Rethinking Construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Rethinking Construction - Essay Example As a result of our research, the conclusion we have reached, with some notable exceptions, is that there was merit in John Regan's task force findings and that, in general, it has improved the performance of the construction industry. However, we have also concluded that in certain areas of the industry in general, and despite the incentives and organizations set up2, the implementation of the proposal is taking longer than had been envisaged. The main thrust of the "Rethinking Construction" report was for the partnering approach to form the central focus of construction projects. Such a system has been successfully implemented in many other industries as part of an integrated supply chain procedure. The report went on to suggest that if the construction industry executed the initiatives recommended, there could be anticipated significant annual improvements and savings in a number of key industry areas. These included: - The intention was to show the industry a way forward and help it to revitalize and refocus itself after a period of stagnation and poor productivity and profitability. It was also seen as a foundation stone in the rebuilding of the industry's less than perfect reputation, resulting from its propensity to deliver projects late, over-budget and not to the highest quality. In 1998 the report suggested to the industry guidelines in respect of the timescale for change, warning of the possible repercussions if the need for such change was not taken on board and treated seriously. In an effort to show the way and prove to the industry in general the value that the "Rethinking Construction", the task force called upon the government and construction industry leaders to put together a number of demonstration development projects, which would act as models for evaluation purposes. It asked for 500 millions worth of such projects. In the event, some 6 billion's worth were forthcoming. Positive Results There have been some notable successes where the task force recommendations have been fully implemented. The following, (figure 1) shows how the joint government / industry pilot schemes fared in the year 2001. It can be clearly seen from this table the results on a number of the KPI's3 set down by the task force have exceeded expectations. The most notable of these have been in safety, design time predictability and defects, which the original report had suggested should be targeted for 20% per annum improvement. There have also been some notable successes in partnering within the private sector. L.T. Deeprose Ltd, based in Guildford in Surrey, is a case in point. This company has embraced both the spirit and the physical aspect of "Rethinking Construction". The company concentrate on two aspects of the industry, development and contracting. On the development side they have built up working relationships with property advisor and estate agents, contracting Clients, specialized sub-contractors and consultants, including architects. By building a long term relationship with all of these organizations and involving them at all stages of a project, the company is able to meet, and continues to meet, the majority of the benefits that the report suggested would be

Partnership vs.Corporation (Taxation) Assignment

Partnership vs.Corporation (Taxation) - Assignment Example Advantages and disadvantages related to becoming a corporation Incorporating a business has many merits attached to it. A corporate business has many structures that make it enjoy protection from liability. Corporation also has ease of growth. It is also easy to transfer ownership to another. It is flexible and never rigid. The major disadvantage of a corporation is the double taxation that is levied upon the firm/corporation (Piper, 2008). The taxation is levied at the corporation level and the individual earnings are taxed. There are also fee charged for maintaining the status of a corporation and that of keeping and running corporate meetings throughout the year. In spite of these demerits attached to the corporation, it is important to note that it is easy for a corporation to go public. A corporation enjoys liability protection. In a corporation, owners and stakeholders are given indemnity from the debt incurred by the corporation. In case of the default and the bankruptcy of a corporation, owners and stakeholders do not come to be part of the debt. Therefore, individuals in the corporation cannot suffer. The personal assets and corporation assets are not interfered with in case a corporation is unable to pay its debts. Thought the corporation face double taxations; there exist cases where they are given tax breaks. A corporate business gains trust from the public and business entities as it is considered a professional entities. These give it business advantage due to its status and legality. Advantages and disadvantages of being in partnership Partnership is an agreement reached between two or more people to finance an organization or a business and run it together. In partnership, the business is independent from the partners however; the losses and profits flow through their individual taxes. Advantages of business partnership include: There are no complex details attached to establishing a partnership. It is easy to form The capacity to raise funds is greater as more partners have a higher bargaining power. They can thus get access to loans easily. There is a wider range of expertise skills. People often have different knowledge and skills; this puts the organization or the business at an advantaged position because of the possibility of varied range of knowledge and skills. Partnership can be cheaper t operate as each partner specializes in a section thus higher level of concentrated output. Partnership is important because partners mean good for the business; they thus provide moral support for each other. They may also open up for creative performance as they brainstorm Disadvantages of Business Partnership Business and the individual partners are directly liable for any action of the business and other partners The profits have to be shared in amongst people. This may raise conflict when one partner or partners feel that their contributions to the business are greater than other. This may create conflicts. There are various limitations associated with partnership, which makes it not conducive for rapid expansion. The main demerit associated with partnership is that individual members are liable to a greater degree for the liability of the business. 2. How partnership minimizes tax liability. Prepare a response as to why partnership was the best option Partnership is advantageous because it limits personal obligation to an individual but it indebts it to the partners in the organization collectively. Partnership is also

Marketing report for a company that produces health organic food Assignment

Marketing report for a company that produces health organic food products - Assignment Example 200). To start with, is to develop a fresh product line which will aim at improving sales by at least 20%. Secondly, a â€Å"new and enhanced† commodity line to the already on hand customer base will be launched through conveying improvements and revisions. Furthermore, we intend to raise product awareness by at least 40% before the end of this year among the intended audience. Finally, carry out an extensive study on the different segments of the market and formulate new ways of satisfying each segment’s needs (Nash, 2000, p. 68). Market Segments Understanding market segmentation is very important since it will enable QOFPC to concentrate on satisfying the specific needs of its customers (Kotler et al, 2009, p. 200). Though mass marketing has its own advantages, it has also been criticized and companies are currently being advised to concentrate of micro-marketing where production is driven by market segments. There are different segments of the market that needs to be studies in order to know how to engage effectively on the production process. For instance, by QOFPC studying the behavior of its potential customers, it will be in a position to determine how to play between quality and low price in its search to satisfy all its customer categories (Schmid, 2007, p.102). First and foremost QOFPC needs to understand the demographic component of the market. This component takes into consideration things such as age, the size of the families of potential customers, gender, income, occupation, religion, social class, race and education. These demographic units are closely linked with consumer needs and preferences (Schmid, 2007, p.103). For example consumer needs change widely with age; a child may prefer very sweet food products as compared to an old person. Studying the geographic segment (focuses on regions, cities and rural and urban areas) is equally important since it will allow the company to identify the buying capability of its market. People in rural areas are mostly ignorant and have low incomes, hence, require different marketing strategies from those in urban areas (Nash, 2000, p. 70). By understanding these variations, the company will be able to estimate its market size and choose an appropriate media of reaching its market effectively. According to Kotler et al (2009, p. 205), the psychographic segment focuses on people’s lifestyles, socio-economic status, values/beliefs and personalities. Under this segment, psychology is applied to the demographic factors in order to have a clear understanding of the potential customers. People of the same age may have different beliefs that are likely to affect their tastes and preferences. The final market segment that needs understanding is the behavioral segment that focuses on: occasions, benefits, usage rate, attitude, readiness stage, user status and loyalty status. QOFPC needs to study the possibility of occurrence of occasions such as festivals that will boost i ts sales in order to target them effectively (Nash, 2000, p. 70). Moreover, since this company produces health organic foods, it will be of great importance to study individuals who exactly buy the products and their buying capability. Marketing Strategy Using Marketing Mix Marketing strategies aim at creating the value of customers, capturing and delivering that customer value and above all sustaining the customer value (Nash, 2000, p. 90). An appropriate marketing strategy calls for discipline blending and high flexibility.

Principles of tax income law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Principles of tax income law - Essay Example In John’s case, he is an employee of a real estate agent but he is carrying out personalised investment activities. This can be seen with the purchase of the motel in order to sell it out as a kindergarten later. A purchase of this kind can be considered as an investment carried out with the intention to make a profit. In terms of the bigger picture, John’s investment activity can be considered as a business activity in ordinary usage since he invests money in order to derive a profit. Receipts or profits created through business activities are treated as ordinary income for most circumstances3 4. In cases where there may be payment complications or where receipts cannot be created from proceeds of business, income may not be seen as ordinary5. However, in John’s case, if the real estate sold out it would have produced a simple income receipt that would have been considered as ordinary income. The onset of the flood and the clearing up of the land can further be considered as business activities on John’s part in order to add value to his property. The assessment that John’s land carried underground hot water reservoirs merely added even more value to his land. John is now being offered money based on the value addition on the motel site he purchased. The value addition activities of John can be seen as business activities analogous to any other value addition properties carried out by any other business. As long as there is â€Å"sufficient connection† between John’s income derived from the sale of land and value addition on the land, John’s income will be categorised as ordinary income according to FCT v Consolidated Press Holdings Ltd (No 2)6 7. A scrutiny of John’s circumstances reveals that he purchased land with a view to make profit and his final transaction with Green Energy results in profit. Such income is considered ordinary income for taxation purposes. Problem Question 1B The capital ga ins tax (CGT) applies to any forms of capital gains made when an asset is disposed off except for certain exemptions. Most exemptions related to CGT in Australia are based on items of personal use as well as exemptions to promote certain business activities. Moreover, the CGT enforced in Australia provides for rollovers under certain circumstances. The contention behind CGT is to tax income that falls within the capital gain category so that it cannot be drained off for other purposes. Assessments for CGT rely on considering any net gains as part of the taxable income structure for a single tax year8. The net gains may result from the sale of owned assets or from any other forms of disposal of assets. Any form of assets held by an individual for a period of one year or more are given a fifty percent discount when considering the CGT on disposal9. CGT was introduced to Australia in 1985 and any assets held by a person before this are exempt from CGT. Assets acquired by a person in or after 1985 are considered alone in CGT deductions10. In the case of Kimberly, her assets were mostly formed well after 1985 so CGT applies to most of her assets except those that are exempt under current CGT laws. In addition to this observation, it is noteworthy that up to 1999, CGT applied after an assessment of the consumer price index (CPI). Under this scheme, changes in the price of an asset due to consumption

Why poverty was re-discovered in Britain in the late 1950s and early Essay

Why poverty was re-discovered in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960 - Essay Example Britain’s share of world trade fell from 13.9% to 10.8% during this time. Taxation increased from 32% of GDP to 43% of GDP. Economic planning had failed and this failure precluded major social planning despite the fact that some social reforms such as the launch of comprehensive education, reorganization of public transport, development in health and local government. Abel-Smith and Townsend are credited with the "rediscovery of poverty" in the 1960’s: noticed that certain categories such as, families with children on low incomes and retired couples often lived in difficult circumstances. The definition of poverty adopted by Abel-Smith and Peter Townsend in their 1965 study, was the concept of â€Å"The Poor and the Poorest†. They concluded that "poverty was entirely a relative concept," and defined households to be in, or at the margins of, poverty if their income was less than "140 percent of the then current National Assistance scale plus rent". In 1960, 17.9% of households lived below this relative poverty standard. An unknown, but significantly smaller, share of the population had incomes below the "physical efficiency" or "human needs" poverty lines. (Ian Gazeley, Poverty in Britain 1900-1965) There was a strong case for saying that socially deprived families are frequently found in confined geographical areas identifiable by certain physical and social characteristics. Examples of these characteristics: geographical location, "twilight zones" near a city’s business area; areas populated by immigrants; overcrowded and poor amenities, Victorian housing stock; areas with a high percentage of unskilled and semi-skilled workers; higher than average proportions of families on State benefits; higher than normal percentage of large families; large number of fatherless families; areas with little play space and recreational facilities; areas with poorer health; high percentage of child deprivation and delinquency.

Air pollution Essay Example for Free

Air pollution Essay Introduction to Air Pollution Air pollution is the presence of foreign substances in the atmosphere, emitted by industries and motor vehicles that cause damage to living organisms. Air pollution characteristics Air pollution characteristics in a particular region are influenced by: The type and amount of pollutant and their source of emission. The topographical and meteorological conditions affecting dispersion, concentration and transboundary transport of pollutants. The type of technology and various raw materials used in the manufacturing process and the type and quantum of emissions. The extent of industrialization and population density. Air Pollutants Sources of air pollutants Major sources of air pollution are natural sources and man-made source. A. Natural sources: Volcanic eruptions, forest fires, deflation of sands and dusts, storms, etc. Pollutants from natural sources Volcanoes: ashes, smokes, carbon dioxide dust and other gases. Land surface: salts spray from seas and ocean, dusts and soil particles from ground-surface. Extraterrestrial bodies: cosmic particles and rays, chest produced due to bombardment of asteroid materials, comets etc. with the earth. B. Man-made (anthropogenic) sources Industries, automobiles, agriculture, power plants, domestic sources, etc. Pollutants from manmade sources Industries: smokes, fumes, dust, particulate matters. Domestic sources: gases from kitchen, domestic heating. Automobiles: smoke, fumes, emissions from different vehicles. Agriculture: insecticides, pesticides and herbicides. Power plants: heat from the power plants, smokes, fly ash. Introduction to Air Pollution Air pollution is the presence of foreign substances in the atmosphere, emitted by industries and motor vehicles that cause damage to living organisms. Air pollution characteristics Air pollution characteristics in a particular region are influenced by: The type and amount of pollutant and their source of emission. The topographical and meteorological conditions affecting dispersion, concentration and transboundary transport of pollutants. The type of technology and various raw materials used in the manufacturing process and the type and quantum of emissions. The extent of industrialization and population density. Air Pollutants Sources of air pollutants Major sources of air pollution are natural sources and man-made source. A. Natural sources: Volcanic eruptions, forest fires, deflation of sands and dusts, storms, etc. Pollutants from natural sources Volcanoes: ashes, smokes, carbon dioxide dust and other gases. Land surface: salts spray from seas and ocean, dusts and soil particles from ground-surface. Extraterrestrial bodies: cosmic particles and rays, chest produced due to bombardment of asteroid materials, comets etc. with the earth. B. Man-made (anthropogenic) sources Industries, automobiles, agriculture, power plants, domestic sources, etc. Pollutants from manmade sources Industries: smokes, fumes, dust, particulate matters. Domestic sources: gases from kitchen, domestic heating. Automobiles: smoke, fumes, emissions from different vehicles. Agriculture: insecticides, pesticides and herbicides. Power plants: heat from the power plants, smokes, fly ash.

Project Management and Business Strategies

Project Management and Business Strategies ABSTRACT Which way to go? This is a question that organizations will ask themselves in a certain time, because organizations are faced with challenges of strategic direction. Some organizations are instigated by challenging opportunities, other organizations want to overcome significant threats. The business strategy can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future. Johnson et al (2009) states that the strategy of an organization is often likely to be complex, uncertain and mostly it affects operational decisions and requires an integrated approach. But the most typically and crucial components of strategy are change and innovation. Project management is essential for managing and reducing the inherent risk associated with change and innovation. Thats why many projects are the result of strategic decisions of organizations, because projects manage changes on an effectively and efficiently way. Changing organizations need projects for making change and for obtaining its business strategy and -objectives. Nowadays sustainability is a very hot (strategic) item for organizations. Organizations are integrating ideas of sustainability in their marketing, corporate communications, business strategy and in their actions. Centraal Boekhuis, a (leading) logistics service provider in stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books, has also formulated a covering policy on sustainability for the strategy period 2009-2011 (Board of directors Centraal Boekhuis (2009)). Sustainability for Centraal Boekhuis means commitment to corporate environmental performances as well as sustainable performances on social and economic aspects. Several projects on behalf of sustainability will be conducted as well as projects will be conducted on behalf of other strategic targets. But is it possible to make project management sustainable, in order to make other projects contribute to the policy on sustainability too? In this research the relation between project management and the pursuing of the realization of business strategies will be looked at. Then the main research question will be answered: how will the business strategy influence the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and how will this in consequence lead to sustainable project management? The hypothesis is that when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability. The actual research will be executed through a web survey among several organizations as well as a case study of Centraal Boekhuis, which contains in-depth interviews with about 10 representatives project employees from Centraal Boekhuis. The research will also contain the study of qualitative data, for exampl e the study of documentation and reports that are in stock within the company about strategy, project management and sustainability. 1. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND 1.1 Introduction To understand project management within organizations it is important to understand projects. The Prince2 Foundation (2005) defines a project as a temporary organisation that is needed to produce a unique and predefined outcome or result at a pre-specified time using predetermined recourses. In practice projects bring recourses, skills, technology and ideas together to achieve business objectives and deliver business benefits. But why is there a need for projects within organizations? Organizations are continuously striving after agility and success by for example introducing new products and services or by improving business processes or activities. Many projects are the result of organizations that wants to manage such changes on an effectively and efficiently way. According to Bryan Atkin and Adrian Brooks (2009), Change Management is the key towards innovation of organizations. In order to make progress and achieve greater efficiency and better value for money and to be more effective or competitive, organizations have to do things differently and have to make changes. Maylor (2005) stresses that Project management is essential for managing and reducing the inherent risks associated with change and innovation. Changing organizations need projects for making change. Recently Johnson et al. (2009) gives an interesting definition on business strategy. The definition describes that strategy contains the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, for achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations. Aforementioned definition displays that the fundamental principle of making changes of organizations can be the result of aiming towards targets that contributes to the fulfilment of the business strategy. In practice this means that organisational changes and the application of project management for realising those changes can thus be the result of the long term direction and scope of an organization. Simply said; project management can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future to meets its business strategy and -objectives. As mentioned above the management of projects within organization is among other things related to its business strategy, but how will the business strategy influences the selection and the execution of project management within organizations and how can project management thus contributes to the realization of the business strategy? For example, The board of directors of Centraal Boekhuis (2009) has formulated a covering policy on sustainability for the strategy period 2009-2011. Several projects on behalf of sustainability will be conducted as well as projects will be conducted on behalf of other strategic targets. But is it possible to realize more strategic focus, by linking all projects to the business strategy of an organization? This leads to the main research question of the thesis: how will the business strategy influence the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and how will this in consequence lead to sustainable project management? Another interesting question will be: if project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, will projects contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability? 1.2 The organization; Centraal Boekhuis Centraal Boekhuis is a (leading) logistics service provider in stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books. More than 500 publishers and over 1500 booksellers use the service facilities for distribution, transportation, information and administration. For publishers is Centraal Boekhuis the entry into the Dutch and Flemish (book) markets. For booksellers in the Netherlands and Flanders, Centraal Boekhuis is the provider of the assortment of Dutch-language books, general as well as educational or scientific books, and a selected range of foreign-language books (staff directory guide Centraal Boekhuis, 2007). Besides taking care of stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books, Centraal Boekhuis also offers administrative or financial services. For publishers the company organizes complete stock and sales recording, invoicing and debt collection. Booksellers as well benefit from a broad range of information technology services. The majority of Centraal Boekhuis services are integrated in a single automated system (CB Online), so customers have access to the operational and management information they need, focused on their companys business processes. Upon request, Centraal Boekhuis will also arrange the storage, distribution and transport of office supplies, stationary and greeting cards. All logistic activities and processes are linked with the transport centres delivery network. The centres range of services includes processing special offers and returned goods, (temporary) storage, order picking and carrying out special mailing campaigns with value-added logistics. The Transport Centre of Centraal Boekhuis organizes transport from and to countries outside the Benelux. In England is a consolidation point bounded, where shipments from 1600 English publishers intended for Dutch bookshops are collected and forwarded to the Netherlands. This enables Centraal Boekhuis to offer customers attractive services. Shipments from Germany and America are transported along similar lines. History For over 135 years Centraal Boekhuis have been the logistic partner in the Dutch book trade. In 1871 the Vereeniging ter Bevordering van de Belangen des Boekhandels (VBBB) in Amsterdam lay the foundations for Het bestelhuis van de Nederlandsche Boekhandel, presently called Centraal Boekhuis. Publishers send their boxes with books to that warehouse of books, where the boxes were distributed across the Netherlands. Many years later, in 1926, the VBBB decided to found Centraal Boekhuis in Amsterdam. Well-established publishers were obliged to store their books in the central depot of Centraal Boekhuis in Amsterdam. From now on the book stores and publishers could order their books with Centraal Boekhuis from one central point in the Netherlands. In 1973, because lack of space, Centraal Boekhuis grounded their company in Culemborg, where the company nowadays is still grounded. In that same year is Het Bestelhuis and Centraal Boekhuis merged into one company: Centraal Boekhuis B.V (Intranet Centraal Boekhuis, 2008). Organization The daily management of Centraal Boekhuis is directed by the Senior Management Team (SMT). The lead direction of the 5 Senior Managers is directed by a Chief Executive Officer, namely Hans Willem Cortenraad. They have weekly meetings to discuss the company policy and how this policy is best directed to the line managers. Centraal Boekhuis in figures (2009) Full time employees: 579 Publishers: 500 Booksellers: 1500 Available Dutch titles: 80,000 Number of copies delivered per year: 60,000,000 Number of delivery addresses per day: 2500 Number of packages transported per year: 4,500,000 Number of pallets transported per year: 300,000 2. PROBLEM STATEMENT RESEARCH QUESTION According to Project Management Institute and Morris (2006) oorganizations often want efficiency, good financial results and success and they want it fast. It is for that matter that organizations generally focus on short-term results, such as immediate realizable financial goals. However, Centraal Boekhuis for example expects also from its employees to achieve results that corresponds to the overall long term objectives of the business strategy. This contradiction pointed me in the direction to ask myself if it is possible to operate more efficiently if the portfolio of projects is continuously linked to the business strategy of Centraal Boekhuis. My hypothesis subsequently is that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the business strategy. Nevertheless, the solution isnt that easy. For instance, organizations are nowadays more often integrating ideas of sustainability in business strategies. It is for that matter unavoidable that there will be projects related to sustainable strategy, namely environmental or social projects. However, will projects on behalf of other strategic objectives also be sustainable? Thats why I assume that when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will positively contribute to the realization of strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability. [2] The main question and hypothesis will be clarified for a reasonable interpretation of the research construction and approach. In this research the relation between project management and the pursuing of the realization of business strategies will be looked at. Foresaid leads to the following research question: what is the impact of the business strategy on the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and will this possible influence in consequence lead to sustainable project management? The hypothesis is: when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will positively contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it will positively contributes to sustainability; the result subsequently is that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the sustainable business strategy. Why is it so important to link the project management of an organization to its business strategies, in order to make projects sustainable? As stated by Johnson et al (2009) it is ultimately the fulfilling of the business strategy to aim on the fulfilling of the expectations of the stakeholders. If an organization have stated sustainability within their business strategies, stakeholders are involved in monitoring if the strategy is achieved the objectives and if there is corrective action needed. This is called strategic control and it will keep an organization in track with its achievements on behalf of its strategy (and also sustainable strategy). According to foresaid it is plausible that it is important to state sustainability in the business strategy, for making sure that projects will meet the objectives and goals of sustainable strategy. 3. GOALS OBJECTIVES I will try to find out if a business strategy, specifically a sustainable business strategy, can positive influence the way on how projects will be selected and executed, as I expect it to be. I will test the hypothesis that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the sustainable business strategy, to see if it is possible to make project management sustainable. If so, this offers an interesting new insight in sustainable project management, which could be the basis for more research. First it is important to study literature to get familiar with the several subjects of this thesis. The several subjects that will be described are project management, business strategy and of course overall sustainability. Next I will try to describe the multifarious relative contexts between the several subjects described in the literature, in order to make my hypotheses plausible. The most important objective of the literature review is to create an elementary basic assumption for further research. Furthermore the research methodologies that I will use are a case study research and a web survey. For the execution of the case study research are various data (re)sources used, namely in-depth interviews and the study of business documentation and reports. The case study research methodology will be used to get insights in how Centraal Boekhuis arranges its business strategy, especially how it is arranged towards its project management. Then it is important to look at how the sustainable policy of Centraal Boekhuis affects the daily operations as well as the sustainable policy affect its project management. For comparison and further research I will send a web survey to approximately 100 companies with sustainability stated in their business strategy. Hopefully this will give me insights in how other companies arrange their project management related to its business strategy and maybe they have certain methodologies to make project management sustainable, so I have some interesting data to work with. My research will focus on project management, business strategies, sustainability and sustainable project management in an attempt to find relative contexts to integrate business strategy and projects in order to facilitate development of sustainable project management. Overall I hope that the executed research will create a certain frame work for linking project management to the overall business strategy of an organization, in order to make project management sustainable. 4. LITERATURE REVIEW As mentioned earlier my research will focus on project management, business strategies, sustainability and sustainable project management. Therefore the theoretical background of my research will also be focused on foresaid topics. 4.1 Business Strategy The traditional literature about business strategy is often about the general definitions of business strategy, where organizations focus on where they want to be on the long term (mission and vision) and how this is achieved (goals and objectives) (Alblas Wijsman, 2001) in order to gain competitive advantages. The current literature about strategy describes more that strategy is about the importance of achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations (Johnson et al., 2009). Aforementioned shows that the current literature on business strategies discusses the importance of the characteristic aspects change and configuration (Kloosterboer, 2005). The relative context between business strategy and changes is an important aspect that must be taken into account before I continue my research. According to Bryan Atkin and Adrian Brooks (2009), Change Management is the key towards innovation of organizations. In order to make progress and achieve greater efficiency and better value for money and to be more effective or competitive, organizations have to do things differently and have to make changes. Harvey Maylor (2003) characterizes project management as essential aspect for managing and reducing the inherent risks associated with change and innovation. Therefore changing organizations need projects for making change. 4.2 Project Management The Prince2 Foundation (2005) recognizes that organizations are continuously striving after agility and success by for example introducing new products and services or by improving business processes or activities. Many projects are the result of organizations that wants to manage such changes on an effectively and efficiently way. Furthermore Prince2 (2005) defines a project as a temporary organisation that is needed to produce a unique and predefined outcome or result at a pre-specified time using predetermined recourses. In practice projects bring recourses, skills, technology and ideas together to achieve business objectives and deliver business benefits. According to the International Project Management Association (2006), professional project management is broken down into the following three competences (see also figure one): Technical competences for project management; behavioral competences of project personnel; and the contextual competences of projects programmes and portfolio. The technical competence covers the techniques of project management, for example the practice of Prince2. The behavioral competence represents the professional behavior of the project personal, like project management skills. The contextual competence is the linkage between the project and organizations involved. The vision on project management by IPMA in the International Competence Baceline presented in October 2006 will be critically looked at for my research. This project management approach will also be studied and discussed during the master program of the Master of Facilities Management and Real Estate. The eye of competence figures the integra tion of the elements of project management as seen trough the eyes of the project manager. So the essence of project management is to support the execution of an organizations strategy to deliver a considered necessary outcome (Clifford and Gray, 2002). The research of recent literature shows us that project management is nowadays recognized as one of the primary business processes (Atkin Brooks, 2009). It is for that matter that organisational changes and the application of project management for realising those changes must be linked to the overall business strategy of an organization, in order to accomplish the business goals and objectives. Simply said; project management can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future to meets its business strategy and -objectives. For this thesis I will mainly focus on the SWOT analysis, because this management and strategy tool is used by Centraal Boekhuis for defining its strategy. The SWOT analysis can be used as a strategy formulation tool. It helps organizations to identify its Strengts, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). The Strengths and Weaknesses represent the internal factors that create value or can destroy value. Opportunities and Threats are the external factors that can influence the organization value (Ahaus, 2005). 4.3 Business Strategies vs. Project Management According to Sabin Srivannaboon (2006), previous research on project management and its relation with business strategy mostly links the project management with business strategy through critical project selection, viewing it as part of the alignment process (For example Bard, Balachandra Kaufmann (1988); Cooper, Edgett Kleinschmidt (1998); Englund Graham (1999) etc). Also often displayed in previous research is project portfolio management. This is another concept suggested in the literature to ensure the strategic alignment of project management and business strategy and it is defined as a dynamic decision-making process, which an organization can update and revise its list of active projects (see for literature: Turner Simister (2000); Cooper, Edgett Kleinschmidt (1998) etc.). Current literature shows us more about the research that has been done on the alignment of project management with business strategies of organizations, for example research of Sabin Srivannaboon (2006) , Tony Grundy (2001) Peter Morris Ashley Jamison (2004) etc. 4.4 Sustainability sustainable project management On Wednesday the 4th of November, member of the House of Representatives Esmà © Wiegman talks about faith in Sustainability and vice versa, please note: in church! That sustainability has even penetrated the Christian church sais a lot. We are all confronted with it and action is expected of us. Sustainability is a hot item, that is no surprise. Looking at the quotes mentioned below you can conclude that there is no process in an organization that is not interfered with sustainability items. â€Å"Managers are more and more beginning to consider the environment as an additional parameter on which they base their decisions.† (North, 1997) That is what Klaus North wrote is his environmental business management introduction in 1997. And Carin Labuschagne wrote almost a decade later: â€Å"Various driving forces originating from society, government employees and business partners are forcing companies to both incorporate sustainable development in their business practices as well as to align all internal operations and practices with the principles thereof.† (Labuschagne, 2005). Sustainability, what does that really mean? Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland formulated it as followed; â€Å"The development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs†. As Labuschagne already said, there is no process in an organization that is not interfered with aspects of sustainability. Project management is just one of these processes that cannot be ignored. That is also made clear in the APM sustainable outlooks, where is mentioned that they are considering a database with project and programme managers who have specialist knowledge, experience and expertise in sustainability issues generally or by specific sectors, locations or types of project. They also plead for the triple bottom line approach in every project. The triple bottom line approach includes environmental, social and economical sustainability (APM, sustainable outlooks). As organizations become more and more focused on environmental responsibilities, project managers cannot stay behind. (Zoyd Reed Luce) Where sustainability is grounded in almost every strategy of every large organization, this automatically is reflected in the projects of an organization. Project manager are forced to focus on sustainability these days, it becomes part of the project. 4.5 Theoretical Framework for aligning projects with strategy There are several articles expanding on the idea that there should be a certain focus on the corporate strategy when managing projects, for example the articles of Tony Grundy (2001) or Morris and Jamison (2004). Milosevic and Srivannaboon (2006) support this vision in their article and wrote an article which describes a theoretical framework for aligning project management with strategy. Milosevic and Srivannaboon have developed an empirically based theoretical framework that explains the impact of business strategy on project management and vice versa and discusses how mechanisms can be used to strengthen that alignment. As discussed earlier, strategy is about the importance of achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations and defending it against competitive forces (Johnson et al., 2009). Milosevic and Srivannaboon have based their theoretical framework on the vision of Porter (1980) about Generic Business Strategies. Michael Porter states that to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, an organization must chose a certain type of strategy. Porters generic strategies distinguishes three types of strategies, namely cost leadership, differentiation, and cost focus (see figure 3). Competitive advantage can only be achieved by choosing one of these strategies. If an organization chooses to pursue more than one generic strategy, it will perform being badly without competitive advantage and Porter refers to that as being ‘stuck in the middle. Milosevic and Srivannaboon use cost leadership, differentiation, and best cost as the primary focus of their analysis. They also use Shenhars strategic project leadership framework which consist of project elements like project strategy, project organization, project process and tools metrics and culture. Differentiation is about organizations pursuing a differentiation strategy by offering products and services that are unique from competition in order to satisfy the desires of their customers. This differentiation allows the organization to charge a premium price (Porter, 1980). Cost Leadership is about organizations pursuing a cost leadership strategy to gain competitive advantage and increase market share by operate with lower costs than competition, for example tight cost controls e.g. efficient facilities (Porter, 1980). Best cost (also called focus niche) is about organizations creating a sustainable competitive advantage through combining cost leadership and differentiation. This can be realized by offering a unique product or service to a special market segment and seek to offer low cost products within a special market segment (fast time-to-market, superior product quality, etc.). According to Milosevic and Srivannaboon the competitive aspects of the business strategy drive the focus of the project management elements. They see a pattern in project management elements for the differentiation of business strategy. Their research indicates that organizations can align projects with business strategies into three levels, namely the strategic level, the tactical level, and the corrective emergent strategic feedback. The first level of this framework (typified as mediating process at the strategic level) is the first step of the alignment process. At level 1 organization should use their intended strategy and select projects into their portfolio to determine the right projects that would contribute to the organizations strategy. The second level (typified as mediating process at the project level) involves the further planning of project details to ensure that alignment with the project life-cycle phases (Shenhars project classification) is realized. Proper alignment of projects with strategy during the project life cycle can be classified as the planning process and the monitoring process. Managers should develop a project management plan that has a certain focus on the business strategy. The third level (mediating process at the emergent strategic feedback level) is a process which uses stages, or also called stage gates or milestone, for evaluating or reviewing the project status on time, cost, and performance. These project stages are points in the project life cycle where projects transition from one stage to another. These stages provide project teams the opportunity to realign the project to its business strategy. 5. RESEARCH DESIGN 5.1 Research methods Based on the literature of Baarde and Goede (2001), the research on behalf of this thesis is categorized in a preliminary research study, a literature review, a case study research and a web survey. For the execution of the case study research are various data (re)sources used, namely in-depth interviews and the study of business documentation and reports of Centraal Boekhuis. The preliminary research study has given multifarious insights in for example the company of the case study, but also insights about project management and the business strategy of the concerning organization. In the preliminary research study is a critically literature review completed and several managers of the human resource division have been interviewed for creating a basis for this research. The products of the preliminary research study are a defined approach of the case study research, a description of the company and a defined approach of the web-survey. The case study research can be categorized in descriptive- and exploratory research study methods (Sanders et al, 2009). The descriptive study of this case study is defined by the research of qualitative data, for example the study of business documentation and reports that are in stock within the company about project management, its business strategy and sustainability. The exploratory part of the research describes the research methods in depth interviews and a web survey. In order to test how organizations work with project management related to its (sustainable) business strategy, two steps will be carried out. First, on Tuesday March 6, I will send a web survey to approximately 15 companies with sustainability stated in their business strategy. This short questionnaire will offer me data on the way the concerning companies arranges their project management related to the business strategies, to test on how the companies makes their projects sustainable. In order to increase the number of responses and to raise the chances of the answering the questions themselves, I will keep the survey very short, and stress this in the attached e-mail. Second, I will arrange in-depth interviews with about ten representatives of project management employees of the project department of Centraal Boekhuis. In these interviews, I will attempt Project Management and Business Strategies Project Management and Business Strategies ABSTRACT Which way to go? This is a question that organizations will ask themselves in a certain time, because organizations are faced with challenges of strategic direction. Some organizations are instigated by challenging opportunities, other organizations want to overcome significant threats. The business strategy can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future. Johnson et al (2009) states that the strategy of an organization is often likely to be complex, uncertain and mostly it affects operational decisions and requires an integrated approach. But the most typically and crucial components of strategy are change and innovation. Project management is essential for managing and reducing the inherent risk associated with change and innovation. Thats why many projects are the result of strategic decisions of organizations, because projects manage changes on an effectively and efficiently way. Changing organizations need projects for making change and for obtaining its business strategy and -objectives. Nowadays sustainability is a very hot (strategic) item for organizations. Organizations are integrating ideas of sustainability in their marketing, corporate communications, business strategy and in their actions. Centraal Boekhuis, a (leading) logistics service provider in stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books, has also formulated a covering policy on sustainability for the strategy period 2009-2011 (Board of directors Centraal Boekhuis (2009)). Sustainability for Centraal Boekhuis means commitment to corporate environmental performances as well as sustainable performances on social and economic aspects. Several projects on behalf of sustainability will be conducted as well as projects will be conducted on behalf of other strategic targets. But is it possible to make project management sustainable, in order to make other projects contribute to the policy on sustainability too? In this research the relation between project management and the pursuing of the realization of business strategies will be looked at. Then the main research question will be answered: how will the business strategy influence the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and how will this in consequence lead to sustainable project management? The hypothesis is that when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability. The actual research will be executed through a web survey among several organizations as well as a case study of Centraal Boekhuis, which contains in-depth interviews with about 10 representatives project employees from Centraal Boekhuis. The research will also contain the study of qualitative data, for exampl e the study of documentation and reports that are in stock within the company about strategy, project management and sustainability. 1. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND 1.1 Introduction To understand project management within organizations it is important to understand projects. The Prince2 Foundation (2005) defines a project as a temporary organisation that is needed to produce a unique and predefined outcome or result at a pre-specified time using predetermined recourses. In practice projects bring recourses, skills, technology and ideas together to achieve business objectives and deliver business benefits. But why is there a need for projects within organizations? Organizations are continuously striving after agility and success by for example introducing new products and services or by improving business processes or activities. Many projects are the result of organizations that wants to manage such changes on an effectively and efficiently way. According to Bryan Atkin and Adrian Brooks (2009), Change Management is the key towards innovation of organizations. In order to make progress and achieve greater efficiency and better value for money and to be more effective or competitive, organizations have to do things differently and have to make changes. Maylor (2005) stresses that Project management is essential for managing and reducing the inherent risks associated with change and innovation. Changing organizations need projects for making change. Recently Johnson et al. (2009) gives an interesting definition on business strategy. The definition describes that strategy contains the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, for achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations. Aforementioned definition displays that the fundamental principle of making changes of organizations can be the result of aiming towards targets that contributes to the fulfilment of the business strategy. In practice this means that organisational changes and the application of project management for realising those changes can thus be the result of the long term direction and scope of an organization. Simply said; project management can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future to meets its business strategy and -objectives. As mentioned above the management of projects within organization is among other things related to its business strategy, but how will the business strategy influences the selection and the execution of project management within organizations and how can project management thus contributes to the realization of the business strategy? For example, The board of directors of Centraal Boekhuis (2009) has formulated a covering policy on sustainability for the strategy period 2009-2011. Several projects on behalf of sustainability will be conducted as well as projects will be conducted on behalf of other strategic targets. But is it possible to realize more strategic focus, by linking all projects to the business strategy of an organization? This leads to the main research question of the thesis: how will the business strategy influence the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and how will this in consequence lead to sustainable project management? Another interesting question will be: if project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, will projects contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability? 1.2 The organization; Centraal Boekhuis Centraal Boekhuis is a (leading) logistics service provider in stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books. More than 500 publishers and over 1500 booksellers use the service facilities for distribution, transportation, information and administration. For publishers is Centraal Boekhuis the entry into the Dutch and Flemish (book) markets. For booksellers in the Netherlands and Flanders, Centraal Boekhuis is the provider of the assortment of Dutch-language books, general as well as educational or scientific books, and a selected range of foreign-language books (staff directory guide Centraal Boekhuis, 2007). Besides taking care of stocking, storage, distribution and transportation of books, Centraal Boekhuis also offers administrative or financial services. For publishers the company organizes complete stock and sales recording, invoicing and debt collection. Booksellers as well benefit from a broad range of information technology services. The majority of Centraal Boekhuis services are integrated in a single automated system (CB Online), so customers have access to the operational and management information they need, focused on their companys business processes. Upon request, Centraal Boekhuis will also arrange the storage, distribution and transport of office supplies, stationary and greeting cards. All logistic activities and processes are linked with the transport centres delivery network. The centres range of services includes processing special offers and returned goods, (temporary) storage, order picking and carrying out special mailing campaigns with value-added logistics. The Transport Centre of Centraal Boekhuis organizes transport from and to countries outside the Benelux. In England is a consolidation point bounded, where shipments from 1600 English publishers intended for Dutch bookshops are collected and forwarded to the Netherlands. This enables Centraal Boekhuis to offer customers attractive services. Shipments from Germany and America are transported along similar lines. History For over 135 years Centraal Boekhuis have been the logistic partner in the Dutch book trade. In 1871 the Vereeniging ter Bevordering van de Belangen des Boekhandels (VBBB) in Amsterdam lay the foundations for Het bestelhuis van de Nederlandsche Boekhandel, presently called Centraal Boekhuis. Publishers send their boxes with books to that warehouse of books, where the boxes were distributed across the Netherlands. Many years later, in 1926, the VBBB decided to found Centraal Boekhuis in Amsterdam. Well-established publishers were obliged to store their books in the central depot of Centraal Boekhuis in Amsterdam. From now on the book stores and publishers could order their books with Centraal Boekhuis from one central point in the Netherlands. In 1973, because lack of space, Centraal Boekhuis grounded their company in Culemborg, where the company nowadays is still grounded. In that same year is Het Bestelhuis and Centraal Boekhuis merged into one company: Centraal Boekhuis B.V (Intranet Centraal Boekhuis, 2008). Organization The daily management of Centraal Boekhuis is directed by the Senior Management Team (SMT). The lead direction of the 5 Senior Managers is directed by a Chief Executive Officer, namely Hans Willem Cortenraad. They have weekly meetings to discuss the company policy and how this policy is best directed to the line managers. Centraal Boekhuis in figures (2009) Full time employees: 579 Publishers: 500 Booksellers: 1500 Available Dutch titles: 80,000 Number of copies delivered per year: 60,000,000 Number of delivery addresses per day: 2500 Number of packages transported per year: 4,500,000 Number of pallets transported per year: 300,000 2. PROBLEM STATEMENT RESEARCH QUESTION According to Project Management Institute and Morris (2006) oorganizations often want efficiency, good financial results and success and they want it fast. It is for that matter that organizations generally focus on short-term results, such as immediate realizable financial goals. However, Centraal Boekhuis for example expects also from its employees to achieve results that corresponds to the overall long term objectives of the business strategy. This contradiction pointed me in the direction to ask myself if it is possible to operate more efficiently if the portfolio of projects is continuously linked to the business strategy of Centraal Boekhuis. My hypothesis subsequently is that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the business strategy. Nevertheless, the solution isnt that easy. For instance, organizations are nowadays more often integrating ideas of sustainability in business strategies. It is for that matter unavoidable that there will be projects related to sustainable strategy, namely environmental or social projects. However, will projects on behalf of other strategic objectives also be sustainable? Thats why I assume that when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will positively contribute to the realization of strategies as well as it subsequently will contributes to sustainability. [2] The main question and hypothesis will be clarified for a reasonable interpretation of the research construction and approach. In this research the relation between project management and the pursuing of the realization of business strategies will be looked at. Foresaid leads to the following research question: what is the impact of the business strategy on the selection and execution of project management within organizations, and will this possible influence in consequence lead to sustainable project management? The hypothesis is: when project management is constructed and selected in accordance with the business strategy, and more specifically linked with sustainable business strategy, projects will positively contribute to the realization of the business strategies as well as it will positively contributes to sustainability; the result subsequently is that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the sustainable business strategy. Why is it so important to link the project management of an organization to its business strategies, in order to make projects sustainable? As stated by Johnson et al (2009) it is ultimately the fulfilling of the business strategy to aim on the fulfilling of the expectations of the stakeholders. If an organization have stated sustainability within their business strategies, stakeholders are involved in monitoring if the strategy is achieved the objectives and if there is corrective action needed. This is called strategic control and it will keep an organization in track with its achievements on behalf of its strategy (and also sustainable strategy). According to foresaid it is plausible that it is important to state sustainability in the business strategy, for making sure that projects will meet the objectives and goals of sustainable strategy. 3. GOALS OBJECTIVES I will try to find out if a business strategy, specifically a sustainable business strategy, can positive influence the way on how projects will be selected and executed, as I expect it to be. I will test the hypothesis that the overall business strategy will be the input for the project portfolio planning and in turn, project success impacts the goals and objectives of the sustainable business strategy, to see if it is possible to make project management sustainable. If so, this offers an interesting new insight in sustainable project management, which could be the basis for more research. First it is important to study literature to get familiar with the several subjects of this thesis. The several subjects that will be described are project management, business strategy and of course overall sustainability. Next I will try to describe the multifarious relative contexts between the several subjects described in the literature, in order to make my hypotheses plausible. The most important objective of the literature review is to create an elementary basic assumption for further research. Furthermore the research methodologies that I will use are a case study research and a web survey. For the execution of the case study research are various data (re)sources used, namely in-depth interviews and the study of business documentation and reports. The case study research methodology will be used to get insights in how Centraal Boekhuis arranges its business strategy, especially how it is arranged towards its project management. Then it is important to look at how the sustainable policy of Centraal Boekhuis affects the daily operations as well as the sustainable policy affect its project management. For comparison and further research I will send a web survey to approximately 100 companies with sustainability stated in their business strategy. Hopefully this will give me insights in how other companies arrange their project management related to its business strategy and maybe they have certain methodologies to make project management sustainable, so I have some interesting data to work with. My research will focus on project management, business strategies, sustainability and sustainable project management in an attempt to find relative contexts to integrate business strategy and projects in order to facilitate development of sustainable project management. Overall I hope that the executed research will create a certain frame work for linking project management to the overall business strategy of an organization, in order to make project management sustainable. 4. LITERATURE REVIEW As mentioned earlier my research will focus on project management, business strategies, sustainability and sustainable project management. Therefore the theoretical background of my research will also be focused on foresaid topics. 4.1 Business Strategy The traditional literature about business strategy is often about the general definitions of business strategy, where organizations focus on where they want to be on the long term (mission and vision) and how this is achieved (goals and objectives) (Alblas Wijsman, 2001) in order to gain competitive advantages. The current literature about strategy describes more that strategy is about the importance of achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations (Johnson et al., 2009). Aforementioned shows that the current literature on business strategies discusses the importance of the characteristic aspects change and configuration (Kloosterboer, 2005). The relative context between business strategy and changes is an important aspect that must be taken into account before I continue my research. According to Bryan Atkin and Adrian Brooks (2009), Change Management is the key towards innovation of organizations. In order to make progress and achieve greater efficiency and better value for money and to be more effective or competitive, organizations have to do things differently and have to make changes. Harvey Maylor (2003) characterizes project management as essential aspect for managing and reducing the inherent risks associated with change and innovation. Therefore changing organizations need projects for making change. 4.2 Project Management The Prince2 Foundation (2005) recognizes that organizations are continuously striving after agility and success by for example introducing new products and services or by improving business processes or activities. Many projects are the result of organizations that wants to manage such changes on an effectively and efficiently way. Furthermore Prince2 (2005) defines a project as a temporary organisation that is needed to produce a unique and predefined outcome or result at a pre-specified time using predetermined recourses. In practice projects bring recourses, skills, technology and ideas together to achieve business objectives and deliver business benefits. According to the International Project Management Association (2006), professional project management is broken down into the following three competences (see also figure one): Technical competences for project management; behavioral competences of project personnel; and the contextual competences of projects programmes and portfolio. The technical competence covers the techniques of project management, for example the practice of Prince2. The behavioral competence represents the professional behavior of the project personal, like project management skills. The contextual competence is the linkage between the project and organizations involved. The vision on project management by IPMA in the International Competence Baceline presented in October 2006 will be critically looked at for my research. This project management approach will also be studied and discussed during the master program of the Master of Facilities Management and Real Estate. The eye of competence figures the integra tion of the elements of project management as seen trough the eyes of the project manager. So the essence of project management is to support the execution of an organizations strategy to deliver a considered necessary outcome (Clifford and Gray, 2002). The research of recent literature shows us that project management is nowadays recognized as one of the primary business processes (Atkin Brooks, 2009). It is for that matter that organisational changes and the application of project management for realising those changes must be linked to the overall business strategy of an organization, in order to accomplish the business goals and objectives. Simply said; project management can move an organization from where it is now, to where it needs to be in the future to meets its business strategy and -objectives. For this thesis I will mainly focus on the SWOT analysis, because this management and strategy tool is used by Centraal Boekhuis for defining its strategy. The SWOT analysis can be used as a strategy formulation tool. It helps organizations to identify its Strengts, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). The Strengths and Weaknesses represent the internal factors that create value or can destroy value. Opportunities and Threats are the external factors that can influence the organization value (Ahaus, 2005). 4.3 Business Strategies vs. Project Management According to Sabin Srivannaboon (2006), previous research on project management and its relation with business strategy mostly links the project management with business strategy through critical project selection, viewing it as part of the alignment process (For example Bard, Balachandra Kaufmann (1988); Cooper, Edgett Kleinschmidt (1998); Englund Graham (1999) etc). Also often displayed in previous research is project portfolio management. This is another concept suggested in the literature to ensure the strategic alignment of project management and business strategy and it is defined as a dynamic decision-making process, which an organization can update and revise its list of active projects (see for literature: Turner Simister (2000); Cooper, Edgett Kleinschmidt (1998) etc.). Current literature shows us more about the research that has been done on the alignment of project management with business strategies of organizations, for example research of Sabin Srivannaboon (2006) , Tony Grundy (2001) Peter Morris Ashley Jamison (2004) etc. 4.4 Sustainability sustainable project management On Wednesday the 4th of November, member of the House of Representatives Esmà © Wiegman talks about faith in Sustainability and vice versa, please note: in church! That sustainability has even penetrated the Christian church sais a lot. We are all confronted with it and action is expected of us. Sustainability is a hot item, that is no surprise. Looking at the quotes mentioned below you can conclude that there is no process in an organization that is not interfered with sustainability items. â€Å"Managers are more and more beginning to consider the environment as an additional parameter on which they base their decisions.† (North, 1997) That is what Klaus North wrote is his environmental business management introduction in 1997. And Carin Labuschagne wrote almost a decade later: â€Å"Various driving forces originating from society, government employees and business partners are forcing companies to both incorporate sustainable development in their business practices as well as to align all internal operations and practices with the principles thereof.† (Labuschagne, 2005). Sustainability, what does that really mean? Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland formulated it as followed; â€Å"The development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs†. As Labuschagne already said, there is no process in an organization that is not interfered with aspects of sustainability. Project management is just one of these processes that cannot be ignored. That is also made clear in the APM sustainable outlooks, where is mentioned that they are considering a database with project and programme managers who have specialist knowledge, experience and expertise in sustainability issues generally or by specific sectors, locations or types of project. They also plead for the triple bottom line approach in every project. The triple bottom line approach includes environmental, social and economical sustainability (APM, sustainable outlooks). As organizations become more and more focused on environmental responsibilities, project managers cannot stay behind. (Zoyd Reed Luce) Where sustainability is grounded in almost every strategy of every large organization, this automatically is reflected in the projects of an organization. Project manager are forced to focus on sustainability these days, it becomes part of the project. 4.5 Theoretical Framework for aligning projects with strategy There are several articles expanding on the idea that there should be a certain focus on the corporate strategy when managing projects, for example the articles of Tony Grundy (2001) or Morris and Jamison (2004). Milosevic and Srivannaboon (2006) support this vision in their article and wrote an article which describes a theoretical framework for aligning project management with strategy. Milosevic and Srivannaboon have developed an empirically based theoretical framework that explains the impact of business strategy on project management and vice versa and discusses how mechanisms can be used to strengthen that alignment. As discussed earlier, strategy is about the importance of achieving advantage in a changing environment throughout configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders expectations and defending it against competitive forces (Johnson et al., 2009). Milosevic and Srivannaboon have based their theoretical framework on the vision of Porter (1980) about Generic Business Strategies. Michael Porter states that to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, an organization must chose a certain type of strategy. Porters generic strategies distinguishes three types of strategies, namely cost leadership, differentiation, and cost focus (see figure 3). Competitive advantage can only be achieved by choosing one of these strategies. If an organization chooses to pursue more than one generic strategy, it will perform being badly without competitive advantage and Porter refers to that as being ‘stuck in the middle. Milosevic and Srivannaboon use cost leadership, differentiation, and best cost as the primary focus of their analysis. They also use Shenhars strategic project leadership framework which consist of project elements like project strategy, project organization, project process and tools metrics and culture. Differentiation is about organizations pursuing a differentiation strategy by offering products and services that are unique from competition in order to satisfy the desires of their customers. This differentiation allows the organization to charge a premium price (Porter, 1980). Cost Leadership is about organizations pursuing a cost leadership strategy to gain competitive advantage and increase market share by operate with lower costs than competition, for example tight cost controls e.g. efficient facilities (Porter, 1980). Best cost (also called focus niche) is about organizations creating a sustainable competitive advantage through combining cost leadership and differentiation. This can be realized by offering a unique product or service to a special market segment and seek to offer low cost products within a special market segment (fast time-to-market, superior product quality, etc.). According to Milosevic and Srivannaboon the competitive aspects of the business strategy drive the focus of the project management elements. They see a pattern in project management elements for the differentiation of business strategy. Their research indicates that organizations can align projects with business strategies into three levels, namely the strategic level, the tactical level, and the corrective emergent strategic feedback. The first level of this framework (typified as mediating process at the strategic level) is the first step of the alignment process. At level 1 organization should use their intended strategy and select projects into their portfolio to determine the right projects that would contribute to the organizations strategy. The second level (typified as mediating process at the project level) involves the further planning of project details to ensure that alignment with the project life-cycle phases (Shenhars project classification) is realized. Proper alignment of projects with strategy during the project life cycle can be classified as the planning process and the monitoring process. Managers should develop a project management plan that has a certain focus on the business strategy. The third level (mediating process at the emergent strategic feedback level) is a process which uses stages, or also called stage gates or milestone, for evaluating or reviewing the project status on time, cost, and performance. These project stages are points in the project life cycle where projects transition from one stage to another. These stages provide project teams the opportunity to realign the project to its business strategy. 5. RESEARCH DESIGN 5.1 Research methods Based on the literature of Baarde and Goede (2001), the research on behalf of this thesis is categorized in a preliminary research study, a literature review, a case study research and a web survey. For the execution of the case study research are various data (re)sources used, namely in-depth interviews and the study of business documentation and reports of Centraal Boekhuis. The preliminary research study has given multifarious insights in for example the company of the case study, but also insights about project management and the business strategy of the concerning organization. In the preliminary research study is a critically literature review completed and several managers of the human resource division have been interviewed for creating a basis for this research. The products of the preliminary research study are a defined approach of the case study research, a description of the company and a defined approach of the web-survey. The case study research can be categorized in descriptive- and exploratory research study methods (Sanders et al, 2009). The descriptive study of this case study is defined by the research of qualitative data, for example the study of business documentation and reports that are in stock within the company about project management, its business strategy and sustainability. The exploratory part of the research describes the research methods in depth interviews and a web survey. In order to test how organizations work with project management related to its (sustainable) business strategy, two steps will be carried out. First, on Tuesday March 6, I will send a web survey to approximately 15 companies with sustainability stated in their business strategy. This short questionnaire will offer me data on the way the concerning companies arranges their project management related to the business strategies, to test on how the companies makes their projects sustainable. In order to increase the number of responses and to raise the chances of the answering the questions themselves, I will keep the survey very short, and stress this in the attached e-mail. Second, I will arrange in-depth interviews with about ten representatives of project management employees of the project department of Centraal Boekhuis. In these interviews, I will attempt