This article examines how project networks may be viewed as either a single interorganizational project or as a series of projects that are interconnected by interorganizational relationships. The ...article then discusses some core theoretic assumptions about project networks as more than temporary systems in comparison with the extant empirical research. Next, the article presents four types of mechanisms for governing and coordinating not only projects but also project networks: responsibilities, routines, roles, and relationships. Finally, the article unearths five types of paradoxes (the distance paradox, the learning paradox, the identity paradox, the difference paradox, and the temporal paradox) impacting project networks and offers insights into the governance-based choices available for coping with these paradoxical tensions.
Collaborative project delivery models (CPDM) have been introduced in infrastructure construction delivery to improve project outcomes and reduce adversity characteristic for the field. Recent ...research discusses the interaction of formal and informal governance but highlights the need for further research into the interaction as well as its functions and dysfunctions. With help of a social network lens, we study how collaboration in a CPDM can be understood by the interaction of formal and formal ties and their (dys)functions. Based on 45 in-depth interviews, observations and document analysis, we studied two major infrastructure construction projects utilising a CPDM and the challenges caused by the interaction of formal and informal ties. Our results indicate that these two types of ties interact in a cyclic fashion, where formal ties form the foundation to develop informal ties, and informal ties shape how formal ties are understood. Strong formal and informal ties have both positive as well as negative consequences for collaboration in a CPDM. Furthermore, although these challenges can be beneficial to certain parties in the project, they can also be dysfunctional to other parties. The research contributes to the academic debate on the interplay between formal and formal ties.
PurposeThis study aims to further the understanding of multi-level analysis in inter-organisational relationships by investigating the interplay of governance, cooperation and coordination in ...inter-organisational projects (IOPs) on sub-system and project levels.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use the Viable Systems Model as a framework to analyse inter-organisational project governance, cooperation and coordination by adopting a multiple-case study.FindingsThe findings illustrate how governance and coordination mechanisms exhibit a filter-down effect on lower sub-systems while cooperation influence is confined within each sub-system. While remarking the importance of specific sub-systems on the overall project performance, the interplay of governance, cooperation and coordination across sub-systems appears to be complex, with governance influencing cooperation and coordination, whereas cooperation and coordination influence each other with an incremental effect.Originality/valueThis study defines two propositions that explain how multiple levels of analysis (project and sub-systems) can support the governance of large inter-organisational projects. The authors elaborate theory on the interplay of inter-organisational project governance, cooperation and coordination.
•We propose a quantitative network motif approach in unraveling local relationship patterns in project organizational networks.•We find two distinct types of local collaborative relationship ...patterns, i.e., motif and antimotif, in the inter-contractors’ collaboration networks of National Quality Award Projects (NQAP) of China.•The motifs are the evolutionary favored patterns induced by macro network clustering tendency and individual structural embeddedness.•The motifs may help project organizations develop optimal strategies of partner selection, and provide insights into the effective governance of project networks.
Characterizing relationship patterns among organizations in project networks has become a hot issue in the emerging field of project network management. Many researchers focus on social network centralities (e.g. degree, betweenness, and closeness) and global network measures (e.g., network density, degree distribution, and clustering coefficient) to investigate the relationship patterns in project networks. However, little is known about the local relationship patterns, i.e., relational structures among a small number of project organizations. In this paper, we will construct the contractors’ collaboration networks by mapping collaborative relationships between hundreds of contractors within the electronic database of National Quality Award Projects (NQAP) of China. The research purpose is to make use of the normative network motif approach in characterizing the local relationship patterns of project networks and in demonstrating how such relationship patterns evolve, thus contributing to the field of project network research. We find two distinct types of local collaboration patterns, i.e., motif and antimotif in the NQAP collaboration network. The motifs are the evolutionary favored patterns induced by macro network clustering tendency and individual structural embeddedness. Moreover, the evolution of the NQAP collaboration network shows a phase transition characterized by the distribution of the local collaboration patterns. The motif approach is expected to help project organizations devise appropriate strategies to select partners as well as to help governors establish effective strategies of project network governance.
Motivated by the practical research and development (R&D) process in high-end equipment manufacturing, this study investigates a bi-level scheduling problem in a complex R&D project network, where ...each project contains multiple modules with a complete task network. In the bi-level scheduling problem, the upper-level problem is that the R&D project leader makes the decision on allocating all R&D project modules to limited R&D researchers and the objective is to minimise the total penalty cost of all projects, and the lower-level problem is that the researchers schedule and sort the assigned tasks to minimise their minimum makespan. The different capacity of researchers is considered, and some structural properties are derived based on the capacity analytics. To tackle this complex scheduling problem, an effective Variable Neighborhood Search algorithm based on the 'less is more' concept is proposed, where a Multi-Greedy Heuristic is incorporated. Interestingly, we observe that simpler algorithmic strategies may lead to better algorithmic performance. Computational experiments are carried out to demonstrate that the performance of the proposed algorithm is efficient and stable.
Abstract
In this paper, we create a relationship between network model and project management by using data of cost to the residential project. we solved these data by using the crisp network ...method(real data). After that, by using the same data we convert it to fuzzy data then the fuzzy data tested by trapezoidal membership function to be sure its belong to the duration 0,1, Proposed ranking function had solved the fuzzy network problem to the fuzzy data.
Contractor-client network is temporary within a project, yet nested within a long-term network on a recurrent basis. While studies found that network constrains and motivates actors' behaviors, ...little is known about how the contractor-client network structure influences the project quality. The findings derived from the manufacturing sector might not straightly applicable to the building project context due to the one-off cooperation nature. Therefore, this article aims to investigate how the contractor-client network structure i.e., network closeness centrality (NC), network strength (NS), and network disparity (ND) influences building project quality. We analyze a unique dataset of 268 contractors with 1334 building projects from Singapore's government authority. It is found that contractor's network strength and ND (i.e., deviation in both NC and strength) have positive impacts on building project quality, whereas NC does not. When clients have strong project quality record, the positive impact of network strength and ND will be alleviated and reinforced, respectively. This article contributes to quality management in temporary organizing context by adding an enduring dimension of the network effect.
We analyze governance in two contemporary nuclear power plant projects: Olkiluoto 3 (Finland) and Flamanville 3 (France). We suggest that in the governance of large multi-firm projects, any of the ...prevalent governance approaches that rely on market, hierarchy, or hybrid forms, is not adequate as such. This paper opens up avenues towards a novel theory of governance in large projects by adopting a project network view with multiple networked firms within a single project, and by simultaneously going beyond organizational forms that cut across the traditional firm–market dichotomy. Our analysis suggests four changes in the prevailing perspective towards the governance of large projects. First, there should be a shift from viewing multi-firm projects as hierarchical contract organizations to viewing them as supply networks characterized by a complex and networked organizational structure. Second, there should be a shift in the emphasis of the predominant modes of governance, market and hierarchy towards novel governance approaches that emphasize network-level mechanisms such as self-regulation within the project. Third, there should be a shift from viewing projects as temporary endeavors to viewing projects as short-term events or episodes embedded in the long-term sphere of shared history and expected future activities among the involved actors. Fourth, there should be a shift from the prevailing narrow view of a hierarchical project management system towards an open system view of managing in complex and challenging institutional environments.
PurposeThe purpose of this study is to create a framework to analyze approaches for coordination, adaptation and safeguarding of exchanges in interorganizational project ...networks.Design/methodology/approachAn analysis framework to analyze governance in project networks was created based on a systematic review of existing literature. The framework was applied to analyze governance approaches used in a large infrastructure project implemented with an alliance project delivery method to illustrate the practical validity of the framework.FindingsThe analysis framework categorized governance in project networks in six dimensions: goal setting, rewarding, monitoring, roles and decision-making, coordination and capability building. A set of questions for each governance dimension was created and the analysis framework was applied in the context of a project alliance.Research limitations/implicationsThe focus of this research is on governance internal to a project network. The authors identified dimensions of governance in project networks and related governance approaches based on a systematic literature review. The practical applicability of the framework was validated in a single case study setting.Practical implicationsThe paper introduces a concept of governance in project networks, which takes the perspective that all actors that have an influence on project implementation are part of an interorganizational project network. The focal organization may have had a significant role in the design of governance, but governance also emerged from the network structure of companies and the interactions among them. The analysis framework created in this research can be used to design and analyze governance in different type of project context.Originality/valueThe paper introduces a concept of governance in project networks, which takes the perspective that all actors that have an influence on project implementation are part of an interorganizational project network.
Based on conceptual reasoning, combined with illustrations from the air cargo industry, this article proposes a gradual broadening of the concept of what project management offices (PMOs) are ...responsible for to provide added value to the collaborating organizations when planning for and executing interorganizational projects. Thus far, the ability of PMOs to support interorganizational projects and practices has been restricted—this goes for project management practice as well as a lack of concepts and theoretical reasoning from research in the domain of project studies. Against this background, this article distinguishes four types of PMOs and identifies promising organizational design elements pointing to functions and barriers, as well as to the interorganizational bridging practices of PMOs in support of their interorganizational responsibilities.
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