Effect of social identification on ego depletion of project managers: The role of project tasks and project complexity

The interorganizational context of construction projects offers project managers multiple social identifications (i.e., project identification and organizational identification) and different tasks (i.e., interorganizational tasks and intraorganizational tasks), which may lead to ego depletion of project managers and impair project performance. Drawing on social identity theory and ego depletion theory, this study examines the effect of social identification on ego depletion of project managers via interorganizational and intraorganizational tasks. Using survey data from 432 construction project managers, the results show that project managers with strong project identification undertake more interorganizational tasks and less intraorganizational tasks, which increases their ego depletion. Conversely, project managers with strong organizational identification undertake more intraorganizational tasks and less interorganizational tasks, which decreases their ego depletion. The results also provide evidence that the effect of social identification on ego depletion is stronger when project complexity is high and weaker when project complexity is low. This study contributes to the understanding of ego depletion mechanism of project managers associated with the trade-off process between different identifications and project tasks. The findings advance the psychological underpinnings of organizational behavior in project organizations and can help project managers handle their ego depletion to achieve higher individual performance and project performance.     

Organizing for knowledge creation in a strategic interorganizational innovation project

A fundamental challenge for interorganizational innovation projects is employing diverse actors’ knowledge, expertise and perspectives for situation-specific demands of complex innovation. Innovation advancement is dependent on the degree to which knowledge is used and synthesized to address emerging and situation-specific demands of innovation. The goal of this study is to shed light on organizing for joint knowledge creation in a strategic interorganizational innovation project. Based on an inductive analysis of interview data from one strategic interorganizational innovation project, we identified the iterative process, self-organizing working groups and dynamic participation as practices through which the actors involved arranged and enacted their joint efforts, namely, knowledge creation and progress of innovation. This study contributes to research on managing strategic interorganizational projects by suggesting that organizing, which involves structural and informal organizing practices, supports managing strategic interorganizational projects where the diverse actors’ knowledge integration is at the core of the innovation project's goals.     

Balancing control and flexibility in joint risk management: Lessons learned from two construction projects

Joint risk management (JRM) is an approach that highlights the importance of collaboration between the project actors in managing risk that cannot be identified at the outset of the project. Despite the recognition of the concept in the literature, the use of JRM in practice seems to be rare. Based on contingency theory, we investigate how mechanistic (control-oriented) and organic (flexibility-oriented) management systems influence the implementation of JRM in two construction projects. In the first project, the actors managed to achieve a balance between control and flexibility, which paved the way for successful JRM. The extensive use of control in the second project hampered flexibility and constrained the use of JRM. We conclude that JRM requires both control for managing risk that has been identified and flexibility for dealing with unforeseen events. When a mechanistic approach is dominant, risk management remains a formal process carried out individually rather than collaboratively.     

浅谈建设单位工程项目的组织形式

随着建筑规模的不断扩大,建设单位工程项目的组织管理形式也从过去的单一项目管理过渡到目前的多种组织形式并存的管理模式。不同形式组织管理模式各自都有优缺点,选择哪种形式管理项目,建设单位要根据本单位的实际情况慎重选择,保证项目能否顺利完成。     

Projects as temporary organizations: An agenda for further theorizing the interorganizational dimension

Existing conceptualizations of projects as temporary organizations capture their interorganizational facets only implicitly. We present theoretical ideas on how to further conceptualize the interorganizational dimension in line with recent developments in the field of managing interorganizational relations. Towards this end, we will recapitulate the present state of theorizing projects as temporary organizations. Then we will highlight the increasing importance of what is called “interorganizational projects” (IOPs). After having described the phenomenon and spread of IOPs, we will discuss how the interorganizational dimension may be theorized. We conclude this article by introducing three facets of analyzing IOPs that help to advance the theory of the temporary organization – namely the multi-level perspective, the processual understanding of relationships, and modes of interorganizational governance.     

群体工程施工组织管理探讨

简述了施工组织形式及其在群体工程施工中的具体应用,详述了项目组织体系中的人员管理与制度管理的具体措施,从而有力地保障了项目施工的顺利实施和管理的科学化及条理化。     

Competing management approaches in large engineering projects: The Dutch RandstadRail project

The management of large engineering projects is often a combination of the focus on planning and control, and the ambition to be flexible given the complexity and uncertainties that characterises these kinds of projects. However, control and flexibility impose contradictory requirements upon the management of these projects. The literature on project management reflects this contradiction. Some authors underline that projects require firm planning and control, thus downplaying the role of flexibility. Others emphasise that projects require flexibility and responsiveness, thus moving away from rigid planning and control. In this contribution, we suggest that in practice project managers acknowledge the weakness of both extremes and therefore strive to combine the two. Moreover, we argue that project success is at risk when project managers do not succeed in meeting the requirements of control and flexibility. To be able to investigate how these competing requirements are dealt with in practice, a framework is developed. The usefulness of the framework is explored by applying the framework to the large engineering project Randstadrail—a light rail project in The Netherlands.     

Cooperating in interorganizational innovation projects: Toward a better understanding of coupling with the permanent ecosystem

Innovation increasingly relies on a diversity of knowledge held by multiple partners who join their efforts within interorganizational projects. Engaging heterogeneous actors with different and sometimes conflicting expectations to collaborate is not without challenges. Works have already stressed the particularities of such projects and provided guidance for setting up and managing them. However, we know little about the influence of permanent contexts on the pattern of cooperation of interorganizational innovation projects. Based on a field study, this paper aims to explain how the coupling of the project with the ecosystem (the wider permanent context) frames the cooperative stances throughout project execution. We highlight the dialectical nature of changes in cooperative stances, which are driven by evolving degrees of coupling between project partners and the ecosystem. Hence, the coupling tightens as partners are more knowledgeable about the requirements of the wider ecosystem and share the overarching goal of resolving bottlenecks.     

Systems thinking in innovation project management: A match that works

This paper discusses why conventional project management practices lead to the failure of publicly funded innovation deployment projects, and investigates how the use of systems thinking in project management can help projects be more successful. Based on 12 case studies of two EU innovation policies, we provide evidence that by using systemic project management, which entails providing flexibility in planning, communicating and controlling activities, innovation projects are more successful. This research refutes previous theory that claims that we should formalize to manage complexity and uncertainty. The key finding is that systems thinking methods provide the flexibility to manage innovativeness, complexity and uncertainty in innovation projects more successfully. Suggestions for further research include suggestions of how to embed flexibility in project management methods using the constructs of equifinality and causal embeddedness.     

Project understanding,planning, flexibility of management action and construction time performance: two Australian case studies

Construction time performance (CTP) and flexibility in approaches to project time planning have been shown to be significantly associated. This raises interesting questions about how effective planning and control to facilitate flexibility in overcoming unexpected problems may be achieved. Case study data were used to explore links between planning and flexibility. This paper reports upon a recent study of two highly complex projects, a mental and forensic health hospital and a very large freeway/bridge/tunnel urban infrastructure project. The authors investigated planning flexibility using a framework of project team understanding and knowledge transfer to provide a model that contributes to our understanding of mechanisms and drivers that delivers flexible behaviour that may affect CTP. We conclude that both ability, supported by organizational and team competence, and commitment to explore construction method options in a flexible manner, i.e. responding to unanticipated problems, are necessary to facilitate good construction time performance.     

Microfoundations of project portfolio regulation in joint university-industry laboratories

Joint university-industry laboratories (joint U-I labs) consist of a new, yet little understood model of academic partnership with the firms, typically involving the establishment of a collaborative research unit to conduct research and development (R&D) projects. This type of collaboration faces an ongoing challenge in dealing with the tension between the development and deployment focus in the project portfolio. While several studies have investigated project portfolio management in a given firm, little is known about the interorganizational portfolio management and how the actors manage tensions in joint U-I labs. This study aims to investigate the microfoundations of project portfolio management in joint U-I labs. By combining the multiple-case study and at-home ethnography methods, we identified that the regulation approach explains how partners in joint U-I labs dynamically adjust and manage the project portfolio. Based on the empirical findings, we propose a new framework for project portfolio management in joint U-I labs: portfolio regulation. This framework consists of four processes: dual scouting, dual matchmaking, joint selection, and bridgemaking. These microfoundations enable actors to strategically regulate the portfolio by increasing/decreasing resources related to development or deployment. Our study explores how portfolio regulation evolves within a joint U-I lab through four stages: formation, learning, reconfiguration, and joint portfolio. The proposed framework contributes to interorganizational R&D portfolio management theory and joint U-I lab portfolio management practice.     

Projects,institutional logics and institutional work practices: The case of the Lucca Comics & Games Festival

This paper investigates the relations between festivals and their institutional settings, and how these relations shape festival management. We analyze institutional logics and work practices in a complex project, Lucca Comics & Games, which is the biggest festival dedicated to fantasy culture in Italy. Our results, based on archival research, media coverage and interview data, reveal the recursive interplay between institutional logics and work practices for institutional maintenance. We argue that the study of festivals is essential to understanding key aspects of project-based organizing more generally. In this regard, the maintaining of institutions must be distinguished from stability or the absence of change and consideration of historical and contextual analysis, and multiple tensions that occur due to competing institutional logics can open up new ways of thinking for prospective research. We also demonstrate that future research can use institutional work practices for understanding institutional maintenance in recurring temporary organizations.     

Schedule control model for linear projects based on linear scheduling method and constraint programming

China Railway is undertaking massive construction and development projects.A reasonable and resource-leveled schedule that allows for adjustments for unforeseen circumstances during construction is critical for managing railway construction projects. Currently, most construction projects use traditional network planning methods or the Gantt schedule for project management. However, these methods have limited applicability to railway construction projects, which are typically linear. This study uses the linear scheduling method and constraint programming techniques for solving schedule control problems faced during railroad construction. The proposal comprises a schedule control model, scheduling model, and schedule control system; the scheduling model is central to the schedule control model. Characteristics such as high flexibility and practicality facilitate multi-objective optimization during scheduling and modification of the linear schedule. The proposed model and algorithm were validated by comparing results with actual data from a highway construction project and the Urumqi–Dzungaria railway construction project.     

谈建设项目实施中工程变更的管理与控制

工程项目在实施过程中,受各种主客观因素和不确定因素的影响,会产生内容各异的变更,这对于任何一个工程项目,都是不可避免的。但工程项目作为一种特殊的产品,频繁的工程变更既打乱正常的进度安排,又导致工程项目投资的失控以及可能引发合同纠纷和争端。为此,笔者就工程项目变更的原因、影响以及对参与各方提出工程变更的不同管理流程、变更投资控制等几个方面,以业主项目管理工作实践来论述如何做好工程变更的管理与控制工作。     

甘肃会展中心建筑群项目的工程管理与控制

大型公共建筑项目具有投资规模大、专业种类多、施工工期紧、施工工序复杂等特点,工程管理难度非常大,如何做好大型公共建筑项目的工程管理与控制工作,已经成为困扰众多建设单位的难题。以甘肃会展中心建筑群项目为对象,探析以系统工程和项目群管理原理进行大型公共建筑项目工程管理与控制的有效模式,提出了具有甘肃会展中心建筑群项目特点的公共项目管控"八种做法",并对这"八种做法"在工程中的实施进行了阐述,旨在为大型公共建筑项目的设计、施工和管理人员提供一定的参考。     

广州国际生物岛标准产业单元二期建设工程施工过程管理研究

从建设业主的角度,以生物岛标准产业单元二期工程为例,探讨工程施工管理过程中如何针对建设工程的重点和难点,在安全管理、质量管理、进度管理、投资管理等多方面采取有效措施,促进工程的顺利推进,确保工程建设取得良好效果。     

Changes and change management in construction and IT projects

Modelling for change management in construction might benefit from experiences from other industries. This study compares reasons for change as well as change practices in interorganizational relationships in construction and information technology. Sixteen contractual relationships have been studied through a questionnaire and interview survey conducted among both clients and providers. Project-type relations are contrasted with more continuous service support contracts. More than their providers, clients tend to ascribe high change frequencies to an increase in technical understanding during projects. Early provider participation is associated with lower change frequencies, while the strength of incentives is less influential. The ease of transforming changes into new projects varies between technologies. Irreversibility is important, as well as relations between pre-investigations and the successive revealing of initial conditions, together with the life-cycle of formal and informal communication. Findings can be used for transfer of agile practices.     

Applying institutional theories to managing megaprojects

This paper contributes to Rodney Turner's initiative to develop a theory of project management from practice. Organizational scholars studying strategy suggest that more attention needs to be paid to practices involved in organizing, as well as the institutional contexts in which these practices are embedded. Taking a cue from strategy-in-practice approaches, it is proposed that institutional theories can be used to address some questions that have not been answered adequately regarding megaprojects. Institutional theories also seem to be gaining the attention of scholars investigating large, global, infrastructure projects as reported in engineering, management and construction journals. Increasingly, it is evident that the problem areas attached to these projects stretch beyond technical issues: they must be considered as socio-technical endeavours embedded in complex institutional frames. The authors suggest that studying how to deal with institutional differences in the environment of megaprojects has both theoretical and practical implications.     

简议大型复杂项目基于总进度计划下的进度控制方法

对于工期紧迫的建设项目,尤其是大型复杂项目来说,仅仅有计划是不够的,还必须在计划下采取有效的进度管理措施和进度控制方法来控制工期。本文从一个实例深入探讨了基于总进度计划下的大型复杂项目怎样在工期紧迫的情况下进行进度控制工作。     

工程施工组织设计的编制及其控制作用

笔者任职以来一直主持企业技术管理的全面工作, 对工程项目施工组织设计文件接触较多。本文介绍笔者在组织编制、审查、批准工程施工组织设计工作中对施工组织设计的一般内容, 编制要点, 常见通病的预防措施, 在工程施工现场中的管理方法, 以及充分发挥工程组织设计在工程施工现场中控制作用的一些体会。本文所叙述的对象是已中标施工的工程, 对工程投标的施工组织设计可根据《建设工程项目管理规范》中项目管理规划大纲和招标的要求编制。