Escalation of commitment in troubled IT projects: Influence of project risk factors and self-efficacy on the perception of risk and the commitment to a failing project

Past studies have indicated that project managers may be less likely to continue failing IT projects if they are able to perceive project risks accurately. Using the scenario of a failing IT project, a computer simulation-based experiment investigated the influence of individual self-efficacy and project risk factors on the perception of risk. Participants played the role of a project manager and managed a simulated IT project. The results suggest that project managers are likely to underestimate the risks of a project with endogenous risk factors as compared to a project with exogenous risk factors. Results of this study point to a ‘self-efficacy bias’ where project managers with higher self-efficacy may underestimate the risks of a troubled IT project as compared to project managers with lower self-efficacy. Further, risk perception mediated the influence of self-efficacy on the commitment to a failing IT project.     

PPP项目中承诺对商业模式创新绩效的#br# 影响：尽善履约的中介作用

PPP项目商业模式创新很大程度上依赖于社会资本的尽善履约行为,而承诺是触发该行为的关键。通过文献分析将承诺划分为经济性承诺与情感性承诺,将商业模式创新绩效划分为创新效率与创新有效性,在此基础上建立以承诺为前因、尽善履约为中介、PPP项目商业模式创新绩效为结果的概念模型;采用情境模拟结合问卷调查的方式采集到116组有效试验数据,并运用分层回归分析的方法进行实证检验。研究结果表明：①尽善履约行为在承诺与PPP项目商业模式创新绩效之间起到完全中介作用;②承诺对尽善履约行为具有显著正向影响,且经济性承诺的影响要大于情感性承诺;③尽善履约行为对创新绩效具有显著正向影响,且对创新效率的影响要大于创新有效性。在此基础上,为我国政府改善PPP项目商业模式创新绩效提出了3点策略建议。     

Effects of project governance structures on the management of risks in major infrastructure projects: A comparative analysis

Large infrastructure construction projects are prone to risks. Using desktop review and interviews with stakeholder organizations in two major infrastructure projects (the Yi-wan Railway Construction Project in China and the Northern Gateway Toll Road (NGTR) Project in New Zealand), this study investigated how different project governance structures affect the management of risks. Comparative analysis shows that project governance provides a structured mechanism to identify and address risks as they occur. Despite varied context, two projects relied upon flexible contractual arrangements to leverage risks among project participants. While a centralized, single-agent governance was adopted in the form of Project Management Headquarters (PMH) in Yi-wan Railway project, an alliance governance structure was used in the NGTR project. The former enabled top-down risk allocation whereas the latter encouraged proactive solutions to risk sharing. The research outcomes will inform the decision making among project stakeholders on establishing appropriate project governance arrangements in order to achieve target risk management outcome. By comparing real-time projects of varied scope, complexity and significance, the findings contribute to an improved understanding of the relationship between project organizations and project risk management.     

AutoCAD软件在工程测量中的应用技术

介绍了AutoCAD软件技术在传统测量基础上的技术改进,通过工程实例应用,分析了该技术的优越性和经济技术的可行性,并对AutoCAD软件技术在平面控制测量与水平位移监测两方面的应用情况做了阐述,以推广AutoCAD软件的应用。     

Investigating key challenges in major public engineering projects by a network-theory based analysis of stakeholder concerns: A case study

The diversities of stakeholder concerns and intricate interdependencies between stakeholder concerns are important factors adding complexities to major public engineering projects (MEPs). Using case study and network-theory based analysis in a large reclamation project, this paper investigated the key stakeholder concerns and concern interdependencies of MEPs, and how they bring major challenges confronted by stakeholders. The network analysis identifies five major challenges of the case: “applying highly advanced and complex construction technology”, “mitigating project disruptions to the environment and marine ecology”, “conducting public and community consultation during construction phase”, “site constraints due to nearby air and marine traffic”, and “meeting government standard on the quality of new materials and equipment”. Recommendations are provided to alleviate these problems for future MEPs. This paper contributes to a new angle, the network perspective, of analyzing stakeholder concern interdependencies and their practical implications on MEPs. The findings provide useful insights on common pitfalls of MEPs.     

Factors affecting contractors’ risk attitudes in construction projects: Case study from China

Risk-based decision making (RBDM) is critical in successful construction project management, in which decision makers’ attitudes towards risks play an important role. Most previous studies in construction project risk management have been focusing on the factors contributing to the success of risk management, but little attention was given to factors significantly affecting decision makers’ risk attitudes in construction projects. To improve RBDM, we investigate the critical factors affecting contractors’ risk attitudes in construction projects in China in this research. Literatures reviews, interviews and questionnaires are used for the identification of factors affecting contractors’ risk attitudes. Statistical methods of ranking analysis and factor analysis are also implemented for verification and further analysis. The results show that the most important three factors are: “consequences of decision making”, “engineering experience”, and “completeness of project information”. Results from factor analysis on the identified critical factors reveal that they can be grouped into four categories, namely: (1) knowledge and experience; (2) contractors’ character; (3) personal perception; and (4) economic environment. The significance of this research is that the findings do not only provide decision making support for contractors by deepening their understandings of the factors that affect their risk attitudes, but also serve as a useful reference for further studies under this topic.     

浅谈工程竣工结算中造价的控制

介绍了建筑安装工程造价的含义,强调了支付工程进度款要严格按照施工合同中的付款条件、付款方式进行,详细阐述了工程竣工结算时,应严格把好审核关,从而达到在工程竣工结算中合理控制工程造价的目的。     

对外援助成套项目工程量清单报价规则

就对外援助成套项目工程量清单的组成、清单的提交和确认、工程量清单报价的编制程序以及存在的问题进行了详细的论述,并指出引入工程量清单报价规则是改进和提高援外成套项目管理水平的一项重要举措。     

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.     

Water quality in the Tibetan Plateau: Major ions and trace elements in the headwaters of four major Asian rivers

The Tibetan Plateau covers an area of about one fourth of Europe, has an average elevation over 4000 m above sea level, and is the water sources for about 40% of world's population. In order to foresee future changes in water quality, it is important to understand what pressures are governing the spatial variation in water chemistry. In this paper the chemistry including major ions and trace elements in the headwaters of four major Asian rivers (i.e. the Salween, Mekong, Yangtze River and Yarlung Tsangpo) in the Tibetan Plateau was studied. The results showed that the content of dissolved salts in these Tibetan rivers was relatively high compared to waters from other parts of the world. The chemical composition of the four rivers were rather similar, with Ca²⁺ and HCO₃⁻ being the dominating ions. The exception was the Yangtze River on the Plateau, which was enriched in Na⁺, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻ and Li due to silicate weathering followed by strong evaporation caused by a negative water balance, dissolution of evaporites in the catchment and some drainage from saline lakes. The concentrations of heavy metals (Cu, Co, Cr, Ni, Cd, Pb, and Hg) and As, NH₄⁺ were generally low in all the rivers. Anthropogenic impacts on the quality of the rivers were identified at a few locations in the Mekong River and Yarlung Tsangpo basins. Generally, the main spatial variation in chemical compositions of these under studied rivers was found to be governed mainly by difference in geological variation and regional climatic-environment. Climate change is, therefore, one of main determining factors on the water chemical characteristics of these headwaters of Asian major rivers in the Tibetan Plateau.     

Detection of environmental change in a marine ecosystem—evidence from the western English Channel

To separate human-induced changes from natural fluctuations in marine life requires long-term research. The western English Channel has been investigated from Plymouth for over 100 years. The abundance of marine life has been recorded and related to physical changes in the environment. By comparing different parts of the ecosystem we can demonstrate historic natural fluctuations, allowing prediction of effects of future global change. From the 1920s to the 1950s there was a period of warming of the sea, with increases in abundance of species of fish, plankton and intertidal organisms that are typically common in warmer waters to the south of Britain. After 1962 the sea cooled down and northern cold-water species became more abundant. Since the 1980s regional sea surface temperature has increased again and warm-water species are once more becoming abundant.     

Fixing the contract after the contract is fixed: A study of incomplete contracts in IT and construction projects

This paper aims to increase our understanding of collective outcomes by exploring both micro- and macro-level strategies for dealing with problems arising from incomplete contracts. By combining theories dealing with risk-sharing under various degrees of uncertainty (financial incentives and long-term relationships) with respect to social influence tactics involved in negotiations concerning additional work and changes, a useful framework was created. Case data regarding Swedish interorganizational development projects from both the construction and IT industries are used to illustrate the theoretical arguments. Findings indicate that social norms and the work-related values and attitudes of key negotiators significantly affect project outcomes. Efforts to increase the sophistication of financial incentives and long-term arrangements (e.g., standardized routines concerning risk-sharing and collaborative initiatives) do not seem to pay-off.     

Exploring the emergence of lock-in in large-scale projects: A process view

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the emergence of lock-in in large-scale projects. Although large-scale projects have been studied for decades, most studies have applied economic or psychological perspectives to emphasize decision-making processes at the project front-end. Of those studies, some have focused on poor decision-making due to lock-in and the escalating commitments of decision-makers to ineffective courses of action. However, little is known about the way that project decisions are affected by organizational and inter-organizational contexts and the actors involved. Understanding decisions from a process viewpoint with a long-term (inter-) organizational perspective will lead to a better understanding of lock-in and the overall performance of large-scale projects. This qualitative research is based on a case study. The research setting is the multi-actor Madrid–Barcelona High-Speed rail Line (HSL) project in Spain. Through observations, interviews, several project documents, and report analysis, we explore the processual nature of the choices made during the course of the project. We consider the contextual conditions that give rise or support the emergence of lock-in in relation to pre- and post-project effects, institutional influences, and management practices that create action spaces at the project level. Our findings suggest that lock-in emergence requires the recognition of the long-term (inter-) organizational perspective regarding mechanisms and effects rather than confining decisions to the individual or single actor control in the front-end of projects. Based on organizational theory, the main contribution of this paper is to enrich our understanding of the emergence of lock-in using process theories.     

The ritualization of transitions in the project life cycle: A study of transition rituals in construction projects

To manage the project life cycle and facilitate transitions, Project Management (PM) research often points to temporal models and structuring devices. However, the social and symbolic facet of transitions in projects remains understudied. Therefore, this research focuses on the ritualization of transitions in projects. Specifically, the aim is to gain insight into the practice and meaning of transition rituals in the project life cycle. To do so we draw from field research in the infrastructure sector where participant-observation was carried out during eight transition rituals in four Dutch construction projects, and 58 interviews were executed with project participants. The contribution to the PM debate on temporary organizing lies in the conceptualization of transition rituals as powerful symbolic and strategic practices in the project life cycle, and in the provision of an overview showcasing how, when and why transition rituals are practiced to facilitate transitions and embed a project in its environment.     

Understanding the impact of risks on performance in internal and outsourced information technology projects: The role of strategic importance

Successfully managing the risks of information technology projects continues to be a central problem for organizations regardless of whether the project is outsourced or not. While a plethora of studies has examined the effects of risks on performance, majority fail to distinguish the sourcing characteristics of the projects investigated. Furthermore, little is known about the joint effects of strategic importance and the risk on system performance across internal and outsourced projects. Based on data collected from 77 internal projects and 51 outsourced projects, we find that social subsystem and project management risks are negatively associated with system performance in both internal and outsourced projects. However, technical subsystem risk negatively affects performance only in internal projects. While social subsystem risk exerts greater influence on system performance in outsourced projects than in internal projects, the technical subsystem risk has greater effect on performance in internal than that in outsourced projects. Moreover, the effect of project management risk is not different in both types of projects. In addition, strategic importance moderates the relationship between risks and performance. The negative impact of risks on performance is greater in projects that are more strategic. Strategies are proposed to reduce the complexity and potential conflicts inherent to strategic projects because these characteristics may amplify a risk's impact.     

Arraying Territories: Remote Sensing and Escalation in the North

Founded by Ann-Sofi Rönnskog and John Palmesino , Territorial Agency is an innovative practice that advocates sustainable and integrated territorial transformations through architecture, research and action. Here, Rönnskog and Palmesino describe how their exploration of the shifting geopolitical conditions of the Arctic and subarctic regions has revealed an intensification of remote-sensing technologies and an escalation of military, scientific and industrial activities, which is resulting in ‘a new landscape of agencies’.     

Understanding the hold-up problem in the management of megaprojects: The case of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project

This research examines the outcome of renegotiations that happened between the UK government and private investors in the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project and develops a model to formalise the evolution of bargaining power of these two parties in the contracting period. This model makes two novel contributions in the development of theoretical understanding to hold-up problems for project management: (1) the effect of financial arrangement on bargaining power balance is quantitatively examined; and (2) the relationship between bargaining power and quasi-rent is established through the application of the Nash bargaining model.     

Public-sector reform: Lessons from the privatisation experiment in Greece

This paper explores the process of public sector reform in Greece through the lens of privatisation. It is suggested that the transformation of the domestic post-war interventionist state into the current market-oriented paradigm has been disrupted and dependent on changing reform rationales. Along with the effect of historical dynamics on the direction and scale of change, the explanatory power of external determinants of reform is stressed. Findings reflect a direct linkage between the intensity of external pressure and the pace of reforms. The sustainability of gradual privatisation reforms seems more certain than the outcomes of fast-track privatisations under policy conditionality.     

政府投资项目中的公共受托责任:基于契约理论的视角

从契约的视角分析了政府投资项目作为一种制度安排,具有契约组织的性质,带有相应的激励与治理特征,政府投资项目中的受托责任源于授权。因此,政府必须以一定的形式和程序为其行使公共权力提供资源保障,并由此形成政府对公共资源使用和管理的受托责任。     

Failures in water reform: Lessons from the Buenos Aires's concession

This paper examines the performance, until the cancellation of the contract, of the Buenos Aires sanitation concession in relation to privatization objectives of expanding coverage, reducing consumers’ tariffs and increasing service standards. The evidence shows that, despite a noteworthy increase, coverage rates remained significantly behind goals and that several contract renegotiations came along with significant tariff changes that turned an initial access problem into an affordability one. The analysis indicates that the concession's high profits originated almost exclusively from tariff increases, as the contribution of total factor productivity improvements and of changes of input prices have been negligible. A good number of the concession's failures seem to have been explained by the presence of a weak and inexpert regulator. The evidence also points out that regulators should consider protecting the interests of consumers by setting capital requirements.