Organizational enablers for project governance and governmentality in project-based organizations

This study identifies organizational enablers (OEs) for governance and governmentality in the realm of projects in project-based organizations (PBOs). We use a multiple case study design with six firms in Sweden and China to identify OEs. Institutional theory serves as theoretical perspective. Resul...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of project management 2015-05, Vol.33 (4), p.839-851
Main Authors: Müller, Ralf, Pemsel, Sofia, Shao, Jingting
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Governance of projects
Governmentality
Management theory
Organization theory
Organizational enablers
Project governance
Project management
Project-based organizations
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This study identifies organizational enablers (OEs) for governance and governmentality in the realm of projects in project-based organizations (PBOs). We use a multiple case study design with six firms in Sweden and China to identify OEs. Institutional theory serves as theoretical perspective. Results show that OEs are interwoven, albeit with different strength, with the three pillars of institutional theory (regulative, normative and cultural–cognitive). OEs for project governance and governance of projects fall predominantly into the category of regulative and normative pillars, whereas OEs for governmentality belong mainly to the cultural–cognitive pillar. Collectively these OEs provide for an ambidexterity of flexibility and stability, which allows organizations to align their internal characteristics with their organizational context. Managerial and theoretical implications of the results are discussed. •Organizational enablers for project governance, governance of projects, and governmentality•Enablers categorized by regulative, normative and cultural–cognitive•Collectively enablers provide for flexibility, stability and alignment.
ISSN:0263-7863
1873-4634
DOI:10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.07.008