Ayodeji E. Oke, Seyi S. Stephen and Clinton O. Aigbavboa
WHERE are we going? The aim is to double our standard of living in the next 25 years and, as Sir Alexander Fleck, K.B.E., Chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd., so aptly…
Abstract
WHERE are we going? The aim is to double our standard of living in the next 25 years and, as Sir Alexander Fleck, K.B.E., Chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd., so aptly staled recently, ‘The man who knows where he is going is the one who is most likely to arrive.’ One might venture to expand this statement by adding that he is still more likely to arrive if the cluttering debris of inefficient methods and movements are cleared away.
Jonghyuk Cha, Mike Newman and Graham Winch
This paper highlights that extant project management (PM) bodies of knowledge have not fully addressed organisational transformation enabled by information systems projects. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper highlights that extant project management (PM) bodies of knowledge have not fully addressed organisational transformation enabled by information systems projects. The purpose of this paper is to examine the transformation context in the PM disciplines. The authors argue that the execution-oriented PM bodies of knowledge are limited, as they place too much emphasis on the delivery outputs by the supplier rather than the achievement of beneficial outcomes by the project owner.
Design/methodology/approach
As a conceptual paper, this paper reviews extant PM bodies of knowledge, life cycle models, the context of organisational transformation and benefits realisation, and the distinction between a project owner’s and the project supplier’s capabilities.
Findings
A new PM knowledge framework is provided as an advanced research frame for future works by enhancing Peter Morris’ Management of Projects framework by employing the conceptual lens of Winch’s Three Domains of Project Organising model.
Originality/value
The advanced model emphasises the necessity of distinguishing a project owner’s and a supplier’s PM capability and knowledge to achieve successful IS-enabled organisational transformation. Through this effort to resolve the fragmentation and specialisation problems in PM disciplines, the model can be used as a theoretical groundwork for the advancement of PM research.
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The purpose of this paper is to review the content and contributions of the book by Morris and Hough entitled The Anatomy of Major Projects: A Study of the Reality of Project…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the content and contributions of the book by Morris and Hough entitled The Anatomy of Major Projects: A Study of the Reality of Project Management. The paper explores the major findings and contributions in the book and by so doing, highlights opportunities for future research and links the findings to emerging areas of interest.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents the main ideas in the book along with a number of important issues to project management theory and the management of large projects, including success, success factors, and the use of case studies to capture the actuality of project work.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that Morris and Hough addressed many of the concerns related to major projects and uncovered the implications of researching the success of projects, offering new insights and understanding related to the dynamics of projects and the temporal nature of success (and failure).
Practical implications
The primary implication is to demonstrate the value of revisiting the classic contributions in project management and re‐reading the findings and conclusions.
Originality/value
The author is especially interested in the ideas presented in the book that relate to success and to major projects, as well as with researching the actuality of projects through case studies. Many of the findings and insights remain relevant and would inform today's debates. Previous research has given limited attention to the insights presented in this book published 25 years ago.
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‘THE most interesting years of my industrial life’ is the way the writer of this column would describe the three and a half years of office as editor of Time and Motion Study.
Carlos J. Torelli and Jennifer L. Stoner
To introduce the concept of cultural equity and provide a theoretical framework for managing cultural equity in multi-cultural markets.
Abstract
Purpose
To introduce the concept of cultural equity and provide a theoretical framework for managing cultural equity in multi-cultural markets.
Methodology/approach
Recent research on the social psychology of globalization, cross-cultural consumer behavior, consumer culture, and global branding is reviewed to develop a theoretical framework for building, leveraging, and protecting cultural equity.
Findings
Provides an actionable definition for a brand’s cultural equity, discusses consumer responses to brands that relate to cultural equity, identifies the building blocks of cultural equity, and develops a framework for managing cultural equity.
Research limitations/implications
Research conducted mainly in large cities in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. Generalizations to less developed parts of the world might be limited.
Practical implications
A very useful theoretical framework for managers interested in building cultural equity into their brands and for leveraging this equity via new products and the development of new markets.
Originality/value
The paper integrates past findings across a variety of domains to develop a parsimonious framework for managing cultural equity in globalized markets.
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Kristin L. Cullen-Lester, Caitlin M. Porter, Hayley M. Trainer, Pol Solanelles and Dorothy R. Carter
The field of Human Resource Management (HRM) has long recognized the importance of interpersonal influence for employee and organizational effectiveness. HRM research and practice…
Abstract
The field of Human Resource Management (HRM) has long recognized the importance of interpersonal influence for employee and organizational effectiveness. HRM research and practice have focused primarily on individuals’ characteristics and behaviors as a means to understand “who” is influential in organizations, with substantially less attention paid to social networks. To reinvigorate a focus on network structures to explain interpersonal influence, the authors present a comprehensive account of how network structures enable and constrain influence within organizations. The authors begin by describing how power and status, two key determinants of individual influence in organizations, operate through different mechanisms, and delineate a range of network positions that yield power, reflect status, and/or capture realized influence. Then, the authors extend initial structural views of influence beyond the positions of individuals to consider how network structures within and between groups – capturing group social capital and/or shared leadership – enable and constrain groups’ ability to influence group members, other groups, and the broader organizational system. The authors also discuss how HRM may leverage these insights to facilitate interpersonal influence in ways that support individual, group, and organizational effectiveness.
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David R. Clough and Balagopal Vissa
We advance entrepreneurship research by developing a theoretical model of how founding teams form. Our neo-Carnegie model situates nascent founders in particular…
Abstract
We advance entrepreneurship research by developing a theoretical model of how founding teams form. Our neo-Carnegie model situates nascent founders in particular network-structural milieus, engaging in aspiration-driven search for and evaluation of prospective co-founders. The formation of co-founding ties between nascent founders can be divided into four theoretical steps, which we label activation, evaluation, approach, and reciprocation. Successful founding team formation is a consequence of mutually favorable evaluations by nascent founders in a multi-sided matching process. Nascent founders with higher and less flexible aspirations are more likely to undertake distant search for co-founders by seeking referrals, forming ties with strangers, and forming new ties to social foci where they might meet potential co-founders. Churn in newly formed founding teams emerges as a consequence of shifting dominant coalition dynamics in the founding team caused by organic venture evolution and intentional changes in strategic direction. Our theoretical model provides new insights on the formation pathways of founding teams, their initial task and relational resource endowments, and initial team dynamics.