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There are limited studies of continuous improvement (CI) from the perspective of a project-based organization (PBO). Hence, the purpose of this paper is to explore challenges that PBOs may encounter when applying CI.

An exploratory and qualitative approach has been used, involving six management teams in six different PBOs, using focus groups interviews as data collecting method.

A high degree of autonomy among project managers seems to limit a collective approach to project management in PBOs. As a consequence the overall PBO performance becomes subordinate to the individual project performance—an approach opposite to that of CI. Further, the management teams themselves seem to uphold a project focus, also complicating improvement initiatives from a PBO-perspective.

The management teams have been the unit of analysis, where the PBOs mainly conduct projects in an engineering and construction context, and are located in the same country and region. This approach enables the thorough study of a phenomenon, while preconditions for generalization are limited. However, the findings could be used by researchers as a basis for more in-depth studies of specific challenges, and for making surveys to obtain generalization of results.

The results can induce awareness and understanding of different challenges if applying CI in a PBO, hence a starting point for finding ways to overcome these challenges.

The article contributes to an increased understanding of challenges that PBOs may encounter when applying CI, confirming and presenting additional findings compared to previous studies.

Many doctoral students never obtain a doctoral degree, and many do not finish their studies in time. To promote aspects of effectiveness and efficiency in doctoral studies, the purpose of this paper is to explore a project perspective, more specifically how doctoral students experience their studies in terms of key dimensions of projects.

Written reflections concerning a project perspective in doctoral studies, based on 18 students at a Swedish university, have been categorised and analysed by the means of the qualitative research software NVivo.

Main findings are reflections on the project manager role including both the supervisor and the doctoral student, and different views on project control parameters and the concepts goal-seeking and goal-orientation. A more comprehensive picture of project planning is presented, compared with the Individual Study Plan, including different project methods and tools that can be suitable in a doctoral project.

The study is based on a limited number of doctoral students; however, the aim has been to give examples of project perspectives. The findings could be valuable for increased understanding of doctoral studies and of the project management field in general.

The study can induce awareness among doctoral students and supervisors of a project perspective in doctoral studies, promoting aspects of efficiency and effectiveness.

Compared to previous research, this study explicitly tries to understand how doctoral students make sense of their doctoral studies from a project perspective.

Quality management, by means of total quality management (TQM), is considered to foster organisational performance characterised by competitiveness and long‐term profitability. Since the benefits of quality management cannot be achieved without the sustained performance of equipment affecting product quality, maintenance management has become important. This has led to the development of maintenance methodologies, such as total productive maintenance (TPM) and reliability centred maintenance (RCM). TQM, TPM and RCM implementation have, however, often failed or been poorly executed. This has affected organisations' performance and ultimately survival in a competitive environment. This paper includes a comparative study of literature on TQM, TPM and RCM implementation, focusing on organisational change. The study found several common categories of activities when implementing TQM and the maintenance methodologies. These categories can be considered crucial to obtain management and employee commitment. Case studies on TQM, TPM and RCM implementation are used to validate the categories identified, and to yield recommendations on the handling of activities within these.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the empirical research on project management (PM) maturity assessments, specifically based on a maturity model.

The empirical data are based on a case study including in-depth interviews with a semi-structured approach, followed by a focus group interview. A survey was distributed within a project-based organisation (PBO) and to client and stakeholder representatives, and then analysed. The organisation in the case study is a project department within a Swedish mining company.

Careful considerations are needed when choosing a PM maturity model (PM3) as the model structure can influence the assessment’s focus. It is also important to include both internal and external project stakeholders in the assessment to achieve an efficiency and effectiveness perspective when analysing PM capabilities. Valid information from an assessment is crucial, therefore, clear communication from management is important in order to motivate the participants in the assessment.

Improved understanding for implementing and applying a PM3 contributes to the increased knowledge of drivers, enablers and obstacles when assessing PM maturity, which also creates a basis for further research initiatives.

An increased knowledge of drivers, enablers and obstacles should be valuable for practitioners introducing and applying a PM3.

Projects are a common way of working in many businesses. Activities which aim to improve PM capabilities should contribute to more effective and efficient project performance.

This case study gives an in-depth insight into the implementation of a PM3 within a PBO. Through conducting a literature review, it was found that this type of empirical research is rare.

Several off‐site manufacturing companies in Sweden have attempted to apply lean management to improve process effectiveness and efficiency. A state of continuous improvement is a key goal of lean management, as described in, e.g. Likers 4P model. The aim of this study is to test a method to measure the degree to which lean management principles have been adopted by companies that base their production on off‐site manufacturing, as a prerequisite for a sustainable approach to continuous improvement.

A survey is applied as research method, using a questionnaire based on the authors' perceptions of best practices corresponding to each lean management principle. Two questionnaires were distributed to both management and factory production personnel in two off‐site manufacturing firms in Sweden.

The Likert scores regarding the degree to which lean principles have been applied in the two studied companies showed similar patterns (and similar differences between the management and production personnel's responses), indicating that the results can be generalised within an off‐site construction context. The study shows that continuous improvements must emerge and evolve simultaneously with a focus on processes, people and long‐term thinking.

In order to obtain more generalised and detailed results a more extensive survey covering several companies, as well as more detailed case studies and more questions regarding each principle, are needed. A multivariate analysis will also scan the material for further dependences.

The paper highlights several aspects that are important for management to be aware of when aiming for continuous improvements in off‐site manufacturing.

The paper's objective is to analyze the social organization of library and information Science (LIS) using the Nordic countries as example, focusing on organizational setting, research work and relations between LIS and academia as well as the field of professional practice.

Based on a framework for analyzing scientific fields, as well as its application on LIS, aspects relating to the impact of contextual factors on research was identified and discussed based on information from, e.g. LIS institution web sites. The results were discussed, not only in relation to the framework primarily utilized, but also from a less disciplinary view on research organization, for analytical contrast.

A close connection between academic affiliation and research orientation was found, reflected in organizational issues, media for communicating research and access to resources. This relates to general issues of levels of independence from other disciplines and lay groups, to what extent research is evaluated by intra‐disciplinary standards and to the level of consensus on terminology and research processes.

Limiting the study to institutions in one particular geographical area, where several institutions being at an early stage of formalization, the possibility of reaching generalizable conclusions is limited. The strength of the conclusions is also somewhat restrained due to the nature of the empirical material, being based on web documents with varying levels of exhaustability in terms of data provision.

The intellectual organization of LIS research is well‐known, whereas social and institutional aspects have been analyzed to a lesser degree; and with the differences in age and size of Nordic LIS institutions, they provide an interesting case of contemporary institutionalization of LIS research.

This paper studies a Swedish municipality that wants to go beyond its own operations, involving the local industry in saving energy to improve the environment. The paper aims to analyse the experiences and practical implications of using policy networks for implementing energy-efficiency measures in private industrial companies.

The researchers closely followed a Swedish municipality and its work to engage the local industry in energy-efficiency activities. Participatory observations of meetings and workshops and semi-structured interviews with involved actors were conducted.

The study examines a Swedish municipality that has started addressing energy efficiency in local businesses by creating a network involving 60 companies. This network was tested in relation to four hypotheses on how policy networks develop. The study finds that the network has too broad a problem definition, which does not help unify the involved actors. The companies’ involvement is based on passive participation in which they are receivers of information. The network has been unable to use a social control mechanism because there have been few company-to-company meetings. In conclusion, for a network to be an efficient policy tool, its structure is as important as the ideas for action and clear goals.

This case study of one Swedish municipality allows for analytical but not statistical generalization.

The paper uniquely calls for reflection on whether municipalities and local authorities have enough competence to drive industrial energy efficiency.