Effects of lagging projectification in the public sector on realizing infrastructure projects

Abstract

The public sector in Germany lags behind the economy in terms of projectification, i.e., the prevalence of projects and experience in applying project management. This has significant implications for realizing complex infrastructure projects in which the public sector is involved as one of the main actors. Nowadays, projectification represents a particular way of thinking about how to embrace a series of dynamic and challenging changes, design them, and implement them effectively for the benefit of society. A quantitative study of projectification in society in Germany was the starting point for our research, the results of which we compared with data from earlier studies of projectification in the economy. Using an interpretative case study drawing on insights from the Berlin Airport, we analyzed the impact of lagging projectification in the public sector in Germany on realizing infrastructure projects to propose suitable approaches. The results of this case study reveal significant effects of lagging projectification in the public sector of Germany on realizing infrastructure projects. In the case of the Berlin BER Airport, an inadequate governance system led to a 9-year delay in the completion date and a 250% overrun of costs directly attributable to the project. This could have been avoided by involving the private construction industry more collaboratively, by building on previous experiences gained, and by a more cooperative way of project planning and implementation. To guide future research, hypotheses are derived that can be used to analyze the underlying problem in greater depth and to derive recommendations for action.

The Influence of Leadership on the Projectification of the Public Construction Sector in Germany

“…The research results confirm the differences between the state of projectification in the private and public construction sectors in Germany as shown in [1]. A positive culturalcognitive view of projects, as described in [2], shapes the work of the organizations in the private construction sector, their leadership, and in this way their performance in projects.…”

“…The appropriately one-hour-long interviews with the experts were conducted virtually, recorded and transcribed with the help of a specialized service provider, and checked for accuracy. The guiding interview questions (see Table 1) were derived from previous studies about projectification [1][2][3]32] and asked about the importance of projects during dayto-day work; if the importance of projects will increase within the next five years; the staff's perceived attitude towards projects; the way that the leaders promote projects in their direct environment; possible limitations of fostering project work among the staff; the cultural factors that influence the perceptions of working on projects in their specific environments; the leader's impact on their environment's cultures; the leader's and their team's role-models for project work; and finally success stories of projects in Germany that are guiding their organizations.…”

“…This article explores the question as to what role leadership assumes in projectification in the private and public construction sectors of Germany. Recent research [1] emphasizes that projectification is increasing across the entire society in Germany, but that there are clear disparities between the private and public sectors and illustrates the consequences using prominent infrastructure projects as examples. There has been some indication [2] that leadership may have a positive influence on projectification, which is relevant for all those who want to foster projectification in the public construction sector.…”

Construction project management activity in the Republic of Croatia: analysis of the current situation

“…However, amendments to CPM ACT article 38 (2) from 2019 provides an exception to the regulation according to which investors who are not registered to perform CPM activities can appoint an employee as the PM [4,12]. The asymmetries and inconsistencies of such a case are necessary to reconsider and analyse the effect considering the existence of numerous studies that indicate shortcomings in such an approach [75].…”

The role of competency-based certification in ensuring sustainable project delivery

“…For some time now, project-oriented business has been gaining importance in the private and public sectors alike, given that an increased number of organisations started to base their operations on projects as drivers of short-term performance and long-term value creation through construction of dynamic work environments that involve faster adoption of new technologies, more frequent organisational transformations, better use of limited resources, faster product/service development and reactions to impulses coming from the market (Bakker et al 2016;Sydow 2017;Sołtysik et al 2020;Nieto-Rodriguez 2021;Wagner and Radujković 2022). Research shows that this trend will continue and estimates the growth of project-oriented economic activity worldwide from US$12 trillion in 2017 to US$20 trillion in 2027, with more than 88 million people working in project-oriented roles (Nieto-Rodriguez 2021).…”