Ali Al Matari Thesis

PRINCE2 and PMBoK: Towards a Hybrid Methodology
for Managing Virtual Projects

Master Thesis
Supervisor: Per Svejvig, Associate Professor, PhD

School of Business and Social Sciences
Department of Business Administration
IS Research Group
Date: 03.Feb.2014
By: Ali Al Matari
Email: alialmatari1987@gmail.com
Exam Number: 414423
Number of Characters (no spaces):131450
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................................. i
Figures ............................................................................................................................................................................... iii
Tables ................................................................................................................................................................................ iv
Abbreviations...................................................................................................................................................................... v
Abstract .............................................................................................................................................................................. vi
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Problem .................................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.3 Terminology ............................................................................................................................................................. 2
1.3.1 Project ............................................................................................................................................................... 2
1.3.2 Project Management ......................................................................................................................................... 2
1.3.3 Project Management Methodology (PMM) ...................................................................................................... 2
1.3.4 Virtual Teams.................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.3.5 Virtual Projects ................................................................................................................................................. 3
1.3.6 Hybrid Methodology ......................................................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Thesis Scope ............................................................................................................................................................. 3
1.5 Thesis Structure ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
2. Methodology ................................................................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 Philosophy of Science .............................................................................................................................................. 6
2.2 Overall Methodological Approach ........................................................................................................................... 6
2.3 Delimitations ............................................................................................................................................................ 7
2.3.1 General Delimitation ......................................................................................................................................... 7
2.3.2 Research Question Delimitation ....................................................................................................................... 7
2.4 The Data ................................................................................................................................................................... 8
2.5 Validity and Reliability ............................................................................................................................................ 9
3. Theory........................................................................................................................................................................... 10
3.1 Virtual Projects ....................................................................................................................................................... 10
3.1.1 Characterization .............................................................................................................................................. 10
3.1.2 Benefits ........................................................................................................................................................... 10
3.1.3 Categories of Issues ........................................................................................................................................ 11
3.1.4 Dimensions of successful Virtual Projects ...................................................................................................... 13
3.1.5 Virtual Projects and Project Stages ................................................................................................................. 14
3.1.6 Practiced Practices .......................................................................................................................................... 15
3.2 Project Management Methodology Essentials: ...................................................................................................... 17
3.3 PRINCE2 and PMBoK ........................................................................................................................................... 17
4. Best Practices for Managing Virtual Projects ............................................................................................................... 21
4.1 The Role and Relevance of Best Practices in Project Management Context .......................................................... 21
4.2 Grouping PRINCE2 and PMBoK .......................................................................................................................... 22
ii
4.2.1 Grouping Point of Departure ........................................................................................................................... 22

4.2.2 Matching PRINCE2 with PMBoK .................................................................................................................. 23
4.2.3 PMBoK areas supporting the PRINCE2 processes ......................................................................................... 25
4.2.4 Grouping Process ............................................................................................................................................ 27
4.3 Best Practices by Process ....................................................................................................................................... 29
4.3.1 Starting Up a Project ....................................................................................................................................... 30
4.3.2 Directing a Project .......................................................................................................................................... 33
4.3.3 Initiating a Project ........................................................................................................................................... 38
4.3.4 Controlling a Stage.......................................................................................................................................... 43
4.3.5 Managing Product Delivery ............................................................................................................................ 47
4.3.6 Managing a Stage Boundary ........................................................................................................................... 50
4.3.7 Closing a Project ............................................................................................................................................. 52
5. Discussion ..................................................................................................................................................................... 54
6. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................... 58
References ........................................................................................................................................................................ 61
iii
Figures
Figure 1 - Current Relationship between PRINCE2, PMBoK, and Virtual Projects .......................................................... 4
Figure 2 - To Be Relationship between PRINCE2, PMBoK, and Virtual Projects ............................................................ 4
Figure 3 - Basic Structure of PRINCE2 (Verax, 2009) .................................................................................................... 18
Figure 4 - Keys to the overviews of the proposed methodology's processes .................................................................... 29
Figure 5 - Overview of Starting up a Project process in the proposed methodology ........................................................ 30
Figure 6 - Overview of Directing a Project process in the proposed methodology .......................................................... 34
Figure 7 - Overview of Initiating a Project process in the proposed methodology ........................................................... 38
Figure 8 - Overview of Controlling a Stage process in the proposed methodology ......................................................... 44
Figure 9 - Overview of Managing Product Delivery process in the proposed methodology ............................................ 47
Figure 10 - Overview of Managing a Stage Boundary process in the proposed methodology ......................................... 50
Figure 11 - Overview of Closing a Project process in the proposed methodology (OGC, 2009:205) .............................. 52
Figure 12 - The process model of the proposed methodology .......................................................................................... 59
iv
Tables
Table 1 - Tools for distance communication and information exchange (Thissen et al, 2007: 30) .................................. 13
Table 2 - PMBoK Project Management Process Group and Knowledge Area Mapping (PMI 2013: 61) ........................ 20
Table 3 - Mapping Knowledge Areas against Themes (Siegelaub, 2009:2) ..................................................................... 23
Table 4 - Mapping Knowledge Areas Against PRINCE2 Element (Yeong, 2012:9-10) .................................................. 24
Table 5 - Mapping PMBoK Process Groups Against PRINCE2 Processes (Yeong, 2012:11) ........................................ 25
Table 6 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Starting up a project process ........................................................................ 31
Table 7 - Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Starting up a Project Process .................................... 32
Table 8 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Directing a project process .......................................................................... 35
Table 9 - Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Directing a Project Process ...................................... 35
Table 10 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Directing a project process ........................................................................ 39
Table 11- Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Initiating a Project Process ...................................... 42
Table 12 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Controlling a Stage process ....................................................................... 45
Table 13- Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Controlling a Stage Process .................................... 46
Table 14 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Managing Product Delivery process .......................................................... 48
Table 15- Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Managing Product Delivery Process ....................... 49
Table 16 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Managing a Stage Boundary process ......................................................... 51
Table 17- Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Managing a Stage Boundary Process ...................... 51
Table 18 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Closing a project process ........................................................................... 52
Table 19 - Comparison between the proposed methodology and Yeong (2012) in matching PMBoK Process Groups
against PRINCE2 Processes......................................................................................................................................... 54
Abbreviations
AU ........................................................................................................................................................... Aarhus University
CP. ............................................................................................................................................................ Closing a Project
CS. ........................................................................................................................................................ .Controlling a Stage
DP. ......................................................................................................................................................... Directing a Project
IP.............................................................................................................................................................Initiating a Project
MP ........................................................................................................................................... Managing Product Delivery
OGC ................................................................................................................................. Office of Government Commerce
PMBoK ................................................................................................................Project Management Body of Knowledge
PMI ........................................................................................................................................ Project Management Institute
PMM .............................................................................................................................. Project Management Methodology
PRINCE2 ................................................................................................................... Projects IN Controlled Environments
SB. ........................................................................................................................................ ..Managing a Stage Boundary
SU. ...................................................................................................................................................... .Starting up a Project
vi
Abstract
Virtual Projects are increasingly relevant in todays business world. PRINCE2 and PMBoK are
among the most popular project management methods. The challenges for running Virtual Projects
increase due to the dispersion between project members whilst project management methods
recommend best practices and guidelines that enhance the chances of project success. Several
researchers suggest combining project management methods. This master thesis contributes in
providing an approach for combining PRINCE2 and PMBoK in a single methodology. The thesis
contributes as well in suggesting how the challenges can be addressed when Virtual Projects are run
using this methodology.
The finding is a proposed methodology that combines PRINCE2 and PMBoK. The steps for
creating this methodology are presented and the final results are shown in a process model. To
reach this process model, literature research was made to find the current issues and challenges of
Virtual Projects that should be tackled. Also, the literature research was used to check the current
suggested approaches for combing PRINCE2 and PMBoK. Then, the main components of a project
management methodology were determined before comparing and matching PRINCE2 and PMBoK
elements together. Next, the approach for combining the two methods is explained. This resulted in
a methodology proposal that utilize the best of what PRINCE2 and PMBoK offer for managing
Virtual Projects.
Keywords: Project Management, Project Management Methodology (PMM), Virtual Projects,
PRoject IN Controlled Environment (PRINCE2), Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBoK)
1. Introduction
Geographically dispersed project teams are increasingly becoming relevant in the current successful
organizations. The need of such teams is driven by many factors, which may be cited as global
competition, reengineered product life cycles, mass customization; and the increased need to
respond quickly to customers needs (Powell et al., 2004). The increased diversity of skills,
knowledge, cultures, and geographical distance between team members are among the
characteristics of Virtual Projects that gives additional load to the managerial process (Beise 2004).
Hence, the Project Management Methodology (PMM) used for running such projects gains more
prominence.
1.1 Problem
Project management is an endeavor that copes with various uncertainty factors imposed by the
environment surrounding the project in order to execute it in the best possible way. For this
purpose, PMMs are structured in order to run the endeavor in a systematic and procedural manner.
Obviously, Virtual Projects encompass additional challenges that encounter the management
process. These challenges could be represented in the excess burden incurred by the management in
running the project. For example, the uncertainty factors are intensified in the Virtual Projects as
compared to typical projects. In fact, the foundation of virtual teams is, among other factors,
stemmed by economic aspects that press the organizations to minimize the projects costs. This
pressure is two-dimensional; to achieve the economical aims of using virtual teams, and to manage
the virtual teams with the minimal cost for the process. However, additional costs are also incurred
in Virtual Projects in order to establish communication and to monitor and control the work
progress. Nevertheless, the major challenge in this form of projects is distances. The distance
perspective of the Virtual Projects includes the geographical, cultural, and organizational
discontinuities (Verburg et al., 2012).
PRINCE2 and PMBoK are two of the most popular project management frameworks. While
PMBoK takes into account some parts of the virtual concept, PRINCE2 is completely silent about
it. In fact, the fifth edition of PMI (2013) discusses virtual meetings, Virtual Project teams, and
virtual collaboration techniques. On the other hand, some project managers prefer to use a hybrid
approach of methodologies in order to get the best of what they offer. Also, many scholars
recommend following this approach to take advantage of the best of these methods such as: Project
Plus Group (2008), Yeong (2012) etc
1.2 Problem Statement

PRINCE2 and PMBoK offer different approaches to project management. Knowing that both have
their advantages, (1) how can they be combined together to produce a methodology? (2) How can
this combination get the most benefit of both in managing Virtual Projects?
1.3 Terminology
1.3.1 Project
Oxford English dictionary defines project as a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving
research or design that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim (Oxford Dictionary,
2013). Projects are characterized by being temporary and unique and are established with the aim of
producing a product, service, or an outcome.
1.3.2 Project Management

Project management could be defined as the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to
execute projects effectively and efficiently (PMI 2013: 5). A broader definition could be: Project
management is the planning, delegating, monitor, and control of all the aspects of the project and
motivation of those involved to achieve the project objectives within the expected performance
targets for time, cost, quality, scope, benefits, and risks (OGC 2009:4).
1.3.3 Project Management Methodology (PMM)

The difference between the definitions mentioned above is of a great significance, and is an area of
concern in this thesis. However, the two definitions represent project management as a process that
does not compose a part of the project nonetheless; it aims to achieve the objectives of the project
efficiently and effectively. Meeting the aims is not a straightforward process as it is shown by the
second definition. Project management is composed of compound process that includes tasks that
can be as simple as prioritizing the critical activities of a project, and can range to complex tasks
that are related to managing and controlling uncertainty. Thus, the more complex the project gets,
and the more pressure from the environment is exhibited, the importance of the project management
platform increases. This derived the evolution of some project management methodologies. These
methodologies are created based on the accumulation of agreed practices, processes, methods, and
experiences providing strategically, tactical, and organizational benefits. These methods are
fundamental in determining the degree of success of projects as they provide consistency to the way
the project is managed. Methodologies intend to acknowledge and accommodate the fact that
projects operate within an organizational context with resource constraints and in response to
multiple, often conflicting stakeholder demands (Beise 2004: 129). This is achieved through the
tools that are provided by methodologies such as definitions, guidelines, templates, etc 1
More details about methodology are provided in sections 3.2
1.3.3.1 PRINCE2
PRINCE2 is an acronym for Projects IN Controlled Environments developed by the UK
government agency Office of Government Commerce or better known as OGC. PRINCE2 is used
in more than 150 countries, with more than 20,000 organizations benefiting from it (Murray, 2011).
1.3.3.2 PMBoK
PMBoK is an acronym for Project Management Body of Knowledge. It is a standard developed by
the Project Management Institute (PMI), an organization for project managers that shares
knowledge with nearly 500,000 members and credential holders in over 185 countries (PMI, 2010)
1.3.4 Virtual Teams

As a consequence of globalization, organizations are operating more and more over distances. The
term distances in the context do not only include geographical dispersion, but it also includes
culture, business units, and functions. Members of the virtual teams communicate usually through
ICT, which has many advantages that range from reducing transportation costs, to optimizing team
performance through drawing up on the talents of the best people regardless of their locations
(Dub & Robey, 2008).
1.3.5 Virtual Projects

In this thesis, Virtual Projects are defined as projects that are executed by virtual teams. In addition
to global projects, Virtual Projects cover as well the local projects with dispersed teams at different
locations. Currently, Virtual Projects are an expanding trend that is driven by the nature of business,
cost pressure, global competition, market development, mergers and acquisition, outsourcing,
offshoring, and the need to reduce costs (Svejvig & Commisso, 2012).
1.3.6 Hybrid Methodology

The expression X and Y hybrid methodology in this context is defined as the formation of a theory
Z that is composed of: (1) the union between X and Y and (2) a crossbreed of components of the
intersection between X and Y that is chosen according to a specified criteria; in a manner that when
Z is applied, one can simultaneously say: (1) X is being used because Z is applied and (2) Y is
being used because Z is applied.
1.4 Thesis Scope

This master thesis answers the research question by finding the largest possible intersection
between three components that are: PRINCE2, PMBoK, and Virtual Projects. Figure1 symbolizes
the as-is relationship between the mentioned three components:
Figure 1 - Current Relationship between PRINCE2, PMBoK, and Virtual Projects
The three ovals A, B, and C represent PRINCE2, PMBoK, and Virtual Projects respectively. One
can notice the following:
There is a spacious intersection between PRINCE2 and PMBoK

The intersection between PMBoK and Virtual Projects is somehow larger than the
intersection between PRINCE2 and Virtual Projects
There is a significant area in the Virtual Projects that is out of the scope of both PRINCE2
and PMBoK
Figure 2 symbolizes the to-be relationship between the mentioned three components:
Figure 2 - To Be Relationship between PRINCE2, PMBoK, and Virtual Projects
The following are some notes about the above figure:
The two ovals A and B are still represented in this figure however; oval C is twisted and is
shown in the figure as the shapes E+F.
Area F represents the Virtual Projects aspects that are out of the scope of PRINCE2 and
PMBoK and hence, out of the scope of this master thesis. In figure 2 this area is narrower
than in figure 1
The Area A+D+E+B represent the answer to the research question, and thus these are the
focus of this master thesis
The Area D represents the things in common between PRINCE2 and PMBoK that are
outside the scope of Virtual Projects, while the area E represents the things in common
between PRINCE2 and PMBoK that are within the scope of Virtual Projects
Area D is larger than Area E and this implies that the focus on Grouping PRINCE2 and
PMBoK in this master thesis is slightly more than the focus on the Virtual Projects. 2
The area of intersection between PRINCE2 and PMBoK in the figures 1 and 2, is the same
because the author cannot make an assumption at this level of the research regarding which
one of them (PRINCE2 or PMBoK) will have more components in the proposed theory3.
However, the author assumes at this level that the size of this area between the current
situation4 and the proposed theory will vary.5
1.5 Thesis Structure

After this introduction, the methodology used by the author in this master thesis is presented next.
Chapter 3 is the theoretical part that includes information about Virtual Projects collected from the
literature research, the description of methodologies, and a prcis of PRINCE2 and PMBoK.
Chapter 4 is the part were the hybrid mix of both PRINCE2 and PMBoK is made in order to extract
the best practices out of both taking into consideration the virtual nature of the projects. Second to
last, Chapter 5 includes discussion of the work done in Chapter 4. Lastly, the conclusion of this
master thesis is presented in Chapter 6.
The reason behind the amount of focus decision is mentioned in section 2.3.2
The clarification of why cannot the author make such an assumption at this level is pointed out to in section 2.2
4
The authors view on the current situation is pointed out to in section 2.2
5
The author assumes that the current size of intersection between PRINCE2 and PMBoK is out of the scope of this
thesis however, the amount of intersection between PRINCE2 and PMBoK in the proposed methodology is deduced in
Chapter 5
3
2. Methodology
This section contains discussion about the choices that are made to produce this master thesis. The
section starts first by presenting the authors understanding of social science then, the way the
research question is addressed. Finally, other choices that took including the delimitations,
description and sources of the data, and the validity and reliability of this master thesis are provided.
2.1 Philosophy of Science

The authors view for the philosophy of science that should be followed when conducting a social
science research swings between being positivistic and interpretive. The author tends to choose the
interpretive stance when there is an intention to go deep into the specific details of the subject under
study in order to find a personal explanation for it. On the other hand, the author tends to prefer the
positivistic stance in other instances for it utilizes the accumulation of knowledge, in order to
produce further knowledge. Based on this introduction, the opinions mentioned in this section are
related only to this research and do not express the authors general opinion.
The philosophical approach that is used in this master thesis is positivistic. The purpose of doing
this research is to come out with a methodology that is replicable under the same research settings
with the intention of generalizing the findings.
Ontology: as far as the ontological debate is concerned, the authors understanding of the existence
favors the Realism position over the Nominalist position in this research and thus, the objectivist
approach to social science, which views that the world as made up of hard and tangible structures, is
used. This position impacts this thesis mainly in chapters 4, 5, and 6. Since a PMM is proposed in
this research by combining two existing theories taking into account that there is distance between
project team members then, the aim is to try to find the truth(s) about the social world.
Epistemology: it is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge
(Haisler, 2011:43). The epistemological positivism is adopted in this master thesis when trying to
explain how we do know what we know. Hence, the epistemological approach is also objectivist,
leaving the same influence on the thesis as the ontological stance. The epistemological position that
is called positivism, attempts to predict what will happen based on regularities and the causal
relationships between its constituent elements. For example, the elements of the proposed PMM are
chosen through verification of existing knowledge about PRINCE2 and PMBoK to generate a
predicted hypothesis about which the Virtual Projects more.
Based on this, the author is attempting to find the reality which exists out there. This leads to say
that the author believes that the intersection between PRINCE2 and PMBoK is an existing fact
regardless of the authors prior understanding of it.
2.2 Overall Methodological Approach

The overall methodological approach is inductive or a knowledge-based method. In this master
thesis, a PMM is proposed based on conceptual data. Therefore, the author is building a PMM
rather than explaining an existing one. In this way, the progress would be moving from observations
of existing literature to broader generalizations. Therefore, the focus is on finding evidence that can
lead to tentative hypotheses. The proposed PMM should be viewed as a group of tentative
hypotheses.
The proposed PMM is created by grouping the things that PRINCE2 and PMBoK have in common.
Whereas the uncommon things, are evaluated and decisions are made based on existing theories.
Therefore, the author cannot determine the amount of contribution of PRINCE2 or PMBoK in the
proposed PMM until the mentioned decisions are made.
The development of the thesis started with the ideas that lead to the forming the research problem
mentioned in the introduction. Then the outline was created, and literature research was made.
Afterwards, the writing process in this thesis started. Writing was made sequentially starting by
Chapter 1 all the way till Chapter 6 while reviewing, when needed, what has been written before.
2.3 Delimitations
This section is about the methodological choices that are made to produce this master thesis. Like in
any research, one has to make the best choices based on the available resources. The discussion of
the next two sections would be about the general factors that shapes the delimitation, then the
research question-based factors respectively.
2.3.1 General Delimitation

The most two typical factors that shapes the delimitations are time and space. This is a master thesis
that was developed in three months, and with a limit of 132000 characters maximum. For this
reason, there are no empirical data used an instead, only theories and literature research are used as
sources of information. A proper way to get empirical data to be used in this master thesis would
have been through conducting semi-structured interviews where the interviewer can ask clarifying
questions and the interviewee can come up with personal experience. On the other hand, there was
no possibility to test the outcome of this research. In addition, the time/space constraints affected
the content of the proposed combined methodology. OGC(2009) contains a section that details the
roles and responsibilities of all the activities that are recommended to be done in this process to 8
different roles. However, these managerial roles does not exist in this master thesis because despite
being a time and space consuming activity to figure them out, such section would be very
vulnerable if kept without any further empirical study.
2.3.2 Research Question Delimitation

The first delimitation related to the research question is the choice of PRINCE2 and PMBoK. One
can use other PMMs and even more than two of them in order to come up with a best practices
guideline that is suitable for Virtual Projects. PRINCE2 was chosen because of its high popularity
and the authors familiarity with through previous courses at the university. While PMBoK was
chosen because of its popularity and because of the fact that it contains some guidelines regarding
virtual teams. Both PRINCE2 and PMBoK are recognized internationally and available in many
languages, and certifications of different levels of them can be obtained. Also, both are sound
methods that have existed for a significant time. That is the reason for the availability of high
number of literature and studies about them and generally, there is a substantial interest by scholars
in both methods. Studies about using PRINCE2 and PMBoK together are available with some of
them showing the feasibility of combining them while others are recommending using both for
running a single project. Examples of such studies are Chin & Spowage (2010 b), Yeong (2012),
Project Plus Group (2008) etc
2.4 The Data

The following books were extremely essential in developing this thesis: Managing Successful
Projects with PRINCE2 (2009) by OGC, and A Guide to the Project Management Body of
Knowledge (2013) by PMI. The first step made by the author after determining the tentative
research problem was reading both text books, and making personal summary out of it based on
selection of different parts from the books in addition to notes made in the authors own language.
This file is shown in Appendix 2 without the notes.
The data in this master thesis are conceptual. The majority of the input is based on literature
research, and therefore, a big time and effort were dedicated for the literature study. Three search
engines were used in conducting the literature research:
Aarhus University Library (library.au.dk) : the AU Library is the primary literature search
engine is used, as it gives some access privileges for the university students
Google Danmark: used as the secondary literature search engine in case specific literature
were not found using AU Library
Google Scholar: used once to get insight about the recent papers about PRINCE2, PMBoK,
and Virtual projects taking advantage of filtering by year option available on
scholar.google.dk
The search keywords were specific and fixed thus, minimal time was spent on general literature
browsing. There are two purposes for using the data. The first one is to collect knowledge that
enables comparison between PRINCE2 and PMBoK to find out what fits Virtual Projects the most.
The second purpose is to find existing literature about the combining process of PRINCE2 and
PMBoK. Conducting the literature research spanned over almost 2/3 of the thesiss development
time.
As mentioned, the writing process is sequential and the literature research was made throughout all
the stages of the master thesis from pre-writing until writing the discussion part. The evaluation of
literature is a three-step process: 6
Skim through: any paper is obtained either through reference from another paper or due to
the relevance of its title. The first process is skimming through it, to find out whether this
paper could potentially be used in this master thesis. If there is a degree of relevancy then,
Appendix 1 contains a list of all the academic papers that were obtained
the paper is saved on a hard drive, and referenced in notepad. If on the other hand, the paper
is judged not relevant then it is simply discarded.
Abstract, Introduction and Summary analysis: in the second step, the abstracts,
introductions, and summaries of the papers that are found to be relevant are deeply read and
analyzed. Having done this then, the relevancy and the potential usage of the literature in the
master thesis could be determined. The difference between the findings of this step and the
previous one is that the degree of relevancy is determined more precisely, however, only
few papers were found to be relevant in the first step and not relevant in the second step.
In depth analysis: the writing for each section starts by looking first at the list of relevant
literature that was determined in the previous step. These papers are deeply analyzed, and at
this stage, then a decision whether each paper will be used in this master thesis or not is
made.
2.5 Validity and Reliability

Since the philosophical approach that is used in this master thesis is positivistic, then it is relevant
to talk about the validity and reliability of the outcomes. This research lacks the internal validity
since the outcomes are not tested as mentioned earlier. However, the author claims that the external
validity of this master thesis is high. The external validity refers to the degree which conclusions
can be generalized across social settings (Haisler, 2011:47). The latest version of PRINCE2 and
the latest two versions of PMBoK were used in this paper, while no small cases were used. These
two factors lead the author to claim a high degree of generalization of the findings of this master
thesis.
Reliability: the reliability of this master thesis is heightened by the fact that the author takes the
positivistic stance. Other researches would reach similar, to a certain extent, results if the same
research resources and settings were used. The major reason for saying this is that there is no
empirical data. As a part of the positivistic epistemology, the outcome of this master thesis can be
verified or falsified and may also form knowledge input to another research types.
10
3. Theory
3.1 Virtual Projects
3.1.1 Characterization
Defining virtualization in the project management field can be a complex task. Definitions of virtual
teams and projects in literature lack depth (Ebrahim et al., 2009). In a study made by Raghuram et
al. (2008), they came out with the result that the field of virtual work is still robust and dynamic in a
manner that there is still a need to answer the question what is virtual. Answering this question
becomes even harder in project management context since working under distributed circumstances
is moderately a rule rather than being an exception (Raghuram et al. 2008). Moreover, answering
this question requires forming a variance measure of virtualization. The degree of geographical
dispersion within the virtual team can range from having only one member of the team located at a
different location, to having a team in which every single member is located in a separate country
(Ebrahim et al., 2009). Generally, the context of a virtual team differs among institutions and to
understand the term virtual, one can try to find commonalities in the various literatures. The
distinguishing property of a virtual team is the existence of some gaps between the team members.
A common characteristic of virtual teams visibly is the existence of geographical or temporal
separation (Ebrahim et al., 2009).
The advance in communication technology and the continued globalization lead to the increase of
virtual teams (Kirkman et al., 2002). To overcome the boundaries of space and time zones, virtual
teams utilize IT technology (Ebrahim et al., 2009). However, geographic location and time zones
are not the only genres of gaps in a virtual team. Other gaps are work settings, tasks, and relations
with other workers or managers in addition to organizational (both intra- and inter-organizational),
culture, work practice, and technology discontinuities (Verburg et al., 2012).
After this overview, the definition from Lipnack & Stamps(2000) seems to be passable according to
the thesiss delimitations. Virtual teams are groups of people who work interdependently with
shared purpose across space, time, and organization boundaries using technology to communicate
and collaborate (Lipnack & Stamps, 2000). Whilst the term Virtual Projects is defined in the
introduction of this thesis as projects that are executed by virtual teams.
3.1.2 Benefits
Overcoming the discontinuities of virtual teams provides opportunities to the organizations. It is
clearly visible in literature that overcoming the location boundary enables the organizations to
create cross functional teams that enables hiring and maintaining the best expertise (Ebrahim et al.,
2009), (Kirkman et al., 2002). The following is the authors classification of the benefits of virtual
teams provided by Kuruppuarachchi (2009: 22), Ebrahim et al (2009:2656-2658), and PMI
(2013:271):
Human resources level:
More flexibility on working hours for employees
11
Creation of opportunities for employees in remote offices

Facilitates knowledge capture
Higher team efficiency and effectiveness
Form teams of people from the same organization who live in widespread geographic areas;
Add special expertise to a project team even though the expert is not in the same geographic
area;
Incorporate employees who work from home offices;
Form teams of people who work different shifts, hours, or days;
Include people with mobility limitations or disabilities
Business process level:
Improved business processes and cross-functional and cross-divisional interactions in the

organizations
Skilled, qualified, and talented workforce is possible regardless of the distance
Availability of a pool of employees regardless of location, and possibility of easily
expanding the workforce
Enhanced information dissemination and knowledge sharing within the organization
Stimulation of creativity and innovation most likely due to diversity of the workforce
Flexibility in resource allocations and work scheduling
Reducing relocation time and costs
Move forward with projects that would have been ignored due to travel expenses.
Output level:
Financial gains through improved productivity, reduced cost, reduced travel time, etc.
Increased competitive advantages and improved customer satisfaction
Speed up product development and project management
Reducing time-to-market
Virtual projects can enhance the competitiveness of the small and medium enterprises
3.1.3 Categories of Issues

Before tackling the issues and challenges of Virtual Projects in the proposed methodology, it is
essential to categorize the issues in a fashion that facilitates referring to them afterwards. Based on a
compilation of best practices from literature, the best practices of Virtual Projects are divided by
Svejvig & Commisso (2012) into five categories that are: communication, culture, technology,
project process and management, and socialization. The author adapts these five categories in an
attempt of categorizing the Virtual Projects issues via reverse inference. The five categories of
issues are described below.
Communication:
One of the most frequent issues that literature points to in Virtual Projects is communication. The
other 4 categories of issues can contribute in a way or another to creating communication problems.
12
Various literature regarded communication to be a challenge in a virtual environment ex.

Kuruppuarachchi (2009), Ebrahim et al., (2009), Kirkman et al., (2002), Reed & Knight (2009),
Oshri et al. (2011), Thissen et al, (2007), etc... However, the overlap between the communication
issues of co-located teams and virtual teams is inevitable. For instance, the study of Reed & Knight
(2009) reveals that the risk of inadequate communication is, contrary to the common believe, almost
the same in both types of teams. Bearing in mind that established PMMs and guidelines are quite
heavy on communication, the risk of communication-related issues is heavily mitigated in projects
where a PMM or a guideline is used. Yet, there are other issues that vary in volume between virtual
and co-located teams such as the insufficient transfer of implicit knowledge. Implicit knowledge is
characterized by being very informal and involves methods such as storytelling, mentoring or
coaching, and communities of practice (Reed & Knight, 2009).
Culture
Many issues can be raised due to cultural difference between team members. A common problem
related to cultural differences is limiting them to national cultures (Svejvig & commisso, 2012).
Cultural differences can be (1) organizational cultures with different management styles, company
values etc., (2) professional cultures such as doctors and nurses, (3) functional cultures like sales
and production, and finally (4) team cultures, where teams develop their own intra- and
interorganizational subcultures (Carmel 1999: 57-79), cited in (Svejvig & Commisso 2012). Other
differences can be related to language in case the team members do not share that same mother
language. In such situations, a common language is agreed to be used and that can raise an issue in
the way words are comprehended for instance, the word tomorrow can mean the next day, the
near future, or the far future depending on the cultural background of the individuals.
Technology
The advance of technology is one of the major incentives for the viability of virtual teams and
hence they are extremely dependent on technology. Any shortage in technology can isolate the
members of the team which hinders the workflow of teams. Co-located teams are also very
dependent on technology despite the absence of geographical dispersion. Reed & Knight (2009)
concluded in there study that due to the advance in technology the same effect of technology related
problems on communication are found in both co-located and virtual teams. .
Project process and management
Additional challenges are added to the project management process due to the discontinuities and
distances between team members. A project manager leading a virtual team needs to accommodate
differences in the culture, working hours, time zones, local conditions, and languages (PMI,
2013:38). This is the prominent category of issues in the thesis. Examples of issues in this category
are: increased risk, more time needed for planning, additional documentation required etc
Socialization
These are the issues that are generated because of the lack of social interaction between group
members such as problems of creating trust, feelings of isolation etc...
13
3.1.4 Dimensions of successful Virtual Projects

Having the issues and challenges identified, it is necessary to determine the success factors of
Virtual Projects, which is presented next based again on the five categories adopted from Svejvig &
Commisso (2012).
Communication
Successful communication is a challenge in both co-located and Virtual Projects. Some
communication technologies are even common between both types such as e-mails, instant
messaging and other communication tools. In Virtual Projects, it is extremely important to use the
communication methods effectively (Verburg et al., 2012). The table below lists the common
communication tools for geographically dispersed teams.
Table 1 - Tools for distance communication and information exchange (Thissen et al, 2007: 30)
A successful communication is characterized by selecting the proper tool for communication and
utilizing the maximum out of its advantages. No matter what tools are used, they must be
accompanied by clear communication rules (Verburg et al., 2012). The following principles are
found in successful communication according to Haywood (1998; 18-19)
1. Standards for availability and acknowledgement are defined and respected
2. The team members replace lost context in their communication
3. The team members regularly use synchronous communication
4. Senders take responsibility for prioritizing communication
14
Moreover, the leader of communication in successful Virtual Projects, usually, provides

continuous feedback, engages in regular and prompt communication, and clarifies tasks (Shachaf
and Hara; 2005) cited in (Ebrahim et al., 2009:2660).
Culture
The variety of cultures is inevitable in Virtual Projects and can be both an asset and a liability for
organizations. However, as far the organizational culture is concerned, the culture of the successful
Virtual Projects organizations should value communication, learning, promote teamwork, and
recognize the need for diversity (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009:25)
Technology
The organizations that execute Virtual Projects should recognize and document the value and role
of technology. There is a positive correlation between the success of a project and the advance of
technology used within the organization (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009). Technologically advanced
organizations support their projects with tools, infrastructure, and training that guarantees the proper
utilization of the tools for communication and information exchange shown in table 1(Verburg et
al., 2012).
Project Process and Management
The organizational structure of successful Virtual Projects tends to be more flat rather than
hierarchical (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009). On the human resource level, such organizations provide
plans that support Virtual Projects in terms of policies, rewards, and incentive systems (Verburg et
al., 2012). Furthermore, the leadership attitude of the Project Manager in Virtual Projects is
recommended to be assertive yet not too bossy, caring, relates to members at their own levels,
and maintains a consistent attitude over the life of the project (Shachaf and Hara; 2005) cited in
(Ebrahim et al., 2009:2660).
Socialization
During the lifetime of a Virtual Project, the Project Manager should arrange both formal and
informal socialization activities and face-to-face meetings. The availability of team members who
possess good verbal and listening skills helps in achieving the goals of the socialization activities
(Kuruppuarachchi, 2009).
3.1.5 Virtual Projects and Project Stages

Managing any type of project involves stages. Before proposing a methodology that fits Virtual
Projects, it is timely to present the instructions obtained from the literature research about managing
the stages of a Virtual Project. These instructions are taken into consideration when grouping
PRINCE2 and PMBoK in the proposed methodology. The stages are grouped by the author into
five generic stages that can be anywise matched to PRINCE2 and PMBoK stages.
Pre-initiation
15
Noticeably, the literature about the early start of Virtual Projects revolves mostly around
communication. It is recommended to establish communications in the beginning of projects
(Anderson et al., 2007) including, preferably, face-to-face meetings (Svejvig & Commisso, 2012).
Also, literature prescribes creating clear roles and responsibilities of all members (Shachaf and
Hara; 2005) cited in (Ebrahim et al., 2009), and communicating them (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009).
Finally, pre-initiation stages often involve establishing and communicating the mission, success
criteria, and the framework of the project (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009).
Initiation
In this stage, it is important to account for the increased risks involved in Virtual Projects
(Kuruppuarachchi, 2009). These risks require proper planning for resources requirements and
availability. Also, it is equally important that the plans utilize the advantages of having a Virtual
Projects when dividing the work. Therefore, the Project Manager should try, as much as possible, to
apply the following strategies when dividing the work: (Oshri et al., 2011:194-196)
-
Product structure: when each product module or feature is developed at a separate site
allowing sites to work on different modules in parallel
Product customization: where one site develops the product, and another site which is close
to the customer does the customization
Phase/process Step: globally dispersed sites engage in different phases of the project in a
sequential manner
Minimizing requirements for cross-site communication and synchronization, through
performing activities that are tightly coupled at one single site.
Division of work across time zones: utilizing the maximum number of the days 24 hours
Monitoring and controlling

The following paragraph is based on Kuruppuarachchi, (2009). Literature about monitoring and
controlling Virtual Projects suggests various actions that are important in both Virtual and Colocated projects. The following factors should be controlled: communication, risk, quality, and the
engagement of team members. In this stage, the Project Manager is advised to give continuous
feedback to the members to keep them updated with the progress of the project. Moreover, the
adherence to the code of conduct, mismatches between policies and procedures, and scope creep
should be monitored is at this stage
Wrap-up
When the Virtual Project is closed, the lessons learned from it are extremely valuable and should be
stored and used in any future project (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009).
3.1.6 Practiced Practices

As a final point about Virtual Projects, it is worthy to mention the practiced practices. These
practices are used by the author to understand what might happen in reality when applying the
prescribed practices of Virtual Projects. The practiced practices mentioned below are taken into
consideration when developing the proposed methodology and can be traced, in a way or another,
16
within it. The practiced practices for Virtual Projects listed below are based on (Svejvig &
Commisso, 2012:10-11)
-
Communication:
o Since virtual communication takes longer time that face-to-face communication,
some team individuals tend to compile their inquiries, try to solve the issues
themselves, or to accept lower quality response from a co-located college.
o In other teams, a formal communication plan might be found that includes who
should be informed about what and when. This becomes extremely relevant for
teams working across different time zones.
o At the project startup of some projects, face-to-face workshops are made in order to
emphasize the importance of continues communication and to overcome the
challenge for establishing the communication and making the first contact
o Usage of instant messaging directly after video conversations, to ensure that both
communication partners have understood each others, which might not always be the
case due to language and cultural differences.
o Favoring video conferences and avoiding voice-based communication because video
conferencing can be accompanied by the use of body language, figures, and
drawings. This practice might occur in reality in an attempt to dilute the impact of
the differences in both language skills and accents.
Culture
o Cultural training and seminars to minimize the gap between the teams because of
their cultural difference. However, this training can be very stereotypical, whereas
learning about culture takes a long time and cannot be learned by a one-day seminar
that takes place once per year
o Team culture, which involves the bringing up the mentality of us against them
when the team is facing any problem
Technology
o Favoring video conferencing is a current trend
o The existence of a gap between the availability and usability of technology i.e. not
utilizing the full capabilities of the available communication technology
o Whenever it is possible, people would definitely prepare to hold a face-to-face
meeting instead of a video conference.
Project process and management:
o Not acknowledging the difference between co-locational and virtual collaboration by
the organization
o Project managers can be notified too late about the project problems as it is more
challenging to manage information across distance
o Appointing a liaison officer (formally or informally)
o Project managers may prioritize regular travel to meet other team members
o Temporary relocation of both project managers and team members.
Socialization
o Bringing team members in one location before project kick-off
o Prioritizing informal activities so that the team members become acquainted with
each other in informal settings
17
3.2 Project Management Methodology Essentials:

The answer to the research question is a proposed methodology and therefore it is of supreme
importance to identify the vital components of a methodology. The best practices can be viewed as
the product of advanced project management standardization, and hence, a methodology builds on
the accumulation of best practices learned over time (ITS Project Management Group, 2012) setting
out what the organization regards as a good practice (Clarke, 2000), (Chin & Spowage, 2012).
The ultimate goal of a PMM is to facilitate achieving the goals of the project efficiently and
effectively. The PMM should clarify the goals and scope of the project (Chin & Spowage, 2012)
and provide the Project Manager and Team Manager with advice and recommendations that guides
towards achieving these goals (ITS Project Management Group, 2012). The guidance should
facilitate the identification of risks and opportunities when planning prior to the start of the project
(ITS Project Management Group, 2012), (Chin & Spowage, 2012). Having assisted in planning, the
PMM should also provide means for tracking and evaluating current progress of work against the
predefined plans (ITS Project Management Group, 2012) and expectedly, should also provide
guidelines about taking corrective actions in case any issue is raised.
Furthermore, a PMM should include a Project Board to oversee and monitor the project progression
(Chin & Spowage, 2012). This leads to deduce that a PMM should recognize definite levels of
management. Project Management is considered as one level of management whereas at least two
other levels should exist in a methodology that are: Project Board and Team Management.
Besides, a PMM should facilitate communication between project stakeholders through providing a
common language between them. The term language in this context is used with both its literal
meaning and a figurative meaning that symbolizes the project management language. Subsequently,
a PMM should facilitate and improve communication by ensuring that everyone is talking the same
language in terms of practices, documentation, responsibilities, etc (Clarke, 2000), (ITS Project
Management Group, 2012).
Second to last, a PMM should be characterized by being scalable, adaptable, flexible, and accessible
(Chin & Spowage 2010 a), (Chin & Spowage 2012), (ITS Project Management Group, 2012). This
is usually secured through guidelines for tailoring within the methodology such as the tailoring
principle of PRINCE2. Lastly, a PMM should promote organizational learning process (Chin &
Spowage, 2012) through guidelines that leverage on both the best practices and lessons learned
from past experiences (Chin & Spowage 2010 a), (ITS Project Management Group, 2012)
3.3 PRINCE2 and PMBoK

The guidelines, recommendations, and elements of PRINCE2 and PMBoK are discussed, evaluated
and compared in the next chapter when proposing an approach to combine them. In this chapter, a
broad overview of both methods is presented in order to introduce the main components that are
studied in the next chapter.
18
Figure 3 - Basic Structure of PRINCE2 (Verax, 2009)
Figure 3 represents the main structure of PRINCE2. PRINCE2 is a generic PMM that is composed
of seven Principles, seven Themes, and seven Processes. The principles are aspects of the project
that PRINCE2 stress on applying them, and if any is not applied then the project is not being run
using PRINCE2 (OGC, 2009). On the other hand, Themes are linked aspects of the project that
should be addressed continually. PRINCE2 prescribes that Themes should be tailored to fit the
project (OGC, 2009). Finally, the Processes are a set of activities that are required to direct,
manage and deliver a project (Murray, 2009:5)
On the other hand, PMBoK is guideline, as the title of PMI (2013) indicates, that offers a set of
generally accepted best practices. PMBoK is a guide rather than a specific methodology. One can
use different methodologies and tools (e.g., agile, waterfall, PRINCE2) to implement the project
19
management framework (PMI, 2013:2). The step between the PMBOK guide and a methodology
is determining what should be done by whom, when and how (Weaver, 2012)7.
PMBoK consists of three main elements that are: Project Management Process Groups, Knowledge
Areas, and Project Management Processes. The relationship between these three elements is shown
in table 2.
Weaver, Patrick is a member of PMI since 1986
20
Table 2 - PMBoK Project Management Process Group and Knowledge Area Mapping (PMI 2013: 61)
In few words, PMBoK contains 47 Project Management Processes that are grouped into the five
Project Management Process Groups. In same time, these 47 Project Management Processes are
also grouped into the 10 Knowledge Areas of PMBoK. Table 2 shows the cross-intersection
between the Process Groups and the Knowledge Areas. These three elements are investigated in the
next chapter.
21
4. Best Practices for Managing Virtual Projects

This chapter consists of three sections:
1. The role and relevance of best practices in project management context
2. Grouping PRINCE2 and PMBoK
3. Best Practices by process
4.1 The Role and Relevance of Best Practices in Project Management

Context
Project management field is receiving an increasing interest by the researchers which results in
creating project management theories. These theories usually contain project-based practices that
could be found in PMM and guidelines like PRINCE2 and PMBoK as well as in other academic
papers that review these standards or investigate the behavior of project team members. The PMMs
and bodies of knowledge are developed by professional teams of practitioners and that is the reason
why the concept of practices has always been central to the field of project management (Thuesen
et. al 2013). For example, PRINCE2 and PMBoK sets focus on generic tools and methods that
represent a framework of best practices. Therefore, the view of project management in both
PRINCE2 and PMBoK is a discipline that, among other things, guarantees the application of the
best practices. While the view of project manager is the central driving force of the project who is
the major target (but not the only target) for the best practices.
PMI (2013) states that good practice means there is general agreement that the application of
project management processes has been shown to enhance the chances of success over a wide
range of projects (PMI, 2013:48). Even though PMBoK is not a methodology yet, the knowledge
that this standard contains has immerged from the recognized good practices of project
management. For example, the processes and tools and techniques of PMBoK are best practices
(Thuesen et. al 2013).
While best practices are extremely valuable input for the development of methodologies, PMBoK
and PRINCE2 are considered to be two of the standards that were developed using best practices as
source of information (Chin & Spowage 2010 a). PRINCE2 embodies established best practices in
its components. For example, the 7 principles of PRINCE2 are actually good practices that
determine whether the project is running using PRINCE2 or not (OGC, 2009).
To wrap things up, project management standards are developed by practitioners that are familiar
with project management practices which are presented in frameworks such as PMBoK and
PRINCE2. In project management context, where the managers have to deal with uncertainties and
ambiguities, not all the best practices should be used in all the projects. Both PMBoK and
PRINCE2 point out that these best practices should be tailored for every project by evaluating what
is needed without overlooking that a methodology, whether PRINCE2 or a customized one based
on PMBoK guide, should provide guidelines which leverage on best practices (Chin & Spowage
2012).
22
4.2 Grouping PRINCE2 and PMBoK

4.2.1 Grouping Point of Departure
Grouping PMBoK and PRINCE2, starts by identifying the point of departure. In this master thesis,
the combination of PRINCE2 and PMBoK takes PRINCE2 as a point of departure.
OGC (2009) states that PRINCE2 is a generic method for effective project management. Generic in
this context means that it is applicable to all types of projects regardless of their scale, location,
nature, or complexity. The seventh principle of PRINCE2, tailoring, is needed due to the
customizability of PRINCE2. This principle is about thinking how to apply the method and then
using it with a lightness of touch (OGC, 2009:215). McHugh & Hogan (2010) made a study about
the rationale of adopting PRINCE2 and PMBoK in Ireland. This study revealed based on a
comparison between two organizations applying PMBoK and PRINCE2 respectively that the latter
did not face problems in customizing the methodology to fit small projects while the first one did.
The degree of generalizability of this finding can be questioned and the limitations of the study are
already mentioned in the paper however, this finding can be used as an inspiration to use PRINCE2
as a starting point and tailoring it according to PMBoK guidelines since Virtual Projects are
relevant to small and large projects.
However, the fundamental difference between PRNICE2 and PMBoK that leads the author to start
from PRINCE2 is that PRINCE2 is a PMM while PMBoK is not (section 3.3). There are various
implications that can be drawn out from this difference. PMBoK provides general guidelines for
managing a project and it has a better approach than PRINCE2 in explaining each of the knowledge
areas (Wideman, 2002). This might explain the proclamation of the Project Plus Group (2008) that
PMBoK becomes more relevant, compared to PRINCE2, as the level of maturity of the organization
increases. The higher the level of project management maturity, the larger the span of benefits from
learning and interpreting PMBoK becomes. Conversely, PRINCE2 is more effective than PMBoK
in providing guidelines for managing a specific project (Wideman, 2002) as more detailed
specifications are needed in projects running with lower maturity Project Management. The author
does not agree 100% with this relationship between the maturity of project management and the
PRINCE2 vs PMBoK relevance since PRINCE2 can be extremely relevant to projects running in
highly mature organizations. However, the author assures that PRINCE2 is superior in putting the
guidelines into context. This can be depicted right from the start of the project as PRINCE2
recommends a project Start Up process that details what should be done as soon as an idea or a need
for a project is available (AIPM, 2002) while there is no counterpart for this process in PMBoK.
Then with the progress of the project, the context of the activities of PRINCE2 is still stronger.
According to the author, the context of all activities within a process and the context of the
processes themselves are extremely precise in PRINCE2 which is reflected in a comprehensive and
comprehendible process model. On the other hand no process model for PMBoK is provided by
PMI (2013). The author even claims that the contexts of some activities in the PMBoK are peculiar
ex. Planning Scope Management is done after approving the Project Charter or that acquiring
project management team members takes place after the initiation of the project.
A research by Chin & Spowage (2010 b) shows that the only missing element of PRINCE2 as
compared to the leading best practices guidelines is a comprehensive discussion about knowledge
areas. Since PRINCE2 is a tailoring-friendly pragmatic methodology that provides How To
23
approach (Siegelaub, 2009) (Project Plus Group, 2008) (Yeong, 2012), then it can be complemented
by the knowledge areas of PMBoK that elaborates on the competencies of a successful project
manager (Chin and Spowage, 2010 b).
4.2.2 Matching PRINCE2 with PMBoK

Having identified the point of departure for combining PRINCE2 and PMBoK, the next step is to
relate and match their elements. These elements are mentioned in section 3.3. The following section
aims to relate these elements together which will facilitate the decisions for combining them
afterwards.
4.2.2.1 PMBoK Knowledge Areas with PRINCE2 Themes, Principles and Processes
Siegelaub (2009) states that PRINCE2 Themes roughly map against the Knowledge Areas, this idea
is supported by Yeong (2012) who mentions that even though they are not exactly matched yet,
they are similar. According to PRINCE2, the Themes are the aspects of the project that should be
addressed continuously through the project since they are central to the project success and are
often under-addressed by the Project Managers (Siegelaub, 2009). The strength of the themes
concept in PRINCE2 is that they link together chronologically. In addition to that, PRINCE2
assigns roles and responsibilities for each of the seven themes. On the contrary, the Knowledge
Areas neither have assigned roles and responsibilities nor linked together in a clear process model.
Yet, the Knowledge Areas are more comprehensive (Siegelaub, 2009:2) whether in the number of
pages they occupy in OGC (2009) and PMI (2013), or in terms of their constituents. Table 3 shows
how does each Knowledge Area maps against PRINCE2 Themes according to Siegelaub (2009).
PMBOK GUIDE
Knowledge Area
Comparable PRINCE2 Themes
Integration
Scope, Time, Cost
Quality
Risk
Communications
Human Resources
Procurement
Combined Processes and Themes, Change

Plans, Business Case, Progress
Quality, Change (Configuration Management)
Risk
Progress
Organization (limited)
Not Covered
Table 3 - Mapping Knowledge Areas against Themes (Siegelaub, 2009:2)
Siegelaub (2009) used PMI (2008), the fourth version of PMBoK guide, which did not include the
Stakeholder Knowledge Area. Stakeholder Knowledge Area is not covered by the Themes. The
Knowledge Areas represent a complete set of concepts, terms, and activities that make up a
professional field, project management field, or area of specialization (PMI, 2013:60). Based on
this, the Knowledge Areas can be mapped against other PRINCE2 elements:
PMBOK Knowledge PRINCE2: Principles / Themes / Processes

Areas
Project Integration
[Principles]: 7 Principles
24
Management
Project Scope
Management
Project Time
Management
Project Cost
Management
Project Quality
Management
Project Human Resource

Management
Project Communication
Management
Project Risk
Management
Project Procurement
Management
[Themes]: Organization, Plans, Change, Progress

[Processes]: 7 Processes
[Principles]: 7 Principles
[Themes]: Business Case, Plans, Change
[Principles]: Continued business justification, Learn from
experience, Manage by stages, Tailor to suit the project
environment
[Themes]: Plans, Change, Progress
experience, Tailor to suit the Project environment
experience, Focus on products, Tailor to suit the Project
environment
[Themes]: Quality, Plans, Change
[Principles]: Learn from experience, Defined roles and
responsibilities, Tailor to suit the Project environment
[Themes]: Organization, Plans
[Principles]: Learn from experience, Tailor to suit Project
environment
[Principles]: Learn from experience, Manage by exception, Tailor
to suit Project environment
[Themes]: Risk, Change, Progress
[Principles]: Continue business justification, Learn from
experience, Focus on products, Tailor to suit Project environment
[Themes]: Business case, Plans, Change, Progress
[Processes]: Initiating up a Project, Managing Product Delivery
Table 4 - Mapping Knowledge Areas against PRINCE2 Element (Yeong, 2012:9-10)
25
Table 4 shows another way for understanding the Knowledge Areas as compared to PRINCE2.
Knowledge Areas receive the major focus in the PMBoK and this could be induced from its title
Body of Knowledge.
4.2.2.2 PMBoK Process Groups with PRINCE2 Processes

Both PRINCE2 and PMBoK talk about Processes which are consistent with one another (Chin &
Spowage, 2010b). PRINCE2 focus on the complete life cycle of the projects represented through
the processes that are viewed as critical areas for project success (Chin & Spowage, 2010b),
(Yeong, 2012). The table below shows how these processes can be matched together.
PMBOK Process Groups
PRINCE2 Processes
Initiating Process Group
Starting up a Project
Directing a Project
Initiating a Project
Managing Product Delivery
Managing a Stage Boundary
Directing a Project
Controlling a Stage
Closing a Project
Planning Process Group

Executing Process Group
Monitoring & Controlling Process Group
Closing Process Group
Table 5 - Mapping PMBoK Process Groups against PRINCE2 Processes (Yeong, 2012:11)
This is one proposed approach of matching the Processes together by Yeong (2012) however; a
different approach is used in the proposed methodology and is discussed in Chapter 5. Table 5 is
used in this context to support the statement by Chin & Spowage (2010b) regarding the consistency
of the processes.
The following paragraph reflects on the findings in this section, 4.2.2. The Themes concept in
PRINCE2 is similar to the Knowledge Areas of PMBoK. Also, the processes of PRINCE2 and
PMBoK are consistent despite the differences between them. The Knowledge Areas of PMBoK are
composed of project management processes. On the other hand, the Process Groups are composed
of project management processes as well. This leads to concluding that, using PRINCE2s
language, the themes in PMBoK are perfectly integrated within the processes. From a different
perspective, each Process of PRINCE2 contains a list of activities, while each Process Group of
PMBoK contains Project Management Processes and thus, the author claims that the PRINCE2
activities are equivalent to PMBoK Project Management Processes.
4.2.3 PMBoK areas supporting the PRINCE2 processes

After deciding to use PRINCE2 as a base of the proposed methodology, it is essential to mention
how PMBoK can complement the PRINCE2 processes. The suggestions in this section are not
simple collection from the literature but rather a product of studying PRINCE2, PMBoK, in
addition to the selected representative data.
26
PRINCE2 and PMBoK have different aims and areas of focus. PRINCE2 is a life-cycle based
methodology that provides an overall framework for managing projects (Wideman, 2002; Bell,
2009). On the other hand, PMBoK has focus on teaching the skills and competencies in each of its
Knowledge Areas (Wideman, 2002; Chin & Spowage 2010b). Due to this difference, PRINCE2
says what should be done but it does not cover detailed techniques of how those things can be done
(OGC, 2009). This explains why PMBoK is more comprehensive than PRINCE2 (Yeong, 2012;
Chin & Spowage 2010b).
The largest two Knowledge Areas that are not covered by PRINCE2 are Procurements and
Stakeholders. PRINCE2 considers the Procurements as Specialist Aspects that can be used
together with PRINCE2. While PMBoK covers Procurement in its pre-assignment, negotiations,
decisions, source solicitations, contracts, and administrative closure (AIPM, 2002; Chin &
Spowage, 2010b; Yeong, 2012). As for Stakeholders, PRINCE2 regards that this activity is carried
at the Program Level which is outside the scope of PRINCE28.
Communication is a topic that is strongly addressed by both PRINCE2 and PMBoK due to its
significance in Project Management context. However, it is essential to differentiate between the
approaches of PRINCE2 and PMBoK before proposing the hybrid methodology because of the
additional importance that communication gains in Virtual Projects. PRINCE2 covers
communication in the Initiating a Project Process through preparing the communication
management strategy which is a product that has an available template. The PMBoK covers
Communication through a whole Knowledge Area that is composed of three Project Management
Processes that are active over three different Process Groups (table 2). The Communications in
PMBoK are planned, managed and controlled. Moreover, PMBoK provides more detailed tools and
techniques than PRINCE2 (Bell, 2009). These details includes: Communication Requirements
Analysis, Communication Technology, Communication Models, and Communication Methods
(PMI, 2013:291-295).
Another example of areas covered by both but PMBoK is obviously stronger is Human Resource
Management. The author, Yeong (2012), Chin & Spowage (2010 b), Bell (2009), and AIPM (2002)
all agree about this point. The reason for this mindset about PMBoK is that PRINCE2 do not
provide guidelines about the detailed techniques of Human Resources Management that do not have
a specific PRINCE2 approach whereas PMBoK is particularly strong in such areas. Examples of the
detailed techniques elaborated by PMBoK: organizational charts, performance appraisal, conflict
management, etc
In the same vein, Quality is another area that is stronger in PMBoK. PMBoK has a stronger focus
on delivering quality (Yeong, 2012) and this can be depicted in the PMBoK tools and techniques
that are not covered by PRINCE2.
The OGC has a different publication called Managing Successful Programmes, referred to in OGC (2009) while
discussing the Stakeholders Engagement as a part of the Organization Theme, which covers Stakeholders Engagement .
27
Cost is yet another area that PMBoK address in a more detailed manner. PRINCE2 discusses costs
as a part of the Plans theme, while PMBoK allocates a complete Area of Knowledge for it. Within
the Cost Area of Knowledge, PMBoK extensively provides tools and techniques in this domain to
the extent that they form a prime selling point for PMI training (Bell; 2009).
The two Knowledge Areas of Time and Risk are no different than Cost, Quality, Human Resources,
and Communication Areas of Knowledge discussed above i.e. they are covered by PRINCE2 but
PMBoK can complement PRINCE2 by providing detailed tools and techniques for carrying on
Time and Risk Management.
In conclusion, PMBoK areas that can support the PRINCE2 processes are divided into two
categories. The first category is related to the parts covered by PMBoK where PRINCE2 considers
them out of its scope such as Procurements. Whereas the second category, is related to the parts
where PMBoK has a stronger focus than PRINCE2 such as communications.
4.2.4 Grouping Process

4.2.4.1 Proposed Methodology: Processes
The framework of PRINCE2 is used in the proposed methodology as discussed in section 4.2.1.
PRINCE2 offers a complete project life cycle based on processes. Six out of the seven processes
runs in a life cycle based form while the remaining one, Directing a Project, is a continuous process
supporting other processes. Turner (2000) defines in McHugh & Hogan (2010:638) a methodology
as a structured approach for delivering a project, and consists of a set of processes, with each
process having clearly defined resources and activities. Since PRINCE2 focus on Processes (Chin
& Spowage, 2010b) and PRINCE2 processes are composed of clearly defined activities then, it is
plausible to focus on processes in the proposed methodology. This approach is supported by the
following results of sections 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2:
PRINCE2 Processes and PMBoK Process Groups are consistent

PMBoK Process Groups are composed of Project Management Processes
Project Management Processes in PMBoK are similar to the Activities in PRINCE2
Even though the Processes of PRINCE2 and PMBoK are consistent yet, they are different in some
aspects even in their number. Many scholars who tried create a PMM whether by combining
existing methodologies or creating one that fits into a certain case have come up with a
methodology that is based on five processes that are congruent, to a high degree, with PMBoK
processes (Charvat, 2003; Pitagorsky, 2003, Wideman, 2006, Yeong, 2012, Chin & Spowage
2010a, Chin & Spowage 2010b, ITS Project Management Group 2012, Abbasi & Al-Maharmah
2000). Based on this it seems reasonable to use PMBoK Process Groups when attempting to
combine PRINCE2 and PMBoK. However, the delimitations of this master thesis are the main
reason for adopting PRINCE2 Processes and not PMBoK Process Groups. In PRINCE2, the names
and number of processes cannot be tailored and if one of them is removed then, the project cannot
be considered being managed using PRINCE2. PMBoK on the other hand, does not provide rules
and restrictions for tailoring. And since the aim of this master thesis is to propose a
PRINCE2/PMBoK hybrid methodology, and not to propose a new methodology based on both then,
the PRINCE2 processes are adopted in the proposed methodology.
28
PRINCE2 processes are composed of 4 parts: aim, purpose, context, and activities. The aim,
purpose, and most importantly the context are adopted the way they are in PRINCE2. Whereas the
activities of the proposed methodology are discussed next:
4.2.4.2 Proposed Methodology: Activities

Based on all what is discussed earlier in Chapter 4, the approach of combining PRINCE2 and
PMBoK is done through two steps: first, each PMBoK Project Management Process is viewed as an
activity and compared against the seven processes of PRINCE2 to find out which process it belongs
to taking into consideration first and foremost the Virtual nature of the Projects that the
methodology is oriented to. Then, it takes into consideration both the Process Group and the Area of
Knowledge that it belongs to. This step results in mapping the 47 Project Management Processes
into the seven activities of PRINCE2. The outcome is shown in the seven tables: 6, 8, 10, 12, 14,
16, and 18.
The second step is to compare the Project Management Processes with the Activities for each
Process: any activity that does not have a similar Project Management Process is adopted in the
proposed methodology and vice versa. Similar activities are then compared, and one of them is
chosen according to: first, which one fits Virtual Projects more and second, which one is found to
be stronger according to the literature research. The outcome is shown in the six tables: 7, 9, 11, 13,
15, and 17.
As for the products of the activities, the products and their roles that exist in PRINCE2 are adopted
due to: their assigned responsibilities, the availability of templates, and that PRINCE2 is stronger
than PMBoK in documentation (Chin & Spowage, 2010b).
4.2.4.3 Proposed Methodology: Roles

The four management levels of PRINCE2 are adopted, these levels are: Corporate Management,
Project Board, Project Management, and Team (Delivery) Management. This hierarchy is favored
by the author over the approach used in PMBoK. In PMBoK, various managerial levels and
positions are defined however, it does not recognize the team manager when teaching the Areas of
Knowledge and at the same time, it refers most of the time to the levels of management above the
Project Management as Project Sponsor.
4.2.4.3 Proposed Methodology: Themes

Despite the careful design of Themes in PRINCE2 yet, the approach used by PMBoK is preferred
by the author. As shown earlier, PMBoK imbeds the Themes within its Processes. The proposed
methodology contains an attempt to imbed what PRINCE2 regards as Themes within its processes.
This attempt would still make the Project genuinely managed using PRINCE2 because all the seven
Themes are applied and they are tailored up.
29
4.2.4.5 Proposed Methodology: Principles

The final requirement of a PMM to be considered as PRINCE2 is the principles. The seven
principles of PRINCE2 are adopted and should be applied. Any project being run while at least one
of the seven principles is not applied is neither using PRINCE2 nor the proposed methodology.
4.3 Best Practices by Process

The proposed methodology is, like PRINCE2, composed of processes where each contains
activities. The PMBoK Project Management Processes are referred to as PMBoK activities in the
following chapter, while the adopted ones are simply referred to as activities in the proposed
methodology. Moreover, any adopted activity, whether from PRINCE2 or PMBoK, is used as-is
and hence, there is no detailed description about the activities. As for the products of the PMBoK
activities, a role is assigned to them by the author in order to show the major player of the activity.
The aim of assigning a role is to give a general idea about the responsibility of the activity however;
detailing the adopted activities from PMBoK in the same way activities are detailed in PRINCE2 is
a difficult task that requires practitioners advice, which is outside the delimitations of this master
thesis. The roles are based on the adopted classification of the authority level (section 4.2.4). The
roles for PRINCE2 activities, on the other hand, are adopted without any modification.
Section 4.3 contains 7 subsections with each representing a process bearing its name from
PRINCE2. Each subsection starts with a very brief introduction about the purpose of the process,
then 5 sub-subsections that are:
1. Overview: an image showing the overview of the process in the proposed methodology. The
base for creating the overview depends slightly on the overview of each process in OGC
(2009) and then modified to fit the proposed methodology. The overview contains all the
activities corresponding to the process in the adopted methodology. The keys to the
overviews are shown in figure 4
2. Incorporating PRINCE2 and PMBoK activities: it starts with a table showing the authors
choice in matching PMBoK Project Management Processes (PMBoK Activities) to the
PRINCE2 processes. Then, the activities that are adopted in the new methodology from both
PRINCE2 and PMBoK are identified
3. Products and responsibilities: starts with a table showing each PMBoK adopted activity, the
product(s) of each activity, and the responsible(s) for producing or updating each activity.
4. Tackled issues and challenges: contains issues and challenges of Virtual Projects that are
found during literature research and are tackled in the process of the proposed methodology
Figure 4 - Keys to the overviews of the proposed methodology's processes
30
Last but not least, all the information about PRINCE2 and PMBoK in this section are, unless
otherwise mentioned, produced by the author who got the knowledge about them from OGC(2009)
and PMI(2013). Therefore, the bibliography of the following section includes OGC(2009) and
PMI(2013).
4.3.1 Starting Up a Project

This is the pre-initiation process that takes place whenever there is a trigger to start a project. The
aim of this process is to decide whether the trigger to initiate the project is worthwhile.
4.3.1.1 Starting up a Project Overview

The following figure represents an overview of the Starting up a Project (SU) process in the
proposed methodology.
Figure 5 - Overview of Starting up a Project process in the proposed methodology
In the above figure: PMBoK Activities Plan Human Resource Management and Acquire Project
Team replaces PRINCE2 Activity: Design and Appoint Project Management Team, while a
third PMBoK Activity Identify Stakeholders is added to the SU process of the proposed
methodology. The activities of the SU and their products are discussed in the next two sections.
4.3.1.2 Incorporating PRINCE2 and PMBoK Activities

Table 6 shows the PMBoK Activities that can be matched with the SU process.
31
PRINCE2 Processes
Starting Up a Project
PMBoK Project Management Processes

Develop Project Charter
Identify Stakeholders
Plan Human Resource Management
Acquire Project Team
Table 6 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Starting up a project process
In PRINCE2, the life cycle of the project starts with grouping the prerequisites of a project into
context in order to ensure that only viable projects are allowed to be initiated. Whereas PMBoK
provides a generic projects life cycle that starts with a starting phase, followed by Organizing and
Preparing phase while determining the number of phases and their naming convention is left to the
management. The processes that are intended to define a new project are grouped in the process
group: Initiating a Project which is composed of two sequential PMBoK Activities that are:
Developing Project Charter then, Identifying Stakeholders. According to PMBoK, a project is
officially started when the project charter is approved and that is the only prerequisite for starting a
project. The PMBoK Activities that will be added to the SU process should be carefully selected
since PRINCE2 aims with this process to do the minimum possible effort that enables the Project
Board to take a decision whether to initiate the project or not.
PMBoKs Project Charter overlaps with the Project Brief document in PRINCE2. In fact, it is
mentioned in the OGCs manual that PMBoKs Project Charter is equivalent to Project Brief in
PRINCE2 (OGC 2009: 231). PRINCE2 has a bigger focus on the pre-project initiation phase than
PMBoK and as mentioned earlier, PRINCE2 is heavier in documentation. Hence, one would
generally tend to outweigh PRINCE2 whenever there is antagonism between PRINCE2 and
PMBoK regarding documentation.
The similarity between these two documents is palpable as both contain information about the
objective, scope, and the participants in the project. However, here are some differences that are
worth mentioning:
Project Brief includes project tolerances

Project Brief identifies the interfaces that a project should maintain
Project Brief incorporates the outline business case and project approach
Project Charter includes summary milestone schedule
Yet, a decision regarding which document to use cannot be made at this level because both are the
basis for creating other managerial products later. The Project Brief is used in creating the Project
Initiation Document in the Initiating stage, whereas the Project Charter is used in developing the
Project Management Plan. The author favors Project Initiation Document over Project Management
Plan (see section 4.3.3.3) and therefore the Project Brief is a product of the SU process while
Developing Project Charter is omitted.
Identifying Stakeholders is, on the other hand, one of the Project Stakeholders Management
Knowledge Area processes which is adopted in the proposed methodology. PMBoK recommends
that Identifying Stakeholders should be done as early as possible in the project while the author
32
recommends that the output of this activity should be present with the Project Board when the
request for initiation is sent.
Moreover, PRINCE2 considers Appointing the Project Management Team as one of the Activities
of the SU Process. Unpredictably, PMBoK regards this as one of the activities that should be done
after the initiation of the project and even precedent by Plan Human Resource Management. In this
regards, acquiring a Virtual Team may be problematic owing to any of the five categories of Virtual
Projects issues (section 3.1.3) to the extent that the viability of the project may become under
question. The author recommends thereupon, that acquiring the team members should be done in
the SU process as dictated by PRINCE2. The recommended actions of this activity are very akin in
PRINCE2 and PMBoK however; the data flow of the latter is adopted because of (1) the superiority
of the Project Human Resource Management Area of Knowledge and (2) the fact that Virtual
Teams are recognized at this level by PMBoK as a possible form of teams.
To wrap up, the proposed SU process comprises all the PRINCE2 activities except Design and
appoint the project management team in addition to the following PMBoK Activities: Identify
Stakeholders, Plan Human Resource Management, and Acquire Project Team.
4.3.1.3 Products and Responsibilities

Three PMBoK activities are added to SU process:
Activity
Identify Stakeholders
Plan Human Resource
Management
Acquire Project Team
Product
Responsibilities
Stakeholder Register (PMI

2013:398).
Human Resource Management Plan
PMI (2013:269)
Project Management Team Role
Descriptions
Appointed Project Management
Team
Resource Calendars (PMI
2013:272)
Project Board (P)

Project Manager (P)
Project Manager (P)
Project Board (A)
Project Board (P)
Project Manager (P)
Table 7 - Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Starting up a Project Process
In the above table, assigning the responsibility of producing Stakeholder Register is done after the
responsibilities for the whole Project Stakeholder Management Area of Knowledge are assigned
(section 4.3.2.3). Also, Appointed Project Management Team is an equivalent PRINCE2 product to
PMBoKs Project Staff Assignment and thats why PRINCE2 products name is shown in the
above table.
4.3.1.4 Virtual Projects Issues and Challenges Tackled in the Process

The interaction between this process and Virtual Projects is minimal because the project starts after
this stage and the effect of the distances between the team members cannot be seen at this level.
However, appointing the Project Manager and the Project Team are among the fundamental factors
33
in shaping the future of the project work. In this connection, PRINCE2 offers some general
recommendations that are related to learning from previous lessons and creating Project Managers
role description. PMBoK on the other hand, can be used to start addressing the issues that might be
raised in Virtual Projects right from this level where they recommend Identifying Stakeholders very
early in the project. Having the stakeholders identified paves the way for identifying their needs,
interests, expectations, influence on the project etcThese information can be used as inputs for
several activities recommended by both PMBoK and PRINCE2 that minimizes the potential issues
of the Virtual Project especially the issues that are related to technology, culture, and socialization.
Virtual Projects are heavily dependent on technology where any technological shortage hinders the
work of the project. In the SU process, the Project Approach is selected and the Project Brief is
assembled. In this activity, the technological requirements are set by the Project Manager and then
approved by the Project Board before the project starts. This serves in minimizing the technological
problems (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009) and shortages (Reed & Knight, 2009). This activity is preceded
by Capturing Previous Lessons where both can be used to determine the complexity of the required
technology. Determining the complexity of the needed technology is one of the challenges of
Virtual Projects (Ebrahim et al., 2009).
The recommendations of the PMBoK activity Plan Human Resource Management, determine the
roles, skills, responsibilities, etc.., are used as an input to the Activity Acquire Project Team in
order to overcome the difficulty of team selection and determining the proper number of members
due to the geographical and organizational separation (Ebrahim et al., 2009) (Kuruppuarachchi,
2009).
Communication is another issue of Virtual Projects that is addressed in the SU process. The
PMBoK activity Identify Stakeholders involves having meetings between the stakeholders
including the Project Team. Establishing the communication at a very early stage can help in
detecting the members that are psychologically not fit for Virtual Projects (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009)
and (Ebrahim et al., 2009).
Finally, several activities in this process aims to determine the required amount, frequency, and
level of documentation as some members might underestimate the importance of documentation in
Virtual Projects (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009).
4.3.2 Directing a Project

In PRINCE2, Directing a Project (DP) is a process that starts after the end of SU process and extends
through the whole life time of the project interacting with the majority of other processes. The span
of this process covers the activities of the Project Board level of management knowing that the
Project Board is, in PRINCE2, active only in the SU and DP processes (Siegelaub, 2009).
4.3.2.1 Directing a Project - Overview

The following figure represents an overview of the DP process in the proposed methodology.
34
Figure 6 - Overview of Directing a Project process in the proposed methodology
Figure6 contains all the activities of its counterpart overview in PRINCE2 in addition to four
activities adopted from PMBoK. The clarifications of these decisions are provided next.
4.3.2.2 Incorporating PRINCE2 and PMBoK (Activities)

As displayed earlier, the DP process is not represented clearly in PMBoKs Process Groups because
the Project Board level of management doesnt exist explicitly in PMBoK. This is an area of
strength of PRINCE2 as compared to PMBoK (Chin &Spowage 2010b). Thus, one would not
expect many commonalities or complementary activities between PRINCE2 and PMBoK at this
process. Table 8 shows the authors suggestion of PMBoK Activities that can be matched with the
DP process.
PRINCE2 Processes
Directing a Project

Manage Stakeholder Engagement
Control Stakeholder Engagement
Manage Communications
Control Communications
35
Table 8- PMBoK activities that belongs to Directing a project process
The author believes that the five activities specified by PRINCE2 are very essential and should be
performed within this process in the proposed methodology. Four of these activities happen at
discrete instances while the fifth activity, giving ad hoc direction, is a continuous activity
throughout the project. In order to complement this process, four PMBoK project management
processes are added (table 9).
The aim of Manage Stakeholder Engagement activity is to realize the needs and expectations of the
stakeholders in order to ensure the proper level of their engagement through increasing their support
and minimizing their resistance to the project. PMBoK generally do not define the roles and
responsibilities, but for this particular process, it is mentioned in different parts of the PMI(2013)
guide that the Project Manager is responsible for engaging the stakeholders (PMI, 2013:404).
Correspondingly, the aim of Control Stakeholder Engagement is to adjust the strategies and plans
for engaging stakeholders throughout the progress of the project. Also it ensures that the activities
of engaging the stakeholders are run in effective and efficient way as the environment around the
project might possibly change. However, the activities of (DP) process occur at the Project Board
level of management. Manage Communications, on the other hand, is one of the PMBoK activities
that belongs to the Project Communication Area of Knowledge. Although PRINCE2 and PMBoK
have variance in the approach for communication yet, both cover communication in a sensible level.
PRINCE2 does not assign communication activities at the DP process to the Project Board. The
illustrations of these decisions are presented next.

Activity
Manage Stakeholder
Engagement
Control Stakeholder
Engagement
Manage
Communications
Control
Communications
Product
Responsibilities
Issue Register
Stakeholder Register (PMI
2013:398)
Stakeholder Management Plan
Lessons Log
Work performance information
(PMI 2013:413)
Stakeholder Management Plan
Stakeholder register
Issue Register
Project Communications
(PMI2013:301)
Issue Register
Project Board (U)

Project Board (U)
Team Plan
Project Board (U)

Project Board (U)
Project Board (U)
Project Board (U)
Project Board (U)
Project Board (U)
Project Board (U)
Project Board(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Board(A)
Project Manager(U)
Project Board(A)
Table 9 - Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Directing a Project Process
36
As shown in the above table, the four added activities from PMBoK require updating
documentation from the Project Board which is not common in PRINCE2. However, this is the
consequence of assigning the Project Stakeholder Knowledge Area to the PRINCE2 DP process.
When conducting Virtual Projects, the engagement of stakeholders gains even more importance. It
would be of a great benefit for the Virtual Project if the engagement of the team members was an
activity performed by an authority that is not into the day to day management of the project as they
can see the whole picture from different perspectives and dimensions. Such activity would be
needed all along the projects life. Based on this, the author suggests supplementing the DP process
with Project Stakeholder Knowledge Area. In this process, the Project Board should exercise
overall control upon the project thus; there is a need to control the issues that might face the Project
Manager with his virtual team. Additionally, it is clearly mentioned in the PMBoK guide that the
Project Manager can call up for project sponsors assist as needed to ensure the engagement of the
stakeholders (PMI, 2013:406).
One can argue that some of the tools and techniques of Manage Stakeholders Engagement activity
are Project Manager oriented; namely interpersonal skills and management skills (PMI
2013:407-8). While the first is about problem solving and trust building, the latter aims towards
illuminating the goals, encouraging goals achievement, and promoting for change. Indeed, these are
skills of a Project Manager, and they are covered by other activities in PRINCE2 in the processes:
Managing a Product Delivery and Controlling a Stage. Making the Project Board use such tools and
techniques at this level is an attempt by the author to lessen as much challenges and issues of the
Virtual Projects mentioned in section 3.1.3 as possible by giving support to the Project Manager
through the Board. This attempt finds its way through utilizing the following responsibilities of the
Project Board as indicated by PRINCE2 (OGC, 2009:269-70-71)
providing overall guidance and direction

respond to requests for advice from the project manager
ensure that risks are being tracked
make decisions on escalated issues
One can also argue that PRINCE2 deems stakeholder engagement as an activity that is done at the
program level (OGC 2009:41). The answer for that is that PRINCE2 delineates stakeholders as
individuals or groups that are not part of the Project Management Team while in PMBoK, the
Project Team is considered among stakeholders (PMI 2013: 30). In any case, the disparity in the
role of stakeholder engagement between PMBoK and PRINCE2 gives a room for examination to
find out if this activity should be done at a level that is as high as corporate level, or as low as
project management level. The author is hereby proposing a hypothesis that this activity should be
delegated to the Project Board.
The reason for placing the Manage Communications Activity in the DP process is that, Manage
Communications is the activity that enables effective and efficient communications flow between
the stakeholders of the project (PMI2013:297). In PRINCE2, the Project Board is responsible for
managing the communication between the project management team and stakeholders external to
the team (OGC 2009:269). Additionally, PRINCE2 prescribes that one of the roles of the Project
Board is ensuring effective communication both within the project team and with external
stakeholders (OGC 2009: 34). Thus, communicating with all stakeholders is within the scope of
the Project Board.
37
The Control activities Control Stakeholder Engagement and Control Communication are
assigned at the DP process for two reasons. First, the responsibilities of the Project Board in
PRINCE2 are assigned only in the DP process (Siegelaub 2009). Second, the Project Board
exercises overall control in the project at the DP process level (OGC 2009). Therefore, the author
recommends in the proposed methodology that all the control activities that are assigned to the
Project Board should be done at the DP process level, whereas those assigned to the Project
Manager should be done at the Controlling a Stage process.
All in all, the Project Board can assist the Project Manager of a Virtual Project by using the
authority they have to provide their leadership and conflict resolution competencies for such
projects that require special handling.

In this process PRINCE2 supports Virtual Project through several areas. First, this process starts
with project authorization request. To grant this authorization, PRINCE2 recommends confirming
that the green light can be given to the initiation stage when, among other things, the board can
confirm that the project team is appointed, the members understand their roles, and reporting and
control mechanism are in place. Second, the authorization of the project, stage, or exception is
provided by PRINCE2 with a set of best practices that, generally, intents to control the risks, set
tolerances, and to make certain that the proper resources are committed to the project. Next, the ad
hoc support given by the project board can be crucial in the Virtual Projects especially when the
project board is providing guidance to the project manager. Finally, the activity authorize project
closure guarantees the achievement of one of the principles of PRINCE2 which is learning from
experience. Each of the mentioned PRINCE2 activities are provided with recommendations that
help in overcoming some of the Virtual Projects challenges especially those related to project
process and management. Furthermore, the activities adopted from PMBoK tackle more challenges
of Virtual Projects that are related to technology, communication, and even socialization.
The support of the Project Board is needed for implementation and resolving problems in Virtual
Projects because they are subject to some factors that can cause invisible and complex problems
such as mistrust, conflicts, and power struggles (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009) , (Ebrahim et al., 2009).
Virtual projects require managing across different time zones, cultures, and languages and hence,
one of the huge issues of Virtual Projects is that it requires careful planning for team integration and
communication (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009). These tasks are given to the Project Board in the
proposed methodology. The problems caused by the resistance to the nature of the team, that is
common in Virtual Projects (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009), can be decreased when managing the teams
integration. In addition to that, managing communication at this level helps in developing
conceptual understanding of the problems, which can be problematic in Virtual Projects (Ebrahim et
al., 2009), through Managing and Controlling Communication PMBoK activities. These activities
aim, among other things, to minimize the probability of having inadequate communication between
the project stakeholders which is an issue for both Virtual and Co-located teams.
38
4.3.3 Initiating a Project

The purpose of this process (IP) is to create a solid base for starting the actual project work that
ensures that everything that should be done to start a potentially successful project is available and
understood before committing to substantial time, budget, and effort spend (OGC, 2009). Therefore,
the project manager in this process is required to deliver some products that will enable moving the
project forward towards the next processes through arranging a contract between the Project
Manager and the Project Board. This contract is called Project Initiation Document in PRINCE2,
and is equivalent to PMBoKs Project Management Plan plus Project Scope.
4.3.3.1 Initiating a Project Overview

Figure 7 shows an overview of the IP Process where all of its activities are done at the Project Level
of Management.
Figure 7 - Overview of Initiating a Project process in the proposed methodology
39
In the above figure, four activities are adopted from PRINCE2 while the rest are adopted from
PMBoK. Among all the processes of the proposed methodology, the largest presence of PMBoK in
one process is in the IP.
4.3.3.2 Incorporating PRINCE2 and PMBoK (Activities)

The result of matching all PMBoK activities with PRINCE2 IP Process is shown in the below table.
Noticeably, the number of activities is high because the Planning Process Group in PMBoK, which
is comprised of more than half (24) of the PMBoK activities, is directly matched to the IP
Processes.
PRINCE2 Processes

Develop Project Management Plan
Plan Scope Management
Collect Requirements
Define Scope
Create WBS
Plan Schedule Management
Define Activities
Sequence Activities
Estimate Activity resources
Estimate Activity Durations
Develop Schedule
Plan Cost Management
Estimate Costs
Determine Budget
Plan Quality Management
Plan Communications Management
Plan Risk Management
Identify Risks
Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis
Plan Risk Responses
Plan Procurement Management
Plan Stakeholder Management
Table 10 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Directing a project process
Table 10 shows the PMBoK activities that can be matched to Initiating a Project process of
PRINCE2 that includes 8 activities. The comparison between the 8 PRINCE2 activities with the
processes mentioned in the table reveals that 6 out of the 8 activities are covered by PMBoK.
Therefore, the grouping approach for the IP process, for most of the activities, is comprised of
differentiation between the PRINCE2 activities and the activities mentioned in the table 10, to
choose one of them exclusively.
As displayed earlier, literature comparing PRINCE2 and PMBoK indicates that PMBoK is stronger
or more comprehensive when it comes to risk management, quality assurance, and communication
40
strategy (Bell 2009, Yeong 2012, Chin & Spowage 2010 b, Project Plus Group 2008, Siegelaub
2009). Whereas PRINCE2 offers broader perspective on the business aspects of the project
especially business case - based decision making, configuration management and documentation
(Bell 2009, Yeong 2012, Siegelaub 2009). Moreover, the knowledge areas are more comprehensive
than the themes which are roughly matched with each other and thus, the Knowledge Areas are
favored in the proposed methodology especially Cost and Time Management Areas of Knowledge
versus the theme Plans.
Based on the previous paragraph, the PRINCE2 Project Initiation Document product is favored over
PMBoKs product Project Management Plan, and this was the reason for preferring project brief
over project charter in the SU Process. Having said that, the PRINCE2 activities that are adopted in
this proposed methodology are: Prepare Configuration Management Strategy, Set up Project
Controls, Create the Project Plan, Refine Business Case, and Assemble PID. While the PMBoK
activities that are offset by PRINCE2 activities are: Develop Project Management Plan, Plan Scope
Management, and Define Scope.
On the other hand, three of the PRINCE2 activities: Prepare Risk Management Strategy, Prepare
Quality Management Strategy, and Prepare Communication Plan are replaced by the following
PMBoK activities: Plan Quality Management, Plan Risk Management, Identify Risks, Perform
Qualitative Risk Analysis, Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis, Plan Risk Responses, and Plan
Communications Management.
Going back to table 10, the activity Collect Requirement is a part of the Project Scope Management
Area of Knowledge and according to both the rationale used in this thesis and to theory (Siegelaub
2009) should be omitted in the proposed methodology. Yet, a close look at this activity reveals that
the requirements of all who are considered by PMBoK as Stakeholders are to be collected. Since
PMBoKs view about stakeholders is adapted in the proposed methodology, then the Collect
Requirements would be a relevant activity at the IP process that complements the stakeholders
engagement procedure in the proposed methodology. In the same vein, Plan Stakeholder
Management is also adopted and hereby, all the Project Stakeholder Management Area of
Knowledge is discussed and adopted in the proposed methodology.
Work Breakdown Structure, is a common between PRINCE2 and PMBoK which their aggregation
is considered synergistic (Yeong 2012). For this particular activity, the author prefers combining the
two activities from PRINCE2 and PMBoK rather than viewing them as mutually exclusive
activities and thence adopting only one of them. The context of this activity is based on PRINCE2
as a part of creating the Project Plan activity whereas the tools and techniques are adopted as-is
from the PMI (2013:128-31).
Finally, the Plan Procurement Management activity is also adopted from PMBoK since
procurement is not within the scope by PRINCE2 however, it is recommended by PRINCE2 that
the procurement can be part of the initiation stage (OGC2009:226)

The following table shows the activities adopted from PMBoK in the IP process, their products, and
the responsibilities of each:
41
Activity
Product
Responsibilities
Collect Requirements
Requirements Documentation
(PMI 2013:117)
Requirements Traceability Matrix
(PMI 2013:118)
WBS + WBS Dictionary (PMI
2013:132)
Schedule Management Plan (PMI
2013:148)
Activity List (PMI 2013:152)
Activity Attributes (PMI
2013:153)
Milestone List (PMI 2013:153)
Project Manager(P)
Project Board(R)
Project Manager(P)
Project Board(R)
Project Manager(P)
Create WBS
Plan Schedule
Management
Define Activities
Sequence Activities
Estimate Activity
resources
Estimate Activity
Durations
Develop Schedule
Plan Cost
Management
Estimate Costs
Determine Budget
Plan Quality
Management
Plan Communications
Management
Plan Risk
Management
Identify Risks
Activity Resource
Requirements(PMI 2013:165)
Resource Breakdown
Structure(PMI 2013:165)
Activity Duration Estimates(PMI
2013:172)
Schedule Baseline(PMI 2013:181)
Project Schedule(PMI 2013:182)
Schedule Data(PMI 2013:184)
Project Calendars (PMI 2013:184)
Cost Management Plan(PMI
2013:198)
Activity Cost Estimates(PMI
2013:207)
Basis of Estimates(PMI 2013:207)
Cost Baseline (PMI 2013:212)
Project Funding
Requirements(PMI 2013:214)
Quality Management Plan(PMI
2013:241)
Process Improvement Plan(PMI
2013:241)
Quality Metrics(PMI 2013:242)
Quality Checklists(PMI
2013:242)
Communications Management
Plan(PMI 2013:296)
Risk Management Plan(PMI
2013:316)
Risk Register (PMI 2013:327)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Board(A)
Project Manager(P)
Project Board (R)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Board(A)
Project Manager(P)
Project Board (A)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Board (A)
Project Manager(P)
Project Board(A)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Board(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
42
Perform Qualitative
Risk Analysis
Perform Quantitative
Risk Analysis
Risk Register
Plan Risk Responses
Risk Register
Risk Management Plan
Plan Procurement
Management
Procurement Management
Plan(PMI 2013:366)
Procurement Statement of
Work(PMI 2013:367)
Procurement Documents(PMI
2013:368)
Source Selection Criteria(PMI
2013:368)
Make-or-Buy Decisions(PMI
2013:370)
Issue Register
Stakeholder Management
Plan(PMI 2013:403)
Plan Stakeholder
Management
Risk Register
Risk Management Plan
Project Board(R)
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Board(R)
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Board(R)
Project Manager(P)
Project Board(A)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Team Manager(R)
Project Manager(P)
Project Board(A)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(U)
Project Board (P)
Table 11- Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Initiating a Project Process
In keeping with PRINCE2 guidelines, the major player in this process is the Project Manager. The
Project Manager is responsible for creating or approving the prime products of each PRINCE2
activity as well as the proposed methodology activities except for Plan Stakeholder Management. In
accordance to the classification made in the previous processes, the Project Board is held
responsible to activities that are related to stakeholders management. Planning stakeholder
management is the process of providing action plans for engaging the stakeholders effectively (PMI
2013). This is done through identifying how will they affect the project and how will the project
affect them. Such identification seems to be very harmonious with the idea presented previously
regarding the intervention of project board with the management of stakeholders. Additionally,
Stakeholder management is about creation and maintenance of relationships between the project
team and stakeholders (PMI, 2013:400). No room for doubt is left regarding the responsibility of
plan Stakeholder Engagement as it is explicitly congruent to one of the roles of the project board in
PRINCE2 as prescribed in (OGC, 2009:33, 34). The planning of stakeholder management takes
data as input whether from the PID or Stakeholder Register. In this vein, the author recommends a
that the output of Collect Requirements should be used as an input to planning stakeholder
management in addition to the existing data flow available in PMI(2013:111). Using the same
arguments about the management of stakeholders, the Project Board is responsible for developing
the Communication Plan. According to PMBoK, the Communication Plan the process of
developing an appropriate approach and plan for project communications based on stakeholders
information needs and requirements, and available organizational assets (PMI2013:289).
43

The nature of the project affects directly the activities of the IP process. That is, initiating a Virtual
Project is different than initiating a co-located project in many aspects. The guidelines offered by
PRINCE2 at the IP Process support Virtual Projects in: first, preparing essential baseline products
that gain additional importance in geographically dispersed projects such as Communication
Management Strategy, Risk Plan, etc Second, PRINCE2 recommends best practices that focus on
placing the plans within the business context through its business case approach. On the other hand,
PMBoK provides detailed tools and techniques for development of plans. Many of these techniques
are useful in Virtual Project context. Based on this, the IP Process in the proposed methodology
supports the Virtual Projects through: first, providing detailed tools and techniques for planning and
second, keeping these tools within the business scope of the organization.
Communication Management Strategy is produced at this process that dilutes the effect of the
following Communication-related Virtual Projects issues: ineffective communication, special
communication skills (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009), and the additional challenge to the explicit transfer
of knowledge (Reed & Knight, 2009).
Technology related issues are also addressed at this process. These issues include additional costs of
distant offices (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009) and challenges of determining the proper technology to be
used (Ebrahim et al., 2009). Moreover, several issues related to the Project Process and
Management are tackled in this process. During planning, the rewarding systems, the things to be
reinforced in formal processes, and the sequence of activities are determined. Also, the negative
effect of some Cultural issues is minimized and even reversed in this process through providing best
practices for scheduling and for planning stakeholders engagement who belong to a diversity of
cultures.
4.3.4 Controlling a Stage

Controlling a Stage (CS) is the PRINCE2 process that implements and controls the PRINCE2
principle: Manage by Stage which is equivalent to PMBoKs concept of Managing by Phase. CS
process is iterated for each Stage/Phase in order to allocate the tasks for the Project Team allowing
the work to start. The work is monitored at this process in order to ensure that risks and issues are
kept under control. Also, this process guides the Project Manager in keeping the flow of the project
within the tolerances and upholding the principle of Continued Business Justification.
4.3.4.1 Controlling a Stage Overview

Figure 8 shows an overview of the CS stage in the proposed methodology.
44
Figure 8 - Overview of Controlling a Stage process in the proposed methodology
The CS process in the proposed methodology consists of five PMBoK activities and five PRINCE2
activities.

The first stage in the CS process starts after the IP process is totally completed. In the IP process,
the foundation for starting a project is established and therefore, the control approach is already
tackled and therefore, all the activities of this process can be thought of as the implementation of the
strategies that are set in the IP.
PRINCE2 Processes
Controlling a Stage

Monitor and Control Project Work
45
Control Scope
Control Schedule
Control Costs
Control Quality
Control Risks
Control Procurements
Perform Integrated Change
Table 12 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Controlling a Stage process
Table 12 shows the PMBoK project management processes that are matched to CS process. Control
is one of the common processes between PRINCE2 and PMBoK which makes matching the
activities from both guidelines in this process relatively evident. The approach followed by the
author in finding the activities for this process is different than the previous processes due to the
type of relation between the activities of the CS and IS processes. Judging whether the PMBoK
activities are adopted in the proposed methodology or not is based on the adopted activities in the IS
process. Whilst the PRINCE2 activities in the proposed methodology are: all the existing activities
which do not overlap with the selected PMBoK activities. Having identified the criteria for activity
selection, it is obvious that Scope Control and Perform Integrated Change Control are not adopted
in the proposed methodology since PRINCE2 approach for change and scope are favored over
PMBoKs approach. Likewise, the approach of PMBoK in controlling the following is favored over
PRINCE2: Schedule, Costs, Quality, Risks, and Procurement.
The remaining Project Management Process/activity after these straight-forward deductions is
Monitor and Control Project Work which corresponds to Review the Stage Status in PRINCE2. For
this particular activity, the judgment is solely based on the authors opinion which forms the rest of
this paragraph: in spite of the differences in the naming convention between PRINCE2 and PMBoK
in these activities, both are highly detailed, extremely close to each other, and contain a set of good
and best practices for Virtual Projects. The justification for these similarities is by claiming that
monitoring and controlling the project work against the predefined plans is one of the axiomatic
activities in any project management guideline and therefore, no further investigation for this
activity is needed. A project manager should be aware of this activity as described by both
PRINCE2 and PMBoK.
Having adopted the activities for this process from PMBoK, the corresponding PRINCE2 activities
that are replaced in the proposed methodology can be deduced. The activities that PRINCE2
classify as Issues are replaced by PMBoK. Therefore, the proposed methodology does not contain
the following activities: Capture and examine issues and risks, escalate issues and risks, and
take corrective action.

Since the activities of the CS process are planned in advance in the IP process then, one can deduce
that almost no new products are to be created in this process.
Activity
Product
Responsibilities
Control Schedule
Project Manager(U)
46
Control Costs
Control Quality
Control Risks
Control Procurements
Issue Register
Issue Register
Issue Register
Quality Register
Issue Register
Issue Register
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Project Manager(U)
Table 13- Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Controlling a Stage Process
A closer look at each of the adopted controlling activity from PMBoK reveals similarity in the name
of the outputs produced. Work performance information is a collection of documents produced
during the project life intended to generate decisions, actions, or awareness (PMI 2013:93).
PMBoK does not offer templates for these documents but rather a suggested list of items that these
documents can contain. On the other hand, all the control activities can generate what PMBoK calls
Change Request. The concept Issue is used in PRINCE2 and the proposed methodology instead
of Change Request. Each control activity that results in a variation from the planned tolerances
triggers issue rising. The issues are dealt with according to PRINCE2 classification i.e. request for
change, off-specification, and problem/concern.

In the CS process, the work of the team is allocated, received, monitored, and controlled. Therefore,
this process is significantly affected when the nature of the project is Virtual. Virtual Projects can
benefit from PRINCE2 in keeping the authorized worked package within the planned scope and
ensuring that tolerances are not violated. Virtual Projects can also utilize the various controlling
techniques provided by PMBoK.
Communication might not be performed according to the plans set and this can be sometimes due to
technology resource limitations (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009) or to variety of practices (Ebrahim et al.,
2009). These Communication, Technology, and Culture related issues are discovered when
monitoring and controlling the project work. However the main category of issues that is tackled by
this process is the Project Process and Management. According to Kuruppuarachchi (2009), quality
control, supervision, and monitoring become more difficult in Virtual Projects. The assessment and
recognition of performance also becomes more difficult (Kirkman et al., 2002). These issues are
within the scope of the CS process that provides several advices on how to avoid them.
47
4.3.5 Managing Product Delivery

Managing Product Delivery (MP) process is the process in which the link between the Project
Manager and Team Manager is controlled. In PRINCE2, this process interacts with CS process and
is isolated from the rest of the stages.
4.3.5.1 Managing Product Delivery Overview

The MP Process interacts only with the CS process in the proposed methodology as well as in
PRINCE2 are shown in figure 9
Figure 9 - Overview of Managing Product Delivery process in the proposed methodology
48
The four activities from PMBoK that are adopted in the MP process do not interact with the CS
process. The decisions that lead to this overview are discussed next.

Matching the PMBoK Project Management Processes with the MP process would have been much
easier if PMBoK assigns roles and responsibilities but anyhow, the table below shows the matching
as suggested by the author.
PRINCE2 Processes
Managing Product
Delivery

Direct and Manage Project Work
Perform Quality Assurance
Develop Project Team
Manage Project Team
Conduct Procurements
Table 14 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Managing Product Delivery process
Based on the work done in matching the activities of PRINCE2 and PMBoK that are related to the
IP process, Direct and Manage Project Work is not adopted in the proposed methodology. Also,
since PMBoKs approach for managing quality is favored and since PRINCE2 do not cover
procurements then Perform Quality Assurance, and Conduct Procurements are adopted. As for
the two remaining PMBoK Project Management Processes, Developing and Managing Project
Team, these are not covered by PRINCE2 yet the benefit of such activities especially in a Virtual
environment is not arguable. However, the decision to place these activities under MP process is
arguable. The author is aware that the aim and purpose of the MP process as prescribed by
PRINCE2 do not cover the process of improving competences of the team members or appraising
the performance of the team but at the same time both activities should be adopted. The approach
used to find the proper process for these activities is comparing them against the purpose of each
process and then choosing the most relevant. A first look reveals that both are totally irrelevant to
all processes except the CS and MP. Both CS and MP processes are iterative however; CS is
repeated for each stage while MP is repeated with each work package. This means that the
frequency of MP is more than CS and that is desired in the Virtual Teams. Yet, this is not a decisive
factor. CS views Managing Product Delivery views the project from the Team Manager's
perspective, while the Controlling a Stage process views it from the Project Manager's perspective
(OGC 2009:185). Therefore the choice for assigning any activity to the MP Process instead of CS
process depends on who is responsible for executing them.
PRINCE2 activities of the MP process do not overlap with the selected activities from PMBoK.
Therefore, the following activities are also a part of the MP process: Accept a Work Package,
Execute a Work Package, and "Deliver a Work Package.

The author argues that since (1)PMBoK does not assign roles and responsibilities, and (2)PMBoK
does not recognize the Team Manager level of management, and (3)uses Project Manager instead
of it and since PRINCE2 and the proposed methodology, on the contrary, recognizes the Team
49
Manager level of management then assigning activities from PMBoK to PRINCE2 MP process is
not straight forward. Consequently, the approach followed by the author is to compare the activities
with the role of a Team Manager as identified earlier to see the relevance of these activities to his
roles.
Activity
Product
Responsibilities
Perform Quality
Assurance
Develop Project Team
Issue Register
Quality Register
Team Performance Assessments
Issue Register
Lessons log
Team Plan
Selected Sellers
Agreements
Resource Calendars
Issue Register
Team Manager(U)
Team Manager(U)
Team Manager(P)
Team Manager(U)
Team Manager(U)
Team Manager(U)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(P)
Project Manager(U)
Manage Project Team

Conduct Procurements
Table 15- Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Managing Product Delivery Process
The major player in this process is the Team Manager. Provided next, the characteristics of each
activity which make it germane to the role of Team Manager:
First, Perform Quality Assurance is an execution process that aims at implementing the planned
quality plan. Ensuring quality of the products is one of the responsibilities of the Team Manager
(see section 4.6.2). Second, the activities of Developing and Managing Project Team aim at
increasing the competences of the team in order to enhance and optimize the project performance
which is in the core of a Team Managers responsibilities (OGC 2009).

The MP process is one of the most concerned processes with Virtual Projects since it controls the
link between the Project Manager and the Project Team. Virtual Projects can use PRINCE2 to get
recommendation of best practices for work packages that ensures proper cooperation between the
Project and the Team Manager. The collaboration between these two levels of management is
ensured by PRINCE2 through guidelines for proper communication between them which first,
creates common understanding for the specifications and tolerances of the work packages and
second, facilitates capturing and addressing possible issues. Virtual Projects can, on the other hand,
use PMBoK to apply tools and techniques that deals with development of the project team.
Based on this, the Communication Virtual Project issue declared by Reed & Knight (2009), i.e.
insufficient knowledge transfer is tackled in this process. Moreover, the process helps in bypassing
the following Cultural issues: self-motivation and self-judgment demand from team members
(Kuruppuarachchi, 2009), balancing interpersonal skills of the members (Kirkman et al., 2002), and
the variety of thought process among team members (Ebrahim et al., 2009). Furthermore, the
recommendations in this process for managing the interaction between the Project and Team
Managers help in overcoming the struggle with creating synergy (Kirkman et al., 2002). In addition
to this Project Process and Management related issue, other issues belonging to this category are
50
also addressed at this process such as: recognizing the workload, measuring progress, and
developing skills of team members (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009). Finally, the recommendations of this
process that are picked from PRINCE2 and PMBoK resolve some socialization related problems
such as feelings of detachment and isolation. (Kirkman et al., 2002)
4.3.6 Managing a Stage Boundary

Managing a Stage Boundary (SB) is the process through which the transition between the end of
each management stage and the next stage is managed. The transition occurs after the Project Board
is provided with sufficient information that enables them to ensure the success of the previous stage,
confirm continued business justification, and to confirm plans of the next stage.
4.3.6.1 Managing a Stage Boundary Overview
Figure 10 - Overview of Managing a Stage Boundary process in the proposed methodology
Figure 10 shows an overview of the SB process in the proposed methodology. This overview is
very similar to PRINCE2s overview of its SB process.
51

The concept of managing by phase is used PMBoK, yet the phases/stages are neither covered by
PMBoK Process Groups nor by the Knowledge Areas. Therefore, the PMBoK Project Management
Processes are matched to the SB process based on the practices they contain instead of the Process
Group of the Knowledge Area it belongs to.
PRINCE2 Processes
Managing a Stage
Boundary
PMBoK Project Management

Processes
Close Project or Phase
Validate Scope
Close Procurements
Table 16 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Managing a Stage Boundary process
The above table shows three PMBoK Project Management Processes that are relevant to the SB
process. From table 16, the Activity of Validating Scope should not be adopted in the proposed
methodology since Scope Management approach of PRINCE2 is adopted. Whereas Close
Procurements should be adopted since procurement is adopted as-is from PMBoK. As for Close
Project or Phase, this activity is mandatory in both PMBoK and PRINCE2 however, PRINCE2
describes the best practices of this activity in two different processes (SB and Closing a Project).
For this reason, the closing activities, whether closing a Project or a Stage/Phase) are adapted from
PRINCE2.

Activity
Product
Responsibilities
Project Manager(P)
Closed Procurements
Closed Procurements(PMI2013:
389)
Lessons Log
Project Manager(U)
Table 17- Responsibilities of the adopted PMBoK activities in the Managing a Stage Boundary Process
Close Procurements is an activity that documents the completion of each procurement which in
projects that are managed by stages closes the procurement(s) applicable to that phase of the
project. Unresolved claims may be subject to litigation after closure. (PMI2013: 387)

The deeds of the SB Process are not remarkably altered when the project being managed is Virtual.
However, PRINCE2 provide some guidelines that can be useful in Virtual Project context such as
things to be reviewed (which plans, team performance, risk register, issues raised etc), and what
is essential to be documented in this stage. PMBoK on the contrary, is particularly week in this
process and does not provide evident support for managing Virtual Projects. Examples of issues that
are tackled in this process: loss of clear vision of the objectives and different working habits
(Kuruppuarachchi, 2009).
52
4.3.7 Closing a Project

Closing a Project (CP) is the process in which the product(s) of the project are confirmed and
thereafter transitioned back to the organization.
4.3.7.1 Closing a Project Overview
Figure 11 - Overview of Closing a Project process in the proposed methodology (OGC, 2009:205)
The following overview is taken from PRINCE2 which implies that the CP is the only process in
the proposed methodology that has no trace of PMBoK.

PRINCE2 Processes
Closing a Project
PMBoK Project Management

Processes
Close Project or Phase
Table 18 - PMBoK activities that belongs to Closing a project process
PMBoK covers this stage with the Project Management Process discussed earlier Close Project or
a Phase. The underlying difference between PMBoK and PRINCE2 is that the latter dedicated a
whole Process for closing while closing in PMBoK is dealt with as an activity. In a Virtual Project,
there is a higher probability for a premature closure of the project. Also, the evaluation of the
project and lessons learned gain more importance in the Virtual Projects if compared to co-located
53
projects. Therefore, the closing of a project in the proposed methodology follows the PRINCE2
approach in closing the project.

CP process does not differ in its features between projects with co-located or geographically
isolated teams. All what can be used by PRINCE2 and PMBoK are the guidelines that are related to
learning from the experience which forms a priceless input for any possible future Virtual Project in
the organization.
54
5. Discussion
This master thesis poses two research questions and answers them through a proposed combination
of PRINCE2 and PMBoK in a way that fits the Virtual Projects. This proposition, presented in
sections 4.2.6 and 4.3, attempts to tackle various issues and challenges that might face a Virtual
Team. Also, section 4.3 is consolidated with recommendations from both the literature research and
the authors view point. The following chapter reflects on the topics just mentioned in this
paragraph discussing how the proposed methodology can be compared with other existing
researches, and the key decisions made in combining PRINCE2 and PMBoK.
In answering the first research question (how can PRINCE2 and PMBoK be combined), literature
research is conducted in order to find existing efforts in this regards. The representative literature
research reveals the existence of comparisons and elements matching between PRINCE2 and
PMBoK and shows up the lack of a comprehensive methodology for combining them. One of the
contributions of this master thesis is proposing an approach for creating and documenting a hybridmethodology. In developing this approach, the author matches the Project Management Processes
of PMBoK with PRINCE2 Processes. Yeong (2012) proposes a different approach which is based
on matching each PMBoK Process Group with PRINCE2 processes. To compare the results of
these two approaches, Tables can be twisted to create a table on par with the approach of Yeong
(2012).
As presented earlier, the Project Management Processes are categorized into Process Groups in
PMBOK. The first and second columns in the table below are produced by replacing the PMBoK
Project Management Process with its corresponding PMBoK Process Group and categorizing the
result according to PMBoK Process Groups. While the third column is taken from table 5 which is
made by Yeong (2012:11)
PMBOK Process
Groups
PRINCE2 Processes
(Proposed Methodology)
PRINCE2 Processes
(Yeong, 2012)
Initiating Process Group
Planning Process Group
Directing a Project
Directing a Project
Controlling a Stage
Directing a Project
Executing Process
Group
Monitoring &
Controlling Process
Group
Closing Process Group

Closing a Project

Directing a Project
Controlling a Stage
Closing a Project
Table 19 - Comparison between the proposed methodology and Yeong (2012) in matching PMBoK Process Groups against
PRINCE2 Processes
55
Table 19 shows the matching of each PMBoK Process Group with PRINCE2 processes for the
proposed methodology and Yeong (2012). Among all PMBoK Process Groups, only the Closing
Process Group has the same correspondence with PRINCE2 processes in both approaches. Before
discussing the differences in the rest of the Process Groups, two general causes for them should not
be neglected: first, Yeong (2012) is based on PMI (2008) while the proposed methodology is based
on PMI (2013). Second, the proposed methodology takes into consideration the virtual nature of the
projects while the approach of Yeong (2012) is generic. Other causes for the differences between
Yeong (2012) and the proposed methodology for each PMBoK Process Group are discussed below.
The Initiating Process Group is related to Directing a Project Process by Yeong (2012). The Project
Management Processes of the Initiating Process Group, Identify Stakeholders and Develop Project
Charter, are the same in PMI (2013: 61) and PMI (2008:43). Knowing that Yeong (2012) does not
argue for the matching choices, the author believes that Directing a Project Process is placed in this
position as a result of adopting the PMBoK context. On the contrary, the author outweighs
PRINCE2 context for processes and activities and argues for this in section 4.2.1.1. Another
consequence of adopting the context of activities from PRINCE2 is making the PMBoK Project
Management Process: Plan Human Resource Management and activity of the Staring up a Project
Process. This explains the difference between Yeong (2012) and the proposed methodology in
relating the Planning Process Group to PRINCE2 processes.
A third consequence of adopting the context of activities from PRINCE2 is setting Acquire Project
Team as an activity of the Starting Up a Project Process which is one cause of the difference in the
Executing Process Group. Directing a Project Process in the proposed methodology is related to
Executing Process Group due to the roles of the Project Board suggested by the author in managing
both Communications and Stakeholder Engagement. On the contrary, Yeong (2012) reckons that
Managing a Stage Boundary Process is related to the Executing Process Group. The author
propounds that although it is difficult to guess the justification of this decision by Yeong (2012) yet,
a possible cause of this decision might be a PMBoK Project Management Process that exists only in
PMI (2008) called Distribute Information which is performed throughout the entire project life
cycle and in all management processes (PMI, 2008:258)
Yeong (2012) relates Managing Product Delivery Process to the Monitoring and Controlling
Process Group. The author could not find a reasonable justification for this decision especially that
Yeong (2012) declares that Managing Product Delivery Process is about placing formal
requirements on accepting, executing and delivering project work (Yeong, 2012:4). Whereas the
author deems that using this declaration, Managing Product Delivery Process and all of its activities
are totally within the scope of the Executing Process Group and is out of the scope of the
Monitoring and Controlling Process Group.
From a different aspect, PRINCE2 is heavy on documentation (Wideman, 2002) and it is sometimes
criticized for this. In the light of the research done in this master thesis, the author confides that
PMBoK can be even heavier on documentation. Each process activity in PRINCE2 creates,
modifies, and/or issues a definite number of documents which have templates provided by the
OGC. The problem with the documentation of PRINCE2 according to Wideman (2002) is the
unclear sequence of the governing documents, i.e. baseline documents. However, the problems with
PMBoK documentation, according to the author, are (1) unavailability of templates and (2) the
existence of loose documents. The absence of templates can lead to underrating or overrating the
56
content of the documentation product causing them to either contain insufficient information or to
be heavier than it should be. Whereas the term loose documents in this perspective is used to
denote the output documents of PMBoKs Project Management Processes that have indefinite
number and content. Examples of these documents from PMI (2013) are Project Documents and
Organizational Process Assets. Both are groups of documentation that are composed of a
suggested list of documents that is not limited. PMBoK widely recommends updating these groups
suggesting boundless list of documents to be updated. Like most of the components of PMBoK,
these groups are subject to tailoring without any specified roles and responsibilities which is quite
the reverse of PRINCE2. Consequently, the documentation approach of PRINCE2 is more
pragmatic than the PMBoKs approach due to its defined number, templates, and responsibilities.
The proposed methodology combines the documentation drawbacks of PRINCE2 and PMBoK. The
approach used in the proposed methodology favors the PRINCE2 documents over their comparable
PMBoK documents. However, the documents of the adopted PMBoK Project Management
Processes that have no similar documents in PRINCE2 are adopted in this methodology. Hence, the
documentation in the proposed methodology is heavier than in PRINCE2 and inherits the same
problems from PMBoK.
Moreover, the aim of combining PRINCE2 and PMBoK is to suggest a methodology that combines
the best of both in managing Virtual Projects. From this angle, the proposed methodology adopts
the four level of management of PRINCE2. The roles and responsibilities of three levels are
modified in the proposed methodology to support the managing process of the Virtual Projects.
First, the responsibilities of the Project Board are extended to include six activities from PMBoK.
These activities are related to the Communication and Stakeholders Areas of Knowledge. For
executing these activities, the Project Board in the proposed methodology is active in the SU, DP,
and IP processes unlike in PRINCE2 where it is active only in the DP process. These decisions are
viewed as hypotheses that should be tested for viability. However, the aim of assigning the
responsibilities of these Areas of Knowledge to the Project Board is to give an additional dimension
for managing the Virtual Projects taking into consideration that both Communication and
Stakeholders gain additional importance in the geographically dispersed teams.
Second, the proposed methodology adopts PMBoK activities that are proven by literature to be
stronger than its competitors in PRINCE2. Examples of these activities are those related to Cost,
Quality, and Risk Knowledge Areas. From this aspect, these activities provide the Project Manager
with stronger and more comprehensive tools in managing yet other areas in the project that are
augmented in the Virtual Projects.
Third, the Team Management level is also supported by adopted PMBoK activities. One of the
Knowledge Ares of PMBoK is Team. PMBoK gives common best practices for managing and
developing teams. These best practices are adopted and assigned to the Team Manager in the
proposed methodology.
Eventually, the framework of PRINCE2, which is adopted in the proposed methodology, is
reinforced by PMBoK in the Areas where the latter is stronger. This reinforcement is accompanied
by a proposed roles and responsibilities assignment with the intention of supporting the
management process of Virtual Projects at three different levels of management.
57
Another point to notice is that the majority of roles and responsibilities of PMBoK activities are
assigned to Project Manager. This result is foreseeable since PMBoK views the Project Manager as
the link between the strategy and the team (PMI 2013:17) who is ultimately responsible for
achieving the project objectives. As a result, PMBoK sets focus on the competencies that the
Project Manager should acquire to manage a project successfully (Chin & Spowage, 2010b).
Now that the methodology is proposed, the topic mentioned in the introduction of this master thesis
regarding the size of intersection between PRINCE2 and PMBoK in the proposed methodology can
be deduced. The number of activities adopted from PMBoK is greater than those adopted from
PRINCE2. Yet PMBoK can only be traced in the activities and their corresponding products in the
proposed methodology. Meanwhile, PRINCE2 can be traced in the processes, management levels,
as well as some activities and their corresponding products. The author herby claims that generally,
the majority of elements adopted from PRINCE2 are not tailor-friendly contrarily to the adopted
PMBoK elements that are more subject to tailoring. Having said that, one can conclude that in the
proposed methodology:
There is a positive correlation between the size of the project and the size of PMBoK traces
The size of PRINCE2 traces is, to a certain extent, the fixed regardless of the size of the
project.
The support and input of the various divisions within the organization is needed to ensure a
successful adoption of the methodology (McHugh and Hogan, 2010:643)
Applying this methodology requires involving people and convincing them with its advantages.
This is reinforced by the findings of McHugh & Hogan (2010) who concluded that the support and
input of the various divisions within the organization is needed to ensure a successful adoption of
the methodology (McHugh & Hogan, 2010:643). Getting the support and inputs from various
divisions and stakeholders requires a strong change management because if people can see that
using a structured project management methodology to manage change delivers significant
benefits, then they will be more inclined to use that methodology(Clarke 2000: 142). The proposed
methodology assigns the management of stakeholders to the Project Board in order to utilize its
authorities to facilitate the process of accepting the proposed methodology.
Having discussed the issues regarding current stance of the proposed methodologies, it seems
reasonable to end the discussion by a couple of issues with future perspective. Second to last, all the
components of the proposed methodology should be subject to further examining and testing.
Further testing would, expectedly, reveal errors and suggest improvements in combining PRINCE2
and PMBoK. Lastly, the study should be totally revised when any new version of PRINCE2 or
PMBoK is published. This claim by the author is supported by the fact that both Yeong (2012:11)
and Project Plus Group (2008:3) contain a table that maps the processes of PMBoK against
PRINCE2 where different versions of PRINCE2 are used and the results are poles apart.
58
6. Conclusion
As presented in the introduction, Virtual Projects are becoming more relevant in our business world.
There are several benefits and challenges associated with Virtual Projects. On the other hand,
PRINCE2 and PMBoK are considered among the most popular project management guidelines.
Several researchers suggest using a combined approach of PRINCE2 and PMBoK. This drew the
attention of the author to ask: how could they be combined in a single methodology that utilizes the
best of both worlds to run Virtual Projects?
The author exploits the following factors in order to find a potential answer for this question
PRINCE2 is a methodology while PMBoK is not,

both PRINCE2 and PMBoK should be tailored, and
the research approach that views the elements of the proposed methodology as hypotheses
that needs to be tested
The answer is represented in figure 12.
59
Figure 12 - The process model of the proposed methodology
Figure 12 shows the complete Process Model of the proposed methodology. Reflecting on the
Process Model, one can conclude that the framework of the proposed methodology is close to
PRINCE2 whereas PMBoK can be strongly depicted in the activities of the processes. Moreover,
each process tackles, using guidelines from both PRINCE2 and PMBoK, issues and challenges of
60
Virtual Projects. Furthermore, Virtual Projects can utilize the best practices recommended by
proposed methodology on three levels of management i.e. Direction, Management, and Delivery.
61
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PRINCE2 and PMBoK: Towards a Hybrid Methodology

for Managing Virtual Projects

Supervisor: Per Svejvig, Associate Professor, PhD

4.2.1 Grouping Point of Departure ........................................................................................................................... 22

1.2 Problem Statement

1.3.2 Project Management

1.3.3 Project Management Methodology (PMM)

More details about methodology are provided in sections 3.2

1.3.4 Virtual Teams

1.3.5 Virtual Projects

1.3.6 Hybrid Methodology

1.4 Thesis Scope

Figure 1 - Current Relationship between PRINCE2, PMBoK, and Virtual Projects

There is a spacious intersection between PRINCE2 and PMBoK

Figure 2 - To Be Relationship between PRINCE2, PMBoK, and Virtual Projects

The following are some notes about the above figure:

1.5 Thesis Structure

2.1 Philosophy of Science

2.2 Overall Methodological Approach

2.3.1 General Delimitation

2.3.2 Research Question Delimitation

2.4 The Data

2.5 Validity and Reliability

More flexibility on working hours for employees

Creation of opportunities for employees in remote offices

Business process level:

Improved business processes and cross-functional and cross-divisional interactions in the

3.1.3 Categories of Issues

Various literature regarded communication to be a challenge in a virtual environment ex.

3.1.4 Dimensions of successful Virtual Projects

Moreover, the leader of communication in successful Virtual Projects, usually, provides

3.1.5 Virtual Projects and Project Stages

Monitoring and controlling

3.1.6 Practiced Practices

3.2 Project Management Methodology Essentials:

3.3 PRINCE2 and PMBoK

Figure 3 - Basic Structure of PRINCE2 (Verax, 2009)

Weaver, Patrick is a member of PMI since 1986

4. Best Practices for Managing Virtual Projects

4.1 The Role and Relevance of Best Practices in Project Management

4.2 Grouping PRINCE2 and PMBoK

4.2.2 Matching PRINCE2 with PMBoK

Comparable PRINCE2 Themes

Combined Processes and Themes, Change

Table 3 - Mapping Knowledge Areas against Themes (Siegelaub, 2009:2)

PMBOK Knowledge PRINCE2: Principles / Themes / Processes

Project Human Resource

[Themes]: Organization, Plans, Change, Progress

Table 4 - Mapping Knowledge Areas against PRINCE2 Element (Yeong, 2012:9-10)

4.2.2.2 PMBoK Process Groups with PRINCE2 Processes

PMBOK Process Groups

Initiating Process Group

Planning Process Group

Closing Process Group

4.2.3 PMBoK areas supporting the PRINCE2 processes

4.2.4 Grouping Process

PRINCE2 Processes and PMBoK Process Groups are consistent

4.2.4.2 Proposed Methodology: Activities

4.2.4.3 Proposed Methodology: Roles

4.2.4.3 Proposed Methodology: Themes

4.2.4.5 Proposed Methodology: Principles

4.3 Best Practices by Process

Figure 4 - Keys to the overviews of the proposed methodology's processes

4.3.1 Starting Up a Project