Bent Flyvbjerg: power and project management – an appreciation

© 2008, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a critique of Bent Flyybjerg's work that has high relevance to the project management (PM) literature. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a narrative with argument and analysis. Findings – The paper challenges readers, PM academics and practitioners to view PM with a political perspective. This paper was delivered at the ICAN 2007 Conference (which is the focus of this issue), which was entitled “Mission Control: Power, Knowledge and Collaboration in Project Practice.” Originality/value – This paper triggers and sustains the debate about the influence of power and its unintended consequences that may affect projects. The review raises PM issues worthy of consideration that are often neglected

Clues, cues and complexity: unpackuing the concept of organizational surprise

We discuss why surprises, defined as events that happen unexpectedly or expected events that take unexpected shapes, are important to organizations and should be considered in the organizational literature. The concept of organizational surprises is unpacked on the basis of a typology built around the (un)expectedeness of issue and process. This typology uncovers the several types of surprising events that organizations may face, and contributes to the literature by suggesting that different surprises require distinct approaches.

Management: thesis, antithesis, synthesis

Increasingly, managers live in a world of paradox. For instance, they are told that they must manage by surrendering control and that they must stay on top by continuing to learn, thus admitting that they do not fully know what they do. Paradox is becoming increasingly pervasive in and around organizations, increasing the need for an approach to management that allows both researchers and practitioners to address these paradoxes. A synthesis is required between such contradictory forces as efficiency and effectiveness, planning and action, and structure and freedom. A dialectical view of strategy and organizations, built from four identifiable principles of simultaneity, locality, minimality and generality, enables us to build the tools to achieve such synthesis. Put together, these principles offer new perspectives for researchers to look at management phenomena and provide practitioners with a means of addressing the increasingly paradoxical world that they confront.dialectics, improvisation, paradox, synthesis

STRUCTURING FOR GLOCALIZATION: THE MINIMAL NETWORK

Globalization and localization seem to be opposite concepts – a thesis and its antithesis. Nonetheless, managers seem to be able to handle the paradox posed by these two contradicting tensions by enacting, via action, a synthesis that allows for the co-presence of a high level of global integration and local adaptation (instead of a compromise between both), which has been labeled glocalization. We discuss how the concept of improvisation allows this synthesis by developing the two poles that ground it, namely ‘glocal’ strategy and ‘glocal’ organization. Global advantage requires a dialectical capability that organizations rarely achieve, and the importance of which orthodox management theory rarely recognizes. JEL codes:

Recovering experience, confirming identity, voicing resistance: The Braceros

Purpose – This paper investigates how the learning trajectory of corporations utilising information and communication technologies has been matched by the labour movement and social movements associated with it. Design/methodology/approach – The paper investigates new communication dynamics of labour in the international setting. It then focuses on a broader and richer set of online practices by labour by drawing on material placed on the world wide web by members of and advocates for the Braceros (the strong arms) – migrant Mexican workers. These practices follow on a history of effective use of the new information communication technologies by the Zapatista movement in Mexico. Findings – The paper places these activities in the context of globalisation and the global movement of capital and labour. It argues that the practices of online communication associated with the Braceros can be harnessed to move beyond the reactive shadowing of capital by labour. Instead innovative and proactive forms of monitoring policies and critiquing outcomes become possible. Practical implications – Internet-based counter-coordination allows the construction and diffusion of a different understanding of the nature and consequences of the current mode of globalisation. Originality/value – The paper demonstrates the ways in which information and communication technologies can be used to engage in thematic mapping and construction of memory by labour and provides an example of the electronic sampling and indexing of material

Clues, Cues and Complexity: Unpacking the Concept of Organizational Surprise

We discuss why surprises, defined as events that happen unexpectedly or expected events that take unexpected shapes, are important to organizations and should be considered in the organizational literature. The concept of organizational surprises is unpacked on the basis of a typology built around the (un)expectedeness of issue and process. This typology uncovers the several types of surprising events that organizations may face, and contributes to the literature by suggesting that different surprises require distinct approaches.N/

Historical Organization Studies:Advancing New Directions for Organizational Research

We are now entering a new phase in the establishment of historical organization studies as a distinctive methodological paradigm within the broad field of organization studies. This book serves both as a landmark in the development of the field and as a key reference tool for researchers and students. For two decades, organization theorists have emphasized the need for more and better research recognizing the importance of the past in shaping the present and future. By historicizing organizational research, the contexts and forces bearing upon organizations will be more fully recognized and analyses of organizational dynamics improved. But how, precisely, might a traditionally empirically-oriented discipline like history be incorporated into a theoretically-oriented discipline like organization studies? This book evaluates the current state of play, moves it on and identifies the possibilities the new emergent field offers in the future. In addition to providing important reference to the subject for researchers, the book can be used to introduce management and organizational history to a student audience at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The book is a valuable source for wider reading, providing rich reference material in tutorials across organizational studies, or as recommended or required reading on courses with a connection to business or management history

Overt Obstacles and Covert Causes: An Exploratory Study of Poor Performance in Megaprojects

Megaprojects are plagued with failures and inefficiencies, often due to an inability to handle the obstacles that occur throughout the process. The present research deepens and extends our understanding of the obstacles and causes of poor megaproject performance by drawing on the ‘circuits of power’ as a theoretical framework for analyzing such projects. Empirically, we investigate what are regarded as some frequent obstacles occurring in megaprojects in the Australian and New Zealand context, such as coordination issues between stakeholders, poor estimates of the project, and inefficient contracts. Conducting 40 semi-structured interviews with different participants in the sector enables us to highlight that the overt obstacles were dependent on covert causes, such as fragmented industry, political push for projects and an owner-centric industry, respectively. For addressing these covert causes, we record innovative interventions such as delivery through precincts, creating a pipeline of projects, and raising awareness among contractors. We create a framework anchored in the circuits of power theory to show the relationships between overt obstacles, covert causes and suggested solutions. Infrastructure megaprojects can be set up for success by addressing the covert causes through proper interventions, such as changing culture and implementing innovations.publishedVersio

Chapter 1 Historical Organization Studies

We are now entering a new phase in the establishment of historical organization studies as a distinctive methodological paradigm within the broad field of organization studies. This book serves both as a landmark in the development of the field and as a key reference tool for researchers and students. For two decades, organization theorists have emphasized the need for more and better research recognizing the importance of the past in shaping the present and future. By historicizing organizational research, the contexts and forces bearing upon organizations will be more fully recognized and analyses of organizational dynamics improved. But how, precisely, might a traditionally empirically-oriented discipline like history be incorporated into a theoretically-oriented discipline like organization studies? This book evaluates the current state of play, moves it on and identifies the possibilities the new emergent field offers in the future. In addition to providing important reference to the subject for researchers, the book can be used to introduce management and organizational history to a student audience at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The book is a valuable source for wider reading, providing rich reference material in tutorials across organizational studies, or as recommended or required reading on courses with a connection to business or management history