute with resources that are employed in the
partners’ line organizations, the project manager has limited authority
Selecting competences This is experienced not only in the initiation of the project but also during the project due to changes in staffing in the later phases of the project
Tracking performance Because of the physical and professional distances between partners and because of the duration of the research projects, the project manager is challenged to track developments
Table 1. Summed up tension and problems The tensions and problems reflect the actuality of the works as a project manager. Some of these tensions and problems are inherent in all project management, such as the issue with authority described by other researchers (Lindgren et al., 2016). However, other tensions and problems are distinctive of the research collaboration projects.
Brocke and Lippe (2015) reviewed the literature and proposed three hypothetical paradoxes that project managers in collaborative projects have to work in, such as (1) manage tightly structured projects and provide flexibility, (2) integrate research perceptions from different scientific fields and accept problems with interdisciplinarity, and (3) live with limited authority and establish commitment from all partners.
The tensions and problems are intertwined and complex. They appear both in the initial phases in the project and later, and the project manager should manage both the tensions and
problems together.
With the objective of designing an education program, research on didactics shows that good transfer in continuing education should be formed in sequences, and that transfer should be designed to either close or distant transfer (Wahlgren, 2009). This program should include
general skills and tools for a specific context (i.e., close transfer), as well as a general understanding that can be related to different contexts (i.e., distant transfer).
To address this issue, the program consisted of 60% lectures, e-lectures, and discussions of group work around close transfer and seven cases established for distant transfer. The cases showed that the issues appear in conjunction, and that there are paradoxes to be handled.
Appendix B presents the proportion of cases versus lectures and training on specific topics and enclosure C presents the specification of the contents of the cases.
10. Conclusion
This study addressed the following research question: What are the key project management issues in collaborative research projects and what are the implications for the education program?
This study examined the actualities of project management work to understand project management in a specific context.
The findings indicate that the key project management issues of collaborative research projects depend on contractual issues, and the distance to partners makes it difficult to track performance and ensures allocation of the best resources.
An education program must, therefore, contain tools and time to consider these issues by presenting cases where the issues and paradoxes appear in conjunction.
11. Appendix Appendix A
Figure 3 From workshop–Second iteration
Enclosure B: Overview of cases
Case
no. Phase - Topic Tools
1 Initial Phase–Forming the project Identification of issues
Defining the Organization
Five-by-Five Project Management Model Goals Breakdown Structure
Project organization Responsibility Matrix 2 Planning Phase
Designing management structure
Gantt Chart
Structure of shared repositories Project Log
Role of a Project Manager 3 Execution Phase
Change management Contract
Project managers’ feedback Responsibility Matrix
Communication plan 4 Execution phase
Contracts and agreements Relationships in own and partner organizations
Conflict and dialog Responsibility Matrix
5 Execution phase
Activity planning and control Quality criteria
Project managers’ role
Project Log - Minutes of meeting Team effectiveness
6 Delivery Legal issues
Team dynamics
7 Delivery
Political environments Research integrity Learning matrix
Enclosure C: Elements in the education program
12. References
Blomquist, T. (2010). Project-as-a-practice: In Search of Project Management that Matters.
Project Management Journal, 39(March), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmj
Brocke, J. vom, & Lippe, S. (2015). Managing collaborative research projects: A synthesis of project management literature and directives for future research. International Journal of Project Management, 33(5), 1022–1039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2015.02.001 Crawford, L. (n.d.). Dancing in the kaleidoscope: the challenge of leading complex projecst.
PMI Global Congress 2013—EMEA, Istanbul, Turkey. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/kaleidoscope-challenge- leading-complex-projects-5786
DFIR. (2020). Forsknings finansiering–forandringer og konsekvenser.
https://ufm.dk/publikationer/2020/forskningsfinansiering-forandringer-og-konsekvenser EuropeanComission. (n.d.). Horison Online Manual / Roles and access rights. Horizon Online
Manual. Retrieved March 23, 2020, from
https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/docs/h2020-funding-guide/user-account-and- roles/roles-and-access-rights_en.htm
Lindgren, M., Cicmil, S., & Lindgren, M. (2016). The project (management) discourse and its consequences : On vulnerability and unsustainability in proje …. The project
(management) discourse and its consequences : on vulnerability and unsustainability in project- -. March, 58–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12058
Svejvig, P., & Andersen, P. (2015). Rethinking project management: A structured literature review with a critical look at the brave new world. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), 278–290.
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.06.004
Wahlgren, B. (2009). Transfer mellem uddannelse og arbejde. NCK København.
Educational Program
Management of Collaborative Research Projects
Green = Case-Based
Introduction webinar E-lecture ToolsE-lecture Internal project support Webinar Internal project support E-lecture contacts
e-Lecture Communikation E-lecture distance
E-lekture Research Ethics Dag 1 Projekt Management Day 2 Leadership
Day 3 Projekt Managers' Roles Day 4 Conflict management Studiegruppe - Cases Preparation
