Directions for future research in project management: The main findings of a UK government-funded research network

In 2003 the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) agreed to fund a research network – Rethinking Project Management – to define a research agenda aimed at enriching and extending the subject of project management beyond its current conceptual foundations. The main argument for the proposed Network highlighted the growing critiques of project management theory and the need for new research in relation to the developing practice. Being the first paper of this Special Issue, this paper presents the Network’s main findings: a framework of five directions aimed at developing the field intellectually in the following areas: project complexity, social process, value creation, project conceptualisation, and practitioner development. These areas are based on a comprehensive analysis of all the research material produced over a 2-year period and represent the dominant pattern of ideas to emerge from the Network as a whole. They are not meant to be the agenda for future research, but an agenda to inform and stimulate current and future research activity in developing the field of project management. Methodologically, the five research directions represent a synthesis of ideas for how the current conceptual base needs to develop in relation to the developing world of practice. As well as presenting the main findings, the paper also presents a practical research framework aimed at researchers working in the field. The intended audience for the paper is the project management research community, and also researchers in other management areas for whom the Network’s findings might be of interest.     

Israel: metropolitan integration or ‘fractured regions’? An alternative perspective

This paper proposes an alternative account of the high degree of power centrality in Israel, by arguing that the territorial ‘fracturing’ of Israel's main social and ethnic groups has prevented the emergence of effective pressure for regional devolution. Israel's character as a settler and settling state, and its central project of Judaising contested territories, enabled the Israeli ‘ethnocracy’ and its (mainly Ashkenazi) elites to create a political geography of ‘fractured ethnic and social regions’. This was achieved by dispersing minorities and legitimising segregation and inequality, all in the name of the ‘national interest’.The Israeli political landscape is therefore organised as ‘fractured regions’, each representing a distinct and interconnected, yet geographically dispersed, set of localities. The logic of dispersal and segregation, in turn, has also influenced patterns of development and residential separation within Israel's main urban areas. Thus ethnic and social fragmentation and conflict, and not a putative process of national or metropolitan integration, can explain much of Israel's highly centralised power structure.     

The aggressive–cooperative drivers of construction contracting

Construction contracting parties can take either a cooperative or aggressive stance in pursuing their goals. This paper aims at identifying the stimuli (known as drivers) that motivate cooperative or aggressive moves in construction contracting behavior (CCB). In this regard, a three-stage research work has been designed for the completion of the research objective. Based on literature reviews, aggressive and cooperative drivers were identified in the first stage. A questionnaire was designed to collect construction case-specific data on these drivers. Next, taxonomies of aggressive and cooperative drivers were developed by the use of principal component factor analyses (PCFA). A total of three and seven taxonomies for aggressive and cooperative drivers were identified respectively. These taxonomies enable the understanding of aggressive-cooperative nature of CCB in a more amenable and logical manner. With these taxonomies, factor scales were calculated to represent the relative importance of the respective taxonomies. The degree of significance of each factor scales was then evaluated in the third stage. The results showed that the most important cooperative taxonomy is ‘openness of contracting parties’, while the most important aggressive taxonomy is ‘goal oriented’. The findings also suggest that construction projects may not be inherently adversarial. Contract with equitable risk allocation and open discussion of problems would provide the platform for team building so that relationship among contracting parties can be maintained.     

Focusing on business projects as an area for future research: An exploratory discussion of four different perspectives

An important development in project management in recent years has been the emergence of a new class of projects, in areas such as organisational change and IT, integrated business solutions, and long-term public service delivery. Often referred to as ‘business projects’, this new class of projects (and programmes) reflects a growing conceptual shift away from the traditional engineering view of projects, towards a more business-oriented view, in which the primary concern is no longer the capital asset, system or facility etc, but increasingly the challenge of implementing business strategy, improving organisational effectiveness, and managing the realisation of stakeholder benefits. Drawing on recent research from the UK Government-funded Rethinking Project Management Network, this paper argues that future research in this area needs to look beyond the mainstream literature on project management, to other relevant disciplines such as strategic management, operations management, and the management of change. Against this background, the authors present four conceptual perspectives from the management literature, which can be usefully applied to business projects. They represent exploratory contributions from four participants in the Network – a special collaboration between researchers – whose ideas and perspectives were either discussed at the Network meetings, or are the subject of research elsewhere. Collectively, the four contributions represent an exploratory discussion of different theoretical perspectives, in order to inform and stimulate other researchers and practitioners working in the field.     

Greenways: multiplying and diversifying in the 21st century

Building on the legacy of historic greenway planning in the U.S., several new initiatives have been taking shape and gaining recognition in the past decade. One is ‘Green Infrastructure’ planning which is a ‘must have’ inter-connected system of green spaces. Another is ‘Smart Conservation’—the counterpoint of another planning initiative that preceded it known as ‘Smart Growth’. This is the establishment of critical green corridors that should be preserved and maintained for predominantly ecological functions, in advance of or in conjunction with new development. ‘New Urbanism’ has focused on bringing order and coherence to escalating ‘Edge Cities’ on the urban fringe, based on walkable, mixed-use towns, villages and neighborhoods with integrated open-space systems. Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs) are transportation plans for accommodating regional growth around clustered ‘pedestrian pockets’ linked by transit systems. Both New Urbanism and TODs have applied similar principles to ‘brown sites’ and declining city neighborhoods.All these initiatives are different aspects of the greenway movement, expressing its many possibilities, enriching its original concepts, enlarging its credibility—if need be—and emphasizing its importance for and relevance to current issues of sustainability and ‘green’ planning and design. The author, a teacher/practitioner, discusses recent U.S. greenway examples at site, metropolitan and regional scales for which he has been the principal planner/designer or a consultant, and compares New Urbanism and TOD methodologies and approaches to established greenway-planning practices and the premises of Smart Conservation.     

Soil nutrient status and revegetation practices of downhill skiing areas in Finnish Lapland — a case study of Mt. Ylläs

Ski slope construction is one of the major anthropogenic factors responsible for ecosystem degradation in mountain areas in Finnish Lapland. Mt. Ylläs has been used as a downhill skiing slope for about 30 years. Until 1992, the ski slopes were kept in their natural condition: there was no removal of vegetation and soil above the tree line. After 1992, Mt. Ylläs went through an extensive construction, the ski slopes were machine-graded and machine-levelled, which caused damage to both vegetation and soil. The aim of the study presented here was to examine nutrient status of various soils on the machine-graded and machine-levelled ski slopes in relation to their potential use as a substrate for revegetation practices.Soil organic matter and nutrient status were analysed in three sites on the slopes of Mt. Ylläs in the tree line zone (transit zone between wooded vegetation and treeless alpine vegetation): (1) reference site on the undisturbed area between the ski-runs (Control); (2) disturbed site on the ski-run area (DSP — ‘DiSturbed Podzol’, DSL — ‘DiSturbed Leptosol’ and DSB — ‘DiSturbed Bare soil’); and (3) Revegetation study Plots established on the ski-runs (RP). The analysis of element concentrations and their relative proportions allow us to conclude that only DSP and DSL can be considered as potentially appropriate for unassisted ecosystem recovery on the ski-runs. Presence of native plant species on these patches supports our conclusion. As a recommendation for revegetation of ski-runs, we propose implementation of substrate composed of upper layer of initial soil. Such substrate can be collected during the construction work on ski slopes or on building sites in the area with similar soils. Uncomposted substrate or at least short period of composting is preferable.     

Exploring the role of formal bodies of knowledge in defining a profession – The case of project management

Since the mid 1970s, project management associations around the world have made serious attempts to conduct themselves as professional associations. Traditional professions distinguished themselves by emphasising standards such as service to the public and competence in their field, and by ensuring that their membership meets these standards. An important element of a profession is ownership of a body of knowledge that is distinctive to the professional group. Project management associations have spent considerable time and effort in developing Bodies of Knowledge (BOKs) and their associated certification programs, and indeed the popularity of these has been notable. Yet there are problems, some relating to the broader issue of whether the project management associations really are equipped to act as professional bodies, others related to the specific challenge of agreeing the ‘distinctive body of knowledge’ and to the value of certification.This paper draws on insights from the rethinking project management EPSRC project as well as several separate research programs to explore the development of project management as a profession and the role of the formal BOKs in this professionalization, and to suggest a research agenda for critiquing, contributing to, and maintaining both the formal BOKs and the more general body of knowledge relevant to the needs of the discipline.     

Wild times and domesticated times: the temporalities of environmental lifestyles and politics

In this paper, I explore how environmental movements and lifestyles, like all forms of human action, produce their own characteristic kinds of time. During this exploration, I introduce a number of concepts which I suggest are useful in understanding these temporalities—chronological and kairological time; linear and cyclic time; segmentation and plot; orientation and synchronisation. Whereas the environment as described by the natural sciences is one dominated by chronological, linear time, human time is also kairological, suffused with meaning and intention. The varieties of human action also produce their own distinctive temporalities—some linear, some cyclic, some oriented to external goals, some self-sufficient. The logic of kairological time also requires that we understand individual events and actions as ‘figures’ against a temporal ‘ground’—one that is characteristically organised into an overarching narrative, or broken up into distinctive time segments. Furthermore, human experience is not just situated in time, but orients itself within time—it faces ‘backwards’ into the past, ‘forwards’ into the future, or commits itself to the present. Finally, lived time is also sometimes synchronised with other times—with that of proximate or distant others, or with historical narratives of progress or decline.     

Evaluation of an attempt to cultivate shrubs and trees on a heap of a potash mine

Starting at the end of November 1993, the Dr. Kahl GmbH has attempted to grow shrubs (Amorpha: Amorpha fructuosa and snow-berry: Symphoricarpos rivularis) and trees (poplar hybrid ‘University of Idaho’ Populus deltoides and Eleagnus angustifolia), on the heap of the potash mine Sondershausen/Harz (Free state of Thuringia). Patented water-saving planting method was used. A flexible planting container made of polyethylene was first filled with 50 g polyacrylamide (also called ‘hydrogel’) and after that with about 40 kg of a mixture of anhydrite (CaSO₄) — the mean soil of the heap — and dried sewage sludge, respectively, composted sewage sludge on top of the hydrogel. After placing the container into the ground, one-year-old seedlings of the shrubs or trees were planted into the containers. Five years after planting investigations on the plants and soil were started. The results until now show that, using the planting method, Amorpha, the poplar ‘University of Idaho’ and the Eleagnus are able to grow under the poor conditions of the heap.     

From projectification to programmification

This paper considers two key themes from the Rethinking Project Management Network activities: projectification and managing multiple projects. Following analysis of cases presented during network meetings, the findings are set in the context of the extant literature, and discuss the development of the concept of projectification over the past decade. Three key conclusions are drawn from this work. Firstly, projectification has considerably extended the definition of ‘a project’ way beyond the current definitions in the literature. Secondly, projectification has not been a panacea for individuals or organisations. Lastly, during the decade reviewed by this paper, we have seen the establishment of programmes and portfolios of programmes as a mechanism for managing in organisations. This represents a developed phenomenon we have termed programmification. All three of these conclusions have implications for research and practice, which are reflected in a research agenda and specific research questions.     

Swedish experiences of incentives for the protection of nature

In Sweden, the maintenance of biological diversity is considered a key element in the development towards a sustainable society. However, the link between sustainable development and biodiversity is far from clear to everybody. It is an important task to explain this link. A cornerstone of Swedish biodiversity policy is that each sector in society has a sectoral responsibility to ensure that its own activities do not cause any long-term loss of biodiversity (but instead help to maintain it). The concept of sectoral responsibility is an important feature of environmental policy in the context of developing new incentives. Besides ‘traditional’ nature conservation tools — such as the protection of sites, purchasing land and general environmental legislation — new, more market-oriented incentives have emerged during the last few years, e.g. certifications schemes in forestry and eco-labelling in agriculture. These new incentives have developed alongside political processes (parliament, government, agencies etc.) and have been formulated and negotiated by ‘market players’. Environmental NGOs, such as WWF Sweden and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, have often taken the lead role in this process. Another feature of these incentives is that they not only apply to products but also to production; an example of this is in forestry where not just the wood but also forest management are in focus. The national agri-environmental programmes, within the context of the European Union's subsidy programme for environmental measures in agriculture, provide a powerful tool for conserving and enhancing biodiversity. In Sweden at least, there is nowadays complete acceptance for the basic view that it is both desirable and necessary to pay the farmers for their ‘production’ of common benefits such as biodiversity in well-managed pastures and meadows. Market-oriented incentives, such as eco-labelling and certification schemes, have an important role to play and should complement other, more traditional tools such as general environmental legislation and protection of sites.     

Laboratory testing of pipe splitting operations

Pipeline replacement ‘on line’ has been practised for many years using pipe bursting technologies, which typically involve multiple fracture and outward displacement of fragments of the existing pipeline using either pneumatic or hydraulic means. One of the most important considerations for the design of a pipe bursting operation is the pattern of ground displacement caused, and consequently the possible damage to existing adjacent services and structures. Due to the requirement for overburst, the magnitude of the typical outward pattern of displacements caused by pipe bursting following construction is much smaller than the temporary displacements that occur while the process is being carried out. The ground movements during construction will often, therefore, provide the worst case for design. However, this pattern of behaviour is complicated by the possibility of residual ground settlements if the works are carried out in loose granular soils or in soft cohesive deposits in which positive pore water pressures are generated. The pattern and magnitude of displacements have been shown by the first two authors to be dependent on several parameters following a comprehensive programme of laboratory modelling and field trials. Parallel work by Advantica Technologies Limited (formerly research, technology and engineering arms of British Gas) has resulted in the publication of tables and charts detailing ‘safe working distances’ for pipe bursting in relation to cast iron gas mains. Prediction of the ground displacements is clearly vital for the safe operation of these replacement techniques. Pipe splitting is a more recently developed technique that has been proposed for ‘on line’ replacement of ductile iron and steel pipes. This technique has advantages associated with the continuous and pseudo-static, rather than discontinuous and generally dynamic, form of expansion employed. Prior to its adoption in routine industrial practice, however, it is important that differences in the patterns of displacement to those of pipe bursting are known. To this end, Advantica Technologies Limited is currently sponsoring a programme of full-scale laboratory model testing of pipe splitting operations at the University of Birmingham. This paper describes the testing equipment used to determine the effects on the surrounding ground of the pipe splitting operation, details the programme of tests and reports the results of tests conducted in both clays and sands. From the results it was observed that the McElroy Manufacturing Inc. ‘Bullet’ pipe splitting device produced a clean split in the ductile iron pipe whereas the U-Mole Ltd. ‘Clampburster’ produced a much more fragmented host pipe. It has also been found that the orientation of the blade of the pipe splitting device has a considerable impact on the resulting ground displacements. The ‘Bullet’ device allows the orientation of the blade to remain fixed during the operation, whereas the ‘Clampburster’ device currently allows rotation of the blade during the operation. The maximum displacements resulting from both splitting devices are very similar.     

An incubator method for estimating the actual daily planktonalgae primary production

Based on the knowledge of the sun/shade adaptation mechanism of algae a computer program has been developed which makes it possible to transform potential estimated primary production values to ‘normal’ daily primary production values. The potential production is measured in an incubator at a temperature equal to that at the sampling locality. Necessary light energy is delivered by fluorescence lamps (Philips TL 20 W/33). The transformation calculations are based on the actual transmission of green light and the light conditions during a ‘normal irradiance year’. This means that the determined production values represent the ‘normal’ production and thus the eutrophic state of the water body. An intercalibration with the traditional in situ method shows good agreement. If an incubation period of half a light day is used with the in situ method then the method described in this paper is less time consuming.     

The many faces of planning

In this issue of Bookwatch, we start with a number of books which deal with different aspects or approaches to planning. The first has an unusual title (particularly for a book from the US): Planning in Government: Shaping Programs that Succeed (by Melvin R. Levin, Planners Press, Chicago, 1987, 257 pp). The idea that planning can ‘succeed’ is not all that common these days, and one might expect this volume to take the nature of a political tract, bucking the current strong anti-government, pro-privatism philosophies, and espousing the benefits of more — or at least better — planning.     

Recent research advances on ECBL approach.: Part I: Plastic–elastic interactive buckling of cold-formed steel sections

The objective of this two parts paper is to present some recent developments and applications of erosion of critical bifurcation load (ECBL) approach for the interactive buckling. Two different types of problems are analysed: (1) plastic–elastic interactive buckling which implements into the Ayrton–Perry interaction formula the plastic strength of the stub columns evaluated by means of local plastic mechanism analysis, and (2) elastic–elastic interactive buckling for members with perforations.The first part of the paper analyses the occurrence of local plastic mechanisms in cold-formed steel sections in compression, and how they can be implemented in the ultimate limit state analysis of the members. Actually, the failure of thin-walled cold-formed members in compression always occurs with a local plastic mechanism. Starting from this observation, the authors suggest to use in the interactive local-overall buckling analysis the sectional plastic mechanism strength instead of traditional ‘effective section’. The ECBL approach is used to implement the proposed interactive buckling model. Results are compared with those of other two recent methods, namely the direct strength method and plastic effective width approach. Relevant tests are used to evaluate the three methods. Comparisons with European and American design codes are also presented in the paper.     

Numerical and experimental investigations of the response of aluminum cylinders with a cutout subject to axial compression

Understanding how a cutout influences the load bearing capacity and buckling behavior of a cylindrical shell is critical in the design of structural components used in automobiles, aircrafts, and marine applications. Numerical simulation and analysis of moderately thick and thin unstiffened aluminum cylindrical shells (D/t=45, 450 and L/D=2, 5, 10), having a square cutout, subjected to axial compression were systematically carried out in this paper. The investigation examined the influence of the cutout size, cutout location, and the shell aspect ratio (L/D) on the prebuckling, buckling, and postbuckling responses of the cylindrical shells.An experimental investigation on the moderately thick-walled shells was also carried out. A good correlation was observed between the results obtained from the finite element simulation and the experiments. Furthermore, empirical equations, in the form of a ‘buckling load reduction factor’ were developed using the least square regression method. These simple equations could be used to predict the buckling capacities of several specific types of cylindrical shells with a cutout.     

“Rio+10”, sustainability science and Landscape Ecology

The ‘sustainability debate’ has had a profound influence on contemporary Landscape Ecology. This paper explores the implications of the second global summit for the research agendas that developed after the Rio Summit (1992), and argues that although the Declaration from Johannesburg 2002 restates the earlier summit concerns, the messages it sends to the research community are subtly different to those a decade earlier. The growing body of literature, which identifies the need for a new kind of sustainability science, is reviewed, and its relevance to Landscape Ecology is discussed. Although recent commentators have argued for a more transdisciplinary approach to Landscape Ecology that appears to meet the requirements of this new science we still lack ways of taking this forward. The paper concludes by proposing a new paradigm for Landscape Ecology based on the concept of ecosystem goods and services, or natural capital. It is argued that in the decade since the Rio Summit, a key focus of the future research agenda for the discipline should be an exploration of the ‘sustainability choice space’ defined by the interaction of biophysical limits and social and economic values at the landscape-scale. The paper provides a conceptual model (the tongue model) that describes how biophysical and socio-economic constraints can be combined in sustainability planning.     

The application of ‘least-cost’ modelling as a functional landscape model

The growing awareness of the adverse effects of habitat fragmentation on natural systems has resulted in a rapidly increasing number of actions to reduce current fragmentation of natural systems as well as a growing demand for tools to predict and evaluate the effect of changes in the landscape on connectivity in the natural world. Recent studies used ‘least-cost’ modelling (available as a toolbox in GIS-systems) to calculate ‘effective distance’, a measure for distance modified with the cost to move between habitat patches based on detailed geographical information on the landscape as well as behavioural aspects of the organisms studied. We applied the method to a virtual landscape and a small scaled agricultural system subject to different scenarios in a land re-allotment project. We discuss the importance of technical aspects and ecological assumption underlying this modelling method. The model is shown to be a flexible tool to model functional connectivity in the study of the relation between landscape and mobility of organisms as well as in scenario building and evaluation in wild life protection projects and applied land management projects. Since ‘effective distance’ has the same units as Euclidean distance (m), this effective distance may be a straightforward way to include landscape and behavioural aspects in other models which include distance as a measure for isolation. We show the importance of the ‘ecological’ quality of the input maps and the choice of relevant landscape features and resistance values.     

Greenways, blueways, skyways and other ways to a better London

“ Landscape planners are quick to criticise other professions for single-use planning, but we tend towards the same mistake when planning greenways and urban greenspace.” This proposition is illustrated by the great series of open space plans which was prepared for London between 1929 and 1976. It is then discussed from a theoretical standpoint with reference to Christopher Alexander, the ‘pattern analysis’ approach to landscape planning, and the author's 1991 report to the London Planning Advisory Committee, Towards a Green Strategy for London. The paper concludes that ‘greenway’ is an excellent marketing term, but that product diversification and product differentiation must take place. We need special varieties of greenway for special purposes. Brief Alexander-type patterns are outlined for seven varieties: parkway, blueway, paveway, glazeway, skyway, ecoway and cycleway.     

GBT formulation to analyse the buckling behaviour of thin-walled members with arbitrarily ‘branched’ open cross-sections

This paper presents the derivation, validates and illustrates the application of a Generalised Beam Theory (GBT) formulation developed to analyse the buckling behaviour of thin-walled members with arbitrarily ‘branched’ open cross-sections. Following a brief overview of the conventional GBT, one addresses in great detail the modifications that must be incorporated into its cross-section analysis procedure, in order to be able to handle the ‘branching’ points — they concern mostly issues related to (i) the choice of the appropriate ‘elementary warping functions’ and (ii) the determination of the ‘initial flexural shape functions’. The derived formulation is then employed to investigate the local-plate, distortional and global buckling behaviour of (i) simply supported and fixed asymmetric E-section columns and (ii) simply supported I-section beams with unequal stiffened flanges. For validation purposes, several GBT-based results are compared with ‘exact’ values, obtained by means of finite strip or shell finite element analyses.