Strategy for Operational Excellence in Managing Projects: Professor Vittal Anantatmula

(October 28, 2008) Successful projects ensure that an organization attains and maintains leadership in its field by virtue of delivering, with high efficiency, products that are directly instrumental in creating desirable organizational assets. Further, sophisticated project management capabilities will facilitate a satisfactorily rapid response to changes in organizational needs during the project’s life span, thus allowing the organization to improve the product development cycle-time. Therefore, forward looking and enlightened organizations are continuously searching for more enhanced tools and techniques to improve their efficiency in managing projects.

The purpose of this research is to test a series of hypotheses linking type of the organization, project success factors, project management maturity, and project performance with an aim to develop a model for improving project performance in organizations.

A PDF version of Professor Vittal Anantatmula's presentation is available by clicking here.

The audio may be played using the controls below or may be downloaded to your mp3 player by right-clicking here.

Get Flash to see this player.

WNC Regional Economic Activity Index (REAI): Professor Inhyuck "Steve" Ha

(October 28, 2008) While most local economies have a similar structure and have been following trends similar to the national economy, it is important to identify the differences and similarities between local and national economies. In particular, some rural counties have not been integrated into state or national trends on a monthly basis. A limited analysis at the county level occurs mostly due to lack of available data. For example, gross regional product (GRP) is one of the comprehensive measures of a local economy, which can be estimated based on gross state product (GSP). However, GSP is estimated annually with a lag of a couple of years. As a result, it has been difficult to measure state or county performance in a timely fashion.

To overcome this obstacle and to measure monthly local economic activity, the regional Economic Activity Index (REAI) for Western North Carolina has been developed. It was developed to provide real time data on the region’s economic performance. It is a composite of four key indicators (employment, retail sales, real estate, and tourism) and shows changes in the level of economic activity in the 23 westernmost counties of North Carolina. Each data series is seasonally adjusted and re-scaled based on the year 2002. Then, the weighted average of all four data series is calculated to estimate the REAI for Western North Carolina’s economy. The weight is inversely related to the volatility of each data series. In other words, those data series that fluctuate widely month-to-month, contribute relatively less to the index than do the more stable data series.

A PDF version of Professor Inhyuck "Steve" Ha's presentation is available by clicking here.

The audio may be played using the controls below or may be downloaded to your mp3 player by right-clicking here.

Get Flash to see this player.

Economic Base Analysis for Western North Carolina: Dr. William "Tilt" Thompkins

On May 2, Dr. William "Tilt" Thompkins gave a presentation on his work at the IEF. His work has been to develop analysis and projections of the population and economic structure for the counties of western North Carolina and the surrounding Piedmont Megalopolis Region. Included as elements are: population and labor force demographics, industrial and occupational employment, and economic activity. The elements are being developed on a regional basis; a county-by-county basis; and, where possible, on a Zip Code basis. In addition, the current progress toward developing a proposal for a Center for Economic and Social Modeling was reviewed.

The audio may be played using the controls below or may be downloaded to your mp3 player by right-clicking here.

Get Flash to see this player.

A Simple Model for Estimating Newbuilt Ship Cost: Robert Mulligan

On April 16, Robert Mulligan spoke about one of his latest research projects and also the process for applying for a scholarly leave. His presentation, "A Simple Model for Estimating Newbuilt Ship Cost", includes models which can be used in a wide variety of economic analyses involving new ship construction and operating costs. These models capture the most modern design and construction techniques, and most up-to-date cost information.

The audio may be played using the controls below or may be downloaded to your mp3 player by right-clicking here.

Get Flash to see this player.

Economic Forecasting: Dr. Jim Smith

On March 17, Dr. Jim Smith led a lively discussion about the economy and the psychology of consumer panic. He also talked about future economic prospects for the United States.

The audio may be played using the controls below or may be downloaded to your mp3 player by right-clicking here.

Get Flash to see this player.

Panel Discussion: Models for Maintaining On-Going Research Productivity

With the newly adopted AFE-TPR documents, there is now a significant increase in the expectations for scholarly activity. Most tenure-track and some fixed-term faculty will now be expected to produce, on average, one quality peer-review journal article, or its equivalent, each year. For some faculty, this will be business as usual. Others may need significant retooling and support to make this change.

This first installment of the new COB Research Seminar Series is a panel discussion and Q&A session with several members of the COB faculty who have employed quite different approaches in maintaining their research careers long-term. Panel members include Professors Steve Henson, Jim Deconinck, Robert Mulligan, Paul Jacques, and Tilt Thompkins.

The audio may be played using the controls below or may be downloaded to your mp3 player by right-clicking here.

Get Flash to see this player.