Search results

Project-based organization (PBO) can serve as a temporary organizational form in response to uncertainty or turbulent environmental conditions. An updated retrospective study of the Danish hearing aids maker Oticon illustrates the role of PBO (the so-called spaghetti organization) in guiding the company through a specific period of industry turbulence and the company leader's search for a more effective structure to organize innovation within the company. The spaghetti organization was experimental in two distinct senses. First, the spaghetti organization tested the limits of decentralization, bottom-up self-organizing innovation, and PBO. Inspired by the experience of just how dysfunctional hierarchy could become, Oticon's spaghetti organization tested the limits of nonhierarchy. And unlike the failed Brook Farm utopia of the 1840s, the utopia of radical project-based organizing at Oticon proved highly successful as a means of promoting innovation even if the spaghetti organization was not sustainable in its original form and required subsequent modification. Second, Oticon was essentially a natural experiment testing and refuting the complementarities-based claim that intermediate forms of organization which include elements of both hierarchical organization and team (or project-based) organization are inherently unstable.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and propose the appropriate K‐mapping models as an approach to integrating key project components and technologies for the effective improvement of project performance within and across construction projects.

In this holistic, single‐case study, one of the largest construction consulting firms in South Korea has been studied by conducting 15 semi‐structured interviews and the different loci for each of the K‐mapping components are identified and analyzed. Based on the different loci, four types of the K‐mapping model are provided and elucidated.

Research findings indicate that these four types of the K‐mapping model provide the criteria to identify the appropriate types of K‐map for construction project organizations, according to the characteristics and conditions of their own construction personnel, construction processes, and K‐transfer technologies. With the K‐mapping models, an appropriate knowledge management system (KMS) can be developed more effectively.

First, as interpretivism was adopted as the research philosophy, the case study findings were subjective and qualitative to both the interviewees in the case study company and the researchers, though this study provided an important underpinning for future research on K‐mapping within construction project organizations. Second, the theory developed in this study was based on an investigation of the appropriate K‐mapping models with only a single case study. Nevertheless, this case study provided sufficient data and information to develop and propose a theory for successful K‐mapping model development within construction project organizations.

In the KM area, the definition, benefits, purposes, principles and types of K‐map have been already provided by many KM researchers and practitioners. However, no industry (practical)‐based K‐mapping model has been developed and proposed, especially in the construction industry. Accordingly, the originality of this study to be presented in one of the paper's conclusions: construction processes must be considered and adopted as a key component in the K‐mapping process, and the discussion of the four types of K‐map this research have generated, which significantly expands the existing literature on K‐mapping.

There are different organizational contexts for projects. Here, the focus is on a balanced co-existence organization (BCO) where core activities combine project-based and non-project based work, a context that differs from both project-based organizations (PBOs) and project-supported organizations (PSOs). Through differentiating between the role of resource and project manager, and encompassing a specific combination of projects and ongoing, recurrent work, the authors extend the understanding of frontline managers and HRM in project settings.

This is a case study of a 1000+ department in a Norwegian firm with 38 interviews with the use of qualitative analysis.

The empirical study of one case of BCO reveals a HRM system with four different constellations of front line managers, each with their own perceived advantages and challenges. Based on the findings here, we have drawn implications for research on the BCO category, as well as comparative research on the three different contexts for projects. Issues that would benefit from comparative studies of polyadic HRM include constellations of front line manager roles, tensions involving projects, mechanisms for allocation of human resources, as well as the sources and mechanisms of stability and change.

The findings are limited to one organization.

This study provides a potential for further research on HRM issues in the BCO category.

The analysis develops the BCO category and introduces a category of three organizational contexts for projects. We provide better understanding of the three types and its HRM challenges.

This paper aims to identify criteria for the better targeting of public funding for private social activities and organizations. As a starting point, it proposes that financing strategies can characterize organizations which are positioned on a for-profit/non-profit continuum. The paper then analyses how far the effectiveness of public support systems depends on recipients’ general financing strategies.

The study is based on data from a standardized small-scale survey. The analysis applies latent class analysis for the creation of a meaningful organizational dimension and applies them in an ordered logistic regression.

Despite their variety along a for-profit/non-profit continuum, organizations in the sample can be described by three meaningful dimensions, and the focal role of organizations’ financing strategies can be confirmed. Repeated project-based public support might create a harmful dependence on this kind of funds. To be effective, it needs to be targeted at nascent socially effective organizations with non-solvent clients.

Recognition of different financing strategies as meaningful characteristics of organizations with consequences for their long-term development is of direct practical relevance for a better design and targeting of financing systems in general and public support systems in particular.

Although the focal relevance of financing for the characterization of (social) organizations has been stressed before, the paper is able to operationalize the idea and to demonstrate its value in an application to the evaluation of project based support.

This study aims to empirically evaluate the impact of interorganizational groupings on corporate performance in project-based organizations.

The study develops and tests a theoretical model whereby groupings include project team, community of practice (CoP), community of interest (CoI), and knowledge network (KN). Organizational performance is supported on financial, process, internal, and cultural aspects. Based on a questionnaire, data was obtained from a sample of 142 companies in North America. The measurement model was tested and confirmed by using structural equation modeling (SEM).

The results confirm the positive effects of knowledge networks and communities of interest. However, the impact of project teams turned out to be negative, and communities of practice were not shown to affect corporate performance. Additionally, the results underscore the importance of organizational networks in creating conditions favorable to a firm's success.

It was verified that knowledge networks and communities of interest affect the measures of organizational performance, including financial, process, internal, and cultural performance. This is useful for researchers and executives looking for appropriate outcomes through the implementation of knowledge management initiatives. Furthermore, this study provides a starting point for further research on the role of inter- and intraorganizational networks in project-based organizations.

This study claims that a key to performance for project-based organizations is development and management of organizational networks in the form of knowledge networks and communities of interest.

In today’s knowledge-based economy, knowledge networks (KN) increasingly are becoming vital channels for pursuing strategic objectives in project-based organizations (PBO), in which the project is the basic organizational element in its operation. KN initiatives often are started with the selection of a creation methodology, which involves complex decisions for successful implementation. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to address this critical selection of methodology and proposes a holistic framework for selecting an appropriate methodology in this kind of flatter, speedier, and more flexible organizational form.

In the first step, the study established a theoretical background addressing the problem of KN creation in PBO. The second step defined selection criteria based on extensive literature review. In the third step, a holistic framework was constructed based on different characteristics of existing methodologies categorized according to the selected criteria. Finally, the suggested framework was empirically tested in a project-based firm and the case study and the results are discussed.

A holistic framework was determined by including different aspects of a KN such as network perspectives, tools and techniques, objectives, characteristics, capabilities, and approaches. The proposed framework consisted of ten existing KN methodologies that consider qualitative and quantitative dimensions with micro and macro approaches.

The development of the theory of KN creation methodology is the main contribution of this research. The selection framework, which was theoretically and empirically grounded, has attempted to offer a more rational and less ambiguous solution to the KN methodology selection problem in PBO forms.

In this chapter we put projects at the centre stage of firms' activities – i.e. product and process innovation, strategy formulation and implementation, capability building and learning, organizational structure and design, and systems integration (the capability to combine diverse knowledge bases and physical components into functioning systems). Based on the findings of a 10-year research programme into firms producing high-value capital goods – known as complex products and systems (CoPS) – we draw out conceptual insights about project organizing that can inform and contribute to the development and reformulation of more universally applicable formal theories of strategic management and organization.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce project business as a research field. The project business view in this paper puts focus on the management of firms and their businesses, and this way the paper complements the existing project‐centric view of the role of projects and their management in various business contexts.

The paper proposes a conceptual framework for project business and identify relevant research areas and themes. These research areas and themes are derived by using the knowledge and experience obtained from scientific project business research conducted in Finland since the early 1990s.

This paper describes project business as a research field by introducing a project business framework and the four major research areas inherent in the framework: management of a project, management of a project‐based firm, management of a project network, and management of a business network. It also suggests specific research areas and themes within the framework that are relevant and contribute to new knowledge in the project business field.

The project business framework described in this paper, including the suggested research areas and themes, is important in focusing research and for development of practical application of project‐based business activities in firms and in public organizations.

The paper reveals avenues that lead towards the development of a new body of knowledge for project business that focuses on managing both firms and projects effectively in their networked business environments.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the practices mobile project workers rely upon to deal with their liminal work situation, i.e. a work situation in which they are “in-between” and do not have a clear long-term belonging to any specific organisation or project.

The study employs a qualitative approach and draws upon in-depth interviews with 24 engineers working for one of Scandinavia's leading technical consultancies. The aim of the qualitative data analysis was to identify a set of commonalities and differences in their experiences and ways of dealing with liminality.

The data indicate that mobile project workers experience their liminality in two separate dimensions; one which is primarily technical and task related, and one that is predominantly group related and social. These types of liminality are dealt with either actively, to lower or handle the ambiguity in the situation, or passively when the individual waits for the situation to be dealt with by others. Based on these two dimensions and types, the paper identifies and discusses four kinds of liminality practices.

The paper demonstrates the importance of focusing on individuals in project-based work, and specifically how they deal with work in-between. The paper shows when and how individuals make use of different liminality practices in their work, and calls for further research on the different skill sets and competencies that are needed to deal with liminality.

By identifying four liminality practices applied in situations signified by the experience of being in-between, this study offers an important contribution to the literature on flexible and mobile work conditions. Thus, the paper contributes to the knowledge of threshold-like employment positions that denotes the everyday work situation for an increasing number of individuals engaged in knowledge-intensive and project-based work.

The chapter explores project management in action in a large public research organisation – NLAT – which decided to change its internal organisation from team- to project-based organisation a few years ago. Because they focus on the realisation of a particular set of tasks for a specific client, project management practices are oriented towards optimising the process of providing clients with answers and solutions. Based on a systematic and comparative analysis of eight NLAT projects, the chapter reports technological success as project achievements, but at the same time the systematic violation of project management principles. Three elements have been identified as enhancing learning, cumulated knowledge and competencies: low project core staffing levels, which lead to the circulation of engineers and researchers around different projects; the building and managing of thematic projects and the encouragement of ‘bricolage’ as a project management style.