This is a repository copy of An island of constancy in a sea of change: rethinking project temporalities with long-term megaprojects.

Megaprojects are historically associated with poor delivery, both in terms of schedule and cost performance. Empirical research is required to determine which characteristics of megaprojects affect schedule and cost performance. Capital-intensive power plants can be understood as megaprojects and time delays and cost escalation during the construction phase can undermine their overall economic viability. This paper presents a systematic, empirically based methodology that employs the Fisher Exact test to identify the characteristics of power plant megaprojects (PPMs) that correlate with schedule and cost performance. We present the results of applying this methodology to a dataset of 12 PPMs using nuclear, coal, and renewable resources as case studies. The results highlight the importance of modular technologies, project governance, and external stakeholder involvement. Key findings both support and contradict the literature. The paper provides two major original contributions. First, we present and apply a systematic, empirical and statistical approach to understanding PPMs planning and construction. Second, we show how this approach can be used to inform public policy and project management with regard to PPMs.

Purpose – The purpose of the paper was to conduct an empirical investigation to explore the impact of project management maturity models (PMMMs) on improving project performance. Design/methodology/approach – The investigation used a cross-case analysis involving over 90 individuals in seven organisations. Findings – The findings of the empirical investigation indicate that PMMMs demonstrate very high levels of variability in individual's assessment of project management maturity. Furthermore, at higher levels of maturity, the type of performance improvement adopted following their application is related to the type of PMMM used in the assessment. The paradox of the unreliability of PMMMs and their widespread acceptance is resolved by calling upon the “wisdom of crowds” phenomenon which has implications for the use of maturity model assessments in other arena. Research limitations/implications – The investigation does have the usual issues associated with case research, but the steps that have been taken in the cross-case construction and analysis have improved the overall robustness and extendibility of the findings. Practical implications – The tendency for PMMMs to shape improvements based on their own inherent structure needs further understanding. Originality/value – The use of empirical methods to investigate the link between project maturity models and extant changes in project management performance is highly novel and the findings that result from this have added resonance.

The results of a research project dealing with knowledge management in project environments and the capability to transfer knowledge across projects teams are presented. A key distinction is made between generic project knowledge (kernel knowledge) and speci®c project knowledge (ephemeral knowledge). For each type of knowledge, knowledge management benchmarks are described and discussed. The empirical data used in this paper was collected from companies of various sizes operating in the manufacturing, construction and service sectors. Keywords Project management, Knowledge management, Types of organization n its simplest form, knowledge management is about encouraging people to share knowledge and ideas to create value-adding products and services.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to question why current thinking towards project complexity ignores the role of objects in achieving social order and transformation. An alternative, but complementary, approach to address project complexities, drawing upon actor-network theory (ANT), is offered to redress this concern. Design/methodology/approach -Current thinking towards project complexity is briefly reviewed in the first section to illustrate the reasons why nonhumans are downplayed. An historical case study, the Skye road bridge project, is mobilized to explain, and develop, an ANT perspective on project complexities, and responses to such complexities. Findings -ANT develops accounts of project complexity by highlighting the role of nonhumans in influencing how practitioners register, respond and stabilize project complexities. Front-end planning and stakeholder analysis is shown to be only one narrow element of four moments through which actors apprehend and stabilize project complexities.Research limitations/implications -The empirical case study is developed to suggest some significant ways in which ANT could contribute, and complement, extant theories of project complexity. Alternative approaches to socio-materiality are noted and may yield other important insights. Originality/value -The paper positions ANT to offer a novel theory of project complexity. It is intended to be primarily of use to project management researchers, and theoretically informed practitioners, who are interested in developing fresh insights into notions of project complexities (unintended consequences, emergence and unpredictability). based paradigms that dominate project management research and "best practice" (Cicmil et al., 2009b;Hodgson and Cicmil, 2006). However, instead of simply reviewing the application of complexity thinking to project management (as in Cooke-Davies et al., 2007;Whitty and Maylor, 2009), this paper starts with an important, though often ignored question: why do theories of complex project management favour ways of viewing projects that focus on their social interactions? This question is important because, despite the origins of complexity thinking within the natura...