Chiponde, D B; Gledson, B and Greenwood, D (2020) An integrated approach to learning from project-related failures. In: Scott, L and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 36th Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-8 September 2020, Online Event, UK.
Abstract
Project Based Organisations (PBOs) are used across economic sectors as a form of delivering benefits via projects or programmes. Unfortunately, they do not always achieve their intended outputs or outcomes, nor perform as-planned. Whenever PBOs do not successfully deliver, project-related failures (PRFs) may have occurred. These can be singular or multiple, and variable in size, but are typically attributed to the neglect or omission of expected or required project actions. PRFs can be relatively hidden or highly visible like, for instance those presently described in relation to the UK Crossrail infrastructure project, reported as being over one year in delay with £2 billion extra funds being needed. Whenever the failings of such cases are revealed, organisational learning, is usually encouraged as a means to improve long term delivery performance of PBOs. Regrettably there is limited research published in relation to PBOs learning arising from project-related failures, even less so within the construction sector. The purpose of this research was therefore to explore and understand the practices and behaviours of individual construction project-based actors as regards their approach to learning from project-related failures. To do this, exploratory research was undertaken, whereby semi-structured interviews were held obtaining qualitative data from various project actors drawn from a non-probability sample. Key results reveal how learning from project failures is rarely practised, and how the major barriers to learning include the nature of projects themselves, the negative perceptions around failure and the non-acceptance of failure due to a fear of being blamed or punished. In instances where learning was encouraged, the most commonly used methods involve end of project reports and project review meetings. The implication for PBOs are that negative perceptions of project failure and 'the blame game' must be circumvented to attain true organisational learning from project-related failure(s).
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | project failure; pbos; learning; practices; United Kingdom construction industry |
| Index terms: | infrastructure project, construction sector, construction industry, exploratory research, construction project, programme, United Kingdom, project failure, integrated approach, interview, organizational learning |
| Subjects: | project controls, industry analysis, infrastructure and transport systems, research methods, Geography, production management, professional development, contractual arrangements, data collection methods, project completion |
| Topics: | Procurement, Geographical Context, Project Management, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Time Control |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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