Managing and temporality

This special issue is the third in the Scandinavian Journal of Management (SJM) to focus exclusively on the processual nature of managing and organizing. These three special issues offer an approximate genealogy of recent developments in process thinking in the field of management and organization

Microsphere-based antibody assays for human parvovirus B19V, CMV and T. gondii

Background: Human parvovirus B19 (B19V), cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) may cause intrauterine infections with potentially severe consequences to the fetus. Current serodiagnosis of these infections is based on detection of antibodies most often by EIA and individually for each pathogen. We developed singleplex and multiplex microsphere-based Suspension Immuno Assays (SIAs) for the simultaneous detection of IgG antibodies against B19V, CMV and T. gondii. Methods: We tested the performances of SIAs as compared to in-house and commercial reference assays using serum samples from well-characterized cohorts. Results: The IgG SIAs for CMV and T. gondii showed good concordance with the corresponding Vidas serodiagnostics. The B19V IgG SIA detected IgG in all samples collected >10 days after onset of symptoms and showed high concordance with EIAs (in-house and Biotrin). The serodiagnostics for these three pathogens performed well in multiplex format. Conclusions: We developed singleplex and multiplex IgG SIAs for the detection of anti-B19V,-CMV and -T. gondii antibodies. The SIAs were highly sensitive and specific, and had a wide dynamic range. These components thus should be suitable for construction of a multiplex test for antibody screening during pregnancy.Peer reviewe

Collaborative academic/practitioner research in project management: Theory and models

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide of a review of the theory and models underlying project management (PM) research degrees that encourage reflective learning. Design/methodology/approach – Review of the literature and reflection on the practice of being actively involved in conducting and supervising academic research and disseminating academic output. The paper argues the case for the potential usefulness of reflective academic research to PM practitioners. It also highlights theoretical drivers of and barriers to reflective academic research by PM practitioners. Findings – A reflective learning approach to research can drive practical results though it requires a great deal of commitment and support by both academic and industry partners. Practical implications – This paper suggests how PM practitioners can engage in academic research that has practical outcomes and how to be more effective at disseminating these research outcomes. Originality/value – Advanced academic degrees, in particular those completed by PM practitioners, can validate a valuable source of innovative ideas and approaches that should be more quickly absorbed into the PM profession’s sources of knowledge. The value of this paper is to critically review and facilitate a reduced adaptation time for implementation of useful reflective academic research to industry

Modes and mechanisms of control in Multi-Project Organisations : the R&D case

There is a widespread acceptance that organising by projects is on the increase. In previous research on the management of projects, the majority of studies have adopted project-centric approaches, downplaying organisation- or company-wide matters even in firms whose performance largely depends on the combined success of multiple projects. In this paper, we focus on the problem of management control and specifically the control modes and control mechanisms used by management in project-intensive Randamp;D units. On the basis of a multiple case study of four Randamp;D units, we suggest a typology of four different kinds of multi-project situations. The typology is based on two dimensions, dependency between projects and project uncertainty. The typology is used to explain differences in management control modes and mechanisms between the firms in our study.</p

Project management scholarship: Relevance, impact and five integrative challenges for business and management schools

This paper discusses the standing of project management in the academy. It does so from the viewpoint of business and management schools. The paper identifies five critical integrative challenges concerning research, how they might be better addressed and perhaps turned into opportunities. The paper builds on recent debates within the area of engaged scholarship and knowledge co-production, which call for greater focus on multi-disciplinarity and research–practice collaborations. The paper offers suggestions as to what project management scholars could do to tackle the identified challenges and thereby improve the standing of project management as a subject area within the academy and its contribution to the curriculum and research agenda of business and management schools. The paper ends with some thoughts about future debates on the role of project management research and teaching, especially how project management scholarship could help respond to some of the current criticism of business school research and how research could better inform management practice

The case for good reviewing [Editorial]

After some years of remarkable growth, the scholarly field of Project Management (PM) research currently finds itself in a crucial stage of development. In this editorial, we make an analysis of submissions to PM's premier specialty journal, the International Journal of Project Management over the period 2007–2010, and argue that one of the most important ways in which PM research can further evolve is to pay more attention to the mundane, yet important, act of good reviewing — an activity that we believe has received relatively little attention in the PM community thus far. Let us begin by considering the crucial juncture that, as a scholarly discipline, PM is currently at. On the one hand, the PM research field is characterized by signs of major progress. For one, there has been a strong growth in terms of published output: recent years have seen the publication of three major edited volumes with a central focus on PM, published by top-tier publishers (Cattani et al., 2011, Kenis et al., 2009 and Morris et al., 2011); the PM/temporary organizations literature published in ISI ranked peer-reviewed articles is growing exponentially (Bakker, 2010); and besides some of the long-standing PM specialty journals, the field has recently seen the rise of a number of new journals, including the International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, the International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, and the Journal of Project, Program, and Portfolio Management