Definitely Not a Walk in the Park: Coping with Competing Values in Complex Project Networks

Complex project networks confront project actors, with value pluralism originating from a plethora of competing organizational and institutional systems related to the project environment. Using a single urban redevelopment case study, we present a dynamic understanding of the emergence and nature of conflicts in different conflict arenas of...

The public construction client of the future: Network-based collaborator in a traditional public administrative system

In the construction industry, public and semi-public clients increasingly depend on private parties to achieve project outcomes by adopting network type of governance approaches. However, social-political responsibilities remain at the public side. Hence, the general challenge for public commissioners is to find a new balance between...

Practices of isolation: The shaping of project autonomy in innovation projects

A project's autonomy, the degree to which a project can evolve without constant interference from the parent organization, is a key feature of innovation projects. The literature treats autonomy as a passive phenomenon and underestimates how projects as temporary organizations interact with more permanent forms of organizations. A dynamic and...

Navigating value systems in urban PPP projects

Today’s societal challenges increasingly ask for collaborations of public, private and societal parties to achieve public goals though public service delivery projects. In these PPPs project managers have to align the interests of the permanent parent organization with the interests of the temporary project organization. Especially in urban area...

When project autonomy turns into isolation: Understanding the influence of project isolation on project-based learning

Successfully sharing knowledge through interactions between projects and the organization is, especially in a situation of changing work processes, an important capability for organizations to learn. The aim of this study is to gain insights into the process of project-based learning, specifically by studying how project-based learning relates...

Rethinking Roles and Responsibilities in the Context of the Public Private Value Shift From a Client Perspective

In today’s construction industry we witness an increase in public private collaboration in the delivery of public goods. New public private structures affect the traditional notion of accountability, bringing along a strong emphasis on performance and outcome. By transferring operational responsibility to the market parties in public private...

Contradictions in Project Based Learning: A Qualitative Study of Three City Development Projects

In complex product system industries such as construction, innovation and explorative intra-project learning are critical aspects for developing and delivering complex and customized products. Some research has, however, demonstrated that it is difficult to utilize learning from development projects in the permanent organisation. Hence, the...

Taking on a wider view: public value interests of construction clients in a changing construction industry

For financial and strategic reasons, public and semi-public construction clients increasingly depend on private parties to carry out public service delivery. They subcontract operational responsibilities to private parties while remaining socio-politically responsible for ensuring public values. Public administration literature mainly...

The impact of shifting values on the role and responsibilities of the construction client in delivering public goods

In today’s construction industry we witness an increase in public private collaboration in the delivery of public goods. By transferring operational responsibility to private contractors, public construction clients have fewer possibilities to directly influence and steer the outcomes of these processes while remaining socio-political...

Safeguarding public values by project-based construction clients: Leads for future research

In an environment with large interdependencies like the construction industry, projectbased public construction organisations are challenged to seek for 'new' ways to safeguard public values and project outcomes. Public bodies increasingly depend on private parties to achieve public values. Hence, due to the character of their tasks, they...