Projects as Arenas for Renewal and Learning Processes

edited by

Rolf A. Lundin, Umeå University, Sweden

and

Christophe Midler, CRG-Ecole Polytechnique, France

There is a growing tendency to organize various aspects of business life as projects, and to set up temporary organizations in a competition where speed and adaptability become a major necessity. Organizing by projects is perceived as a good way to ensure action and to stress the importance of getting work done. However, there is a need to balance the stress on action so that learning capabilities are not only retained, but augmented. This book provides examples of how different types of projects function from a learning or renewal perspective, taken from a wide variety of real life environments in industrial and public organizations. It illustrates the mistaken habit of assuming too much in the project area, for example, project notions are, in fact, culture dependant; classical market-oriented contracting business relations do not fit with the learning dimension of projects; and long-term learning on core competencies and product development projects needs to be connected. The book is also intended to represent much of the research frontiers in the project field. Enhancing learning capabilities is - or should be - of a mutual concern for researchers and managers alike.

Contents

Ch 1: Evolution of Project as empirical Trend and Theoretical Focus (by Rolf A. Lundin & Christophe Midler)

SECTION I: FROM EMPIRICAL CATEGORY TO A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECTS
Ch 2: Conceptualizing a Projectified Society: Discussion of an Eco-Institutional Approach to a Theory on Temporary Organizations (by Rolf A. Lundin & Anders Söderholm)
Ch 3: The Project Concept(s): On the Unit of Analysis in the Study of Project Management (by Mats Engwall)
Ch 4: Learning from Renewal Projects: Content, Context and Embeddedness (by Tomas Blomquist & Johann Packendorff)
Ch 5: Learning about Culture through Projects in Aid Programmes (by John Russell-Hodge & Peter Hunnam)

SECTION II: LEARNING PROJECTS AND LEARNING BY PROJECTS
Ch 6: Project Management Learning: A Contingent Approach (by Thierry Boudès, Florence Charue-Duboc & Christophe Midler)
Ch 7: Project Management Benchmarking: An Instrument of Learning (by Martina Huemann & Gernot Winkler)
Ch 8: Innovation in Project Management: Using Industry as the Laboratory (by Francis T. Hartman)
Ch 9: Learning through Projects: Meeting the Implementation Challenge (by Karen Ayas)
Ch 10: Patterns of Success and Failure in Renewal Projects: A Study of Eight Projects for Developing a Learning Organisation (by Barbro Anell)
Ch 11: Managing Renewal Projects in Different Learning Cultures (by Tomas Müllern & Katarina Östergren)

SECTION III: DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGEMENT BY PROJECTS: TRANSFORMATIONS IN PERMANENT ORGANISATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES
Ch 12: The Human Resource Allocation Process When Organising by Projects (by Pernille Eskerod)
Ch 13: Project Management and Internal Contracts (by Michel Nakhla & Louis Georges Soler)
Ch 14: Projects as an Arena for Innovation: Images of Projects and their Implications (by Helén Andersson & Anna Larsson)
Ch 15: Managing Creation and Learning of New Expertise in Automobile Development Projects (by Franck Aggeri & Armand Hatchuel)
Ch 16: Beyond Advanced Project Management: Renewing Engineering Practices and Organizations (by Florence Charue-Dubod & Christophe Midler)

SECTION IV: PROJECTS AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS
Ch 17: A Framework for Analysing Project Dyads: The Case of Discontinuity, Uncertainty and Trust (by Jonas Söderlund & Niklas Andersson)
Ch 18: Civil Engineering Joint Ventures: The British and French Models of Organisation in Confrontation (by Elisabeth Campagnac & Graham Winch)
Ch 19: Co-Operative Byuer-Supplier Relationships in Development Projects in the Car Industry (by Lydie Laigle)
Ch 20: New Car Development Projects and Supplier Partnership (by Gilles Garel & Alex Kesseler)

Ch 21: Emerging Convergences or Debates (by Rolf A. Lundin & Christophe Midler)

Bibliographical and ordering info

Lundin, R. A. & Midler, C. (eds.) (1998) Projects as arenas for renewal and learning processes. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 0792381246.

The book can be ordered from the publisher in USA. Mail: Kluwer Academic Publishers, Order Dept, PO Box 358, Accord Station, Hingham, MA 02018-0358, USA. Phone: (781) 871-6600, Fax: (781) 871-6528, E-mail: kluwer@world.std.com