| Project Management Doctorate of the Year

This award recognises an excellent doctoral thesis in a project management related subject. Professional doctorates are also eligible in this category.

The doctorate must have been awarded in the academic year 2022/2023. A doctoral thesis may only be entered into this category once. Entrants can be members or non-members of APM, from both in and outside of the UK.

Entries should take the form of a 1,000-word personal statement addressing the criteria below, accompanied by the full thesis as a PDF document and a supporting letter from the entrant’s supervisor and/or external examiner including confirmation that the degree has been awarded.

Congratulations to our winner...

Judges comments
Giuseppe’s study on optimism bias and its impact on estimation-based human decisions in project management presents a thorough and insightful analysis. Judges described the study as well-structured, with the findings contributing valuable knowledge to the project management domain. Recommendations for improving forecasting processes in infrastructure projects based on empirical evidence were particularly noteworthy.

Judges commented that this research lays a solid foundation for future studies in this area and underscores the importance of addressing optimism bias in project estimation effectively. The PhD research is important to the project management profession and practice and the findings are relevant and of value to academia.

Optimism bias and cost overruns: experimenting on the internal and external views in resources and time estimation

This research explores the impact of optimism bias on estimation in project management, particularly in infrastructure projects. It introduces the "Holistic view" framework, combining support and prospect theories to integrate internal and external perspectives for better forecast quality. The study involves four experiments with 231 participants, examining the relationship between dispositional optimism and resource overruns, the effects of optimism uplift on forecast precision, and the influence of unpacking techniques on estimations.

Results highlight the importance of experimental methods in project management, reveal new interconnections between various forecasting perspectives, and assess the effectiveness of different forecasting tools against optimism bias.

The reverse escalation of commitment: Unravelling the termination of infrastructure megaprojects during the delivery stage

The thesis challenges the traditional narrative in project studies literature that the commencement of an infrastructure megaproject is an irreversible decision.

This thesis by publications includes two research papers published in the International Journal of Project Management, multiple presentations in conferences, and the introduction of a novel theory: “The Reverse Escalation of Commitment”, which elucidates the reasons behind the abandonment of megaprojects, the circumstances leading up to such decisions, and insights into the termination process, adding significant value to project management theory and practice.

Developing a performance index to measure soft skills on construction projects: A Delphi study

The importance of performance measurement to project monitoring is well recognised in the construction industry, however project teams predominantly place emphasis on the traditional, hard indicators of project performance despite research findings that soft elements have a significant impact on project success. Soft performance indicators are given little recognition both within the key concepts of performance measurement in the academic literature and within the technical guidance from professional bodies.

The synthesis of existing concepts within this research to create a proven composite performance index for soft skills on projects presents significant contributions to both academic literature and professional practice respectively.

Development of an interpersonally grounded construction management curriculum foundation model

My thesis aims to develop a construction project management (CPM) curriculum model that focuses upon the skills/competencies contemporary CPM need to manage multi-collaborative teams.

Findings illustrate that CPM curriculum development lacks a cohesive community of practice and agenda. Furthermore, UK construction organisations are unified in their importance of key interpersonal skills required for a CPM. Although the modern CPM needs an appreciation of digital technologies, their interpersonal skills/competencies were observed to far outweigh and exceed these.

Premised upon these findings, the curriculum foundation model developed delineates that leadership, teamwork and communication are the foundational competencies CPM programmes should utilise.

Category criteria and weighting

Contribution to theory  25%

• Value to academia - The thesis should have made significant contribution to project management theory.

Research methodology and methodological rigour  25%

• Appropriate use of research methodology to the research question under investigation.

Significance to practice  25%

• Potential for practical applicability of the research or the relevance of the research to project management practice.

Potential for impact  25%

• Demonstration of dissemination activities and potential impact.