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Unspread wings: Why cultural projects don’t provide refreshing ideas for project management although they could?

Malgorzata Cwikla (Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland)
Beata Jalocha (Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland)

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business

ISSN: 1753-8378

Article publication date: 7 September 2015

3087

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show the potential of cultural projects which could become a source of inspiration in terms of refreshing and adjusting traditional project management to modern times and making it more flexible. However, as research indicates, this potential is limited by cultural policies forcing artists and cultural managers to implement project-related techniques which have been already identified as inefficient and faulty in the progressive discourses on project management, mainly in the for-profit area.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is based on three case studies of Polish and Polish-German theatrical co-productions. The research was conducted in Poland and Germany in 2012-2014. It involved 21 individual in-depth interviews with artists, managers and administrative staff working on projects as well as an analysis of project documentation.

Findings

It has been found that project management could draw a lot of inspiration from cultural projects in terms of, e.g. the processual nature of activities, motivating project teams and inclusive leadership. Based on the research, the authors also argue that it is worth considering spectators/other stakeholders as part of project teams, which will help build a non-oppressive social mechanism of control.

Originality/value

Advantages of replacing the just-in-time approach to project management with the work-in-progress approach; increased motivation and commitment of project teams to their work; building a unique team spirit; inclusive leadership based on passion.

Keywords

Citation

Cwikla, M. and Jalocha, B. (2015), "Unspread wings: Why cultural projects don’t provide refreshing ideas for project management although they could?", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 626-648. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-11-2014-0078

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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