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A categorisation of dialectics in response to project uncertainty

Michael Buhagiar (School of Projects, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia)
Julien Pollack (The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia)
Sharon Coyle (The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia)

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business

ISSN: 1753-8378

Article publication date: 11 January 2022

Issue publication date: 18 March 2022

188

Abstract

Purpose

Scholars are increasingly acknowledging the importance of conversations in the management of complex projects. Defining dialectics as “the art of purposeful conversation”, this paper aims to rationalise the somewhat disorganised field of dialectics by developing a categoreal scheme.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors refer to the current state of research into the conversational aspects of complex projects, and examine the historical development of, and philosophical and scholarly commentary on, the dialectical method.

Findings

The categories the authors propose are the Socratic, Conversational, Fichtean and Peircean. They differ in relation to the subject matter of the dialectic; their vulnerability to environmental influences; the degree of structure they require for optimal performance; and the situations in which they might most profitably be applied.

Research limitations/implications

A single categoreal scheme is rarely the last word, and the authors invite other scholars to explore the field in a similar way.

Practical implications

The scheme proposed here is intended to enhance the project manager's approach to conversations, by referring to the specific virtues and limitations of each of the categories.

Social implications

The informed use of dialectics may help to ameliorate the significant damage done to organisations and economies around the world by failed and underperforming projects.

Originality/value

The authors present the first categorisation of the field, with the aim of equipping the practitioner to think about dialectical approaches in a more systematic way.

Keywords

Citation

Buhagiar, M., Pollack, J. and Coyle, S. (2022), "A categorisation of dialectics in response to project uncertainty", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 350-370. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-08-2020-0241

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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