Student Research Projects

Adam, Darcee P. Eng. (ESM 684)

“Execution of Alaskan Engineering Projects from Multiple Project Offices in the Oil and Gas Industry”

Ideally, a project is executed in one project office where interaction and communication between the project personnel is unhindered.  However, in today’s ever changing world, the fast track nature of projects and the lack of resources in a given location, more and more projects are being executed from multiple project offices.  The advantage to multiple project offices is the ability to provide the appropriate number of resources to meet schedule dates.  While the resource issue is addressed by this approach, other challenges such as physical separation appear as interaction and communication become more difficult.  We can no longer walk across the isle to discuss a problem with a co-worker. 

The purpose of this paper will be to examine the challenges of a project being executed out of different project offices and how the Project Management tools and systems must be enhanced, when compared a project being executed from a single office, to be able to effectively manage the resources to create a successful project.

Chenger, Denise (PM 685)

“Project plan for acquiring land in the retail fuel industry”

Retail fuel companies tend to manage their new retail site construction projects according to Project Management principles. What is lacking is that same care and approach when evaluating land acquisition opportunities. The process is generally ad hoc or investment opportunities fail to happen at all; perhaps due to the lack of a process and/or standards.

This paper examines the retail fuel industry through both primary and secondary research. The secondary research provides a background to understand the changes, trends and triggers occurring within the industry; all of this leading to increased risk with both land acquisition choices and the ability to exit a site once constructed. The primary research demonstrates how eleven companies in the retail fueling industry within both Canada and the US are (not) responding to the changes with respect to their growth and expansion strategy when it comes to choosing retail land opportunities.

A model based on project management principles is provided. This allows the fuel retailer to follow a tangible systematic process demonstrating how to execute on land acquisition opportunities, thereby helping to connect the corporate strategy to an action based plan.

Fuson, Kristin (PM 685)

“Developing a Project Template for the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) Project”
 

Alaska Airlines is planning to implement an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) system to increase efficiency, enhance safety and reduce costs.  In addition to providing background information on EFB hardware and software options and benefits, this paper will present recommendations for ten project templates to be used in the EFB project planning and implementation. The template structure and content closely follow the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, but are also based on academic literature and project templates already in use by Alaska Airlines and other organizations. The project templates will serve to streamline the EFB project management by providing standardized documents and a baseline for the project management plan.

Gillespie, Joel (PM 685)

“Utilizing project management methodologies in the Development of a Formal Supplier Diversity Program for Alaska Airlines”

Alaska Air Group competes for large annual government transportation contracts.  To support these, Alaska must develop a diverse supplier base and demonstrate best-effort practices to support diversity goals.  This project will apply PM tools and techniques to the development of the new program, which will meet all applicable regulations and industry best practices

Keller, Jennifer (PM 685)

"A Project Management Guide for Human Resource Related Projects."

The thesis will follow the nine areas of project management, as described in the PMBOK Guide, and will identify the project management tools and techniques needed for successful management of Human Resources related projects.  In addition, the guide will include a current project example as it follows the nine areas of project management to completion. The thesis will also focus on dealing with employee resistance to change.

Kelley, Douglas (PM 685)

“Using Project Process Mentoring and Customer Satisfaction Feedback to Improve Project Management Performanceat Alaska Air Group”
 

Currently, no process exists at Alaska Airlines to monitor software project efficiency throughout the duration of a project.  My thesis will research current processes and methods in use at other organizations and propose a plan to implement such a system at Alaska Airlines.  The final thesis will likely describe a set of examination points throughout the project, qualitative methods of assessing each point and a reporting mechanism that assesses project efficiency and makes recommendations for improving future projects.

Lohr, Ed, P.E (ESM 684)
 

Affordability of Piped Water and Sewer Infrastructure in Rural Alaska
 

This project conducted a study on the affordability of circulating piped water and sewer in rural Alaska.  Data was taken from a demonstration project being conducted by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation, and three independent communities with historically accurate expense and revenue data. The resulting data analysis was used to determine the critical mass to support such facilities whether they be circulating water and gravity sewer or circulating water and vacuum sewer.  This data was used to determine true costs for other communities that have or may receive these types of systems.  An affordability cap was recommended and expenses examined to determine the ability of rural residents to pay for these systems.  This paper also recommends multiple methods to fund a subsidy to make these systems affordable to all income levels.  Results indicated that the communities with XX homes could properly sustain a circulating water and gravity sewer system, while homes with XX could properly sustain a circulating water and vacuum sewer system.

Link, Michael (PM 685)

“Project Management Discipline for the Implementation of a Preferential Bidding System for Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants”
 

My thesis will focus on the successful implementation of a new, monthly schedule bidding system for flight attendants at Alaska Airlines.  The thesis will emphasize the practical application of all principles of traditional project management resulting in a high quality deliverable to the end-users.

Schoenberg, Dennis (PM 685)

“Applying Project Management Methodologies to the Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) Project at Horizon Air”

This master project will apply project management methodologies on a potential key upcoming Horizon Air project: Implementing a Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) program. The paper will focus on describing and applying PMBOK-Guide principles in the initiating and planning processes of the FOQA project including the development of project management document templates. An important aspect of this paper is that it will serve as an educational document for Horizon Air managers for adopting project management methodologies in pursuit of increasing future project successes.

Shaw, Diana (PM 685)

“eCommerce Project Prioritization”

This paper is an analysis of current project selection techniques within Alaska Airlines Ecommerce department and the presentation of a project plan for implementing a strategic process for project portfolio management that will enhance project selection measurement techniques.

Tabrum, Bryan (PM 685)

“Enhancing a Project Culture to Embrace Cost Management Processes”
 

Cost management maturity at Alaska Airlines is between Initial Process (level 1) and Structure Process and Standards (level 2) on the Project Management Maturity Model.  This paper will research the benefits of performing effective cost management and will assess the gap to move the company to Organizational Standards and Institutionalized Processes (level 3) and Managed Processes (level 4).  The outcome of this paper will recommend a corporate test to manage a project using a specific methodology and tools to show the benefits of performing effective cost management.

Thynes, Michael (PM 685)

“Operation Recovery: Decision Support for Schedule Recovery During Irregular Operation at Alaska Airlines”

During the course of any operational day at Alaska Airlines, we face unavoidable occurrences that result in disruptions to our flight schedule. System Operations Control must modify the published flight schedule and aircraft rotation to limit the scope of disruptions and resume normal operations as soon as possible. Currently, this process is undertaken manually. This paper will discuss the proposed benefits of integrating decision support and optimization software into SOC to make more effective use of company resources and limit disruptions to customers.

Willingham, Peggy (PM 685)

“Improving Organizational Project Management Maturity: A Project Management Maturity Assessment and Best Practices for Improving Project Effectiveness at Alaska Airlines”
 

Alaska Airlines’ current and desired project management maturity will be assessed.  Upper management will be surveyed using a maturity model.  Supplementary information will be collected through interviews with selected project management staff.  A gap analysis will be performed and a strategic plan will be developed to address significant gaps.