Multi-Project Management with a Multi-Skilled Workforce: A Quantitative Approach Aiming at Small Project Teams PDF
Preview Multi-Project Management with a Multi-Skilled Workforce: A Quantitative Approach Aiming at Small Project Teams
Produktion und Logistik Herausgegeben von C. Bierwirth, Halle, Deutschland B. Fleischmann, Augsburg, Deutschland M. Fleischmann, Mannheim, Deutschland M. Grunow, München, Deutschland H.-O. Günther, Bremen, Deutschland S. Helber, Hannover, Deutschland K. Inderfurth, Magdeburg, Deutschland H. Kopfer, Bremen, Deutschland H. Meyr, Stuttgart, Deutschland K. Schimmelpfeng, Stuttgart, Deutschland Th . S. Spengler, Braunschweig, Deutschland H. Stadtler, Hamburg, Deutschland H. Tempelmeier, Köln, Deutschland G. Wäscher, Magdeburg, Deutschland Diese Reihe dient der Veröff entlichung neuer Forschungsergebnisse auf den Gebie- ten der Produktion und Logistik. Aufgenommen werden vor allem herausragende quantitativ orientierte Dissertationen und Habilitationsschrift en. Die Publikatio- nen vermitteln innovative Beiträge zur Lösung praktischer Anwendungsprobleme der Produktion und Logistik unter Einsatz quantitativer Methoden und moderner Informationstechnologie. Herausgegeben von Professor Dr. Christian Bierwirth Professor Dr. Herbert Kopfer Universität Halle Universität Bremen Professor Dr. Bernhard Fleischmann Professor Dr. Herbert Meyr Universität Augsburg Universität Hohenheim Professor Dr. Moritz Fleischmann Professor Dr. Katja Schimmelpfeng Universität Mannheim Universität Hohenheim Professor Dr. Martin Grunow Professor Dr. Th omas S. Spengler Technische Universität München Technische Universität Braunschweig Professor Dr. Hans-Otto Günther Professor Dr. Hartmut Stadtler Technische Universität Berlin Universität Hamburg Professor Dr. Stefan Helber Professor Dr. Horst Tempelmeier Universität Hannover Universität Köln Professor Dr. Karl Inderfurth Professor Dr. Gerhard Wäscher Universität Magdeburg Universität Magdeburg Kontakt Professor Dr. Th omas S. Spengler Technische Universität Braunschweig Institut für Automobilwirtschaft und Industrielle Produktion Katharinenstraße 3 38106 Braunschweig Matthias Walter Multi-Project Management with a Multi-Skilled Workforce A Quantitative Approach Aiming at Small Project Teams Foreword by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zimmermann Matthias Walter Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany Dissertation Clausthal University of Technology, 2014 DE-104 Produktion und Logistik ISBN 978-3-658-08035-8 ISBN 978-3-658-08036-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-08036-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2014954235 Springer Gabler © Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, speci(cid:191) cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illus- trations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on micro(cid:191) lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a speci(cid:191) c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer Gabler is a brand of Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Foreword Duetotheongoingglobalchangefromsellers’tobuyers’markets,theshareofindustrial productionandservicesthatisprovidedintheformofprojectdeliverablescontinuesto rise. EstimatessuggestthatcurrentannualbudgetsforprojectsamounttoU.S.$12trillion or20%oftheworld’sgrossdomesticproduct. Hence,successfulprojectmanagementisof salientimportanceforaneconomyasawholeandforeachsinglefirminvolvedinprojects. Fromtheperspectiveofafirm,theselectionofprojectsandthestaffingofthechosen projectsarecrucialforitssuccess. Inregardtoprojectexecution,afirm’sprosperityrelies onanefficientuseofitsemployeesandtheirskills,onwell-performingprojectteams,on smooth project execution, and on content employees. When employees have to work in large teams, however, their individual performance may decline due to coordination problemsandmotivationlosses. Sofar,onlyafewoptimizationmodelsandmethodsexistthatofferdecisionsupport for project selection and staffing and that consider special characteristics of human re- sources. Theworkathand,whichmainlyaddressesthecompositionofanoptimalproject portfolioandtheassignmentofworkerstosmallprojectteams, thustackleschallenging problems,whoseresolutionharborsgreatbenefits. Forthefirsttime,thisworkdevisesa hierarchicallyintegratedapproachthatsupportsdecisionmakerswhofaceselectionand staffingproblemsgivenamulti-skilledworkforcewithheterogeneousskilllevels. Theap- proach,whichwasdevelopedandalsocodedandthoroughlytestedbyMatthiasWalter, comprisesthreestagesthatareassociatedwiththefollowingthreequestions: (1) Whichistheoptimalprojectportfoliosubjecttoagivenworkforce? (2) Howshouldtheavailableworkersbeassignedtotheselectedprojects? (3) How can the workload of the employees be leveled assuming a matrix organization whereworkrequirementsoriginatefromprojectsandfromdepartments? Atthefirststage,portfolioselectionisconsidered. Here,afirmhastochooseasetof projectsthateitherhavebeenrequestedbycustomersorhavebeenproposedwithinthe firm. The selection is constrained by the capacity of non-consumable resources hold by thefirm. Inhisthesis,MatthiasWalteroutlinesamodelthatexplicitlyaccountsforthe capacities of human resources. Furthermore, he examines different skill configurations, i.e., different cross-training strategies for workers. A new skill configuration is proposed that enlarges the flexibility of a workforce. In addition, a refined flexibility measure is devisedwhichshowsthatthenovelskillconfigurationissuperiortoestablishedchaining configurations. Thefocusofthethesisisonthesecondstagewherethestaffingproblemisdealtwith. In this staffing problem, a team of workers must be composed for each project of the firm. Eachworkermasterssomeskillsandeachprojectrequiresasubsetofallmastered vi Foreword skills. Theobjectiveistominimizeaverageprojectteamsizeand,hence,tominimizethe average number of project assignments per worker. The objective prevents that project teams suffer unduly from social loafing and that workers loose their focus. Since team size has not been addressed before, the problem formulation and the proposed solution methodsmakeavaluablecontributiontothefieldofmulti-projectmanagement. Apostprocessingstepatthelaststageensuresthatdifferencesinworkingtimesamong workers, which arise from the project assignments, are mitigated by allocating depart- mentalworkload. Forthislevelingtask, alinearprogramisformulatedandsolvedbya dedicatedpolynomial-timealgorithm. The comprehensive performance analysis of the thesis demonstrates that the three- stage approach is well suited even for large-scale planning problems. For instances that featurealargenumberofprojectsandworkers,goodsolutionsaredeterminedinaccept- abletime. Consequently,theapproachoffersagreatpotentialforpractitioners. Altogether,theworkathandisaconvincingapplicationofoperationsresearchmeth- odstothevitalfieldofprojectmanagementandprovidesanotableadvancementforthe taskofformingprojectteams. Clausthal-Zellerfeld,June2014 Prof.Dr.JürgenZimmermann Preface I wrote this thesis during my time at the Institute of Management and Economics at ClausthalUniversityofTechnologyinClausthal-Zellerfeld. Inthistimebetween2008and 2014,itwasmyaimtodevisenewwaysthatsupportdecisionmakerswhofacechallenges inmulti-projectmanagementandthatalsosupportthemembersoftheaffectedproject teams. I tried to build these ways on a solid ground provided by operations research methods. Myhopeisthatbothdecisionsmakersandprojectteammemberscanbenefit fromtheideasandmethodsthatIhavedeveloped. Completing the thesis would not have been possible without the support of many people to whom I am very grateful. First of all, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zimmermann,whosparkedmyinterestinoperationsresearchwhenIattendedhislectures duringmyundergraduatestudiesandwhogavemetheopportunitytoextensivelyexplore the fascinating field of modeling and mathematical optimization as a research assistant andPh.D.studentinhisdepartment. Asthesupervisorandchiefreviewerofmythesis, hegrantedmecompletefreedomtobringforwardownideas,tofollowandabandonthem. Hehadalwaystimetodiscusstheseideasandheprovidedvaluablehelp,especiallywhen itbecamemathematicallytricky. I am also very thankful to Prof. Dr. Christoph Schwindt, who kindly agreed to be thesecondreviewer. Hesupportedmyworkmanytimesbysharinghisvastknowledge. WhetherIaskedhimat9a.m.or9p.m.,healwaystookthetimetogivehelpfuladvice andtopointtosuitableliterature. The problems that I tackle in this thesis have a real background. This background was brought to my attention by Roger Mähr and Martin Rudolph, managing directors of Tiba Technologieberatung GmbH in Berlin. I would like to thank both of them for thepleasantandtrustworthycooperation, fortheirwillingnesstosharetheirexperience in project management gained in various industries and their knowledge of software for projectmanagementtasks. I owe special thanks to Dr. Christian Heimerl and Prof. Dr. Rainer Kolisch from TechnischeUniversitätMünchenwhoprovidedvaluableinsightinefficientdatastructures forthegeneralizednetworksimplexmethod. Myimplementationofthismethodprofited considerablyfromtheinsight. For an enjoyable working atmosphere, mutual support, enriching discussions, and many joyful moments, I am very grateful to my colleagues within the Department for Operations Research at the Institute of Management and Economics: I would like to thank Sascha Effenberger, Carsten Ehrenberg, Alexander Franz, Dr. Thorsten Gather, Dr.ClaasHemig,StefanKreter,PDDr.JuliaRieck,MarcoSchulze,andKatrinTormann. Supportcamealsofromstudentassistantswithinthedepartmentandfromstudentswhose seminarsorfinalyearprojectsdealtwithtopicsthatwererelatedtomythesis. ItwasagreatpleasuretoworkattheInstituteofManagementandEconomics. Hence, I thank all colleagues, especially former and current members of the “Mensa crew” for viii Preface relaxingandrefreshinglunchbreaks. Additionally,Iwouldliketothankallthosepeople andinstitutionsofmyuniversitythatprovidedservicesvitalformylifeasaresearcher. Theinstitutionsinclude,inparticular,thecanteen,thelibrary,andthecomputingcenter. For proofreading and a critical review of a first draft and for many suggestions for improvements Iam very muchindebted toCarsten Ehrenberg, AlexanderFranz, Stefan Kreter,andDr.ThomasWalter. Finally,Iwouldliketothankmyfamily,particularlymyparents,mybrotherThomas, andmyuncleManfred. Withouttheirsupport,thisworkandmanyotheractivitiesduring thelastyearswouldnothavebeenpossible. Clausthal-Zellerfeld,June2014 MatthiasWalter Contents List of figures xi List of tables xiii List of algorithms xv List of symbols xvii 1 Introduction 1 2 Background and motivation 7 2.1 Multi-projectmanagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.2 Multi-skilledworkersandflexibilitydesign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 2.3 Whysmallprojectteams? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 3 Problem definitions and basic notation 39 3.1 Settingoftheproblems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 3.2 Theprojectselectionproblem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 3.3 Theworkforceassignmentproblem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 3.4 Theutilizationlevelingproblem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 4 Optimization models and complexity analysis 53 4.1 Anintegratedapproachvs.ahierarchicalplanningapproach . . . . . . . . 53 4.2 Amodelfortheprojectselectionproblem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 4.3 Modelsfortheworkforceassignmentproblemandtheirlimitations. . . . . 58 4.3.1 Twoalternativemodelsfortheworkforceassignmentproblem . . . 58 4.3.2 Limitations of the assignment models and potential remedies and extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 4.4 Twoalternativemodelsfortheutilizationlevelingproblem . . . . . . . . . 68 4.5 Amonolithicmodelforallthreeproblems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 4.6 Complexityanalysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 4.6.1 Basicconceptsofcomplexitytheory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 4.6.2 Complexityoftheprojectselectionproblem . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 4.6.3 Complexityoftheworkforceassignmentproblem . . . . . . . . . . 81 4.6.4 Complexityoftheutilizationlevelingproblem . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 4.6.5 Summaryofresults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 5 Literature review 87 5.1 Workrelatedtotheprojectselectionproblem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 5.2 Workrelatedtotheworkforceassignmentproblem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
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