Kent Carter, Mary Beth Pinto and Jeffrey K. Pinto
The move to divest many of the Crown corporations in Canada over the last seven years has had far‐reaching economic and social effects. Since divestment's inception, however…
Abstract
The move to divest many of the Crown corporations in Canada over the last seven years has had far‐reaching economic and social effects. Since divestment's inception, however, little research has attempted to examine some of the managerial and organizational implications of these policies; in effect, to determine whether or not divested (and other private) companies actually do operate in a more proactive and innovative manner than do Crown corporations. This article reports on a recent exploratory study that compared the processes by which new innovations are implemented in Canadian Crown and private corporations. It also assesses the impact of a number of external environmental factors on private firm and Crown operations. The results suggest that private firms do differ from Crown companies in that privatized organizations tend to show a greater willingness to take risks in developing new innovations and offer significantly greater rewards for innovative approaches and behaviors than do Crown corporations. Implications for encouraging future innovative behavior among both Crown and private firms are discussed.
Lavagnon Ika, Jeffrey K. Pinto, Peter E.D. Love and Gilles Pache
Worldwide, major projects often make the headlines as they suffer from a fourfold whammy of delays, cost blowouts, benefit shortfalls and stakeholder disappointments. It seems…
Abstract
Purpose
Worldwide, major projects often make the headlines as they suffer from a fourfold whammy of delays, cost blowouts, benefit shortfalls and stakeholder disappointments. It seems that error and bias can explain their underperformance. Which overarching explanation outweighs the other? It is the question this paper aims to address.
Design/methodology/approach
Insights are garnered from decades of research on thousands of major projects in developed and developing countries worldwide. In particular, two high-profile project cases, the Veteran Affairs Hospital in Aurora, Colorado (USA) and the Philharmonie de Paris (France), are explored.
Findings
The case projects show that error and bias combine to best explain project (under) performance. Applying best practices or debiasing project cost and benefit estimates is insufficient to prevent cost blowouts and benefit shortfalls. The confrontation of the two overarching explanations is not merely platonic. It is real and may lead to a media and legal battle.
Originality/value
This viewpoint calls practitioners to transcend the error versus bias debate and reconcile two key characters in the world of major projects: the “overoptimistic” who hold a bias for hope and firmly believe that, despite error down the road, many projects would, in the end, “stumble into success” as creativity may come to the rescue; and the “overpessimistic” who hold a bias for despair and think many projects should not have been started.
Details
Keywords
Maik Fabian, Kathrin Fischer and John Micha Rüpke
When facing capacity bottlenecks, manufacturers of configurable, multi-variant products may adjust the product mix to uphold the scheduled output. However, maintaining market…
Abstract
Purpose
When facing capacity bottlenecks, manufacturers of configurable, multi-variant products may adjust the product mix to uphold the scheduled output. However, maintaining market attractiveness by choosing the right product configurations as substitutes is a non-trivial task as it involves anticipating the substitution behaviour of customers. Substitution behaviour models currently used in quantitative production planning models for configurable products are either based on domain knowledge of experts, which makes them bias-prone, or they require extensive market research. The purpose of this study is to present a data-driven approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on data science concepts, distance measures are applied to derive distances between different product configurations from historical order data. Different design options for such a distance measure are discussed regarding configurable products and tested with automotive industry data. Furthermore, the study shows ways to validate the distance results.
Findings
The experiments show that the presented distance measure represents the expected customer substitution behaviour quite well. A context-sensitive distance measure including rank information of ordinal product features is most suitable for the automotive data sets.
Originality/value
This study presents a new approach to model the substitution behaviour of customers. The attractiveness of a potential substitute is represented by a distance from the customer’s first-choice configuration. The presented distance measure provides an inexpensive tool using existing data instead of expensive market research. Thus, it supports the integration of substitution into quantitative production planning models that deal with a large variety of configurable products.
Details
Keywords
Few scholars have been cited as frequently as Pinto, Slevin, and Prescott for their contributions to project success and related critical success factors (CSF) in the 1980s…
Abstract
Purpose
Few scholars have been cited as frequently as Pinto, Slevin, and Prescott for their contributions to project success and related critical success factors (CSF) in the 1980s. Studies since then built on their articles to broaden and refine our understanding of the topic. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the reasons for the impact of these seminal contributions and how the topic of project success continues to evolve.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyses the popularity of Pinto and his colleagues' contributions to project success and reviews the development of this field of research since then.
Findings
Project success remains a vibrant school of thought as do the earlier definitions, measurement scales and dimensions, and assessment techniques that Pinto and his colleagues developed. The authors view success more broadly and think of it strategically because they consider longer‐term business objectives. Some research is now based on managerial or organizational theories and reflects the multi‐dimensional and networked nature of project success.
Practical implications
Practically, the classic contributions in project success continue to be valid. The authors see diversity in how success is defined and measured. The CSFs vary by project types, life cycle phases, industries, nationalities, individuals, and organizations.
Originality/value
The paper relates earlier understandings of project success to subsequent research in the field and underscores the significant findings by Pinto, Slevin, and Prescott.
Details
Keywords
Mohan Kumaraswamy, Kelwin Kar Wai Wong and Jacky Chung
Most megaprojects focus on overcoming current infrastructure capacity problems or opening up new business opportunities, while a few may be inspired by iconic-symbolic or…
Abstract
Purpose
Most megaprojects focus on overcoming current infrastructure capacity problems or opening up new business opportunities, while a few may be inspired by iconic-symbolic or socio-political drivers. Also, many megaprojects may be seen to focus on benefitting proximate stakeholders in the short-medium term. A case is made here, for aligning the immediate expectations from a megaproject with a parallel focus on the best overall value for all, including long-term stakeholders, thereby also targeting more meaningful and sustainable contributions to the built environment. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws together and synergises relevant findings from two completed PhD projects and another research project in Hong Kong. Additionally, a focused literature survey and a case study, also contribute to the development of the proposed concepts and strategies. This is therefore a hybrid between a “review” paper and a “conceptual” paper where a suite of significant improvements to current practice are conceptualised and proposed, based on logical integration of relevant findings from the above three research projects, literature review and case study.
Findings
Inadequate stakeholder engagement has led to many process disruptions and adverse outcomes in recent megaprojects. A structured approach focusing throughout on common overall value from the outset is proposed to achieve better and more sustainable megaproject outcomes. Specific recommendations include: aligning megaproject stakeholder objectives with regional or even national needs and targeting co-creation of common value through early stakeholder involvement in planning and design of built infrastructure megaprojects.
Originality/value
The increasing number, scale and complexity of megaprojects has amplified their impact on the built environment and its sustainability, hence the imperative to incorporate sustainability considerations, so as to formulate and manage megaprojects better. The proposed approaches in this paper can help revamp megaproject strategies towards such sustainable outcomes.
Details
Keywords
Carolyn Caffrey, Hannah Lee, Tessa Withorn, Maggie Clarke, Amalia Castañeda, Kendra Macomber, Kimberly M. Jackson, Jillian Eslami, Aric Haas, Thomas Philo, Elizabeth Galoozis, Wendolyn Vermeer, Anthony Andora and Katie Paris Kohn
This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy. It provides an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy. It provides an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering various library types, study populations and research contexts. The selected bibliography is useful to efficiently keep up with trends in library instruction for busy practitioners, library science students and those wishing to learn about information literacy in other contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
This article annotates 424 English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations, theses and reports on library instruction and information literacy published in 2021. The sources were selected from the EBSCO platform for Library, Information Science, and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Scopus, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and WorldCat, published in 2021 that included the terms “information literacy,” “library instruction,” or “information fluency” in the title, abstract or keywords. The sources were organized in Zotero. Annotations summarize the source, focusing on the findings or implications. Each source was categorized into one of seven pre-determined categories: K-12 Education, Children and Adolescents; Academic and Professional Programs; Everyday Life, Community, and the Workplace; Libraries and Health Information Literacy; Multiple Library Types; and Other Information Literacy Research and Theory.
Findings
The paper provides a brief description of 424 sources and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians, researchers and anyone interested as a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy within 2021.
Details
Keywords
Latisha Reynolds, Samantha McClellan, Susan Finley, George Martinez and Rosalinda Hernandez Linares
This paper aims to highlight recent resources on information literacy (IL) and library instruction, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to highlight recent resources on information literacy (IL) and library instruction, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering all library types.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and IL published in 2015.
Findings
This paper provides information about each source, describes the characteristics of current scholarship and highlights sources that contain either unique or significant scholarly contributions.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and IL.
Details
Keywords
Anna Marie Johnson, Claudene Sproles and Robert Detmering
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.
Findings
Information about each source is provided. The paper discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.
Originality/value
The information in the paper may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.
Details
Keywords
Quentin M. Wherfel and Jeffrey P. Bakken
This chapter provides an overview on the traditions and values of teaching students with traumatic brain injury (TBI). First, we discuss the prevalence, identification, and…
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview on the traditions and values of teaching students with traumatic brain injury (TBI). First, we discuss the prevalence, identification, and characteristics associated with TBI and how those characteristics affect learning, behavior, and daily life functioning. Next, we focus on instructional and behavioral interventions used in maintaining the traditions in classrooms for working with students with TBI. Findings from a review of the literature conclude that there are no specific academic curriculums designed specifically for teaching students with TBI; however, direct instruction and strategy instruction have been shown to be effective educational interventions. Current research on students with TBI is predominately being conducted in medical centers and clinics focusing on area of impairments (e.g., memory, attention, processing speed) rather than academic achievement and classroom interventions. Finally, we conclude with a list of accommodations and a discussion of recommendations for future work in teaching students with TBI.