International Journal of Managing Projects in Business

Ali, Farooq; Haapasalo, Harri

2023 International Journal of Managing Projects in Business

doi: 10.1108/ijmpb-03-2022-0066

This article aims to address the confusion related to the meanings of interorganisational cooperation, control, coordination and collaboration in collaborative projects by developing a conceptual framework. From this, the authors aim to describe the links among these concepts in terms of development levels of stakeholder relationships. In addition, the authors aim to identify challenges and preconditions in relation to developing relationships at different levels.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have adopted the directed approach of qualitative content analysis method to validate and extend the conceptual framework of this study. The context of this study is a large hospital construction project located in northern Finland.FindingsThe findings of this study suggest that collaboration is a multilevel process of active engagement of multiple stakeholders. These stakeholders must have a high degree of shared understanding in terms of cooperation, control and coordination to achieve the mutually desired outcomes. This study also identifies the challenges that project stakeholders could face in developing collaborative relationships and propose preconditions for the same.Practical implicationsThis study provides a better understanding for project managers to manage interorganisational collaborative construction projects successfully. The outcome of this research would be beneficial to project management team to deliver dispute-free construction projects.Originality/valueExisting practical research on the development of relationships at different levels in collaborative construction projects is limited. This study offers a framework for the same which is validated in a real-life project.

Pauna, Tommi; Lehtinen, Jere; Kujala, Jaakko; Aaltonen, Kirsi

2023 International Journal of Managing Projects in Business

doi: 10.1108/ijmpb-09-2022-0197

The aim of this research was to understand how governmental stakeholder engagement facilitates the sustainability of industrial engineering (IE) projects. A model for governmental stakeholder engagement activities is presented.Design/methodology/approachThe authors relied on a single-case study of a mining project in Northern Europe, where a novel collaboration and engagement approach with governmental stakeholders was piloted in the project's front-end phase. The analysis focused on the collaborative practices through which the IE project investor engaged governmental stakeholders during the project's front-end phase and how the engagement contributed to solving challenges in the early planning and permitting process and achieving project plans that balanced economic, social and environmental aspects.FindingsThe findings show how four collaborative engagement practices reduced uncertainty and equivocality related to the legal sustainability requirements, enabled the development of sustainable design solutions and overall accelerated the permitting process without compromising the quality of final project plans.Practical implicationsThe findings can be used to plan governmental stakeholder engagement and understand related challenges that need to be overcome. The study highlights the need to develop established practices and guidelines for governmental stakeholder engagement.Originality/valueThis study complements prior research on stakeholder engagement and project sustainability by developing an understanding of how governmental stakeholder engagement can be a key mechanism enabling the sustainability of IE project's end product. This research contributes to stakeholder theory by elaborating on a new stakeholder role, intermediary stakeholder.

Iftikhar, Rehab; Majeed, Mehwish; Drouin, Nathalie

2023 International Journal of Managing Projects in Business

doi: 10.1108/ijmpb-10-2020-0306

The purpose of this paper is to study the crisis management process for project-based organizations (PBOs) by developing a comprehensive model and propositions.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a conceptual study. A literature review is considered a primary source for studying contemporary research, including 171 publications in total, which embody qualitative, quantitative, conceptual and theoretical studies. For data analysis, content analysis is used, which is comprised of descriptive and thematic analysis.FindingsThis study identifies five imperative elements of crisis management for PBOs which include (1) sense-making (information gathering and crisis interpretation), (2) decision-making (accurate and timely decision), (3) response (reactive response), (4) outcome (success/failure) and (5) learning. Based on these findings, this study proposes an integrative model of the interplay between sense-making, decision-making, response, outcome and learning. Furthermore, the findings lead to propositions for each of the elements. The paper contributes to the literature on dynamic capability theory.Originality/valueThis paper explores the crisis management process for PBOs. The proposed model deepens the understanding of the practices and processes of project-based crisis management.

Marnewick, Carl; Marnewick, Annlizé L.

2023 International Journal of Managing Projects in Business

doi: 10.1108/ijmpb-01-2023-0013

Project managers face decisions every day and those decisions result in an “either or” situation. This is also true when it comes to the choice of a project management approach, i.e. predictive versus iterative. A case is made in this article that project managers should be ambidextrous and apply practices that are beneficial to the project, irrespective of the origin of the practices.Design/methodology/approach This study is based on a questionnaire focussing on six themes. The results of 290 projects were analysed using ANOVA and boxplots to test for skewness and variances.Findings Based on the analysis of 117 practices, most of these projects could be classified as either hybrid or iterative projects. The results indicate that irrespective of the classification of the projects or the industry, projects are managed using a hybrid approach, with a tendency to incorporate more iterative practices than predictive practices.Originality/value This article contributes to the current debate on which approach is the best given certain circumstances.

Ingvarsson, Caroline; Hallin, Anette; Kier, Christof

2023 International Journal of Managing Projects in Business

doi: 10.1108/ijmpb-07-2022-0170

The purpose of this paper is to explore how gamification may be used for project stakeholder engagement.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents the results of a systematic literature review of extant research concerning the gamification of projects. Based on this, an agenda for future studies is outlined.FindingsExtant research on the gamification of projects is scarce and scattered among various disciplines, but the engineering fields dominate. The research performed does indicate that gamification may be used for involving stakeholders in projects, primarily by promoting learning, but also by engaging them, motivating action and solving problems.Research limitations/implicationsIn several cases, extant research display poor quality in research design and a lack in cross-disciplinary perspectives, which means that more research is needed. The users’ perspective is often lacking. Furthermore, the ideas gamification might be “hidden” within other technologies.Practical implicationsThe findings of this research may assist project management practitioners in the endeavor of adopting gamification principles to better involve stakeholders.Originality/valueThe study fills a gap in summarizing the research on how gamification may be used to promote project stakeholder engagement. Based on this, it proposes a research agenda for future research on the use of gamification to promote project stakeholder engagement.

Tampio, Kari-Pekka; Haapasalo, Harri; Lehtinen, Jere

2023 International Journal of Managing Projects in Business

doi: 10.1108/ijmpb-12-2022-0278

The research problem in this study is how a client (as a project owner) should organise early stakeholder involvement and integration in the front-end phase of a project. This study aims to create normative managerial statements as propositions from the client's perspective and to combine them into a set of activities enabling efficient organisation in the front-end phase of a hospital construction project.Design/methodology/approachAction design research (ADR) was carried out in a large hospital construction project where the first author acted as an “involved researcher” and the other authors acted as “outside researchers”.FindingsThe authors created seven normative managerial propositions that were verified by the case project stakeholders and developed a managerial framework describing the client's essential stakeholder involvement and integration activities in the front-end phase of a hospital construction project based on these propositions. The authors have also depicted the subphases of the front-end phase: value definition phase in the client permanent organisation, value proposition phase in the client Programme Management Office (PMO) and finally development phase in the alliance organisation ending on the final investment decision.Practical implicationsThe collaborative contract delivery model enables the early involvement and integration of stakeholders. It has been somewhat surprising to note the extent to which collaborative contracts change the client role in the project front-end. The results offer practical activities for how clients can manage front-end activities in collaborative contracts.Originality/valueThe case project offered a platform to analyse how the collaborative contract delivery model changes the emphasis of activities in the front-end of a project. One of the key benefits of collaborative contracts is that development, design and delivery occur partially in parallel, thereby enabling contributions from production to be included in the design and development. The benefit of having a real-life case under study provides the possibility to triangulate and analyse rich data, however limited by the qualitative case method.