{"title":"Mitigating the negative aspects of project work: The roles of psychological capital and coworker and family support","authors":"Maria Magdalena Aguilar Velasco, Andreas Wald","doi":"10.1016/j.plas.2025.100176","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plas.2025.100176","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Research on mitigating the negative effects of project work on project workers is scarce. This study analyzes the roles of psychological capital as an individual factor and coworker and family support as environmental factors in reducing the negative effects of project work. Building on the job demands-resources model and conservation of resources theory, the influence of these factors on the relationships between subjective stress, job burnout, and individual job performance is examined. The research model is empirically tested using data from a sample of 304 project workers. The results show that coworker and family support are positively associated with psychological capital. Additionally, psychological capital mediates the effects of social resources on subjective stress, which can lead to job burnout and poor work performance. Thus, coworker and family support and psychological capital can mitigate stress, job burnout, and their negative consequences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101050,"journal":{"name":"Project Leadership and Society","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100176"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Taking a Selfie: Researcher-practitioner positionality and reflexivity in project scholarship","authors":"Simon Addyman","doi":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100175","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100175","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The move in project scholarship towards understanding the lived experience of projects has led to researchers engaging more deeply in project practice. Despite this, there is little evidence of how their position as researcher-practitioner influences the theorising process. This paper presents analytic autoethnography as a conceptual frame for explicating researcher-practitioner positionality as one actor. Drawing on prior data from an autoethnography, it studies an autoethnographer's reflexive engagement with participants through the interview process. It identifies four themes of reflexive engagement, leading to four dimensions of reflexivity that have a constitutive effect on positionality: The Role of the Self; Relationality - Connecting Interviews, Participants, and Diary Entries; The Role of Chance and Circumstance; Bridging Research and Practice. These four dimensions contribute to project scholarship by showing how accounting for researcher positionality in the field helps demonstrate rigour and relevance when foregrounding the lived experience of research and practice in theory development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101050,"journal":{"name":"Project Leadership and Society","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100175"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Game research by design in project management and beyond","authors":"Maria Freese , Geertje Bekebrede","doi":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100174","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100174","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Projects are complex systems as they consist of different elements interacting with each other considering a certain degree of uncertainty. Serious games - defined as those that are not primarily intended to entertain - can be used to better understand, analyse, or design projects in such complex socio-technical systems. They are a powerful research method because they provide data and insights into people’s behaviour in relation to their environment. They do this in an engaging way in a safe environment, making them suitable for testing hypotheses and gathering data on choices, decisions, and interactions of people. In addition, serious games provide an environment that allows for mixed methods data collection. This article introduces the Game Research by Design - Approach about the development of serious gaming research set-ups, which addresses three cycles - <em>theoretical, design and empirical one</em> - when conducting research using serious games. This article illustrates the choices researchers need to make when developing research design and experiments based on serious gaming. Further research is needed to elaborate the different steps and to fine-tune this approach.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101050,"journal":{"name":"Project Leadership and Society","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100174"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Practical wisdom for leading projects; The case of early warning signs","authors":"Graham M. Winch , Sara Hajikazemi","doi":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100173","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100173","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Every project leader has at some point in their career confronted a puzzling situation where they have had to make a difficult judgement. Such situations are often challenging, as they have to do with the ways leaders relate themselves towards an event, as a whole person, rather than merely a cartesian intellect. Under such circumstances, how can project leaders practically perform activities which are described as “wise” or “well-judged”? While this assessment is among the most difficult to attain, research shows that such “practical wisdom”, or <em>phronêsis</em>, is one of the most important features in leaders’ roles. We will explore “practical wisdom” in decision-making under uncertainty in the context of projects by taking the case of early warning signs (EWS) of impending threats to the delivery of the project objectives. We will do this by taking a leader-problem solver perspective on leadership as applied to a recent functional model of project leadership – the Project Leadership Model (PLM). Our contribution in this conceptual theory adaptation paper will be first to introduce the concept of <em>phronêsis</em> to leadership research in project organizing and, second, to develop the judging dimension of the PLM to incorporate this new perspective.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101050,"journal":{"name":"Project Leadership and Society","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100173"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elina Jääskä, Kirsi Aaltonen, Liina Hellens, Jaakko Kujala
{"title":"Bridging change and project management: A review and future research directions","authors":"Elina Jääskä, Kirsi Aaltonen, Liina Hellens, Jaakko Kujala","doi":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100172","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100172","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The fundamental purpose of a project is to implement change, aiming for the transition from an existing state to a desired future state. However, project management studies primarily focus on the design and implementation of the project deliverable and rarely address the management of change needed to achieve the desired future state. This study conducted a systematic literature review to synthesize the existing research on change management within project studies and identify areas of contention and under-researched aspects before proposing an agenda for further research. It addresses the following research question: How is the management of change addressed in project studies? The analysis of prior research reveals six key themes: relationship between change management and project management, change process and factors and factors affecting the change process, change management as a success factor, change resistance, interface with permanent organizations, and change in project-based firms and industries/fields. However, this analysis also highlights the fragmented nature of prior research, emphasizing the need for more conceptual and empirical work to understand the integration of change and project management processes. Integrating change management concepts and tools into project management thinking and vice versa offers opportunities to advance both disciplines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101050,"journal":{"name":"Project Leadership and Society","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100172"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Helene Berg , Anne Strand Alfredsen Larsen , Ole Jonny Klakegg , Morten Welde
{"title":"Cost estimation in major public projects’ front-end phase: An empirical study on how to improve current practices","authors":"Helene Berg , Anne Strand Alfredsen Larsen , Ole Jonny Klakegg , Morten Welde","doi":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100171","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100171","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cost estimates in the front-end phase of public projects are critical in ensuring the selection of good projects that provide value for society. In this study, we use theoretical perspectives of front-end and cost estimation under uncertainty to address the gap in project management research on practices to produce realistic cost estimates. We interviewed 31 cost engineers and held a workshop with 53 participants who had a background in costing. The findings demonstrate substantial information and input data challenges in the front-end, and that cost estimation cannot be understood as an isolated process. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that the organization and management of the estimation process are critical for achieving realistic front-end cost estimates beyond merely applying specific models or methods. Our results also highlight that focusing on uncertainty is essential for realistic budgeting and responsible decision-making in major public projects. Finally, the study provides practical recommendations to enhance the quality of front-end cost estimates, such as improving the preservation and storage of historical data and maintaining a focus on uncertainty throughout the process.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101050,"journal":{"name":"Project Leadership and Society","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100171"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qing Yang , Francesco Di Maddaloni , Antonio Calabrese , Jianfeng Zhao , Xingqi Zou
{"title":"Call for papers: Using AI to drive transformation in project leadership and society","authors":"Qing Yang , Francesco Di Maddaloni , Antonio Calabrese , Jianfeng Zhao , Xingqi Zou","doi":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100165","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100165","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":101050,"journal":{"name":"Project Leadership and Society","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100165"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anna Lund Jepsen , Pernille Eskerod , Kon Shing Kenneth Chung , Jingbo Zhang , Mauro Ortiz
{"title":"Using websites and social media to support local community stakeholder attendance at project town hall meetings","authors":"Anna Lund Jepsen , Pernille Eskerod , Kon Shing Kenneth Chung , Jingbo Zhang , Mauro Ortiz","doi":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100164","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100164","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Engaging local community stakeholders in projects is important. A project town hall meeting is a common practice to do so. However, many project town hall meetings suffer from low attendance. This study investigates how the project organization can use its website and social media to support attendance. The study draws on literature on social media marketing, the customer journey concept, and the use of different appeal elements. It applies a case study approach with two cases: The Western Sydney Airport project and the London Heathrow Expansion project. We found that the project organizations used their websites and the social media Facebook, X and YouTube to a limited extent. Furthermore, they mostly used rational and transactional appeals, thus foregoing the chance to engage stakeholders in attending by application of interactional appeals. Based on the findings, we offer a framework for use of own websites and social media to support the stakeholder journey towards attending project town hall meetings. Our research enriches project management knowledge by highlighting what to consider in the application of websites and social media for local community stakeholder engagement.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101050,"journal":{"name":"Project Leadership and Society","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100164"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097263","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Online naturalistic inquiry for stakeholder issue analysis: Design and implementation","authors":"Jingbo Zhang, Kon Shing Kenneth Chung","doi":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100163","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100163","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Social media offers extensive reach and inclusive engagement potential for projects and stakeholders. Current studies document its use for project information dissemination, building project awareness and project stakeholder assessment. However, studies into the use of social media in project stakeholder engagement remains scant. To date, there is lack of theoretically based guidance for project stakeholder engagement via social media in a pragmatic sense. In this paper, we advocate social media as a useful platform for online naturalistic inquiry of stakeholder engagement and propose a methodology for the analysis of stakeholder issues via social media to enhance engagement. We combine netnography, thematic, emotion work, and sentiment analyses to demonstrate operationalisation of the methodology for stakeholder issue analysis in the context of infrastructure projects. In doing so, we outline steps to identify, analyse and prioritise stakeholder issues for infrastructure projects via social media and discuss its implications for research and practice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101050,"journal":{"name":"Project Leadership and Society","volume":"5 ","pages":"Article 100163"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143140673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bingsheng Liu , Shi-Hao Zhou , Dan Wang , Henry J. Liu , David J. Edwards , Yuan Chen
{"title":"Authoritarian leadership in projects: An integrated model to understand the team members’ task and innovative performance","authors":"Bingsheng Liu , Shi-Hao Zhou , Dan Wang , Henry J. Liu , David J. Edwards , Yuan Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100162","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.plas.2024.100162","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although authoritarian leadership (AL) behaviour is critical to organisational performance, its impact in different cultural contexts has received scant academic attention especially for managing bespoke projects which require temporary organisations to be formed. Drawing from self-determination and expectancy theories, this present research develops an integrated model to interpret the underlying impacts that the two dichotomous groups of ALs (i.e. discipline- and dominance-focused) have on project team members' task and innovative performance in China. The model developed was tested using the data collected from 316 Chinese project team members. Empirical evidence indicates that psychological empowerment acts as a ‘mediator’ via which the discipline- and dominance-focused ALs can positively and negatively affect the team members' task and innovative performance respectively. Additionally, the aforementioned indirect relationships are moderated by outcome expectancy, implying a positive interdependency between them. This research enriches an understanding of ALs and project team in terms of task completion and innovation and is useful for developing interventions to improve project team performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101050,"journal":{"name":"Project Leadership and Society","volume":"5 ","pages":"Article 100162"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142747967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}