The objective of this study is to propose an approach that would increase the efficiency and efficacy of project financial risk management. The starting point of this research is an original detailed list of project financial risk categories, as it was observed that financial risk is described in the literature far too generally. Following a survey of project managers, it is shown that all the identified project financial risk categories are significant and early warning signals may play an important role in their prevention or mitigation. Additionally, the main causes for project financial risks are identified and their importance assessed. Following a literature review on metrics-based and financial risk management in projects, as well as an analysis of the causes assessed in the survey, it is hypothesised that sustainability principles, combined with metrics-based management, may increase the efficiency and efficacy of project financial risk management. A corresponding method is proposed, which should be embedded into the traditional process of project financial risk management. This method consists of generating metrics with a warning and preventive potential for each combination of three elements (financial risk category, risk cause, sustainability principle). This approach introduces into project financial risk management elements going beyond the financial optics, which may considerably increase its potential.

In the world of university research, although the figure of project manager is not formally foreseen, the principal researcher (PR) is, at many times, the last responsible the project results, schedule, and cost. The study aimed to investigate, in the light of the literature and through a cross-cultural study conducted in Italy and Poland, the relationship between soft skills (empowering leadership style, self-efficacy beliefs, and collective efficacy) of the principal researcher (PR) and the perceived success of research projects and satisfaction with the project, taking into account cross-cultural differences. A total of 67 PRs of complex projects in public universities (28 in Italy and 39 in Poland) participated in the study, completing a self-report questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational analyses. The results showed a significantly higher mean value for team management self-efficacy in a Polish sample and a higher satisfaction with projects in Italian sample. All the soft skills included in the study were related to project success and satisfaction with the project. The results could be used to identify possible ways of intervention to establish a more mature project culture in public research organizations.

The pressure to incorporate sustainability principles and objectives into policies and activities is growing, particularly in project management. A successful project cannot disregard any of the three triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability pillars (economic, social and environmental). Stakeholders representing each of those pillars have to be satisfied to a certain degree in each successful project, even if the way of balancing the three pillars varies depending on project type. Project definition is of primary importance for the proper addressing of stakeholder expectations during the project, and thus for project success. The problem is that project definitions in practice are not written in a way which would guarantee a sufficient degree of project sustainability. However, the hypothesis can be formulated that a systematic analysis and modification of project definition can increase the degree of project sustainability, and thus the degree of project success. That is why we propose here a method of checking and improving existing project definitions in order to improve the chances of project success through increasing the satisfaction of the stakeholders representing the three TBL pillars. The method is based on a careful identification of missing and ambiguous information in a project definition and on correcting it on the basis of TBL stakeholders’ opinions and preferences. These preferences are modelled, wherever possible, by means of fuzzy sets, in order to provide a systematic, formal measurement of sustainability degree in TBL sustainability pillars, represented by project stakeholders. The method’s use and potential advantages are illustrated by means of two real world projects. The initial verification of the method allows us to formulate the hypothesis that analysing and improving project definition may considerably contribute to increasing the sustainability degree of projects, and thus to their success.

The paper is basically dedicated to the problem of effort estimation for the Product Backlog items of IT projects led accordingly to the Scrum framework. The effort estimation issue is important, because low quality estimation decreases the efficiency of project implementation. The paper proposes an estimation method for the Product Backlog items of Scrum-based IT projects (which can be adapted also to other projects), which has two original elements with respect to the state of art in Scrum estimation: the usage of fuzzy numbers and strict rules for consensus forming, combined with a space for human interaction. The assumptions of the method should be complied with and were formulated on the basis of literature and authors experience. Two case studies were used for an initial method validation. The case studies confirmed a high potential of the method to increase estimation quality in Scrum-based projects, as well as in other project types. The case studies were conducted using research methods fulfilling the symmetry principle. The paper is thus an example of symmetry in management research.