International Journal of Project Management最新文献

Skeptical stakeholder involvement – collaborating with stakeholders who may harbor negative attitudes - is a complex, uncertain process that poses substantial challenges for innovation project management. Developing complex innovations like those in urban spaces requires engagement with knowledge, behavioral shifts, and resources from both public and private stakeholders. As a result, these stakeholders might oppose the project's objectives, thereby exerting a significant influence on the project. However, scant attention has been directed toward investigating the role of skeptical stakeholder involvement. The goal of this research is to address this research gap by examining the underexplored impact of skeptical stakeholder involvement on the project front end, thereby underscoring the importance of innovativeness and implementation intention as outcomes during these initial project stages. The study draws on a unique combination of text mining, text analysis, and survey data derived from 107 publicly funded urban innovation projects in Germany. These projects encompass diverse innovation types and technologies that may affect nearly all stakeholders within a given city district, thus making the context an ideal empirical terrain for investigation. The study's findings reveal that (i) skeptical stakeholder involvement positively influences innovativeness and implementation intention, and (ii) a robust reservoir of project management resources, coupled with moderate levels of formal management, facilitates the integration of skeptical stakeholders. The study advances current literature on project stakeholder management and project front-end dynamics by highlighting the positive influences of skeptical stakeholder involvement. Consequently, these outcomes contribute to the broader literature on sustainable urban transformation and enhance our understanding of stakeholder management mechanisms in the realm of urban innovation projects.

The pressure to complete Infrastructure Megaprojects (IMs) is enormous; once started, IMs are commonly considered too costly to be stopped. Still, despite this widespread belief, several IMs are terminated during delivery/construction. Notwithstanding its empirical and theoretical relevance, few studies investigate IMs termination during delivery/construction. This paper aims to develop further the “reverse escalation of commitment” theory which sense-makes the termination of IMs. We take a critical confrontation of the existing literature addressing two questions: (1) Why are IMs terminated during delivery/construction? and (2) How does the project termination process occur in IMs? By analysing 30 unfinished IMs, we identified the six determinants for IMs termination, contributing to the development of reverse-escalation of commitment theory by providing a processual perspective of the four most common patterns leading to IMs termination. Finally, we provide a checklist for identifying key elements leading to IMs termination.

Sense of place describes people's perceptions of the distinguishing qualities and attributes of an environment that shape positive feelings of attachment and promote mental wellbeing. The purpose of the research was to identify the qualities and attributes of project work environments that contribute to the development of a sense of place, and to develop and test a survey instrument designed to measure these qualities and attributes. Characteristics of project work environments with the potential to create a positive wellbeing-promoting sense of place were identified from the extant literature. A survey instrument was developed, drawing on existing validated scales, to measure the extent to which a positive sense of place is present in project work environments. The survey tool was tested in two studies conducted in construction projects in New Zealand. The first study tested the construct validity and reliability of the survey instrument, and the extent to which the proposed components were associated with workers’ positive mental wellbeing. The second study confirmed that the sense of place components are distinct and can be measured reliably using the survey instrument. Organisations can potentially use the survey instrument to evaluate the extent to which project work environments are supportive of workers’ mental wellbeing, and to inform the development of strategies specifically focused on creating work environments that are likely to promote mental wellbeing amongst project workers.

The increasing adoption of project structures in a highly competitive business environment brings to the fore the figure of project managers, who are ultimately responsible for the performance of projects in organizations. We investigate how these leaders’ attributes are associated with project outcomes, focusing on project leader humility and narcissism. We also analyze two specific mediating mechanisms through which these behavioral traits promote project performance: team member psychological empowerment and fear of failure. The study was conducted in a multinational conglomerate, based on a sample of 67 project leaders and 190 team members, with team outcomes evaluated by project directors. The findings suggest that leader humility and narcissism both directly and indirectly affect project performance. Project leader humility has a positive, direct effect on project cost and positive indirect effects on project time and quality through team empowerment. Project leader narcissism has a negative, direct effect on project cost, a positive, direct effect on projec quality, and a positive indirect effect on project time through team fear of failure. In addition, team fear of failure has a positive direct effect on project cost. We discuss these findings’ theoretical and practical implications.

This paper explores how public sector owners (PSOs) close capability gaps between existing capabilities and required capabilities when first entering into infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). Drawing on the dynamic capabilities view and research on owner project capabilities, the paper presents an exploratory in-depth case study of a state-owned enterprise in China, as it was in the process of initiating PPP metro line projects for the first time. The findings show that PSOs closed capability gaps by obtaining owner strategic, commercial and governance capabilities at the initial phase of PPP procurement. This process was undertaken through a combination of acquiring capabilities externally and developing capabilities internally. The study contributes to the literesture on capability development and sheds light on the conditions when and where internal capability development and external capability acquisition are integrated to close capability gaps for procuring infrastructure PPPs.

Decision making plays a crucial role in the front end of projects which is a critical stage for maximising the performance of complex projects. Although it has been suggested that project managers rely more on analytical approaches to decision making as opposed to an intuitive mode, there is emerging evidence of project managers using intuitive decision processes. Yet, little is known about how this occurs during the front-end phase, with few attempts to study the underlying cognitive processes and what influences project decision making. This research gap is addressed by interviewing project managers experienced in front-end decision making (n = 16) of large-scale complex projects within the oil and gas industry. Adopting a naturalistic decision-making (NDM) methodology and using a form of cognitive task analysis, a thematic coding of their accounts of decision making during the front end of large complex projects identified key decision processes and influencing factors (drivers). Formal analytical processes (e.g., data-driven calculations, software rating tools) were favoured but, and in line with emerging findings, these experienced project managers also used intuitive decision-making processes, such as pattern recognition and feelings/associative memory. Decision drivers were grouped into 5 clusters - project external factors, project internal factors, social dimensions, individual differences, and time pressures. The findings suggest that project managers should be trained on how to recognise when intuitive decision making is occurring and how to use it while being aware of its strengths, weaknesses and influencing factors. A focus on building descriptive models of actual decision making in complex environments, for the training of project managers, by applying NDM methods will enhance the management of the front end of projects.