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Publication date: 15 June 2012

Janice Thomas, Stella George and Pamela Buckle Henning

The purpose of this paper is to consider how multiple logic systems employed by project managers lead to manifold understandings of two foundational project management constructs…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider how multiple logic systems employed by project managers lead to manifold understandings of two foundational project management constructs (“project” and “planning”) that in turn influence both the practice of project management and project outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Largely conceptual in nature, this paper focuses on the language project managers use to make sense of projects and plans, seeking to get beyond the surface recitation of discourse to the underlying logic systems that influence practice. The discussion is illustrated with stories of practice, collected through interpretive phenomenological interviews with project managers perceived by their peers to demonstrate special skill or knowledge in successfully delivering projects, and reference to project management doctrine embedded in professional standards.

Findings

Expert project managers use multiple thinking styles to adapt their practice to emergent project issues. While instrumental rationality helps project managers focus on how to do things, other rationalities, particularly those labeled non‐rational, help them to decide what to do and why to do it. Expert judgment and practice supported by intuitive, holistic, and relational thinking allows project managers to navigate a sophisticated journey from ambiguity to accomplishment.

Research limitations/implications

This paper illustrates how practice research can deconstruct interpretive phenomenological interviews to get beyond identifying the “what”, or empirical evidence, of practice to explore unique individual habitus that inform each individual's practice. Understanding the actions of expert project managers navigating between prescribed project management doctrine and their own praxis opens a space for us to rethink how we research, teach, and talk about project management.

Originality/value

This paper provides insight into the value and implications of practice‐based research by illustrating: how research grounded in practice identifies and raises more complex questions than professional doctrine currently reflects; and how simplifications utilizing duality as a means of theorizing (i.e. “hard” versus “soft”, rational versus non‐rational, etc.) is neither useful nor reflected in expert practice.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

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Article
Publication date: 15 June 2012

Markus Hällgren and Marcus Lindahl

The purpose of this editorial is to reflect on the growing interest of situated project research.

685

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this editorial is to reflect on the growing interest of situated project research.

Design/methodology/approach

The editorial is conceptual and relies on published work and the articles included in the special issue.

Findings

With this special issue it is found that practice‐based studies, also called Projects‐as‐Practice studies, interested in the everyday activities of project practitioners, are multi‐faceted and rich. What may also be seen is that practice‐based studies are not yet a coherent area. However, it is more important that practice‐based studies allow researchers to understand the organization less as an entity and more as a socially‐accomplished task.

Research limitations/implications

Several implications for research are offered, including the need for studies that emphasize the small details of organizing, and that practice‐based studies are not restricted to a certain methodology but depend on what a particular paper tries to accomplish.

Practical implications

With an ever‐growing stream of research focusing on projects the guest editors argue that it is about time to look into the details of organizing. This could be accomplished through a number of ways but in this special issue it is proposed that approaching traditional areas with a conscious naivety when asking the questions may do it. For the practitioner, the special issue offers important insights into how things are done in practice, which may be used as a mirror or reflection upon their own practice.

Originality/value

This editorial and special issue offer insights for any academic interested in understanding projects differently.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

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