What does it take to kill a megaproject? The reverse escalation of commitment

Cornelio, Jose Rodrigo Juarez; Sainati, Tristano; Locatelli, Giorgio

doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2021.07.004

Cited by 16 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…We further explore the process view on imperfection of projects by considering some actions in more detail. Toward this end we have chosen five topics we think are important for the process view: (1) improvising and experimenting for learning (Stjerne & Svejenova, 2016); (2) temporality of evaluating projects implies imperfections (Feddersen et al, 2023); (3) power and politics in demarcating a project as success or failure (Juarez Cornelio et al, 2021); (4) success and failure beyond projects (Ika & Munro, 2022); and (5) intentionality of projects. Such more or less intentional actions or practices, some of which may accumulate over time into hard to control selfreinforcing processes (Kremser & Sydow, 2022), will be discussed as follows:…”

Section: Process View On the Imperfection Of Projectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Failure and Success: A Process View on Imperfect Projects as Common Practice

Marrewijk,

Stjerne,

Sydow

2024

Project Management Journal

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This editorial scrutinizes the dichotomy of a project’s success and failure, which, in our opinion is too rigid, inflexible, and unnuanced. The aim of this special issue is to nuance this dichotomy by moving toward a process view on how imperfection is brought about in projects. We introduce and discuss five topics important for such a process view: (1) improvisation, (2) temporality, (3) power and politics, (4) transition, and (5) intentionality. We argue that a holistic, processual view of imperfections premises emergence and continuous learning and judgments of the project both in and over time. All five articles in this special issue deal with at least one of the discussed themes of our proposed process view on imperfect projects.

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Section: Process View On the Imperfection Of Projectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Failure and Success: A Process View on Imperfect Projects as Common Practice

Marrewijk,

Stjerne,

Sydow

2024

Project Management Journal

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“…They often borrow theories from neighbouring disciplines and apply them to project settings (Drouin & Jugdev, 2014; Ika et al, 2022; Keil, 2022). The theory of escalation within projects is a key illustration that draws on organisational behaviour theories (Keil, 2022) and has also further developed in ‘reverse escalation’ (Juarez Cornelio et al, 2021). Another example draws on behavioural theories, such as optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation (the Planning Fallacy), developed in the fields of psychology and economics and extended to project settings to make sense of cost overruns and benefit shortfalls (Flyvbjerg, 2014).…”

Section: Five Theses For the Future Of Collaborative Project Manageme...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Manifesto for project management research

Locatelli

Ika

Drouin

et al. 2023

European Management Review

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Project management research has evolved over the past five decades and is now a mature disciplinary field investigating phenomena of interest to academics, practitioners and policymakers. Studies of projects and project management practices are theoretically rich and scientifically rigorous. They are practically relevant and impactful when addressing the pursuit of operational, tactical and strategic advancements in the world of organisations. We want to broaden the conversation between project management scholars and other scholars from cognate disciplines, particularly business and management, in a true scholarship of integration and cross-fertilisation. This Manifesto invites the latter scholars to join efforts providing a foundation for further creative, theoretical and empirical contributions, including but not limited to tackling grand challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and global poverty. To this end, we identify five theses: 1. Projects are often 'agents of change' and hence fundamental to driving the innovation and change required to tackle grand challenges. 2. Much project management research leverages and challenges theories across disciplines, including business, organisation and management studies, contributing to developing new theories, including those specific to projects and temporary organisations. 3. 'Projects' are useful units of analysis, project management research is ideal for scientific cross-fertilisation and project management scholars welcome academics from other communities to engage in fruitful conversations. 4. As in many other fields of knowledge, the project management research community embraces diversity, welcoming researchers of different genders and various scientific and social backgrounds. 5. Historically rooted in 'problem-solving' and normative studies, project management research has become open to interpretative and emancipatory research, providing opportunities for other business, management and organisational scholars to advance their knowledge communities.project management, temporary organization, organizational change WHY WE NEED THIS MANIFESTOThe projectification of society and the need to tackle grand challengesWe live in a 'project society' where projects shape people, organisations and society (Lundin et al., 2015), a phenomenon that was dubbed 'projectification' in a business context about 30 years ago (Midler, 1995). In this 'project economy', projects (which drive change and innovation) and operations (which make organisations run daily) compete and collaborate as leading economic agents (Nieto-Rodriguez, 2021). This goes beyond the mere focus on single organisations since coalitions are

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“…The importance of socio-political stakeholders as a cost driver cannot be underestimated in planning. Social and political groups have the power to terminate projects (Invernizzi et al 2017b;Juarez Cornelio et al 2021), not least cause delays (Locatelli et al 2017a), therefore assessing the influence of and gaining support from these parties is paramount. This cost driver has not been fully explored; researchers have tended towards examining engagement processes with socio-political stakeholders that positively correlate with cost, with much to be learnt on the micro level, e.g., engagement practices with stakeholders in planning (Burger et al 2019) to reduce cost.…”

Section: Reduce the Actual Cost Of Controllable Cost Drivers In Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cost Drivers of Infrastructure Projects: Definition, Classification, and Conceptualization

Watton,

Unterhitzenberger,

Locatelli

et al. 2023

J. Constr. Eng. Manage.

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Reducing cost is a critical objective for project teams. However, unlike the research on topics such as cost overruns, cost reduction literature is limited. Previous studies have primarily examined cost estimation/reduction models or high-level cost reduction strategies. Therefore, it is necessary to identify specific actions that project teams can take to reduce cost. By focusing on the "cost drivers" of infrastructure projects, researchers have a practically relevant lens through which cost reduction can be promoted and studied. Thus, this integrative literature review establishes a foundation for infrastructure project cost drivers knowledge, addressing three research questions revolving around deriving a definition, classification scheme, and conceptual framework of cost drivers. This paper first produces a definition of cost drivers by critically analysing cost drivers concepts/perspectives and existing definitions. Second, cost drivers were drawn from relevant articles and classified to produce a taxonomy of 14 key cost drivers. Third, a conceptual framework (two-by-two matrix) of cost driver types was developed to acknowledge the influence project teams can have. Finally, a research agenda proposes further investigation in cost drivers/reduction research regarding each cost driver, apt research methods, and necessary project contexts. This paper's theoretical contribution is a deepening of infrastructure project cost drivers knowledge using a definition, taxonomy, and conceptual framework. The practical contribution is a deepened awareness of the key opportunities forand threats tocost reduction for project teams, as well as a knowledge of those cost drivers that they actually have an influence over, i.e., to reduce their project's cost.Popular topics in the realm of cost reduction in project/construction management literature tend to be primarily focused on reducing cost overruns or cost estimation inaccuracy, through analysing either the human-based determinants (e.g.

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What does it take to kill a megaproject? The reverse escalation of commitment

Cited by 16 publications

References 49 publications

Beyond Failure and Success: A Process View on Imperfect Projects as Common Practice

Beyond Failure and Success: A Process View on Imperfect Projects as Common Practice

A Manifesto for project management research

The Cost Drivers of Infrastructure Projects: Definition, Classification, and Conceptualization

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