1,721,356 research outputs found
Teaching sustainable energy systems to engineering students
Full text linkThis paper presents the learning outcomes, syllabus, delivery, and assessment strategy for a module of 'Sustainable energy systems' for master-level engineering students. The paper is based on three stages of 'action research'. The first stage is a critical reflection on the planning and the process, based on the experience in delivering the original module and literature review. The second stage is based on semi-structured interviews of 4th-year students, focused on the collection of feedback to improve the module. The third stage is the redesign and peer-review of the module. The key outcome of this work is an approach which further enables students to move from 'surface learning' to a more profound 'deep learning'. Further steps forward toward a true 'constructivism' are also envisaged. Several enhancements are discussed, including an improved syllabus, new methods of delivery, fine-tuning of the learning outcomes, and finally revisiting the assessment strategy
Is Your Organization Ready For Managing "Back-End" Projects
Full text linkThe vast majority of projects deals with the planning and delivery "front-end", i.e. the creation of new assets, goods and services, including building infrastructure, developing new drugs, coding software etc. However, more and more projects need to deal with their "back-ends", such as decommissioning infrastructure, withdrawing dangerous drugs from the market and eliminating malign software. While the "front-end" of projects, and organizations involved in projects, have been empirically investigated for millennia (and academically for decades), the "back-ends" of projects is a novel field with extremely limited practical and academic knowledge. The management of "back-ends" projects are peculiar since it lacks traditional project motivations (e.g. usually there is not cash flow at the end of a "back-end" project), the stakeholders are different (e.g. drug addicts and not patients), and the organizations involved might have very different agendas (e.g. criminal organizations). This paper discusses the relevance and peculiarities of "back-end projects" and provides key insights to manage them
Fusion: Go Small To Go Fast
No full textThis paper presents the business case for small fusion reactors. The conventional view in fusion research is that “economy of scale” means that small reactors are not economically viable compared to their larger counterparts. However, empirical evidence shows how the importance of the “economy of scale” is overrated. Firstly several studies show that large investment projects are usually delivered over budget and late. Large projects (or megaprojects) are more likely to go over budget and larger the project greater the overall risk. On the contrary, small plants are more manageable investments. Firstly, for the same power installed, there is more chance to exploit the advantages from learning and co-siting economies. Since the overall investment is a fraction of a large plant, the overall “bankability” is better and the financing easier. Secondly, small plants are more easily usable for cogeneration and load following. This is becoming a fundamental design criteria for power plants to be delivered after 2030. Lastly, the division of a large investment into smaller investments provides investors with “degrees of freedom” to hedge some of the risks and exploit valuable opportunities. The “Real Options approach” is a mathematical framework able to price these options. In summary, small fusion reactors can represent a more credible and faster route to deployment than large fusion reactors
Economics and finance of Molten Salt Reactors
Full text linkThere is a long-standing and growing interest in Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) mainly because of their potential advantages in terms of safety, sustainable fuel cycle, and the high melting and boiling points of salt which allow operations at high temperatures and atmospheric pressure with potential merits in terms of cost. A key objective of MSRs is to have a life-cycle cost advantage over other energy sources. Leveraging a systematic literature review, this paper firstly provides an overview of “what we know” about MSR economics and finance following two main streams: scientific and industrial literature. Secondly, this paper highlights “what we should know” about the economics and finance of MSRs, suggesting a research agenda. The literature is very scarce and focuses on MSR overnight capital cost estimations and the comparison between MSR cost of electricity and other energy sources. Cost estimations need to be more transparent and independently assessed. Furthermore, there is no peer-reviewed literature on MSR financing, only claims from vendors
Power plants as megaprojects: Using empirics to shape policy, planning, and construction management
No full textMegaprojects are historically associated with poor delivery, both in terms of schedule and cost performance. Empirical research is required to determine which characteristics of megaprojects affect schedule and cost performance. Capital-intensive power plants can be understood as megaprojects and time delays and cost escalation during the construction phase can undermine their overall economic viability. This paper presents a systematic, empirically based methodology that employs the Fisher Exact test to identify the characteristics of power plant megaprojects (PPMs) that correlate with schedule and cost performance. We present the results of applying this methodology to a dataset of 12 PPMs using nuclear, coal, and renewable resources as case studies. The results highlight the importance of modular technologies, project governance, and external stakeholder involvement. Key findings both support and contradict the literature. The paper provides two major original contributions. First, we present and apply a systematic, empirical and statistical approach to understanding PPMs planning and construction. Second, we show how this approach can be used to inform public policy and project management with regard to PPMs. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Economics and finance of Small Modular Reactors: A systematic review and research agenda
Full text linkThe interest toward Small Modular nuclear Reactors (SMRs) is growing, and the economic competitiveness of SMRs versus large reactors is a key topic. Leveraging a systematic literature review, this paper firstly provides an overview of “what we know” and “what we do not know” about the economics and finance of SMRs. Secondly, the paper develops a research agenda. Several documents discuss the economics of SMRs, highlighting how the size is not the only factor to consider in the comparison; remarkably, other factors (co-siting economies, modularisation, modularity, construction time, etc.) are relevant. The vast majority of the literature focuses on economic and financial performance indicators (e.g. Levelized Cost of Electricity, Net Present Value, and Internal Rate of Return) and SMR capital cost. Remarkably, very few documents deal with operating and decommissioning costs or take a programme (and its financing) rather than a “single project/plant/site” perspective. Furthermore, there is a gap in knowledge about the cost-benefit analysis of the “modular construction” and SMR decommissioning
Normalizing White-Collar Wrongdoing in Professional Service Firms
Full text linkThere is extensive literature on top managers committing wrongdoing, but few studies examine white-collar wrongdoing. Drawing on the experiences of a professional service firm, we examine why and how engineering consultants normalize wrongdoing. Leveraging bounded rationality theory, we find that organizational myopia promotes inadequate administrative systems that hold consultants prisoner to their rules and procedures, leading to normalized wrongdoing. Our theoretical contributions are threefold: (1) we contribute to the literature on wrongdoing, presenting the relation between organizational myopia and normalized wrongdoing, (2) we contribute to the administrative systems literature, showing their link with poor project performance, and (3) we show how administrative systems and normalized wrongdoing play a role in project scope creep. We introduce an iceberg model to show that the failed project (the tip of the iceberg) is due to organizational myopia and inefficient administrative systems that need to be addressed before starting any project
Changes in the Editorial Board of the Project Management Journal®
Full text linkThis editorial announces recent changes in the PMJ Editorial
Board and discusses related changes to the journal moving
forward.
After five years of service, Gary Klein has decided to step
down as Co-Editor-in-Chief. We (the authors) and the editorial
board are taking this opportunity to thank Gary for his tremendous support and accomplishments during this time. The latter
includes raising the Project Management Journal’s (PMJ)
impact factor from 2.0 to 4.9 and improving the Scopus
CiteScore to 61 out of 423 journals in business and international
management, thus pushing the journal into the top 15% in this
category. Gary has contributed to a significant internationalization of the editorial board, establishing a scientific committee
and an editorial review board. He co-published 10 editorials
to help potential and existing authors improve the quality of
their submissions; pushed forward the journal’s presence in
social media, including a YouTube channel (https://www.
youtube.com/@projectmanagementjournal4610) and invented
the thoughtlet article as a “shortcut” from the most senior academics to the project management research community.
Moreover, Gary worked on joint activities of the International
Journal of Project Management, the International Journal of
Managing Projects in Business, and the Project Management
Journal. These included several micro-conferences, contributing
to the initiation of an academic project management society, and
supporting the development of a project research manifesto. He
accomplished all this, in addition to his activities for other journals, including establishing the Organizational Cybersecurity
Journal. We wish Gary all the best in his new undertakings
and welcome him as a new member of the PMJ Scientific
Committee, where he will continue to support PMJ in its strategic
direction
Valuing the option to prototype: A case study with Generation Integrated Energy Storage
Full text linkNew energy generation and storage systems are continuously being developed due to climate change, resource scarcity, and environmental laws. Some systems are incremental innovations of existing systems while others are radical innovations. Radical innovation systems are risky investments due to their relevant technical and economic uncertainties. Prototyping can hedge these risks by spending a fraction of the cost of a full-scale system and in return receiving economic and technical information regarding the system. In economic terms, prototyping is an option to hedge risk coming at a cost that needs to be properly assessed. Real options analysis is the project appraisal approach for these assessments. This paper aims to introduce and test an algorithm based on real options analysis to quantitatively assess the “option to prototype” in the energy sector. First, the interrelated research areas of prototyping, energy systems, and real options analysis are reviewed. Then, a novel algorithm is presented and applied to an innovative Generation Integrated Energy Storage system: Wind-driven Thermal Pumping to demonstrate the effectiveness of option to prototype and the main parameters influencing this decision. Results show that the cost of the prototype and the market size (number of identical systems to build) are key parameters
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