Lu, W and Wang, H (2014) Organizational responses to institutional pressures in international infrastructure projects: A transnational pipeline project case study. In: Raiden, A and Aboagye-Nimo, E (eds.) Proceedings of 30th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2014, Portsmouth, UK.
Abstract
International infrastructure projects that are implemented in highly complex environments and involve collaboration among participants from multiple countries often face a variety of institutional pressures. Organizations involved in the execution of international infrastructure projects enact different strategic responses to institutional pressures and respond in a patterned way. The research explores how organizations respond strategically to institutional pressures in international infrastructure projects and how the interconnectedness between the organization under pressure and other organizations in the project influences the response strategy. A case study centred on a pipeline project in Central Asia that organizations are from China, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan has been conducted to analyse organizations' practical strategic responses, and 4 vignettes were developed, each describing an event in this pipeline project how an organization responded to institutional pressures. Each vignette was carefully analysed by making event list with two dimensions, the organizations involved and the time line. Different vignettes were compared to find the generic narrative model or typical story. The results indicate that the high degree of interdependence and convergence of interest among the organizations lead other organizations in the project to collaborate with the organization under institutional pressures, and take an active response strategy. Besides, local stakeholder relationships can be utilized in response to institutional pressures and it is important to create relationally embedded relationships with local stakeholders. This research contributes to the knowledge of international project management by drawing upon institutional theory and using a strategic perspective to institutional pressures.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | institutional pressure; international infrastructure project; response strategy |
| Index terms: | face, drawing, narrative, Turkmenistan, international project, institutional pressure, Uzbekistan, pipeline construction, case study, strategy, collaboration, Asia, China, infrastructure project, interdependence, dimension, institutional theory, vignette |
| Subjects: | technical documentation, management, health monitoring assessment and metrics, civil engineering, regions and continents, organizational analysis, sociology, infrastructure and transport systems, psychology, strategic management, data collection methods, Geography, qualitative and interpretive research, research dissemination and communication |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, International Construction, Engineering Principles, Organizational Design, Design Practice, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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