Enhancing Business Project Quality in a Complex Environment

Abstract

This thesis investigates how project quality can be improved in complex, dynamic environments through the development of an adaptive tool, using DEME Offshore’s cable tender department as a case study. The research highlights challenges such as fragmented knowledge, time pressure, and high staff turnover, which limit the effectiveness of traditional quality approaches like Lean or Six Sigma. A design research methodology, combining literature review and interviews, informed the creation of a Kaizen-based tool structured around a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The tool provides 32 project blocks linked to six critical dimensions, Method, Planning, Production, Cost, Qualifications, and Opportunity & Risk Management, offering users structured, accessible knowledge, checklists, and lessons learned. Designed for continuous updates, the tool integrates with existing workflows and promotes user-driven improvement. The study concludes that this approach enhances consistency, knowledge retention, and risk management, with applicability both to DEME and to other project-driven industries.