A.H. van Marrewijk

Managing public–private megaprojects: Paradoxes, complexity, and project design

Abstract Recent studies show that despite their growing popularity, megaprojects – large-scale, complex projects delivered through various partnerships between public and private organisations – often fail to meet costs estimations, time schedules and project outcomes and are motivated by vested interests which operate against the public interest. This paper presents a more benign and theoretically-grounded view on what goes wrong by comparing the project designs, daily practices, project cultures and management approaches of two recent megaprojects in The Netherlands and Australia, showing how these projects made sense of uncertainty, ambiguity and risk. We conclude that project design and project cultures play a role in determining how managers and partners cooperate to achieve project objectives to a greater or lesser extent.

Corporate headquarters as physical embodiments of organisational change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the interdependency of corporate architecture and organisation cultural change. Corporate headquarters have become symbols of corporate change ambitions to endure cultural value sets. The paper seeks to contribute to the growing interest in the re‐materialization of organisational change.Design/methodology/approach – The study of spatial setting give rise to new methodological questions. There is a hermeneutic relationship between elements of spatial design and the meaning‐making of their designers and users. The reading of built space and other physical arrangements requires interpretative methods. Methods such as interviewing, observation and participant observation have been used to study three headquarter buildings of a Dutch telecom operator in a longitudinal study (1995‐2007).Findings – It is argued in the paper that the organisations spatial position in relation to the Dutch Government buildings is a reflection of the privatisation process. During ...

The management of strategic alliances: cultural resistance. Comparing the case of a Dutch telecom operator in the Netherland Antilles and Indonesia

Since the early 1990s, European telecom operators have expanded their activities to international markets in South America, Asia and Eastern Europe and formed complex networks of strategic alliances and joint ventures. This paper examines potential dynamics in such alliances and explores the developments in the strategic alliances of a Dutch telecom operator (KPN) in the Netherlands Antilles and Indonesia. The case studies examine how local partners responded to the cross‐cultural strategies used by KPN to manage the alliances. In particular, the studies reveal that ethnocentric cross‐cultural management strategies, used by KPN to establish a dominant position in the alliances, triggered a new awareness of the cultural identities of local telecom operators. In turn, this increased cultural awareness stimulated the patters of resistance towards KPN as the dominant partner. This paper introduces the concept of ‘ethnicization’ to describe this strategy of resistance by the less dominant partner. The paper calls for more research to understand the strategic use of cultural identity in transnational alliances.Since the early 1990s, European telecom operators have expanded their activities to international markets in South America, Asia and Eastern Europe and formed complex networks of strategic alliances and joint ventures. This paper examines potential dynamics in such alliances and explores the developments in the strategic alliances of a Dutch telecom operator (KPN) in the Netherlands Antilles and Indonesia. The case studies examine how local partners responded to the cross‐cultural strategies used by KPN to manage the alliances. In particular, the studies reveal that ethnocentric cross‐cultural management strategies, used by KPN to establish a dominant position in the alliances, triggered a new awareness of the cultural identities of local telecom operators. In turn, this increased cultural awareness stimulated the patters of resistance towards KPN as the dominant partner. This paper introduces the concept of ‘ethnicization’ to describe this strategy of resistance by the less dominant partner. The paper ca...

Organizing reflexivity in designed change: the ethnoventionist approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the role of intervention‐oriented scientists in the process of organisation development. The paper seeks to contribute to the growing interest in design studies for organisation development and argues that a focus on reflexivity is missing in current debate. The aim of the paper to develop critical reflexiveness for organization design studies by introducing the ethnoventionist approach.Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the ideal forms of clinical inquiry, participative action research, ethnography, and the ethnoventionist approach. The ethnoventionist approach is described by its central aspects: a focus on reflexivity, a management (but not managerialist) orientation, commitment to obtaining a deep understanding, connecting the multi‐layered context, and studying in pre‐arranged longitudinal intervals.Findings – The ethnoventionist approach uses organisational ethnographies to facilitate intervention strategies intended to improve or...

Crisis in the transition of telecom alliance Unisource

The telecom sector has changed dramatically during the last decade. In order to meet new regulations, fierce competition and a growing demand for cheap and high quality telecom services by multinationals, European public telecom operators have created pan‐European strategic alliances. This paper focuses on the question of how Unisource, an alliance of Swedish Telia, Dutch KPN Telecom, Swiss Telecom and Spanish Telefonica has coped with the control vs commitment dilemma. The four telecom providers wanted to merge their activities with Unisource. To create commitment and trust the parents used a synergy strategy to deal with cultural diversity. Unisource was started in 1992, but finally collapsed in 1999 due to lack of commitment. The crisis in Unisource shows the dilemma of control vs commitment in a dynamic transition process of organisations.

Changing collaborative practices through cultural interventions

After a parliamentary enquiry into construction industry malpractice, changes occurred in collaborative practices between clients and contractors in megaprojects within the Dutch construction sector. The enquiry meant that both clients and contractors were forced to acknowledge illegal practices of collusion and fraud. For those engaged in public–private relationships, a process followed of attempting to change collaborative practices. Three interventions in collaborative practices are recounted: (1) organizing personal networks between clients and contractors; (2) a competitive dialogue procedure; and (3) the right of withdrawal. These three interventions helped to change ‘first order’ practice, such as increasing mutual trust between client and contractor, supporting a mutual understanding of role positioning and dilemmas, and creating an understanding of the nature of the conflict but failed to change ‘second order’ practices. Two contributions to the understanding of project management are provided. New empirical data are presented on the challenges that public and private partners face in their attempt to implement new collaborative practices. It is shown how power is entangled in the emerging of new collaborative practices. The findings are based on a longitudinal ethnographic study of public–private collaboration in the Dutch construction industry in the period 2006–11.

The multivocality of symbols. A longitudinal study of the symbolic dimensions of the Dutch High Speed Train Megaproject (1995–2015)

Megaprojects can be perceived as modern symbols, crucial for the encapsulation of ideas, attitudes, and beliefs. This study explores the exegetical meanings, or meanings derived from local interpretation, that a megaproject can encapsulate and how those meanings shape the megaprojects process. A longitudinal study of the Dutch High-Speed Train megaproject was executed. The findings show three exegetical meanings of the megaproject, which were used for strategic goals, leading to power struggles, delays, and cost overrun, and finally resulting in a negative symbol of a failed megaproject. This article contributes to the megaproject literature with an anthropological perspective on symbolism.Megaprojects can be perceived as modern symbols, crucial for the encapsulation of ideas, attitudes, and beliefs. This study explores the exegetical meanings, or meanings derived from local interpretation, that a megaproject can encapsulate and how those meanings shape the megaprojects process. A longitudinal study of the Dutch High-Speed Train megaproject was executed. The findings show three exegetical meanings of the megaproject, which were used for strategic goals, leading to power struggles, delays, and cost overrun, and finally resulting in a negative symbol of a failed megaproject. This article contributes to the megaproject literature with an anthropological perspective on symbolism.

Conflicting subcultures in M&A: a longitudinal study of integrating a radical internet firm into a bureaucratic telecoms firm

Media and telecommunications companies face the problem of how to integrate diametrically opposite radical internet firms after acquisition. Extant mergers and acquisitions (M&A) studies report that differences in the organizational culture are important in the cultural integration process. Frequently, M&A research assumes organizational cultures to be homogeneous and unified, but a large body of organizational literature suggests that organizations should be understood as heterogeneous living worlds in which employees construct their own subcultures. The paper focuses on the question of how such subcultures affect the long‐term cultural integration of merged firms. A 12‐year longitudinal field study in the Netherlands examined the integration of iPioneer into Telcom. The findings of the study show how three subcultures in iPioneer influenced the cultural integration process. The paper makes a contribution to the academic debate on cultural integration in domestic M&A by acknowledging that the numerous coexisting subcultures influence cultural integration in the complex process of post‐acquisition integration.

Machine baptisms and heroes of the underground: Performing sociomateriality in an Amsterdam metro project

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply the theory of sociomateriality to exhibit how the social and material are entangled and (re)configured over time and in practice in a particular organization of study. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conduct an ethnographic case study of the North-South metro line project in Amsterdam and use the methods of participant-observation, in-depth interviewing and a desk study. Findings – The authors showcase the process of sociomaterial entanglement by focussing on the history and context of the project, the agency and performativity of the material and sociomaterial (re)configuration via ritual performance. The authors found the notion of performativity not only concern the enactment of boundaries between the social and material, but also the blurring of such boundaries. Research limitations/implications – Sociomateriality theory remains difficult to grasp. The implication is the need to provide new lenses to engage this theory empirically. Practical im...

Digging for Change: Change and Resistance in Interorganizational Projects in the Utilities Sector

Delivering organizational change through interorganizational projects is a complex process, as several organizations must collaborate. The aim of this article is to understand how change and resist...Delivering organizational change through interorganizational projects is a complex process, as several organizations must collaborate. The aim of this article is to understand how change and resistance are shaped in interorganizational projects. This article discusses a longitudinal case study (2012–2016) of an interorganizational project in the utility sector. The findings of the study describe four practices that both enabled and constrained change. The contribution of the article is an extension of our understanding of change and resistance in projects with the introduction of the notion of productive resistance and the notion that employees can be change agents and middle managers can be resisters.