The lived experience of managing the dynamics of project complexity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.19255/JMPM02710Keywords:
Perceived Project complexity, Dynamic dimensions, lived experienceAbstract
Project complexity has been researched much. The majority of research on project complexity is descriptive and deploys a retrospective perspective on projects, where project are seen as final objects. The use of an ex-ante approach, use for assessment in the initial phases of projects, is less commonly seen in research but has got some attention. However, for the involved managers, the project complexity is a lived experience as the projects evolves in dynamic interactions with the stakeholders. Not much research has focused on this perspective. This paper presents a theoretical framework explaining the unpredictability of events course by project complexity. The theorizing is based on critical realism and focuses on the identification of generative mechanisms as the methodology. The paper then discusses the potential value of the proposed theory - both to the research of project complexity and for practitioners of project management.
References
Ahern, T., Leavy, B., & Byrne, P. (2014). Complex project management as complex problem solving: A distributed knowledge management perspective. International Journal of Project Management, 32(8), 1371-1381.
Alvesson, M., & Spicer, A. (2012). A stupidity‐based theory of organizations. Journal of management studies, 49(7), 1194-1220.
Baccarini, D. (1996). The concept of project complexity—a review. International Journal of Project Management, 14(4), 201-204.
Bakhshi, J., Ireland, V., & Gorod, A. (2016). Clarifying the project complexity construct: Past, present and future. International Journal of Project Management, 34(7), 1199-1213.
Bhaskar, R. (1998). The Possibility of Naturalism: A Philosophical Critique of the Contemporary Human Sciences: Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Bhaskar, R. (2013). A realist theory of science: Routledge.
Bjorvatn, T., & Wald, A. (2018). Project complexity and team-level absorptive capacity as drivers of project management performance. International Journal of Project Management, 36(6), 876-888.
Bosch-Rekveldt, M., Jongkind, Y., Mooi, H., Bakker, H., & Verbraeck, A. (2011). Grasping project complexity in large engineering projects: The TOE (Technical, Organizational and Environmental) framework. International Journal of Project Management, 29(6), 728-739.
Bygstad, B. (2010). Generative mechanisms for innovation in information infrastructures. Information and Organization, 20(3-4), 156-168.
Bygstad, B., Munkvold, B. E., & Volkoff, O. (2016). Identifying generative mechanisms through affordances: a framework for critical realist data analysis. Journal of Information Technology, 31(1), 83-96.
Byrne, D. (2002). Complexity theory and the social sciences: An introduction: Routledge.
Cooke-Davies, T., Cicmil, S., Crawford, L., & Richardson, K. (2007). We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto: Mapping the strange landscape of complexity theory, and its relationship to project management. Project Management Journal, 38(2), 50-61.
Curşeu, P. L., Janssen, S. E., & Raab, J. (2012). Connecting the dots: Social network structure, conflict, and group cognitive complexity. Higher Education, 63(5), 621-629.
Daniel, P. A., & Daniel, C. (2018). Complexity, uncertainty and mental models: From a paradigm of regulation to a paradigm of emergence in project management. International Journal of Project Management, 36(1), 184-197.
Davies, A., Dodgson, M., & Gann, D. (2016). Dynamic capabilities in complex projects: The case of London Heathrow Terminal 5. Project Management Journal, 47(2), 26-46.
Davies, A., & Mackenzie, I. (2014). Project complexity and systems integration: Constructing the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games. International Journal of Project Management, 32(5), 773-790.
de Rezende, L. B., & Blackwell, P. (2019). Revisiting project complexity: a new dimension and framework. The Journal of Modern Project Management, 6(3).
Easton, G. (2010). Critical realism in case study research. Industrial marketing management, 39(1), 118-128.
Floricel, S., Michela, J. L., & Piperca, S. (2016). Complexity, uncertainty-reduction strategies, and project performance. International Journal of Project Management, 34(7), 1360-1383.
Flyvbjerg, B. (2006). From Nobel Prize to project management: Getting risks right. Project Management Journal, 37(3), 5-15.
Flyvbjerg, B. (2008). Curbing optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation in planning: Reference class forecasting in practice. Journal of European planning studies, 16(1), 3-21.
Geraldi, J., Maylor, H., & Williams, T. (2011). Now, let's make it really complex (complicated) A systematic review of the complexities of projects. International journal of operations & production management, 31(9), 966-990.
Giezen, M. (2012). Keeping it simple? A case study into the advantages and disadvantages of reducing complexity in mega project planning. International Journal of Project Management, 30(7), 781-790.
He, Q., Luo, L., Hu, Y., & Chan, A. P. (2015). Measuring the complexity of mega construction projects in China—A fuzzy analytic network process analysis. International Journal of Project Management, 33(3), 549-563.
Keynes, J. M. (1937). The" ex-ante" theory of the rate of interest. The Economic Journal, 47(188), 663-669.
Kiridena, S., & Sense, A. (2016). Profiling project complexity: Insights from complexity science and project management literature. Project Management Journal, 47(6), 56-74.
Lovallo, D., & Kahneman, D. (2003). Delusions of Success. Harvard business review, 81.7 (2003): 56-63.
Lu, Y., Luo, L., Wang, H., Le, Y., & Shi, Q. (2015). Measurement model of project complexity for large-scale projects from task and organization perspective. International Journal of Project Management, 33(3), 610-622.
Luo, L., He, Q., Jaselskis, E. J., & Xie, J. (2017). Construction project complexity: research trends and implications. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 143(7), 04017019.
Luo, L., He, Q., Xie, J., Yang, D., & Wu, G. (2016). Investigating the relationship between project complexity and success in complex construction projects. Journal of Management in Engineering, 33(2), 04016036.
Maylor, H., & Turner, N. (2017). Understand, reduce, respond: project complexity management theory and practice. International journal of operations & production management.
Maylor, H., Vidgen, R., & Carver, S. (2008). Managerial complexity in project-based operations: A grounded model and its implications for practice. Project Management Journal, 39(1_suppl), S15-S26.
Maylor, H. R., Turner, N. W., & Murray-Webster, R. (2013). How hard can it be?: actively managing complexity in technology projects. Research-Technology Management, 56(4), 45-51.
Mikkelsen, M. F. (2020a). The complex project complexity–Identification of five ideal research types. The Journal of Modern Project Management, 7(4).
Mikkelsen, M. F. (2020b). Perceived project complexity: a survey among practitioners of project management. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.
Mikkelsen, M. F., Marnewick, C., & Klein, L. (2020). On Stupidity in Project Management - A critical reflection of PM in a VUCA world. Journal of Modern Project Management.
Mingers, J., Mutch, A., & Willcocks, L. (2013). Critical realism in information systems research. MIS quarterly, 37(3), 795-802.
Morcov, S., Pintelon, L., & Kusters, R. J. (2020). Definitions, characteristics and measures of IT project complexity-a systematic literature review. International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management.
Nguyen, A. T., Nguyen, L. D., Le-Hoai, L., & Dang, C. N. (2015). Quantifying the complexity of transportation projects using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. International Journal of Project Management, 33(6), 1364-1376.
Padalkar, M., & Gopinath, S. (2016). Are complexity and uncertainty distinct concepts in project management? A taxonomical examination from literature. International Journal of Project Management, 34(4), 688-700.
PMI. (2014). Navigating Complexity: A Practice Guide.
Qureshi, S. M., & Kang, C. (2015). Analysing the organizational factors of project complexity using structural equation modelling. International Journal of Project Management, 33(1), 165-176.
Remington, K. (2016). Leading complex projects: Routledge.
Samset, K., & Christensen, T. (2017). Ex ante project evaluation and the complexity of early decision-making. Public Organization Review, 17(1), 1-17.
Sayer, A. (1999). Realism and social science: Sage.
Sayer, A. (2004). Why critical realism? Andrew Sayer. Critical realist applications in organisation and management studies, 11, 6.
Saynisch, M. (2010). Beyond frontiers of traditional project management: An approach to evolutionary, self‐organizational principles and the complexity theory—results of the research program. Project Management Journal, 41(2), 21-37.
Schlindwein, S. L., & Ison, R. (2004). Human knowing and perceived complexity: implications for systems practice. Emergence: Complexity and Organization, 6(3), 27-32.
Snowden, D. J., & Boone, M. E. (2007). A leader's framework for decision making. Harvard business review, 85(11), 68.
Turner, J. R., & Cochrane, R. A. (1993). Goals-and-methods matrix: coping with projects with ill defined goals and/or methods of achieving them. International Journal of Project Management, 11(2), 93-102.
Venable, J., Pries-Heje, J., & Baskerville, R. (2016). FEDS: a framework for evaluation in design science research. European journal of information systems, 25(1), 77-89.
Vidal, L.-A., & Marle, F. (2008). Understanding project complexity: implications on project management. Kybernetes, 37(8), 1094-1110.
Vidal, L.-A., Marle, F., & Bocquet, J.-C. (2011). Measuring project complexity using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. International Journal of Project Management, 29(6), 718-727.
Williams, T. M. (1999). The need for new paradigms for complex projects. International Journal of Project Management, 17(5), 269-273.
Wynn Jr, D., & Williams, C. K. (2012). Principles for conducting critical realist case study research in information systems. MIS quarterly, 787-810.
Xia, W., & Lee, G. (2004). Grasping the complexity of IS development projects. Communications of the ACM, 47(5), 68-74.
Zaman, U., Jabbar, Z., Nawaz, S., & Abbas, M. (2019). Understanding the soft side of software projects: An empirical study on the interactive effects of social skills and political skills on complexity–performance relationship. International Journal of Project Management, 37(3), 444-460.
Zhu, J., & Mostafavi, A. (2017). Discovering complexity and emergent properties in project systems: A new approach to understanding project performance. International Journal of Project Management, 35(1), 1-12.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Mogens Frank Mikkelsen
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
