Dal controllo di progetto al controllo aziendale : il caso di un'impresa di costruzioni

The purpose of the study is the comprehension of how project control integrates portfolio and corporate controls in a construction environment. Based on planning-action-control concept, this paper suggests different control methodologies according to the project life cycle and disclose the black box of portfolio control and management. The project success is explored through multiple tools, such as Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Critical Path Method (CPM), Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT), Gantt and frameworks with operative and strategic indicators. These methodologies paving the view from project planning and control to portfolio and corporate ones, providing information for resource allocation, priority initiatives and value transfer among projects in a portfolio. The ability to control the business and projects requires a strict integration between project strategy and portfolio strategy in each step of development. The non-stop coordination and top-down, bottom up integration between projects and portfolio constitutes the backbone of this research. During the action-research process and case study analysis of an Italian Construction business, we find evidence about the design of a new strategic planning and control mechanisms that works at project, portfolio and organizational level. The multiple sources of investigation (interviews, document analysis, observations and formal meetings) cover almost 3 years, describing the underlying setting of the project-portfolio relationship in the fieldwork. Although literature demonstrates a clear hierarchy from business, portfolio and project strategy formulation, the case study demonstrates a strict connection and an iterative process among each level, developing top-down and bottom up loops. This peculiar process concerns central phases of the project life cycle, although strategic considerations at macro level are discussed daily and follow a formal yearly approval process. In general, this research contributes to the diffusion of construction case history in management accounting and control literature at national and international level. Mainly it proposes a framework to integrate project and portfolio success through strategy and operative controls. The basic assumption about coordination, integration and control beyond the project horizons could enhance practices from the practitioner viewpoint, helping project and corporate managers to handle and control construction projects, portfolio and the entire business.