Entrevista a Avraham Shtub

Professor Avraham Shtub holds the Stephen and Sharon Seiden Chair in Project Management in the William Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. He has a B.Sc in Electrical Engineering from the Technion (1974), an MBA from Tel Aviv University (1978) and a Ph.D in Management Science and Industrial Engineering from the University of Washington (1982).  He has been a consultant to industry in the areas of project management and the design of production - operation systems.

In 1995 he won the "Book of the Year Award", granted by the Institute of Industrial Engineering, for his Book "Project Management: Engineering, Technology and Implementation" (co-authored with Jonathan Bard and Shlomo Globerson), and his Project Team Builder software won the Project Management Institute (PMI) Product of the Year Award for 2008.

He has been presenting his PTB® software in Valencia from 19^th to 24^th of May, invited by Salvador Capuz, and we took the opportunity to talk with him about Project Management and learning and he allowed us to make the following interview to share with all of you. We would like to thank Avraham for his kindness.

How many Projects have you participated in throughout your career?

I started my career as an electrical engineer and I worked on radar systems. Early on in my career, I participated in maybe 10 different projects having to do with radar development. Later on, after receiving my PhD, I worked with industries as a consultant. As a consultant I participated in hundreds of projects, I am not sure about the exact number.

Which do you think has been the most successful project of your career and why?

The most successful project was the development of project management education software called the PTB. This is the software I am using here in the school. I think it is the most successful because I love it the most. It’s my favourite project, and I am still working on it as we are continuously adding more and more functionalities to the system.

You developed the concept of “Project segmentation”. Over the years, have you noticed any other specific changes in Project Management?

Yes, the biggest change is Lean Project Management, which is becoming very important in different sectors, for example in the software development sector which is using the “Agile” approach. In construction, the “Last Planner” approach is used, but all of this is the same idea as Lean Project Management. This approach focuses on value, stakeholders and on waste. The main idea is to maximize value while minimizing waste. The PTB supports training and management of projects using the lean concepts.

What do you think about the development of the course?

I think that the way to improve project management education is a combination of a strong theoretical background, which is typically taught by lectures and by reading books, with hands-on experience. That’s why we developed the PTB simulator. It allows students to learn by actually doing rather than by just listening. Just sitting in lectures and reading books is not enough. The PTB creates an environment that allows the students to integrate all the different project management areas of knowledge and to learn how to deal with uncertainty.

Which concept or which part of the planning do you think is the most difficult concept to learn for the students?

The most difficult concept/aspect to learn is integration. You can teach scheduling, recourses, budgeting and so on, but putting it all together, especially under uncertainty when risks are present, is the most difficult aspect to learn.

What do you think is the greatest contribution you provide to the students?

I think it’s very important that they enjoy the learning process. We have been here for almost a week and as you saw, the students find the “hands-on” learning engaging and fun. They work sitting at the computer and it’s hard to get them to stop. Even when we take a break they stay in class and continue working.  They simply enjoy it, and I think that when you like what you are doing, you learn much better. Another point is that learning by doing improves the learning retention. When learning by actually doing rather than by just listening, students remember more for a longer period. It’s much easier to implement what you learnt in reality once you did  it  with the PTB simulator.

Simulation based training engages students in learning, but how can simulation help companies?

Simulation is very important for companies managing projects because of the “Front End” of the project. The “Front End” is the phase before the project has actually started. At this stage the project team has to evaluate all the different alternatives. One of these alternatives is simply not to do the project; it’s the go-no go decision. In most projects there are different technologies and different ways to perform the project. We call it “Funnelling”. You start with many alternatives and you move forward   to select the best one. Simulation is the best tool for “funnelling”. By using the PTB simulator project teams can evaluate different alternatives, consider the risks involved and select the best possible alternative before the project has even started.

Did you have the opportunity to see some of Valencia?

Yes, I was surprised at how beautiful the city is and I had the chance to see the old part, which is amazing. The new modern part was also incredible and I loved the mix of old and new.. The bridge reminded me of a similar bridge we have in Jerusalem. The opera house and the science museum are just magnificent. You have a very beautiful city.