Pub Date : 2025-04-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102713
Karen Boll
This study explores and advances the Fifth Hand principle of project behavior, a recent theoretical approach that accommodates the contradictory explanations of project behavior—Flyvbjerg’s Planning Fallacy and Hirschman’s Hiding Hand (Ika et al., 2022; Love et al., 2022). While the principle has been conceptually developed, its empirical applicability remains unexplored. This study addresses this gap by analyzing a capacity-building project conducted by the Danish Tax Authority. The findings reveal the coexistence of contradictory project behaviors which leads to the existence of both failure and success in the project depending on the macro- and micro-level perspectives. The study contributes to the advancement of the Fifth Hand principle, by providing an empirical exploration and by offering insights into how contradictory behaviors are accommodated in projects. The contributions are conceived by paying close attention to the lived experience of managing projects in practice.
本研究探索并推进了项目行为的五只手原则，这是一种最新的理论方法，可以适应对项目行为的矛盾解释——flyvbjerg的计划谬误和Hirschman的隐藏之手(Ika et al., 2022；Love et al., 2022)。虽然这一原则在概念上得到了发展，但其经验上的适用性仍未得到探索。本研究通过分析丹麦税务当局开展的一个能力建设项目来解决这一差距。研究结果从宏观和微观两个层面揭示了矛盾的项目行为共存导致项目失败和成功并存的现象。该研究提供了经验探索，并对项目中如何容纳矛盾行为提供了见解，从而促进了五只手原则的发展。这些贡献是通过密切关注实际管理项目的生活经验来构思的。
{"title":"Exploring and advancing the fifth hand principle of project behavior: Lessons from Denmark’s tax governance project","authors":"Karen Boll","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102713","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102713","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores and advances the Fifth Hand principle of project behavior, a recent theoretical approach that accommodates the contradictory explanations of project behavior—Flyvbjerg’s Planning Fallacy and Hirschman’s Hiding Hand (Ika et al., 2022; Love et al., 2022). While the principle has been conceptually developed, its empirical applicability remains unexplored. This study addresses this gap by analyzing a capacity-building project conducted by the Danish Tax Authority. The findings reveal the coexistence of contradictory project behaviors which leads to the existence of both failure and success in the project depending on the macro- and micro-level perspectives. The study contributes to the advancement of the Fifth Hand principle, by providing an empirical exploration and by offering insights into how contradictory behaviors are accommodated in projects. The contributions are conceived by paying close attention to the lived experience of managing projects in practice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 3","pages":"Article 102713"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143943580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-04-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102711
Maria Loderer, Alexander Kock
Traditional project management methods struggle with the uncertainties and complexities of modern, innovative projects. Research highlights the need for flexible approaches integrating exploration and learning, such as design thinking. However, implementing design thinking practices in project management faces various obstacles. Beyond structural and strategic hurdles, the organisational context—specifically how individuals experience the work environment—likely plays a critical role in shaping the intensity and success of such practices. This study analyses the organisational and team climates that support implementing design thinking practices to increase project success while considering the role of project contingencies. Drawing on data from 379 projects nested in 93 companies, we investigate the impact of organisational climates (supportive climate, innovation climate, open climate) and team climates (servant leadership, team autonomy). Our findings suggest that design thinking practices improve project success. At the same time, we identify a supportive climate, an open climate, servant leadership, and team autonomy as conducive to design thinking practices. In addition, design thinking practices are more beneficial for project success when project innovativeness is high. Project innovativeness also strengthens the effect of a supportive climate on design thinking practices. We contribute to the literature on project management and design thinking by providing the first quantitative evidence on how specific climate conditions within the broader organisational context support the application of design thinking practices in project environments.
{"title":"How organisational and team climates foster design thinking for project success","authors":"Maria Loderer, Alexander Kock","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102711","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102711","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Traditional project management methods struggle with the uncertainties and complexities of modern, innovative projects. Research highlights the need for flexible approaches integrating exploration and learning, such as design thinking. However, implementing design thinking practices in project management faces various obstacles. Beyond structural and strategic hurdles, the organisational context—specifically how individuals experience the work environment—likely plays a critical role in shaping the intensity and success of such practices. This study analyses the organisational and team climates that support implementing design thinking practices to increase project success while considering the role of project contingencies. Drawing on data from 379 projects nested in 93 companies, we investigate the impact of organisational climates (supportive climate, innovation climate, open climate) and team climates (servant leadership, team autonomy). Our findings suggest that design thinking practices improve project success. At the same time, we identify a supportive climate, an open climate, servant leadership, and team autonomy as conducive to design thinking practices. In addition, design thinking practices are more beneficial for project success when project innovativeness is high. Project innovativeness also strengthens the effect of a supportive climate on design thinking practices. We contribute to the literature on project management and design thinking by providing the first quantitative evidence on how specific climate conditions within the broader organisational context support the application of design thinking practices in project environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 3","pages":"Article 102711"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143894905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As powerful drivers of the creative economy, cultural projects rely on creative processes. The socio-economic and cultural development of contemporary societies depends on a type of management that involves the plurality of actors sustaining the creative process of cultural projects. This research is guided by the question: How does plural creativity constitute a creative practice in the management of cultural projects? The method of multi-sited and digital ethnography supported an inductive process that allowed us to engage to this question and produce a theorization. The analysis of narratives was based on sources such as documents, observations, and ethnographic interviews. The findings explain that plural creativity constitutes creative practices in the creation, promotion, and integration of cultural projects. These practices are based on creative relationality, which leads to three phenomena: creative playing driven by affection, creative boosting driven by criticism, and creative inspiration driven by constrains. The research contributes to the research and practice of project management by providing explanations and theorizations to support the strategic management of plural creativity in projects, especially cultural projects.
{"title":"Managing cultural projects: Plural creativity as creative practice","authors":"Rafaela Goncalves Freitas , Eduardo Davel , Julie Bérubé","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102708","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102708","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As powerful drivers of the creative economy, cultural projects rely on creative processes. The socio-economic and cultural development of contemporary societies depends on a type of management that involves the plurality of actors sustaining the creative process of cultural projects. This research is guided by the question: How does plural creativity constitute a creative practice in the management of cultural projects? The method of multi-sited and digital ethnography supported an inductive process that allowed us to engage to this question and produce a theorization. The analysis of narratives was based on sources such as documents, observations, and ethnographic interviews. The findings explain that plural creativity constitutes creative practices in the creation, promotion, and integration of cultural projects. These practices are based on creative relationality, which leads to three phenomena: creative playing driven by affection, creative boosting driven by criticism, and creative inspiration driven by constrains. The research contributes to the research and practice of project management by providing explanations and theorizations to support the strategic management of plural creativity in projects, especially cultural projects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 3","pages":"Article 102708"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143898659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102694
Yuntao Yang, Bin Zhao
Despite project complexity and large-scale project management being research hotspots in project management, the existing research has not fully considered the influence of building information modelling implementation on project complexity. In order to fill this research gap, this study used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the impact of building information modelling on project complexity and large-scale project management performance and to verify the mediating role of project complexity between building information modelling and large-scale project management performance. The results show that: 1) The implementation of building information modelling in large-scale projects can significantly mitigate project complexity (technology, goals, information, organization, and environment); 2) Information and goal complexity have a significantly negative impact on large-scale project management performance; 3) Utilizing building information modeling to reduce information and goal complexity can significantly improve the management performance of large-scale projects; 4) Besides reducing project complexity, applying building information modelling can directly improve large-scale project management performance; 5) The improvement of policies and standards, the cultivation of information technology talents (personal incentives), project management process reengineering and innovation, and data governance are conducive to exert the values of building information modelling in project management. These findings not only enrich theoretical research but also provide valuable decision-making references for managers to improve management performance, driving the development of informatization and intelligence in the construction industry.
{"title":"How building information modelling mitigates complexity and enhances performance in large-scale projects: Evidence from China","authors":"Yuntao Yang, Bin Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102694","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102694","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite project complexity and large-scale project management being research hotspots in project management, the existing research has not fully considered the influence of building information modelling implementation on project complexity. In order to fill this research gap, this study used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the impact of building information modelling on project complexity and large-scale project management performance and to verify the mediating role of project complexity between building information modelling and large-scale project management performance. The results show that: 1) The implementation of building information modelling in large-scale projects can significantly mitigate project complexity (technology, goals, information, organization, and environment); 2) Information and goal complexity have a significantly negative impact on large-scale project management performance; 3) Utilizing building information modeling to reduce information and goal complexity can significantly improve the management performance of large-scale projects; 4) Besides reducing project complexity, applying building information modelling can directly improve large-scale project management performance; 5) The improvement of policies and standards, the cultivation of information technology talents (personal incentives), project management process reengineering and innovation, and data governance are conducive to exert the values of building information modelling in project management. These findings not only enrich theoretical research but also provide valuable decision-making references for managers to improve management performance, driving the development of informatization and intelligence in the construction industry.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 2","pages":"Article 102694"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143704688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102692
Marina Bos-de Vos , Miia Martinsuo , Ellen Loots
Actors involved in programs that promote sustainability transitions project how future value can be created and protected within the constraints of existing institutions and fields. There is a need to better understand this projecting among versatile organizational actors to support the successful advancement of sustainability transitions. Drawing upon the joint value creation employed in five circular economy programs, we identify three modes of projecting for promoting sustainability transitions: distributing, dispersing, and activating. The modes of projecting relate strongly to how programs are configured. We contribute to the sustainability transitions literature by examining niche-regime interactions through the lens of joint value creation, offering novel insights into programs’ unique ways of promoting sustainability transitions. Another contribution is to the literature on value creation in interorganizational projects and programs by revealing different approaches for joint value creation in different modes of projecting.
{"title":"Projecting to promote sustainability transitions through joint value creation","authors":"Marina Bos-de Vos , Miia Martinsuo , Ellen Loots","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102692","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102692","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Actors involved in programs that promote sustainability transitions project how future value can be created and protected within the constraints of existing institutions and fields. There is a need to better understand this projecting among versatile organizational actors to support the successful advancement of sustainability transitions. Drawing upon the joint value creation employed in five circular economy programs, we identify three modes of projecting for promoting sustainability transitions: distributing, dispersing, and activating. The modes of projecting relate strongly to how programs are configured. We contribute to the sustainability transitions literature by examining niche-regime interactions through the lens of joint value creation, offering novel insights into programs’ unique ways of promoting sustainability transitions. Another contribution is to the literature on value creation in interorganizational projects and programs by revealing different approaches for joint value creation in different modes of projecting.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 2","pages":"Article 102692"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143578124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102695
Dr Efrosyni Konstantinou
A sociologically aware, relational interpretation of project leadership has been developing, which emphasises the multiplicity of social relationships, interactions and dynamics evolving within the project and its leadership in the project environment. However, our community is at risk of producing “overly-socialized” images of project leadership, as has been the case in adjacent field of organisation studies. In this context, I introduce the notion of the politics of the self, generously aided by Parmenides of Elea, pre-Socratic philosopher (520–450 BCE), and descendant philosophers in the phenomenological/existentialist tradition. The politics of the self – the permanent political relationship that we all have with our self – suggests that the political dimension of the self is considered along with the social dimension of the self in images of project leadership in equal measure, if not more prominently.
{"title":"The politics of the self: A parmenidean/existentialist perspective of the project leader","authors":"Dr Efrosyni Konstantinou","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102695","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102695","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A sociologically aware, relational interpretation of project leadership has been developing, which emphasises the multiplicity of social relationships, interactions and dynamics evolving within the project and its leadership in the project environment. However, our community is at risk of producing “overly-socialized” images of project leadership, as has been the case in adjacent field of organisation studies. In this context, I introduce the notion of the politics of the self, generously aided by Parmenides of Elea, pre-Socratic philosopher (520–450 BCE), and descendant philosophers in the phenomenological/existentialist tradition. The politics of the self – the permanent political relationship that we all have with our self – suggests that the political dimension of the self is considered along with the social dimension of the self in images of project leadership in equal measure, if not more prominently.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 2","pages":"Article 102695"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143704689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102696
Andreas Wald , Helgi Thor Ingason , Thordur Vikingur Fridgeirsson
Theory of projectification suggests that an increasing use of projects is a reaction to an increasing need for innovation and adaptation to changes in the environment of firms. The degree of projectification of an economy was first measured in 2013 for Germany followed by Norway and Iceland. Over the last ten years, significant changes have taken place in the three countries which can be assumed to spur a further increase in projectification. This paper presents the results of a new series of studies. The results reveal a high level of projectification in the three economies, but also that a plateauing has been reached. In addition to the degree of projectification, the present study assesses and compares the project landscapes in the three countries and examines if the high projectification corresponds to a professionalization of project management in the form of project careers and central project organizations.
{"title":"Ten years after: The evolution of projectification in Germany, Norway, and Iceland","authors":"Andreas Wald , Helgi Thor Ingason , Thordur Vikingur Fridgeirsson","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102696","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102696","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Theory of projectification suggests that an increasing use of projects is a reaction to an increasing need for innovation and adaptation to changes in the environment of firms. The degree of projectification of an economy was first measured in 2013 for Germany followed by Norway and Iceland. Over the last ten years, significant changes have taken place in the three countries which can be assumed to spur a further increase in projectification. This paper presents the results of a new series of studies. The results reveal a high level of projectification in the three economies, but also that a plateauing has been reached. In addition to the degree of projectification, the present study assesses and compares the project landscapes in the three countries and examines if the high projectification corresponds to a professionalization of project management in the form of project careers and central project organizations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 2","pages":"Article 102696"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143747874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102675
Kubra Atli, Ilias Krystallis
Managing infrastructure projects often presents challenges in maintaining flexibility throughout their lifecycle, which limits their ability to adapt to evolving and uncertain conditions. This systematic literature review examines the factors that accelerate design flexibility in the management of infrastructure projects. Analyzing 50 articles from a dataset of 11,443, we identified several key factors, organized into seven clusters across three levels: individuals, organizations, and inter-organizational relationships and three operational dimensions of design flexibility. These factors help to expand the concept of flexibility beyond its traditional association with engineering product design to encompass managerial project design. Building on Simon's design theory, this study frames design flexibility as a proactive and strategic asset. We offer future research directions to further broaden the scope of flexibility in project management. This study contributes to ongoing debates in project management on how to enhance project performance in uncertain conditions, by addressing the challenge of balancing flexibility and control.
{"title":"Design flexibility in managing infrastructure projects: Contributing factors and research avenues","authors":"Kubra Atli, Ilias Krystallis","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102675","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102675","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Managing infrastructure projects often presents challenges in maintaining flexibility throughout their lifecycle, which limits their ability to adapt to evolving and uncertain conditions. This systematic literature review examines the factors that accelerate design flexibility in the management of infrastructure projects. Analyzing 50 articles from a dataset of 11,443, we identified several key factors, organized into seven clusters across three levels: individuals, organizations, and inter-organizational relationships and three operational dimensions of design flexibility. These factors help to expand the concept of flexibility beyond its traditional association with engineering product design to encompass managerial project design. Building on Simon's design theory, this study frames design flexibility as a proactive and strategic asset. We offer future research directions to further broaden the scope of flexibility in project management. This study contributes to ongoing debates in project management on how to enhance project performance in uncertain conditions, by addressing the challenge of balancing flexibility and control.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 1","pages":"Article 102675"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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