A Stream of Research on Tracking Progress in Complex Projects

Buffet lunch available from 12:30pm.

Join the event online on Zoom.

Followed by a meet-the-editor session on publishing in operations management at 2-2:30pm

Hosted by Xiaojun Wang.

Co-organised with Dr Breno Nunes (Aston Business School).

Abstract

Uncertainty, risk, and rework make it extremely challenging to meet goals and deliver anticipated value in complex projects, and conventional techniques for planning and tracking earned value do not account for these phenomena. Over the past 30 years, one of Tyson’s main research streams has developed a method for tracking progress in complex projects. The constituent concepts and components of the method have evolved through several key publications. This presentation will provide an overview of the key ideas and open a discussion about future possibilities. We will consider a ‘high jumper’ analogy in terms of how high the ‘bar’ is set for a project (its set goals) and therefore how challenging and risky it will be. A project’s capabilities as a ‘jumper’ (to clear the bar and meet its goals) determine the portion of its value at risk (VaR). By understanding the amounts of value, risk, and opportunity in a project, project managers can design it for appropriate levels of each. Project progress occurs through reductions in its VaR: activities ‘add value’ by chipping away at the project’s ‘anti-value’, the risks that threaten value. This perspective on project management incentivizes the generation of results that eliminate these threats, rather than assuming that value exists until proven otherwise.

Biography

Prof Tyson R. Browning is Professor of Operations Management in the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University, where he conducts research on managing complex projects (integrating managerial and engineering perspectives), such as product development, and teaches courses on project management, operations management, risk management, and process improvement in TCU's highly rated MBA programme. A sought-after speaker, Tyson has trained and advised several organizations, including BNSF Railway, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Seagate, Siemens, Southern California Edison, and the U.S. Navy. Prior to joining TCU in 2003, Tyson worked for Lockheed Martin, the Lean Aerospace Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Honeywell Space Systems, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Tyson's research results have been published in journals such as California Management Review, Decision Sciences, Information Systems Research, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Journal of Operations Management, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, MIT Sloan Management Review, Production & Operations Management, Project Management Journal, and Systems Engineering. He co-authored the book Design Structure Matrix Methods and Applications. Having previously served as a Department or Associate Editor for three of the above journals, Tyson was the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Operations Management from 2018-2023.