af Hällström, A and Bosch-Sijtsema, P (2020) Collaboration and relationships in Nordic infrastructure project networks. In: Scott, L and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 36th Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-8 September 2020, Online Event, UK.
Abstract
Since the turn of the millennium, project planners have tried reducing the adversity commonly seen in infrastructure construction projects by employing collaborative project management models, such as alliancing, early contractor involvement, or partnering. In the Nordic countries, several different models are currently being applied in practice. These models are utilised in the hope to ensure that public funds are used efficiently, to meet the needs of society through well-executed projects: but how do we define their success? Traditional project management has mainly focused on profits and other easily countable key performance indicators as a means to gauge the success of a project. As more intangible metrics, such as life-cycle perspectives, sustainability and societal good, become more relevant through both societal demands, but also the aforementioned collaborative project management models, the traditional values for success become fuzzier. Employing a project network perspective, we look at several infrastructure projects, employing collaborative project management models, in the Nordic countries and study the expectations on collaboration models as well as the actual collaboration between the different actors in these project models. The empirical evidence, consisting of 40 semi-structured interviews, points to a discrepancy in the application of collaborative project management models. On one hand, there seems to be clear benefits realised through employing such models, such as time savings and resource use reduction. On the other hand, the model and how it is understood and applied seems to influence the project outcome more than previously thought: not all roads lead to a good project outcome. Preliminary results indicate a collective interest to produce a common good in all involved actors, i.e. a well-functioning, qualitative infrastructure project, while simultaneously highlighting the discrepancy between expectations and actions.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | collaborative project management model; project management; network theory; project networks; productivity; quality |
| Index terms: | collaboration, collaborative project, planner, time saving, evidence, infrastructure project, infrastructure construction, project management, alliancing, partnering, interview, society, key performance indicator, project network, early contractor involvement, productivity, project outcome, profit |
| Subjects: | communities and social development, infrastructure and transport systems, time analysis, partnership management, project management theory and practice, management, civil engineering, contractual arrangements, project planning, project delivery, economic analysis, evaluation and assessment methods, data collection methods, profession, project completion |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Procurement, Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Research Practice, Organizational Design, Time Control |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here