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Li Liu

Li Liu photo

BE, MBA (AIT), M.Tax (USYD), PhD (AGSM)
Senior Lecturer
Coordinator for Bachelor of Project Engineering and Management (Civil)


School of Civil Engineering, Room 340
Phone: +61 2 9351 2123
Fax: +61 2 9351 3343
Email:



Research interests & current/recent research projects

Dr. Li Liu is currently a senior lecturer in Project Management, the University of Sydney. He has a PhD degree from the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM). He also has a Master’s degree in Taxation (Usyd), a MBA (AIT) and a BE (NUTD).

Dr. Liu has one decade of working experience in systems engineering, project management, business research, management consulting and managing an E-com company. His research interests include the performance of infrastructure projects, organisational project management, organisational learning in projects organisations, IT/IS project management, organizational control theory, programme/portfolio management, and project/programme governance.

The courses he taught include Managing Project-Oriented Organization, Project Portfolio and Programme Management, Strategic Project Management, Project Formulation, IT project management and Business Information Systems.

He has published in IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Project Management Journal, Journal of Information Technology, Construction Management & Economics and other international Journals, INSEAD, and a number of international conferences including PMI Research Conference and International Conference for Information Systems. He served as reviewers for a number of journals and conferences including MISQ, JIT, CME, ICIS, ECIS and PMI Research conf. He also served as an associate editor for ICIS’09. Currently, he serves on the editorial board of JIT.

His current research projects include:

Selected publications

Selected Journal Publications

  • Liu, L., Wehbe, G. & Sisovic, J. (Accepted in June 2010). “Blending Reference Class Forecasting with Conventional Estimating Approaches to Improve Estimating Accuracy: Evidence from Australian Road Projects”, Engineering Economist.
  • Liu, L. and Z. Napier (2010) “The accuracy of risk-based cost estimation: how does it compare the conventional fixed contingency approach”, Construction Management and Economics, 28 (1): 89-100.
  • Liu, L and P. Yetton, (2009) “Sponsorship and IT Vendor Management of Projects”. Journal of Information Technology, 24(1), pp46-54.
  • Liu, L. (2009) How do strategic uncertainty and project sponsorship relate to project performance? A study of Australian project managers. Management Research News, 32(3&4), pp239-253.
  • Liu, L and P. Yetton, (2007) “The Contingent Effects on Project Performance of Conducting Project Reviews and Deploying Project Management Offices”. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 54 (4): 789-799.
  • Liu, L. and Zhu, K.(2007) “A Stage-By-Stage Factor Control Framework for Cost Estimation of Construction Projects”. ASCE’s Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 133, No. 1, pp. 91-95.
  • Kong, X., L. Liu and D. Lowe (2007) “A Web System Trace Model and Its Application to Web Design”, Journal of Digital Information, 8 (1).
  • Kong, X., Liu, L. & Lowe, D. (2005) “Separation of Concerns: a Web Application Architecture Framework”, Journal of Digital Information, Volume 6, Issue 2, Article No. 332, 2005-04-05.
  • X. Kong, L. Liu and D. Lowe (2004) “Critical Feature Method - A Lightweight Web Maintenance Methodology for SMEs”, Journal of Digital Information, 5(2): Article No. 278, 2004-08-10.
  • Sauer, C., Liu, L. and Johnston K. (2001) “Where Project Managers are Kings–How the construction industry’s focus on organizing and managing project management at the enterprise level can help the IT industry improve its project performance” Project Management Journal, Vol. 43, 12, pp. 1 - 18.

Selected Conference Papers

  • Liu, L., Yetton, P. & Sauer, C. (accepted in December 2009) “A normative theory of organizational control: Main and interaction effects of control modes on performance,” Proceedings of the18th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), 7-9 June 2010, Pretoria, South Africa.
  • Liu, L., Whebe, G. & Sisovic, J. (accepted in February 2010) “Which is More Accurate? Comparison of Estimation Accuracy Between Reference Class Forecasting, Risk-Based Estimating and the Conventional Fixed Contingency Approach.” Proceedings of Project Management Institute Research and Education Conference, 11-14 July 2010, Washington DC, USA.
  • Liu, L., Nguyen, A. & Arvanitakis, J. (accepted in February 2010) “Project complexity as a moderator of performance bias towards overrun,” Proceedings of Project Management Institute Research and Education Conference, 11-14 July 2010, Washington DC, USA.
  • Vlasic, A., Yetton, P. and Liu, L. (accepted in February 2010) “Why Information Systems Development Projects are always Late,” Proceedings of Project Management Institute Research and Education Conference, 11-14 July 2010, Washington DC, USA.
  • Liu, L., Yetton, P. & Sauer, C. (accepted in February 2010) “Organizational control and project performance”. Proceedings of Project Management Institute Research and Education Conference, 11-14 July 2010, Washington DC, USA.
  • Wang, X. R., Liu, L. and Z. H. Sheng (2009) “Ambidextrous Management of a Large, Complex Engineering Project with Significant Innovations-Case Study of the Sutong Bridge Project”. Proceedings of 2009 IEEE 16th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (Eds., Qi Ershi Cheng Guang Shen Jiang Dou Runliang), pp1931-1936. 21-23 October, Beijing, P.R. China.
  • Wang, X. R., Liu, L., Que, Z. Y., Xu, T., & Wang, B. (2009) “Measuring the Corporate Performance of Intellectual Capital: Empirical Analysis in Three Types of Industries of China.” Proceedings of the 3rd conference on Risk Management & Global e-Business (RMEB 2009). August 10-12, Incheon, South Korea.
  • Napier, Z. and Liu, L. (2008) “The predictive validity & performance drivers of risk-based estimating -case studies of australian water infrastructure projects”.Project Management Institute Research Conference 2008, Warsaw, Poland, 13-16 July 2008.
  • Liu, L., Kong, X. and Chen, J. (2006) “An Economic Model of Software Development Approaches”, AusWeb Conference, 1-5 July 2006, Noosa, QLD, Australia.
  • Liu, L. and Yetton, P. (2006) “How do perceived project performance risk and management priority affect project sponsorship and project delivery capabilities? Evidence from a cross-industry survey”. Project Management Institute Research Conference 2006, Montreal, Canada, 16-19 July 2006.
  • Liu, L. and Yetton, P. (2005) “Sponsorship and IS Project Delivery Capability”. Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS), 7-10 July 2005, Bangkok, Thailand.
  • Kong, X., Liu, L. & Lowe, D. (2005) “Modeling an Agile Web Maintenance Process” In Proceedings of the 11th Annual ANZSYS Conference/Managing the Complex V",In CD-Rom, published by ISCE Publishing, ISBN 0976681447, Christchurch, New Zealand, 5-7 December 2005

Teaching and Learning

Teaching Duties

  • CIVL3812 Project Appraisal
  • CIVL4815 Project Formulation
  • PMGT5877 Management of Project-Oriented Organisations
  • PMGT5879 Implementing Strategy, Project Portfolio and Programme Management

School & University Service

  • Degree Coordinator for Bachelor of Project Engineering and Management (Civil)
  • School of Civil Engineering coordinator for tutor training
  • School of Civil Engineering Learning and Teaching Committee, Member
  • School of Civil Engineering IT Committee, Member

Professional Service and Memberships

  • Served as a reviewer for various international conferences and Journals including MISQ, JIT, IJPM, CME, ICIS, ECIS, PMI Res. Conf. and ACIS.
  • Senior editor for Journal of Information Technology.