Risk management in a mega-project: the Universal EXPO 2015 case

The paper analyses the literature on risk management in mega-projects suggesting possible mitigation actions to be considered in the stakeholders' management. EXPO 2015 represents a perfect project to understand the strength of a rigorous methodological approach to uncertainty and the need for a mature consciousness at managerial level on these topics. Analysing real available data on this project, the number of visitors appears overestimated, so, by adopting a framework, called SHAMPU, the paper quantifies the relative impact and provides possible mitigation actions. Practical actions crossing the risk management phases in mega projects proposed by literature are suggested in the conclusions

How EPC firms can enter the nuclear renaissance

the so called “nuclear renaissance” is creating a millionaire market for new nuclear reactors. Few firms have the capabilities to work in this complex and highly demanding market, whereas many other are investigating the option to enter. Quite surprising the international scientific literature provides information regarding the high-level governmental aspects of nuclear power programs in different countries while the analysis at firm level is almost inexistent. Moreover the usual business models for the manufacturing industry are not suitable since the nuclear market is very peculiar. In particular is unclear how an EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) company can enter in it. This paper deals with this question investigating how an EPC firms or general contractor can enter in the nuclear market. The case study methodology has been widely used to understand the time, cost, enabling factors and barriers to enter in the nuclear business in the most important roles: Architect/Engineering, NSSS supplier, TG supplier, Construction. The results show that there are strong similarities among companies acting as main contractor in the same field; therefore it is possible to generalize a large set of meaningful lessons learned

Normalizing White-Collar Wrongdoing in Professional Service Firms

There is extensive literature on top managers committing wrongdoing, but few studies examine white-collar wrongdoing. Drawing on the experiences of a professional service firm, we examine why and how engineering consultants normalize wrongdoing. Leveraging bounded rationality theory, we find that organizational myopia promotes inadequate administrative systems that hold consultants prisoner to their rules and procedures, leading to normalized wrongdoing. Our theoretical contributions are threefold: (1) we contribute to the literature on wrongdoing, presenting the relation between organizational myopia and normalized wrongdoing, (2) we contribute to the administrative systems literature, showing their link with poor project performance, and (3) we show how administrative systems and normalized wrongdoing play a role in project scope creep. We introduce an iceberg model to show that the failed project (the tip of the iceberg) is due to organizational myopia and inefficient administrative systems that need to be addressed before starting any project

The divergence between actual and estimated costs in large industrial and infrastructure projects: is nuclear special?

Megaprojects are frequently over budget and late all over the world in many different sectors. There has been little or no improvement over the decades. Project performance today is roughly similar to ten, twenty and thirty years ago. On the other hand, even if public opinion and the press are focusing on nuclear projects being over budget and late, such poor performance is not a fatality. The Korean and the (pre-2000) French experience shows that it is possible to deliver nuclear projects on time and budget. Key success factors are the replication of existing reactors, a relative monoculture, a stable environment with experienced stakeholders and a long-term view. Some of these factors may no longer be replicable and the most promising way forward may be to start learning from other high technological sectors such as aerospace or oil and gas, where a number of major companies have evolved from national champions to global competitors

Project controlling in mega events: the Expo 2015 case

Although Universal Expositions are an incredible catalyst for the development of hosting cities, they have to face projects’ common problems as over-budgets and delays. This last issue is critic since mega events have to respect a mandatory deadline and any delay could cause critical project scope reduction. It is thus fundamental to control efficiently and effectively their progress to obtain the best performances. Despite “project controlling” field is well-documented concerning mega-projects, there is a gap for mega events. In addition, literature focuses on strategic elements without providing operative methods to control the execution phase. This paper fi lls this gap highlighting how mega-events can be considered as “mega-programmes”, suggesting supervision through a project envelope to avoid forecasting problems and proposing a gradual control according to project statuses. These results provide a model to monitor Milan Expo 2015 execution phase, guaranteeing that all projects involved end within deadlines

Captain and conscript or companions in operational reconfiguration? The case of an infrastructure owner with projects and asset management units

Infrastructure owners with projects and asset management units reconfigure their operational capabilities to deal with external stressors. We distinguish between two reconfiguration approaches, the discrete and the continuous approach. The discrete approach is broadly adopted in the infrastructure sector and draws from the project capabilities literature, whereas the continuous approach draws from the general management literature and views reconfiguration as a best practice dynamic capability. This article compares and contrasts the two approaches by leveraging an ethnographic study of an infrastructure owner. We explain why the discrete approach was initially adopted but ultimately failed. Later, by adopting the continuous approach, the organisation succeeded by enabling the two units to work collaboratively by developing two dynamic capabilities: negotiating and disseminating for reconfiguring their operational capabilities. Our research contributes to the theoretical elaboration of why and how change management processes succeed or fail. We discuss the implications of our study to the capabilities literature and project organising research and the managerial implications of developing dynamic capabilities for operational reconfiguration in organisations with projects and asset management units

The contribution of new US technologies to US differential diagnosis of nonpalpable lesions

Background. Gray-scale ultrasound (US) patterns are still the best indicators of the risk of malignancy and correlation with mammography and guidance to bioptical procedures are still the gold standard in breast diagnosis. But recent technological advancements in ultrasound offer new diagnostic capabilities that integrate conventional US imaging: 3D, CAD, perfusion imaging and elastography. Conclusions. The US technologies allow to differentiate and grade the vascularity of breast lesions (both with conventional technologies and with contrast enhancers) and to evaluate the elastic properties of the normal and pathologic tissues (elastography). Both these technologies are on the way of becoming commer cially available on medium and high-end US instruments. But they must still be considered as research tools because their diagnostic efficacy requires more widely clinicaltesting

Improving Projects Performance With Lean Construction: State Of The Art, Applicability And Impacts

Construction projects are not often delivered on time and on budget and re-workings are usually required to satisfy customer’s needs. This papers aims to present an overview of Lean Construction (LC) and how this construction philosophy tackles the aforementioned problems. The research is empirical and based on data from the literature, 7 new Case Studies built with primary data, 12 Case Studies on CLIP (Construction Lean Improvement Programme) projects, 4 semi-structured Interviews with Firms adopting LC and several interviews (face to face and email) with LC experts. The results show as LC can achieve astonishing results focusing on reducing waste caused by unpredictable work-flow, paying attention on how every single activity affects the next one and avoiding reworking considered as no valued-added activity. The paper provides three original set of results: (1) a fuzzy cognitive map of LC showing how the different elements are linked to each other; (2) a pathway for the implementation of LC; (3) a synthesis of the strengths and the weaknesses of LC merging literature review with case studies analysis. In particular (3) shows the dimensions of projects adequate for lean construction, the increase of productivity and time reduction due to LC implementation and finally the reasons moving firms to adopt LC