Modeling and analyzing project interdependencies in project portfolios using an integrated social network analysis-fuzzy TOPSIS MICMAC approach

Despite academics’ and practitioners’ increasing focus on project portfolio management over the last three decades, very few methods and tools have been proposed for modeling and analyzing interdependencies among projects within a portfolio. This paper proposes the use of a novel approach that integrates three techniques: social network analysis (SNA), fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), and cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC). Network mapping provides project managers with a holistic view of interdependencies among projects; fuzzy TOPSIS MICMAC and SNA measures are used to classify projects in terms of their driving power and dependence power and out- and in-degree centrality. This categorization offers a helpful tool for project managers to distinguish among projects and classify them based on their interdependency levels, and thus, aids in identifying critical projects. For the demonstration, the approach is applied to model and analyze interdependencies between projects within a real-life portfolio from the industry. The results of this application show that the proposed approach can serve as a viable and practical means of capturing and analyzing interdependencies among projects within a portfolio.

[1]  H. Gemünden,et al.  Formalization of project portfolio management: The moderating role of project portfolio complexity , 2012 .

[2]  Vishal Ashok Bhosale,et al.  An integrated ISM fuzzy MICMAC approach for modelling the supply chain knowledge flow enablers , 2016 .

[3]  Ravi Kant,et al.  Modelling the SCM enablers: an integrated ISM‐fuzzy MICMAC approach , 2013 .

[4]  Stanley Wasserman,et al.  Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications , 1994 .

[5]  Ali A. Yassine,et al.  An Introduction to Modeling and Analyzing Complex Product Development Processes Using the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) Method , 2001 .

[6]  Tyson R. Browning,et al.  Managing complex product development projects with design structure matrices and domain mapping matrices , 2007 .

[7]  A. Medaglia,et al.  Model for the Selection and Scheduling of Interdependent Projects , 2007, 2007 IEEE Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium.

[8]  Christos T. Maravelias,et al.  R&D pipeline management: Task interdependencies and risk management , 2011, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[9]  W. Pedrycz.  Why triangular membership functions , 1994 .

[10]  Radhika Santhanam,et al.  A DECISION MODEL FOR INTERDEPENDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM PROJECT SELECTION , 1996 .

[11]  Indranil R. Bardhan,et al.  Prioritizing a Portfolio of Information Technology Investment Projects , 2004, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[12]  P. Eskerod,et al.  Project portfolio management - There's more to it than what management enacts , 2008 .

[13]  Arnaldo Cecchini,et al.  Constructing strategies in strategic planning: a decision support evaluation model , 2008, Oper. Res..

[14]  H. Chong,et al.  Critical Review of Social Network Analysis Applications in Complex Project Management , 2018 .

[15]  Chen-Tung Chen,et al.  Extensions of the TOPSIS for group decision-making under fuzzy environment , 2000, Fuzzy Sets Syst..

[16]  Osman Taylan,et al.  Construction projects selection and risk assessment by fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS methodologies , 2014, Appl. Soft Comput..

[17]  Alp Ustundag,et al.  Project Portfolio Selection for the Digital Transformation Era , 2018 .

[18]  Steven J Durning,et al.  Is There a Consensus on Consensus Methodology? Descriptions and Recommendations for Future Consensus Research , 2016, Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

[19]  Shinhong Kim,et al.  An integrated approach for interdependent information system project selection , 2001 .

[20]  Hans-Georg Gemünden,et al.  Business Case Control in Project Portfolios—An Empirical Investigation of Performance Consequences and Moderating Effects , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[21]  Madjid Tavana,et al.  A methodology for selecting portfolios of projects with interactions and under uncertainty , 2012 .

[22]  Ahti Salo,et al.  Robust portfolio modeling with incomplete cost information and project interdependencies , 2008, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[23]  Beliz Ozorhon,et al.  Handling project dependencies in portfolio management , 2017, CENTERIS/ProjMAN/HCist.

[24]  K. K. Sinha,et al.  Toward a theory of project interdependencies in high tech R & D environments , 2002 .

[25]  H. Gemünden,et al.  A Contingency Approach on the Impact of Front-End Success on Project Portfolio Success , 2016 .

[26]  Paul C. Ivey,et al.  An R&D options selection model for investment decisions , 2005 .

[27]  Rameshwar Dubey,et al.  Identification of Flexible Manufacturing System Dimensions and Their Interrelationship Using Total Interpretive Structural Modelling and Fuzzy MICMAC Analysis , 2014 .

[28]  C. Fombrun,et al.  Social Network Analysis For Organizations , 1979 .

[29]  Olli-Pekka Hilmola,et al.  Interdependency management of projects: survey comparison between Estonia and Finland , 2011 .

[30]  Ali A. Yassine,et al.  Information Leaders in Product Development Organizational Networks: Social Network Analysis of the Design Structure Matrix , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[31]  Catherine P. Killen,et al.  Understanding project interdependencies: The role of visual representation, culture and process , 2012 .

[32]  Mait Rungi,et al.  Success rate and resource consumption from project interdependencies , 2010, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[33]  M. Shackelford,et al.  Collaborative evolutionary multi-project resource scheduling , 2001, Proceedings of the 2001 Congress on Evolutionary Computation (IEEE Cat. No.01TH8546).

[34]  Yogesh Kumar Dwivedi,et al.  Interpretive structural modelling and fuzzy MICMAC approaches for customer centric beef supply chain: application of a big data technique , 2017 .

[35]  Jacob L. Moreno,et al.  The Sociometry Reader. , 1961 .

[36]  Pietro Romano,et al.  Using value analysis to support knowledge transfer in the multi-project setting , 2011 .

[37]  Avraham Shtub,et al.  Constructing and evaluating balanced portfolios of R&D projects with interactions: A DEA based methodology , 2006, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[38]  Hamdi A. Bashir,et al.  Analyzing interdependencies in a project portfolio using social network analysis metrics , 2018, 2018 5th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Applications (ICIEA).

[39]  Madjid Tavana,et al.  A fuzzy hybrid project portfolio selection method using Data Envelopment Analysis, TOPSIS and Integer Programming , 2015, Expert Syst. Appl..

[40]  Mike Danilovic,et al.  The use of dependence structure matrix and domain mapping matrix in managing uncertainty in multiple project situations , 2005 .

[41]  Sameer Bathallath,et al.  Managing project interdependencies in IT/IS project portfolios: a review of managerial issues , 2022, International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management.

[42]  Y. Gousty,et al.  An integrated approach to project evaluation and selection , 1988 .

[43]  Stephen C. Graves,et al.  Technology portfolio management: optimizing interdependent projects over multiple time periods , 2001, IEEE Trans. Engineering Management.

[44]  Ching-Lai Hwang,et al.  Methods for Multiple Attribute Decision Making , 1981 .

[45]  Robert Pellerin,et al.  Risk management applied to projects, programs, and portfolios , 2009 .

[46]  S. Clegg,et al.  Practices, projects and portfolios: Current research trends and new directions , 2018, International Journal of Project Management.

[47]  Janaka Yasantha Ruwanpura,et al.  Optimization of Multi-Project Environment (OPMPE) , 2008, 2008 Winter Simulation Conference.

[48]  Antonella Petrillo,et al.  Building excellence through the Agile Reengineering Performance Model (ARPM): A strategic business model for organizations , 2017, Bus. Process. Manag. J..

[49]  K. Artto,et al.  Strategic Business Management through Multiple Projects , 2007 .

[50]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  Portfolio Management in New Product Development: Lessons from the Leaders-I , 1997 .

[51]  H. Gemünden,et al.  The role of project portfolio management in fostering both deliberate and emergent strategy , 2017 .

[52]  Christophe Bredillet,et al.  Why and how do project management offices change? A structural analysis approach , 2018, International Journal of Project Management.

[53]  Chen-Tung Chen,et al.  A comprehensive model for selecting information system project under fuzzy environment , 2009 .

[54]  Catherine P. Killen,et al.  Evaluation of project interdependency visualizations through decision scenario experimentation , 2013 .

[55]  D. A. Aaker,et al.  A model for the selection of interdependent R&D projects , 1978, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[56]  Pieter Groenveld.  Roadmapping Integrates Business and Technology , 1997 .

[57]  Morteza Pakdin Amiri,et al.  Project selection for oil-fields development by using the AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS methods , 2010, Expert Syst. Appl..

[58]  Fereidoun Ghasemzadeh,et al.  An integrated framework for project portfolio selection , 1999 .

[59]  Alan D. Meyer,et al.  Visual Data in Organizational Research , 1991 .

[60]  Lotfi A. Zadeh,et al.  A fuzzy-algorithmic approach to the definition of complex or imprecise concepts , 1976 .

[61]  Lotfi A. Zadeh,et al.  Fuzzy Sets , 1996, Inf. Control..

[62]  Zohar Laslo.  Project portfolio management: An integrated method for resource planning and scheduling to minimize planning/scheduling-dependent expenses , 2010 .

[63]  Murray Turoff,et al.  The Delphi method : techniques and applications , 1976 .