In recent decades, interest in project-based learning within organizational learning has grown significantly. This study synthesizes principles that facilitate learning at the project level. Through a cross-case analysis of the Gaasperdammer Tunnel project in the Netherlands and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in China, and validation via focus group discussions, we have identified five key principles: Owner Commitment, Social Environment Approach, Collaboration Vision, Value Orientation, and Open Mindset. These principles highlight the mindsets that guide the behavior and thinking of project practitioners beyond prescriptive processes and routines. Our research enhances the understanding of how project participants can learn from their involvement in unique, complex projects and improve their capabilities for future endeavors. We emphasize the critical role of learning in the development of project capabilities and suggest it be a focal point in future research on infrastructure development projects.

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Project management practices are being profoundly changed due to a combination of demographics and technological advancements. This study exploresthe question of how the data-rich era is transforming the talent pipeline in projectwork. We followed a mixed methodology between June and November 2022 to benefit from diverse data and perspectives.We undertook an international survey with 124 responses and semi-structured interviews from a purposive sample of 24 interviewees to investigate the trends, areas of impact and key points of attention. The studyshows that organizational talent support and clear digital competence requirements will significantly affect the development of personal digital competence. Especially developing and training talents play a more important role than attracting new talents and retaining existing talents. Additionally, individual digital competence and a clear definition of digital applications in projectswill enormously enhance the performance of individuals in project environments.@en

The digital transformation in project management is causing disruption on how the organizations recognize and value the skills and expertise of the new data-savvy talents in organization’s decision-making processes for improved project delivery. Existing research on digital transformation in projects has mainly focused on what technologies can help organizations and people achieve, without connecting to the disruptions that technologies bring to projects human and social capital. To address this deficiency and harness the data-rich era, there is a need to go beyond the prevailing technical line of thought and think about people’s issues in project settings. Therefore, this research aims to examine talent management initiatives for project management professionals on how they can exploit the inherent advantages of the data-rich era and digital transformation to build an inclusive workplace. The study poses two research objectives, first to understand how project management professionals experience the trends of the data-rich era in the project environment and data-savvy talent (also in light of the changing demographics in the sector) and second to identify the opportunities and obstacles for managing project management talent to deliver projects in the data-rich era. To answer these questions, this paper uses semi-structured interviews from a purposive sample of 24 interviewees with diverse project management experience. The interviewees were recruited from three main categories of stakeholders from industry, academia, and professional institutions. The research through qualitative data analysis and abductive thinking first identifies an overemphasis on developing data-savvy talent in the expense of attracting or retaining it. Second, the study documents the existence of six clusters of opportunities and obstacles in delivering of projects through data savvy project management talent. Accordingly, the identified themes/clusters of connectivity, communication, information management, project delivery, disruption, and project work and wellbeing provide new directions for talent management practices such as attracting, developing and retaining data-savvy talent in the data-rich era.@en

Previous studies revealed that Building Information Modeling (BIM) has the potential to reduce project uncertainties, design errors, change orders, and delays, which might facilitate achieving effective dispute management in the construction industry. However, research into the adoption of BIM to holistically enhance effective dispute management is limited compared with the plentiful BIM research in the construction management field. This study explored whether and how BIM adoption can help minimize the chronic problem of dispute in the industry. A structured critical literature review method was employed in this study which involved 102 papers in the fields of BIM and construction disputes. Nine main common causes of disputes (e.g., change order, design error, site problem, contractual problem, payment problem, and delay) and eight primary benefits of BIM application (e.g., improved visual management, design optimization, improved information management, and enhanced collaboration) were identified. A conceptual framework was developed illustrating the mechanism of adopting BIM to facilitate dispute management in the overall life cycle of construction projects. The framework indicates that design error, delay, and change order can be reduced most significantly by most of the BIM benefits, whereas improved visual management, improved information management, and enhanced collaboration are three of the most frequently adopted BIM benefits that can settle the majority of dispute causes. This study contributes to dispute management with a more holistic view of adopting BIM in the life cycle of construction projects, as illustrated in the conceptual framework. In addition, the identified common causes of disputes and primary benefits of BIM application are valuable for on future research in these two areas.

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A building's strategic asset management (SAM) capability has traditionally been limited by its site-based management. With the emergence of needs from clients about delivering a long-term portfolio-based building asset management plan that minimizes the asset risk and optimizes the value of their asset portfolios, SAM Units have emerged as a new business form to provide various SAM services to their clients. However, the quality of their current data model is still hindered by many issues, such as missing important attributes and the lack of customized information flow guidance. In addition, there is a gap in integrating their existing data collection with various data sources and Building Information Modeling (BIM) to enhance their data quality. By evaluating a SAM Unit's portfolio case study, this paper identifies the factors limiting the quality of SAM Units' data model and develops a guide to integrating various data sources better. We develop a BIM-integrated portfolio-based SAM information flow framework and a detailed hierarchical portfolio-based non-geometric data structure. The proposed framework and data structure will help SAM professionals, building asset owners, and other facilities management professionals embrace the benefits of managing the portfolio-based SAM data.

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Research on explorative learning has primarily focused on the organizational level. Not much research has been done at the megaproject level, which is a more complex form of organizing. Therefore, it is advisable to analyze how the pursuit of explorative learning is enabled at the megaproject level. This research draws upon the case study of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB)—a cross-sea link construction project—to study how explorative learning was achieved and sustained. The findings from archival documents, interviews, and focus group discussions indicate that megaprojects are more likely to increase in complexity but might bring value via more significant learning opportunities. Explorative learning is enacted through the complementary use of owner leadership, collaboration, external resources, and experiments. This research adds to our knowledge of how explorative learning works in practice and highlights its significance in the context of megaprojects.

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The Paris Agreement requires building retrofitting practices to be more efficient and effective. However, the current practice for building energy retrofitting is lacking behind, and one reason for that is the time-consuming process of energy credit evaluation. Energy performance assessment such as BREEAM-NL in the Netherlands could apply a more automatic approach with the help of building information modelling (BIM) for an efficient building energy retrofitting evaluation process. However, to what extent BIM can help in accelerating energy performance evaluation in the BREEAM-NL certification process is under-examined. This paper first combines literature findings with practical interviews from a case study organization to present a holistic overview of the potential for automating energy-related credits evaluation in BREEAM-NL using BIM. To understand the possible impacts of such transition, a responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed (RACI) matrix is developed to map the impacts on different actors involved. Furthermore, to help practitioners in an organizational context to adopt a BIM-enabled energy credits assessment workflow, the case study organization is studied to (1) understand their current BIM use status; (2) propose a suitable starting point to take toward a BIM-enabled energy performance assessment for building energy retrofitting. Finally, the proposed starting point is demonstrated using a customized application, and the project team’s feedback is used to verify its efficiency and future directions are identified. @en

Collaborative innovation has become an innovation paradigm to improve innovation performance and firms’ economic output. However, there is relatively little research investigating stakeholders’ drivers for engaging in collaborative innovation and the relative importance of drivers in infrastructure megaprojects. This research aims to address this gap by identifying the drivers for collaborative innovation and their relative importance in the context of infrastructure megaprojects. We adopt the literature review and questionnaire survey methods to identify drivers, the Relative Importance Index to rank them, and exploratory factor analysis to group them. The results show that 18 drivers are grouped into 6 dimensions. Their rankings are as follows: responding to project and clients’ requirements, improving efficiency, gaining rewards, learning, responding to competition, responding to environmental changes. The research contributes to stake-holders’ drivers to engage in collaborative innovation and the relative importance of drivers in the context of infrastructure megaprojects. Identifying and prioritizing stakeholders’ drivers can provide practitioners with suggestions on managing the collaborative innovation process in infrastructure megaprojects.@en

Purpose: Management of inter-organizational projects focuses on the collective benefits of a group of organizations on a shared activity for a limited period and the coordination among them. However, how learning is facilitated in the inter-organizational project remains under-developed in the literature. Design/methodology/approach: This research analyses the exploitative learning process in the longest tunnel project on land in the Netherlands realized in a densely populated area. Data were collected through archived documents, in-depth interviews, site visits in the ethnographic research to analyze the actors, the daily practices and social situations in projects. Findings: The empirical findings indicate that exploitative learning is promoted positively between the owner and the contractor and internally within the contractor. The most significant change that the exploitative learning process has led to is the change in mindset toward the collaboration. Project culture is considered to be shaped by exploitative learning in the inter-organizational project. However, there is a gap between the transfer of knowledge from the inter-organizational project to the parent organization. Originality/value: The findings have implications for understanding learning in the inter-organizational project setting.

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In emerging economies, infrastructure projects are in full swing. There is a wealth of replicable experience for exploitation. Simultaneously, more technologies and methodologies require further exploration. This makes fostering ambidextrous innovation strategies (i.e., the tradeoff between exploitative and exploratory innovation strategies) a common and vital practical issue. Large infrastructure projects are unique one-off endeavors but have somewhat repetitive and persistent characteristics. It is a particular “intermediate” form between temporary projects and permanent organizations. Previous research on fostering ambidextrous innovation strategies cannot simply be replicated in large infrastructure projects. To address this issue, this article investigates the relationship between team heterogeneity and ambidextrous innovation strategies and also the role of team learning and identification in large infrastructure projects. Data were collected from 269 responses from 31 large infrastructure project delivery teams in China. The findings show that team heterogeneity has a positive linear effect on exploratory and ambidextrous innovation strategies and an inverted U-shaped effect on exploitative innovation strategies; team heterogeneity can better foster ambidextrous innovation strategies through improving team learning; the moderating role of team identification in the overall mechanism differs from the usual assumptions in permanent organizations. Overall, this article extends the existing ambidexterity research in the “intermediate” form between temporary projects and permanent organizations. It provides insights and guidance on fostering ambidextrous innovation strategies in large infrastructure projects.@en

In infrastructure project practice, balancing and maximizing the combined effect of exploratory and exploitative innovation have attracted increasing attention, but it is still unclear how to foster ambidextrous innovation in infrastructure projects. To address this gap, we draw on the differentiation-integration framework of ambidexterity theory to deconstruct tactics for fostering ambidextrous innovation in infrastructure projects. A total of 313 observations were collected from infrastructure under construction, and the path hypotheses were tested by hierarchical regression. The findings suggest that in infrastructure projects, task conflict and expertise integration of diverse cross-functional teams provide powerful and complementary tactics for fostering ambidextrous innovation. The moderating effect of team autonomy support on the impact of team diversity on differentiation and integration tactics presents three different results. This study not only enriches the literature on how to foster ambidextrous innovation in infrastructure projects but also expands the ambidexterity research at the cross-functional team level and in infrastructure project contexts.

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Over the last decades of development of knowledge management and organizational learning, there has been an increase in learning research within and across projects. Learning from past lessons in projects and preparing for the next project management practices is very important in large infrastructure projects. The autonomy of projects brings opportunities for generating new knowledge to solve problems but makes diffusing the knowledge between projects and even within stages of the project difficult. This poses a significant gap that may be negatively affecting practices. A clear and in-depth understanding of project-based learning is needed. The research aims to stimulate discussions and further debate about learning at the project level to identify and implement capabilities and structures that enable more efficient learning within and between projects in terms of value creation...@en

Purpose - How learning is facilitated in inter-organizational projects remains underdeveloped in the literature. The aim of this study is to focus on viewing the relationship between the multiple organizations in a project, from a perspective of the learning aspect. Design/Methodology/Approach - This research analyses the learning trajectory that occurred in the largest tunnel project in the Netherlands. Data were collected through archival documents, in-depth interviews, and site visits. Answering the research question will be done through inductive research. Findings - The results indicate that the most significant change that exploitative learning has led to is the change in mind-set. The learning paradox of projects does not play a factor in the learning trajectory present at the GSP project. Research Limitations/Implications - While the research was conducted in a Dutch context, it is suggested that the findings presented would align with the experiences of construction organizations in other parts of the world. Practical Implications - The findings have implications for understanding learning in practical project management. The organizations need to focus on learning initiatives on people, and not on the collection of data. Originality/Value - This research responds to the debate over the learning in projects. Learning stimulates openness and that this has positive impact omcollaboration.

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There has been recent academic interest in programs as value creation processes. Scholars focus particularly on the front end of programs as opportunities for clients to create value. At the front end, client and market partners can actively co-produce value through co-creation sessions. This paper investigates what stakeholders do in co-creation sessions and how this contributes to the co-creation of value at the front end of programs. We used an action research approach combined with participant observation, document analysis, and interviews with participants to study stakeholder engagement in co-creation sessions at the front end of a Dutch infrastructure development program. The findings show that the client intended to realize a value (value-for-firm) that was competing with market partners' values. By engaging in co-creation sessions with the client, market partners and knowledge partners co-created three sets of values (value-in-use) as follows: commercial, intellectual and collaborative values. The findings contribute to the academic debate on value creation in programs with an in-depth understanding of co-creation sessions at the front end.@en

Over the last 20 years, there has been an increase in the study of project-based learning to deploy knowledge management strategies and the concept of organizational capability. We address this topic in the context of infrastructure development projects. Through a review of existing literature complemented by pilot empirical research carried out in MultiWaterWork program, and Gaasperdammer tunnel project in the Netherlands, Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge in China and Crossrail in the UK, research propositions are presented on the relationship among knowledge management, project-based learning, and organizational capabilities. The findings reject the position of knowledge management as a best practice toolkit for immediate use and emphasize that there is no pure copy-paste knowledge learned from one project to another. Learning is proposed as the missing link between project capabilities and knowledge management. The study then focuses on the contribution of sets of project capabilities to achieve project performance. It is suggested that the critical role of learning in the development of project capabilities should be on the future research agenda of infrastructure development projects.@en

In order to explore optimal strategies for managing potential human risk factors, this paper developed an interactive model among potential human risk factors based on the development processes of accidents. This model was divided into four stages, i.e., risk latency stage, risk accumulation stage, risk explosion stage and risk residue stage. Based on this model, this paper analyzed risk management procedures and relevant personal’s responsibility in each stage, and then probed into the interactive mechanism among human risk factors in three aspects, i.e., knowledge, information and communication. The validity and feasibility of the model was validated by analyzing a coal mine roof accident in China. In addition, the contribution of different functional levels’ personnel in risk evolution was discussed. It showed that this model can effectively reveal the interactive mechanism of potential human risk factors, and can thus give significant insights into the development of risk management theories and practices. It also proves that the contribution of different functional levels’ personnel in the model is different. This can further help practitioners design enhanced Behavioral-Based Safety (BBS) intervention approaches which can have a more sustainable and persistent impact on corporate personnel’s safety behavior. Specific recommendations and suggestions are provided fundamentally for future BBS practices in the coal mine industry.

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Environmental burdens arise in the whole life cycle of construction. Waste and pollution are produced in the upstream and downstream of a construction project along the supply chains. The interdependency between on-site construction and off-site logistics also leads to an expansion effect of waste when a disturbance occurs. A related supply chain activated by construction activities should be taken into account to improve the sustainability in construction from a material and waste management perspective. However, it is unknown how the supply chain integration could contribute to the sustainable use of materials in construction. Therefore, an empirical investigation is conducted. A research model with eight latent-constructs is designed through a comprehensive literature review, and 70 completed survey questionnaires are received. Using PLS-SEM (partial least squares-structural equation modeling), sample data is analyzed and seven research hypotheses are examined. Results support the assumption that the construction supply chain integration had a positive correlation with the sustainable use of construction materials. Discussion and relevant suggestions are given for the future research.

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The high uncertainty of megaproject results in increasing complexity in the decisionmaking and ultimately leads to different degrees of cost overrun and project delays. One of the critical reasons for cost overrun and delay is the optimism bias of decision makers. Although the previous literature has analyzed the cost overrun distribution of bridges, roads and other infrastructure projects, there is still a lack of research on how to make more reasonable decisions according to the cost overrun risk and cost-benefit theory by considering the expectation of cost overrun. Therefore, this paper firstly measures optimism bias by conducting the field research and interviews regarding over 30 long bridges in China. On the basis of the optimism bias measure, a decision-making risk model of bridge projects with the expectation of cost overrun has been built. Then the paper takes Hangzhou Bay Bridge as an example to discuss the influence of cost overrun predication, implicit benefits and the project's operation time on NPV results. Moreover, the probability of project unbuildability risk under different degrees of cost optimism bias has also been discussed. Finally, suggestions for risk forecast are provided for decision-makers to make more objective and comprehensive judgments.

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BIM (building information modeling) can be the basis for carrying out various performance analyses. Sustainable infrastructure rating systems are suitable tools for assessing an infrastructure’s environmental performance. It is necessary to integrate them in the design process. The research adopted a thorough literature review to follow the development trends, interviews with professionals from the academia and industry, and a critical analysis of technical requirements for integrating BIM tools and infrastructure sustainability rating systems in the design process. This study propagates a conceptual framework for integrating sustainability rating systems by introducing BIM with a sustainability metric plug-in. The adoption of the proposed solution allows for what-if scenarios to better support the incorporation of sustainability into design decisions and the assessment of sustainability at the design phase of the infrastructure project. The framework is used to refine designs and ensure that sustainable goals are met and to demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements. This paper concludes that greater emphasis should be placed on supporting technical requirements to facilitate the integration of BIM and sustainability rating systems. It defines the possibility of BIM adoption to influence the sustainable project performance in the infrastructure. This framework could streamline the sustainable design process and lead to more integrated infrastructure delivery.@en