Sensing changes Parr, Joy
Sensing changes,
c2010, 2009, 20100101
eBook
These narratives about state-driven megaprojects and technological and regulatory changes reveal how humans make sense of their world in the face of rapid environmental change.
•Investigates a large-scale information system implementation project in a US-based firm.•Offers insights into the role and practices of project memory in overcoming challenges inherent in ...large-scale projects.•Presents an inductively developed framework of project memory constituting three mnemonic co-orchestration practices: situated focusing, synchronizing discourse, and converging boundaries.•Enhances the current understanding of the dynamic nature of large-scale projects by providing managerial practices with an alternative perspective on large-scale projects.
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a US-based firm engaged in a large-scale information system implementation project, this study presents an inductively developed framework of project memory incorporating three mnemonic co-orchestration practices: situated focusing, synchronizing discourse, and converging boundaries. Project memory is proposed to help manage challenges posed by large-scale projects as we observed in this study. This study offers insights into the role and practices of project memory and provides recommendations for managerial practice related to developing narrative and storytelling skills, strategically using meetings, and fostering a culture of cross-functional collaboration in large-scale projects.
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Construction projects that involve repetitive operations are often referred to as repetitive construction projects. Scheduling them proves a task more demanding than in the case of projects in other ...industries. Typical objectives of optimization, a characteristic set of constraints, as well as the schedule’s susceptibility to the propagation of disruptions caused by materializing risks, call for specific scheduling methods. The authors review the literature to summarize the existing repetitive scheduling methods and put forward their classification to identify the method’s aspects needing refinement. This is done to point to directions of further research. The authors hope that this study will contribute to better identification of existing problems in planning repetitive construction projects and faster development of decision support systems, eagerly anticipated by the construction practitioners. Though the focus is on applications to construction projects, the repetitive scheduling methods that account for volatile operating conditions may be of interest to researchers who develop planning techniques for other industries.
This book delves into the research-policy nexus as it relates to development in Africa. It does so by examining four country-cases - Botswana, Cte d'Ivoire, Kenya and Zambia - while referring to ...South Africa as a possible exemplar case.The book reaffirms that the majority of governments in Africa spend less than one per cent of their GDP on research and development (R&D) despite the commitment to raise their research funding levels contained in the Lagos Plan of Action (1980). Hence, reliance on external funding for research persists on the continent.To manage research engagements and public funds, Science Granting Councils (SGCs) have been established. These institutions are held accountable for how public funds are spent and how the research they fund contributes to the advancement of society.To-date, the SGCs and researchers have demonstrated in various ways how funded research contributes to the advancement of society. However, there appear to be differences in opinion amongst key stakeholders in terms of what constitutes research priorities as well as expectations in terms of the returns on research investments made.This book brings to the fore the importance of research and its outcome on societal development, and reveals the stake that African governments hold in the process. The book encourages African governments to show greater commitment to providing funding for research on the continent.This is critical if governments are to assume a lead role in the continent's development agenda. It would also set the stage for partnerships with other stakeholders, including industry and funding organisations. Researchers are also encouraged to work closely with the SGCs to ensure the valorisation of research products for societal benefit. This has a potential to unlock more funding for research in Africa which, in turn, would drive the development of the continent.
From the 1950s to the digital age, Americans have pushed their children to live science-minded lives, cementing scientific discovery and youthful curiosity as inseparable ideals. In this multifaceted ...work, historian Rebecca Onion examines the rise of informal children's science education in the twentieth century, from the proliferation of home chemistry sets after World War I to the century-long boom in child-centered science museums. Onion looks at how the United States has increasingly focused its energies over the last century into producing young scientists outside of the classroom. She shows that although Americans profess to believe that success in the sciences is synonymous with good citizenship, this idea is deeply complicated in an era when scientific data is hotly contested and many Americans have a conflicted view of science itself.These contradictions, Onion explains, can be understood by examining the histories of popular science and the development of ideas about American childhood. She shows how the idealized concept of "science" has moved through the public consciousness and how the drive to make child scientists has deeply influenced American culture.
Based on the words and experiences of the people involved, this book tells the story of the community arts movement in the UK, and, through a series of essays, assesses its influence on present day ...participatory arts practices. Part I offers the first comprehensive account of the movement, its history, rationale and modes of working in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; Part II brings the work up to the present, through a scholarly assessment of its influence on contemporary practice that considers the role of technologies and networks, training, funding, commissioning and curating socially engaged art today. The community arts movement was a well-known but little understood and largely undocumented creative revolution that began as part of the counter-cultural scene in the late 1960s. A wide range of art forms were developed, including large processions with floats and giant puppets, shadow puppet shows, murals and public art, events on adventure playgrounds and play schemes, outdoor events and fireshows. By the middle of the 1980s community arts had changed and diversified to the point where its fragmentation meant that it could no longer be seen as a coherent movement. Interviews with the early pioneers provide a unique insight into the arts practices of the time. Culture, Democracy and the Right to Make Art is not simply a history because the legacy and influence of the community arts movement can be seen in a huge range of diverse locations today. Anyone who has ever encountered a community festival or educational project in a gallery or museum or visited a local arts centre could be said to be part of the on-going story of the community arts.
Despite the relevance of corruption in project selection, planning and delivery, the project management literature pays little attention to this crucial phenomenon. This paper sets the background to ...foster the discussion concerning how to select, plan and deliver infrastructure in corrupt project contexts. It presents the different types of corruptions and the characteristics of projects that are more likely to suffer from it. Corruption is particularly relevant for large and uncommon projects where the public sector acts as client/owner or even as the main contractor. Megaprojects are “large unique projects” where public actors play a key role and are very likely to be affected by corruption. Corruption worsens both cost and time performance, and the benefits delivered. This paper leverages the institutional theory to introduce the concept of “corrupt project context” and, using the case study of the Italian high-speed railways, shows the impact of a corrupt context on megaprojects.
•Corruption is extremely relevant for the planning and delivering of public projects•Corruption is under-researched in the project management literature•Features such as large project size, uniqueness, and complexity favour corruption•Megaprojects have most of the features favouring corruptions•Megaprojects performance worsens in corrupt project contexts like Italy
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