Project management is known for its tools and techniques that are used to plan and deliver projects in a controlled context. Megaprojects don't always fit well into this paradigm due to their size, complexity and longevity. Megaprojects often start without precisely defined goals and without a detailed knowledge of how the project will progress or the outcomes will be delivered. We examine the requirements for governance of megaprojects by reviewing the literature and reflecting on practice. We use the analytical model of where, how and what to illustrate different units of analysis (i.e., context, governance and goals) in megaprojects in three countries and to illustrate how goals and governance move. Building upon the governance and performance management literature, the paper contributes to the understanding of moving goals and governance for ensuring performance. We propose a framework for diagnosing goals and we list six systemic errors that result in a misfit.

This study examines how subsidiaries can manage dual embeddedness with both local partners and a multinational enterprise. Specifically, we examine the role of absorptive capacity and appropriability mechanisms on subsidiary performance. We analyse how absorptive capacity and appropriability enable subsidiaries to successfully address knowledge challenges related to internal and external networks. We conducted an empirical analysis on a sample of 165 subsidiaries. Our results suggest that absorptive capacity has a direct, positive effect on subsidiary performance, which is greater in emerging countries. The study also found an indirect effect of absorptive capacity on subsidiary performance, which is mediated through appropriability mechanisms. These findings extend the literature on international networks, dual embeddedness and absorptive capacity.

Research shows that CSR certification motives span from being symbolic to substantive. Prior studies have mainly focused on the differences between firms that hold and do not hold CSR certificates. This study explores if the extent of CSR certification is related to different business logic amongst firms who hold CSR certificates. The study utilizes full sample data from the Swedish commercial real estate industry to analyze the variance in motives and performance among firms with CSR certificates. The results indicate that firms that have a substantive CSR commitment have a business logic that entails a holistic and long-term perspective on both financial and CSR performance. However, substantive CSR commitment comes with greater staffing costs and lower financial returns as opposed to those of firms that obtain CSR certificates based on symbolic motives.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of absorptive capacity (ACAP) and co-creation on innovation performance (INN).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use survey data from Swedish and Norwegian companies (n=1,102) and establish a cross-national equivalence between Sweden and Norway.

Findings

The subsequent structural model revealed interesting differences. For Sweden, co-creation fully mediates the effect of ACAP on INN, whereas for Norway, ACAP has a direct effect on INN with no mediation. Subsequent regressions including control variables showed that the structural model is reasonably robust. The authors conclude that, despite the many common national features conducive to innovation between these two countries, sufficient differences remain to create substantial variation in the innovation processes.

Originality/value

The study presents a second-order model of ACAP that permits a unique test of cross-country differences.

Large infrastructure investments are expected to be of sustained value to society for a long time. Such investment projects include, for instance, hospitals, tunnels, sport arenas, power plants, roads, railways, and bridges. They involve a complex organization of contracts and agreements. The client is expected to plan, procure, and determine the critical steps of a project, while the contractor should solve issues raised by the client. Many of these agreements are path-dependent and reflect past routines, experiences, and contacts. As such, many investments tend to return to similar sources instead of replacing routines and collaborations that did not work. This can cause change orders that furthermore reflect consequences such as cost and time overruns. While much is known about these effects in construction projects, this paper sheds light on the drivers of change orders. We build upon a sample of 234 observations responding to a survey on investment planning. The results show that project assumptions are often wrong and inadequate in large investments. Such wrong assumptions are caused by interpersonal and leadership issues, poor planning, or sometimes even intentional profit-seeking. Our results show that clients and contractors have different perceptions and enter contractual obligations differently. The implication is, therefore, that better routines of documentation, more frequent feedback, and more accurate or precise standards may close the gap between planning and what is actually achieved. More precise contractual agreements may also create a better process to procure, manage projects, and allocate resources. 

Complex construction projects in the infrastructure sector are often beset with delays, which cause benefit shortfalls and increased costs. Prior project management literature and practice have mostly adopted a traditional control-focused approach, but recent research suggests that complex projects need more flexible practices to manage inevitable project change. Thus, the objectives of this study were to develop and empirically test a model for flexibility-focused project management practices to improve time performance in complex projects in the infrastructure sector. Based on empirical data from 138 construction projects procured and managed by the Swedish Transport Administration, the structural equation model shows that complexity and collaboration drive explorative learning, which improves adaptation and thereby improves time performance. Hence, the empirical test verifies that flexibility-focused project management practices based on collaboration, explorative learning, and adaptation enhance time performance in complex projects in the infrastructure sector.

Purpose - The purpose of the study is to propose and test a buyer-supplier integration model, based on clients’ collaborative purchasing practices, in a project-based industry.Design/methodology/approach - A two-stage survey study of client-contractor relationships in the Swedish construction industry was conducted. The survey rounds in 2006 and 2009 obtained 87 and 106 responses respectively. The proposed model was empirically tested using structural equation modeling techniques. Findings - The empirical results support our proposed model: incentive-based payment and partner selection based on multiple criteria enhance buyer-supplier integration, in terms of joint action. Furthermore, incentive-based payment increases the use of partner selection based on multiple criteria.Research limitations/implications - A useful theoretical contribution is that incentive-based payment is an important type of incentive structure that enhances buyer-supplier integration in project contexts.Practical implications - We also found that the occurrence of joint action has been increasing from 2006 to 2009. Especially, incentive-based payment plays a more important role for establishing joint action in 2009 than in 2006. The recent economic downturn and a recently completed training program targeting the survey population may explain some of the unexpected findings.Originality/value - The paper addresses an identified gap in the relationship marketing literature, that is, the lack of quantitative studies of relationship marketing aspects in project-based industries.

Cooperative arrangements, such as partnering, have received increased interest in recent years. Several studies show however that cooperative relationships are not easily achieved in construction. Implementation of cooperative relationships requires changes in several elements of the traditional procurement procedures. The purpose of this paper is therefore to propose and test a sequential model regarding clients' cooperative procurement procedures. We especially ask: what elements in clients' procurement procedures facilitate the establishment of cooperation and trust in their relationships with contractors? The model was tested through structural equation modelling. The empirical data required for the test were collected through a survey responded to by 87 Swedish professional construction clients. The empirical results show that cooperative procurement procedures are triggered by clients' wish to involve contractors early in specification, which has a simultaneous effect on procedures regarding bid invitation and compensation. Furthermore, these simultaneous effects breed a certain kind of partner selection based on task-related attributes, which also has a direct positive effect on trust and above all on cooperation in client-contractor relationships. Besides these implications from the model, the improvement of measurements for future modelling is discussed.

Despite its declared importance for governing complexity in projects, few empirical studies have studied how different types of supply chain integration (SCI) activities (e.g., coordinative and collaborative integration) interplay and affect performance. To address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to study how complexity can be governed through coordinative and collaborative SCI, and how their interplay affects performance in project-based buyer-supplier relationships. We apply structural equation modeling, using dyadic empirical data from 102 infrastructure projects. The overall results verify our developed model and illuminate how the interplay between contractual and relational governance, in terms of coordinative and collaborative SCI, mediates the effect of technical and organizational complexity on project performance. This study contributes to theory and practice by distinguishing between contractual governance based on formal coordinative SCI and relational governance based on emerged collaborative SCI, as well as showing how their interplay affects performance in project-based supply chains.

Companies today invest significant money and time to convert, transform, and adopt standards that meet societal expectations for sustainability. Such expectations can be very demanding for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this study is to understand learning and learning processes in defined temporary projects in which advisors aim to contribute to SME transitions toward sustainability. To fulfill this purpose, we conducted a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews. The result of the study shows that projects delimited in time may risk missing out on higher-level learning and may only reach primary, lower levels of learning (i.e., adaptive learning). The study shows that advisors for projects tend to be path dependent and to revise past models and experiences rather than planning for a full learning transition process. The latter has affected implementation in small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Corporate governance in Swedish publicly listed firms is known for the “Old boys’ network”. This paper examine qualitative aspects of board process on performance. We further test for number of women on board on performance. To further explore performance, we isolate findings to only so called high growth gazelle companies. We contribute to the research stream focusing on heterogeneous representation in corporate governance, specifically whether gender equality can enhance management accounting functions and financial performance. In line with this, we examine qualitative aspects of board composition and females on board and performance in gazelle companies in Sweden. This paper build upon a survey to 76 high growth companies in Sweden. We compare these to a stratified sample of 91 Swedish companies with sales>50 MSEK and 67 publicly listed companies. We regress on four dimensions of governance process on performance. We found based on an OLS regression that acting on authority and seeking consensus is strongly related to perceived performance. When further examining the same model and adding controls for number of females on the corporate board we found a significant negative effect. The latter may imply that more heterogeneous boards may also constrain the ease and efficiency in reaching decisions. We discuss our results and search for tentative explanations to this unique sample of companies.

Purpose

Hard project management practices, based on strict planning and control, are traditionally applied in construction projects, although research frequently promotes the importance of teams for various project outcomes. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of hard project management and team motivation for process performance in construction projects. A hypothesis tested is that hard project management can impair process performance if team motivation is not promoted.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents and empirically tests a structural equation model, with and without a mediating link between hard project management and process performance, based on data from a survey of 2,175 respondents, representing contractors and clients involved in 109 Swedish construction projects.

Findings

The results confirm that hard project management is best conveyed through teams to enhance process performance. “Path analysis,” using the model with the mediating link, confirms that neglecting team motivation can significantly impair process performance.

Research limitations/implications

The data set provides unusually high representation of views of contractors and clients involved in diverse Swedish construction projects. Thus, the results have likely relevance in other project-based industries and/or national settings, but this possibility requires further investigation.

Originality/value

The findings show that team motivation is a key process performance factor; hard project management may indeed be important, but its effects will be enhanced by (and partially mediated through) team motivation. Thus, the findings have important theoretical and practical implications for the development of project management practices.

Over time, national park knowledge has come to constitute the gap between the full social freedom and individual consciousness of the ecological conditions inside a park. While other visitors have a rigorous knowledge of transportation, nature, and culture, some visitors naively enter the area in order to enjoy their tourism rights. Theoretically, our model proposes that national park knowledge can change as a result of knowing about eco-tourist attractions; also, knowledge of public infrastructure and accessibility is strongly correlated to knowledge of what you can and cannot do in the protected area. Eco-tourist attractions include natural resources, cultural attractions, and recreational facilities. The argument is that all the infrastructure is developed around these, as that these are the sources of attraction. Based on the literature, we link these variables with the ecotourism concept, thus positioning our paper as an ecotourism study. A total of 103 questionnaires were returned on the basis of convenience sampling. A satisfying underlying factor structure was confirmed by CFA and EFA, in which four hypotheses were tested. With 103 observations, the model sufficiently met the minimum sample size for SEM. This paper provides some evidence for its cross validity and may inspire more studies in future.

This article is based on a unique sample of 111 tourism investors in Tanzania. Investors have a significant role in establishing services and supporting continuance in local tourism networks. As important as investors are, many of them overlook relationships they may find abundant but not meaningful. Many investors shift relationships when meaningful ideas or other outcomes no longer feed into the relationship. Relationships could thus be seen as gradual processes in which meaningful exchanges cement the relationships together. At the entry stage, investors select partners they trust or focus on identifying a specific style characterized by partner-related criteria. These expectations typically depend on the motives or reasons investors enter relationships. We suggest that investors’ relationships develop from motives toward defined selection criteria as the basis for a continued exchange defined by their reciprocal orientation. Thus, a theoretical model is presented with constructs such as hard and soft motives, trust and network awareness, partner selection criteria, and reciprocal orientations. We hope these findings may illustrate how policymakers in Tanzania can support investor relationships and nurture them toward a long-term exchange.

Generally, investors tend to invest when likelihood of success is high. Many investors consider Africa as one market and neglect individual differences among African countries. Africa is mostly considered a high-risk market and conceptually innovativeness involves uncertainty, which precedes risk. However, it is known that when uncertainty is high there is a stronger correspondence between innovativeness and performance. As uncertainty is high in Africa, this paper claims that it is plausible to find correspondence between innovativeness and performance. This argument is developed since investors typically cope with uncertainty by networking on a reciprocal basis and preferring munificent markets. This link leads us to ask if innovativeness mediates the effect of relatively rich/poor environmental munificence and reciprocal exchange on performance in South Sudan (S. Sudan) and Tanzania. A tested model reveals that four components and an underlying 12 different observations are equivalent across both countries. Furthermore, a tested structural model confirms that the business logic of investors is quite different in S. Sudan and Tanzania. Innovativeness completely mediates effects of reciprocity and munificence on performance in Tanzania but not in S. Sudan. We found some support for the relationship between reciprocity and innovativeness but no support for munificence on innovativeness and performance.

The current study has attempted to identify the factors that can contribute toward green project performance. Based on the social exchange theory, the current study highlights that green leadership directs and promotes green vision, bringing everyone on the same page to improve the green performance of the project. The mediating and moderating mechanisms of green creativity and co-creation have also been discussed. Utilizing the data from the development projects, the study tested the antecedents of green project performance by collecting data from 231 project employees in three waves. The study’s findings confirm the importance of green leadership to achieve green project performance. Green co-creation does not moderate the relationship between green leadership and green creativity. It is essential to identify the factors that can help us deal with the energy crises. Roadmap to achieve green project performance through green leadership is highlighted in this study along with the intervening mechanisms. This study provides guidelines to practitioners that green competitive advantage can be achieved by empowering employees under green leaders through motivation and inspiration. 

Infrastructure projects undergo multiple changes throughout their lifecycle, adapting to new mobilities, technologies and environments. We build on the System of Systems (SoS) theoretical concept to understand the implications of such infrastructure transformations, specifically when projects move from a single purpose to hosting multiple functions. Using multiple case studies in Europe, we investigate which functions will likely be added to the original infrastructure and the rationale for adding these functions. Therefore, we expand upon the theoretical concepts of circularity, resilience, and social sustainability, wherein multifunctional infrastructure adapts, renews, and complements existing infrastructure.

This article explores the institutional roles of industryassociations, employing institutional theory to identify and characterizethe roles of leading associations in the newspaper industry. Using fourleading newspaper associations as cases, the authors explore associationfunctions evidenced through interviews with their key executives. Thepaper finds that the association leaders tended to emphasize normativefunctions, while associations’ operational executives tended to focus onmimetic and coercive functions.

Small- and start-up firms in the high-tech industry usually engage in networking to overcome resource, knowledge, and competence constraints in creative, innovation-based competition. Quite often, however, network relationships fail due to lack of network capability (NC), defined as the ability to manage and gain benefits from external relationships. In the present study, we propose and examine an updated five-dimension NC construct and test its effect on innovativeness and performance. Two independent high-tech samples of small firms and start-ups support measurement properties of the proposed NC construct and suggest that the often-overlooked dimension in NC research of network relationship building is important to include in a complete NC construct. Doing so can help explain organizational innovativeness and effects on the customer, sales, and innovation performance more effectively. As a result, we find support for the proposed NC scale and the importance of network capabilities for small companies and start-ups to remain competitive.

Föreläsning vid Mälardalens Högskola i Västerås

A firm is a type of organizational arrangement often involved in interorganizational networks. Typically, interorganizational networks are the outcome of individuals in firms working together in cooperative groups. Through these individuals firms establish both formal and social relationships. The individuals develop lasting relationships because they share time, interests, goals, industrial, geographical or some other type of relatedness. Shared goals and interests of the relationship become an observable unit built upon various constructs. Interorganizational networks typically involve one or several different types of relationship constructs. This thesis elaborates on different relationship constructs and proposes different roles for each construct. All relationships are studied at a firm level since managers are considered key informants for the firm. The overall research question is: How do relationships in interorganizational networks develop? The main objective is to examine the development of these relationships in interorganizational networks. The approach is to synthesize 10 essays on relationships between five constructs - reciprocity, trust, cooperation, interorganizational commitment and loyalty. The results indicate that relationships are based upon a long term orientation. Secondly, relationships develop from certain processes before interaction is initiated. These processes involve the influence of cooperative motives to enter interorganizational networks and preferences upon which potential partners are selected. Furthermore, the initial processes involving motives and preferences expand to include the development of relationships based on friendships, interpersonal commitments, reciprocity and trust. The ultimate outcome of this process is stability and maturity, which means relationships are sustained by dependencies, their initial objectives and the desire to protect.Dependencies are reflected in interorganizational commitment, which means the firms' future intentions and promises strengthen the relationships. The objectives interorganizational networks are founded upon motivate network firms to develop relationships based on cooperative strategies so that shared goals and decisions can be effectively pursued. Finally, the firms typically protect their relationships by developing loyalties. All models represent unique examples of potential relationships and some models are particularly important because they were purified so that convergent, nomological and discriminant validity criteria could be met. The results are consistent with but extend previous research and are considered important for future business studies in general, but particularly within the tourism and construction industries. A practical implication of the research is thus that in evaluating new opportunities, firms should carefully examine the characteristics of potential partners as well as how the partnership might influence the content of their relationships. Another practical implication is that trust and reciprocity should be viewed differently in building successful network partnerships.

This paper conceptualizes different grounds for collaborative decisions in order to forecast how different behaviors behave in a game-theoretical prisoner's dilemma (PD). Forecasting is facilitated by a simulated scenario between two actors. The paper views consequences of different behavioral strategies and underpins an evaluation through analyses of the game, and also presents a unique aggregated analysis modeling strategic behavior on the basis of game-theory. The paper suggests that game-theory could be a potential and powerful tool for researchers and practitioners struggling with the strategic dilemmas, i.e. trust-building versus opportunistic behavior in inter-firm cooperation. The paper outlines some strategic principles that may unsettle the dilemma situation through either social or formal contracts.

Hur kan företag som ingår i framgångsrika samverkansnätverk bygga interorganisatoriska förbund i perifera regioner under krävande omständigheter? Den här uppsatsen utvecklar en modell och testar empiriskt en enkät till 254 företag i två olika samverkansnätverk i Norra Minnesota (N. Mn.). Uppsatsen har två huvudsakliga bidrag. Först, genom att definiera sex återkommande problem för den här typen av "krävande" perifera regioner stimulerar uppsatsen till mer forskning på det här området. I det andra bidraget demonstreras en unik strukturell ekvationsmodell, vilken är indelad i fyra olika sekvenser. Sekvenserna baseras på sex olika konstrukt (begrepp konstruerade av flera element av engelskans construct), som är värderade genom att använda data från en enkät med krossektioner. Den första sekvensen innehåller två begrepp och mäter hårda samt mjuka motiv till samverkan. Den andra sekvensen innehåller grunder på vilka potentiella partners väljs. Den är baserad på hur viktigt förtroende är vid val av partner. I tredje sekvensen används två begrepp - förtroende i nuvarande relationer och reciprocitet. Den fjärde sekvensen utvärderar den slutgiltiga beroendevariabeln - interorganisatoriska förbund. Genom att föreslå sex propositioner ger uppsatsen nya utgångar för teoriutveckling inom den inbäddade litteraturen. Samtliga propositioner är genererade från teori, tidigare resultat eller en logisk argumentation färdig att testas. Efter det slutgiltiga testet visades att två av propositionerna kunde bekräftas och att två misspecificerade relationer kunde identifieras, vilket möjligen kan bidra till att lösa några av de utmaningar som ligger bakom personliga relationer i samverkansnätverk av företag. Förutom detta kan uppsatsen även bidra till utveckling av måtten. Samtliga mått baserades på tidigare teori men när interaktioner mellan begreppen studerades kan denna uppsats visa på mått som stöds av innehålls-, konvergent, diskriminant och nomologisk validitet. De teoretiska och praktiska implikationerna går till strategisk management av små och medelstora turismföretag verksamma under krävande omständigheter i perifera regioner. En sådan proper implikation, som även stimulera till mer forskning, är att etablering av varaktiga samverkansnätverk kräver några noggranna överväganden, där företag bör överväga motiv, val av partner och dess konsekvenser. När samverkansnätverk är implementerade omsorgsfullt, med hänsyn till personliga relationer, kommer företag att ha mer kunskap om vad de kan förvänta sig av relationen, vilket minskar risken eller i alla fall kunskapen om den, som i sin tur även har effekten att samverkan med större sannolikhet även blir varaktig.

This paper explores and describes some directions within the field of interfirm networks. The directions correspond to an aggregation of 210 different papers in order to achieve a content trajectory. Papers analyzed are based on a collection from 1961 until July 2002 from a number of databases. The papers where categorized into different categories. The categories used in this paper are as follows: author; year; name of journal; theoretical base; approach in the paper; methods used; unit of analysis in the paper and focus of content. Further the categories are quantified in a number of histograms. The paper also includes an appendix which consists, except from the categories, also a column with some concluding remarks from the paper; proposals for further research and also a quotation in order to enable some kind of validation process for the reader. The findings are mostly descriptive but will reveal some interesting data about common research techniques and approaches used. The main contribution is to reveal and offer a platform for upcoming research within the area of network related research.

Behavioral accounting theory questions the role of accounting and how accounting constructs can support other organizational activities. This paper examines whether personnel and action controls and the perception of current growth mediate meaningful support of innovative ideas (i.e., innovativeness) on future growth. While some literature has supported innovativeness as a spontaneous process, this paper examines whether innovative ideas are supported by formal behavioral controls on current and future growth. The paper further develops and finds support for the notion that future growth builds on the relative confidence of current growth. This paper uses exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for construct validation and further tests mediation using structural equation modeling and the bootstrapping technique of indirect effects. The model testing is based on a survey conducted in Sweden with key informants from high-growth (i.e., gazelle) companies. A total of 150 usable responses were returned.  The results may stimulate further research as they show that the predefined hypothesis has different direct and indirect roles in the building of future growth.

Purpose: This paper examines how tension management as a means of achieving compromise and overcoming minor conflicts reduces the effects of the opportunism and bargaining costs of relationships on the evaluation of business partners. The paper proposes and tests a theoretical model with a full-information approach using structural equation modeling.

Design/methodology/approach: Our dataset was based on 312 observations from a unique survey based on a business-to-business relationship sample in Sweden. The measurements reflect the effects of partner opportunism, bargaining costs, and tension management on partner evaluations.

Findings: Our findings corroborate that partner opportunism and bargaining costs have a negative impact on partner evaluation. In addition, our model shows that tension management weakens the negative effects of opportunism and bargaining costs on the evaluation.

Originality/value: This study offers evidence on how negative effects are reduced through intervening constructs. With most studies focusing on the positive side of relationships, this paper makes an important contribution to the literature through not only describing negative effects, but also how these can be decreased.