The Moral Economy and Research on Projects: neglect and relevance to social capital and competencies

This paper makes a theoretical contribution to the understanding of management and of projects. The paper adopts an analysis of the moral economy, which poses a conceptual challenge to the way in which management generally, and specifically concerning projects, is understood. The paper also poses an indirect methodological challenge, particularly to positivism, empiricism and some interpretative analysis.Project management and the management of projects have tended to focus upon task and function respectively, which has relegated or excluded the role of morality in relationships in both research and practice. A similar position is adopted in economics with a focus upon closed systems. The combined result is an exclusion of the moral economy. This paper argues for a theoretical reappraisal of management generally, and specifically with regard to projects, to include the moral economy. The moral economy is not only foundational to the operation of the market economy, but also contributes to its performance.The conclusion summaries the main points and makes recommendations concerning theoretical development, methodology and practice

Assessing the quality of collaboration towards the achievement of Sustainable Energy Innovation in PFI school projects

Purpose: This study aims to examine the quality of collaboration towards Sustainable Energy Innovation (SEI) in Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects. While the capacity of PFI to encourage collaboration towards innovation is largely advocated by its proponents; however, it remains to be supported by empirical evidence. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting the CoPS innovation management model, we assess the quality of collaboration at the interface between the innovation superstructure of public sector clients and users, and the innovation infrastructure of private sector designers, contractors and operators. Two interactional elements are examined upon which the quality of collaboration is assessed: (i) openness of communication and (ii) alignment of objectives. We apply the model to four new-built PFI school projects within the context of the UK government Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Programme. Semi-structured interviews with total of 50 key stakeholders were used as the primary data collection method. Findings: PFI has introduced a number of problematic issues weakening collaborative efforts towards innovation in the project environment. Particularly, the study underlines the restricting internal contractual relationships within the integrated ProjectCo and the misalignment of Design-Construction-Operation sustainability objectives. It also highlights ineffective communication with public sector clients and users brought in by the restricted nature of PFI engagement processes as well as the misalignment of public sector-private sector sustainability objectives. Research limitations/implications: The qualitative nature of the chosen research methodology limits the ability to generalise. The research findings need to be confirmed or rejected by means of quantitative research as representative of all PFI projects. Practical implications: The study emphasizes the public authority's role in relation to providing the necessary conditions for the creation of a collaborative environment conducive to SEI in PFI projects. Originality/value: The study was able to expand the understanding of innovation and collaboration management processes in PFI projects in three respects: First, addressing the limited attention to innovation in PFI research, the study is the first to examine the quality of collaboration in PFI projects towards the implementation SEI. Second, examining the quality of collaboration in PFI projects through the lens of CoPS provides a new understanding of sustainability innovation and strongly indicates that the CoPS model should be expanded to account for the dynamics of innovation processes in the procurement of sustainable CoPS. Third, the explorative nature of the study was useful in generating research hypotheses that can form the basis for future research on SEI in PFI projects

Re-Creating Organizational Routines to Transition Through the Project Life Cycle: A Case Study of the Reconstruction of London’s Bank Underground Station

This article provides new insights into the project life cycle by proposing an alternative image to the predefined time boundary between life cycle stages. It makes a theoretical contribution by identifying how project organizations re-create patterns of action—organizational routines—as they transition through life cycle stages. It presents the findings of an autoethnographic empirical study and, through the lens of routine dynamics, contributes to the project management literature by identifying a five-stage process model of transitioning and the generative mechanisms involved in re-creating patterns of action

A mismatch between institutional conditions and trust

In this study, we aim to unpack why information conveyed by high-status women are less trusted in the collaborative project setting. We theorize about the mechanism of gender-status mismatch - a cultural-cognitive mismatch between beliefs about gender and status hierarchies when a woman is associated with the high status. We set three hypotheses to test the negative effects of the mismatch on trust in women: (1) a woman who has a higher rank is considered a mismatch, (2) a woman who works for a high-status organization is considered a mismatch, and (3) a woman who has a higher network status is considered a mismatch

The effect of leader emotional intelligence on leader-follower chemistry: A study of construction project managers

Extending Nicolini’s (2002) notion of project ‘chemistry’, this paper proposes the development of a ‘leader-follower chemistry’ model associated with the quality of dyadic interpersonal communication in construction projects. The paper focuses on the project manager as leader and attempts to deepen understanding of the effect of a project manager’s Emotional Intelligence (EI) on the quality of interpersonal communication with their followers- being other members of the project team. While a project manager’s EI, with its associated emotional competencies, is often seen as critical in achieving good relationships with members of the project team, it remains a largely understudied concept, particularly in construction projects. Primary data collected using a series of analytical surveys and live observations of site-based projects meetings were used to examine the relationship between a project manager’s emotional competencies, particularly sensitivity and expressiveness, and leader-follower chemistry. Overall, 68 construction professionals participated in the study. The findings suggest that a project manager’s emotional sensitivity and expressiveness (particularly head gestures) may explain variance in the quality of leader-follower chemistry. Based on the empirical evidence in the context of team communication, a leader-follower chemistry model is introduced, which emphasises the importance of leaders’ emotional sensitivity and expressiveness in a leader-follower communication dyad. The model may be particularly salient in complex project networks with a large number of prominent actors

Don't make value co-creation ambiguous, social networks simplify it

Purpose: Value co-creation is often necessary for situation where expertise and resources are beyond a single actor. Despite the vast study of value co-creation in service system by both academics and practitioners as an overarching theory, that describes collaboration between consumer and provider. More importantly, little is known about how value co-creation is established in social network analysis and there is little agreement on what depicts value co-creation. These missing concerns included; vast studies of value co-creation in dyadic relationships and sparingly in multi-actors, lack of study on theoretical and empirical features of value co-creation, lack of empirical investigation of strength of interactive relationships in networks for co-creation of specific value-in-use. These thought-provoking missing concerns necessitated this research by forwarding the question; “What are the features of social value co-creation in service system and how can it be established in social networks”? Methodology: A case study approach is employed using the exploratory sequential mixed methods. The contextual investigation was carried out in water supply system called KAMOMI. The KAMOMI water scheme provides water supply facility and has in place a service system consisting both the provider, consumers and different stakeholders. The case represents a service system where value co-creation occurs within actor-to-actor interactive relationships to benefit the community. Findings: The paper argued that the examination of value co-creation among multi-actors in social networks analysis is highly significant to its cogency and generalisation. The qualitative analysis provided evident features of value co-creation, which transforms value co-creation from dyadic to multi-actors interpersonal interactive relationships in social network analysis. The value co-creation features included resource integrating networks, defined value-in-use, actors’ empowerment, perceived ownership and knowledge sharing. Meanwhile, the quantitative analysis discovered that closeness of both formal and informal relationships; including frequency of informal interactions enable access to integration of resources of multi-actors for value co-creation. Contribution: The study of value co-creation in social network analysis represents an interesting gap and is highly essential for designing effective service system to enhance the goal of value co-creation. The paper contributes by illustrating (a) features of value co-creation in networks (b) empirical evidence of how strength of relationships of actors enhance resource integration in networks

National and European identity

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This article is one in a number of attempts by students of nations and nationalism to understand national and European identity. Its point of departure are the arguments of Guibernau (2011) that the EU has created only a non-emotional identity based on the pursuit of prosperity; and, conversely, the claim of Wellings and Power (2015) that the EU has now its own nationalism with an emotional dimension. My initial observation is that an explicit evocation of European nationalism only surfaced in the immediate post war period within the remnants of fascist parties. So the issue is the attempt by the actors within the EU to create a European identity as an accompaniment to federal integration. This was not an initial quest but something that arose within attempts to breathe life into the EU in the 1970s. The endeavour was controversial from the outset and had effectively been curtailed by the mid 1990s as the intergovernmental character of the organisation imposed a primary commitment to preserving national diversity. Subsequent economic and monetary union has relied on the rationale of efficient governance. However, the evidence suggests that identification with Europe and the EU is surprisingly high. To understand it, I finally consider the gestation of Europeanism.Published versio

Simulation of Water Cerenkov Detectors Using {\sc geant4}

We present a detailed simulation of the performance of water Cerenkov detectors suitable for use in the Pierre Auger Observatory. Using {\sc geant4}, a flexible object-oriented simulation program, including all known physics processes, has been developed. The program also allows interactive visualization, and can easily be modified for any experimental setup.Comment: Talk to be presented at the XI Symposium on Very High Energy Cosmic Ray Interaction

Assessing the impact of risk allocation on Sustainable Energy Innovation (SEI): The case of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) school projects

PURPOSE: The allocation of risk among project participants is an important determinant of innovation success in construction projects. This study sought to examine the capacity of risk allocation to encourage the implementation of environmental innovation, particularly Sustainable Energy Innovation (SEI), within the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project delivery model. DESIGN: A four-case qualitative research methodology is adopted within the context of the UK government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. FIDNINGS: The findings identify that SEIs are encouraged on the innovative projects by the perceived clarity, appropriateness and manageability of the risks associated with the project’s energy performance on the PFI contract. The main SEIs were largely developed as strategies to manage long-term energy performance risks allocated to private sector actors and safeguard their long-term commitment to the project. However, the findings indicate that excessive perceived innovation-related risks, particularly capital cost risk, may restrict further SEIs to be implemented. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS: The qualitative case study approach adopted may limit the generalizability of the findings. IMPLICATIONS The study and provides practical guidance to policymakers and project managers in developing strategies to support the implementation of sustainable energy innovation in PFI projects. ORIGINALITY/VALUE The study attends to a significant gap in knowledge as there is a lack of conceptual and empirical work on managing innovative processes for sustainable energy in PFI projects

DASI First Results: A Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Angular Power Spectrum

We present measurements of anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) from the first season of observations with the Degree Angular Scale Interferometer (DASI). The instrument was deployed at the South Pole in the austral summer 1999--2000, and made observations throughout the following austral winter. We have measured the angular power spectrum of the CMB in the range 100<l<900 with high signal-to-noise. In this paper we review the formalism used in the analysis, in particular the use of constraint matrices to project out contaminants such as ground and point source signals, and to test for correlations with diffuse foreground templates. We find no evidence of foregrounds other than point sources in the data, and find a maximum likelihood temperature spectral index beta = -0.1 +/- 0.2 (1 sigma), consistent with CMB. We detect a first peak in the power spectrum at l approx 200, in agreement with previous experiments. In addition, we detect a peak in the power spectrum at l approx 550 and power of similar magnitude at l approx 800 which are consistent with the second and third harmonic peaks predicted by adiabatic inflationary cosmological models.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, minor changes in response to referee comment