A game theory perspective on product development project charters: the project manager - project sponsor relationship as an iterated Prisoner's Dilemma

Abstract

Abstract:The product development processes of many firms include a project charter -a document that formally authorises a product development project, establishes expectations and success criteria, and provides a project manager with authority and resources. Neither the project sponsors nor the project manager have complete and perfect knowledge; thus the project charter is the outcome of negotiation, estimation, and forecasting, by stakeholders with partially aligned and partially differing incentives -a situation that game theorists characterise as a 'mixed-motive game'. This article develops a conceptual game theory model of the project manager -project sponsor relationship, then draws on past research on analytic game theory, evolutionary game theory, and behavioural game theory to develop propositions about cooperation on project charters and implications for theory and practice. The model and propositions developed from the model contribute to our conceptual understanding of cooperation within product development organisations and the theoretical underpinnings of project management.

Product innovation research over the past 60 years: a bibliometric analysis of intellectual structure and emergent trends

“…Cluster#2 "prisoner's dilemma" (S 5 0.824, n 5 50, AVY 5 2007) explores the unfavorable effect of the prisoner's dilemma phenomenon which reflects a game situation where there is a discrepancy between collective and individual rationality (e.g. cooperation between prisoners may yield less benefit for each prisoner than in the competitive situation) (Muegge, 2017 Product innovation research Ritala and Hurmelinna-Laukkanen (2009). Hereof, prisoner's dilemma throughout product innovation process may lead firms to develop homogeneous products (Lambertini and Rossini, 1998).…”