{"title":"Normative violence and its implications in project scholarship","authors":"Roya Derakhshan","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102679","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102679","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent years, project scholarship has increasingly focused on the dark side of projects. However, these discussions have largely overlooked extant literature on violence that is widely referenced in broader management and organizational studies. In this essay, I argue that normative violence—violence embedded in socio-cultural and legal norms accepted and practiced in broader society—provides a valuable lens through which to analyze and discuss the inequality, harm, and exploitation present in project settings. From this perspective, I argue that future research in project scholarship should investigate how norms—borrowed from external socio-cultural and legal frameworks, as well as those developed and spread within projects—can lead to the infliction of normative violence in, around, and of projects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 1","pages":"Article 102679"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143210202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The local government project: A matchmaker or a troublemaker?","authors":"Grete Hagebakken, Trude Høgvold Olsen, Elsa Solstad","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102674","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102674","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Several studies have focused on local government as project-supported organisations (PSOs) initiating projects aiming to solve non-routine activities, but we know less about the widespread practice of initiating projects to solve recurrent problems in daily operations. This paper reports findings from a qualitative, longitudinal study of how a project team in a Norwegian local authority navigated tensions in their efforts to solve a daily operations challenge. Our findings contribute to the recent debate about consequences of projects in PSOs. First, we argue that tensions in PSOs can be theorised as competition between co-existing institutional logics and understood in light of strategic owner capabilities. Further, we suggest that the perceived strength of tensions influences whether the project is interpreted as a matchmaker between different logics, or, at other times, as a troublemaker where the project team's interpretation of contextual complexity limits its ability to combine co-existing institutional logics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 1","pages":"Article 102674"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Enacting project resilience: Insights from Uruguayan air force flight 571′s crash in the Andes","authors":"Kijan Vakilzadeh , Sebastian Raetze","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102677","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102677","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this qualitative study, we examine how project members organize for resilience amid adversity by analyzing the case of the 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. The survivors endured 72 days in the Andes, navigating uncertainty, time pressures, interpersonal conflict, and intense emotions—challenges similar to those in modern project organizations. Using insights from the survivors' (auto-)biographies, we conclude that resilience emerges through members' daily social interactions. Our findings reveal three key elements of project resilience: (1) <em>processing contextuality</em>, where sensebreaking and adaptive sensemaking evolve as adversity unfolds; (2) <em>processing communality</em>, which forms a socio-emotional foundation for resilience; and (3) <em>shifting between different modes of emergent responding</em>, by which project organizations harness the stability of structured responses while retaining the flexibility to adapt under pressure. This study highlights the dynamic processes through which project resilience is cultivated, offering insights for managing resilience in high-stakes environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 1","pages":"Article 102677"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143166433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"IJPM invites special paper collections proposals 2026","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102680","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102680","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"43 1","pages":"Article 102680"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143376505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christine Unterhitzenberger , Peter McKiernan , Martina Huemann
{"title":"The Relevance of Responsible Research for Project Scholars: Project Research as a Service to Society","authors":"Christine Unterhitzenberger , Peter McKiernan , Martina Huemann","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2024.102665","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2024.102665","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>International Journal of Project Management (IJPM) has become a member of Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM) network to engage with the broader debate on responsible research in business and management towards responsible project research. We introduce Responsible Research as a Service to Society and discuss its relevance for project scholars and for IJPM. We share our commitment to support and publish research which follows seven Responsible Research principles and reflect how IJPM supports and inspires authors to adhere to them. We discuss how IJPM enables the project research community to move past the rigor-relevance gap and improve research and publication practices in the field.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"42 8","pages":"Article 102665"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143101221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Adaptive sense-making for crises in interorganizational projects: The case of International Islamabad Airport project","authors":"Rehab Iftikhar , Andrew Davies , Andrea Prencipe","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2024.102662","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2024.102662","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Crisis is getting attention in project management literature; despite such efforts the topic is still in its infancy. The amount of impact crises has on interorganizational projects drastically increases the significance of crisis management research and calls for dire need to make sense of them. Hence, the purpose of this research is to enhance the understanding of sense-making for crises when multiple organizations are involved in an interorganizational project. We collected data using interviews, observations, archival documents, and illustrative materials to study the case of the International Islamabad Airport project in Pakistan. For analysis, we used grounded theory. Findings provide evidence that both sense-making and sense-giving processes are integrated and engaged for making sense of crises in interorganizational projects. We identified three dimensions of interorganizational sense-making: information gathering (through internal and external sources); crisis interpretation (exogenous, endogenous, social, and technical crises); and reactive responses, which involve direct responses for controllable crises and indirect responses for uncontrollable crises. We also found reporting/recording crises to be an element of sense-giving. The study offers valuable insights on crisis management in interorganizational projects, suggesting that interorganizational projects can better respond to crises by adopting an adaptive and cyclic sense-making approach.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"42 8","pages":"Article 102662"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142757394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An agency theory unpacking of how monitoring and evaluation affect international development project impact","authors":"Humera Amin, Mohsin Malik, Helana Scheepers","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2024.102654","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2024.102654","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Impact is the overarching objective of international development (ID) projects, yet many projects struggle to attain it. Both academic literature and practical experience highlight the importance of adequate monitoring and evaluation in ensuring ID project impact. There is, however, not enough theoretical clarity on what constitutes adequate monitoring and evaluation and the specific mechanisms through which monitoring and evaluation affect ID project impact. This study addresses this important literature gap by applying agency theory to conceptualise ID project impact. We propose that monitoring and evaluation are adequate when they resolve agency issues of goal incongruence and information asymmetry. We test this novel conceptualisation statistically by drawing on a sample of 200 survey responses from ID professionals working in Pakistan. The empirical results indicate that project monitoring resolves both goal incongruence and information asymmetry to influence ID project impact. Project evaluation resolved goal incongruence to affect ID project impact, but it had no effect on information asymmetry. This novel theory informed conceptualisation and empirical testing of adequate monitoring and evaluation that resolve agency issues to ensure ID project impact carry substantial implications for both theory and practice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"42 8","pages":"Article 102654"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143101222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Empowering project team to perform: Directive and facilitative antecedents","authors":"Qiuwen Ma , Sai On Cheung , Liuying Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2024.102651","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2024.102651","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the conditions for enhancing the psychological empowerment of a development project team. Drawing on the social exchange theory and the literature on empowerment, we conceptualize two forms of empowerment antecedents: directive and facilitative. We analysed project-specific data on empowering practices and project performance using structural equation modelling. We found that both directive and facilitative antecedents psychologically empowered the project team. Furthermore, team diversity and participative employers moderate the effect of psychological empowerment on substantive project performance but not on innovation development. Financial incentives strengthen the facilitative antecedent-psychological empowerment relationship. This study contributes to project management literature by introducing project team-oriented empowerment antecedents and validating the conditions that affect psychological empowerment. In practice, while employers are instrumental in crystallising project goals and responsibilities, a psychologically empowered team should have the autonomy to determine the best way to develop innovations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"42 8","pages":"Article 102651"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142651673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Katri Valkokari , Jaakko Paasi , Soili Nysten-Haarala , Jouko Nuottila , Anna Hurmerinta-Haanpää
{"title":"Governance mechanisms and practices in project-based interorganisational collaboration for innovation","authors":"Katri Valkokari , Jaakko Paasi , Soili Nysten-Haarala , Jouko Nuottila , Anna Hurmerinta-Haanpää","doi":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2024.102652","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijproman.2024.102652","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores how project-based interorganisational collaboration for innovation employs formal contracts and relational governance in governance practices to fulfil different governance needs. The study sheds light on the previously unexplored interplay among the formal contracts, relational agreements and governance practices of project-based interorganisational collaboration for innovation. By interviewing managers and analysing the formal contracts and relational agreements in ten cases of Finnish project-based interorganisational collaboration for innovation, we found that the degree to which governance needs are fulfilled by the governance practices, relational agreements, and formal contracts varies. Although the governance practices seemed to fulfil all the needs to at least a certain degree, relational agreements and formal contracts, for example, conflicted with such practices and with each other, sometimes even internally. Based on our findings, we urge organisations to employ both formal contracts and relational governance to fulfil the governance needs of project-based interorganisational collaboration for innovation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48429,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Project Management","volume":"42 8","pages":"Article 102652"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}