Alasdair Marshall

Exploring the impact of cultural values on project performance: The effects of cultural values, age and gender on the perceived importance of project success/failure factors

Purpose – This study aims to explore the impact of cultural values on the importance individuals assign to project success/failure factors (PSFFs). Design/methodology/approach – Themes emerging from 40 interviews of project practitioners based in Brazil, China, Greece, Nigeria, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and the USA are integrated with literature evidence to design a survey instrument. One thousand three hundred and thirteen practitioner survey responses from the eight countries are analysed using multi-group, structural equation modelling. Findings – Ten project success/failure indicators (PSFIs) are found to reduce to two main PSFFs: project control and extra-organisational goals and project team management/development and intra-organisational goals. It is found that the levels of importance individuals assign to both factors are dependent, not only on age and gender, but also cultural values measured as constructs based on Hofstedes individualism, masculinity, power distance and uncertainty avoidance d...

From the myth of Prometheus to strategic resilience: two cognitive paradigms linking risk and innovation

We argue that cognition linking risk to innovation is influenced by two distinct cognitive paradigms which have deep roots in personality and culture and are closely bound up with political identity. We differentiate between a paradigm of Promethean conservatism where innovation is perceived as threatening, and a paradigm of ‘Strategic Resilience’, where the status quo is perceived as threatening and innovation is perceived to reduce this threat. We find an evidence base for these paradigms in the personality psychology literature, which shows a strong tendency for psychometric measures of risk and innovation to correlate positively with each other and negatively with measures of conservatism and authoritarianism. We develop four theoretical elaborations from this greatly underutilised evidence base: (1) we seem to possess powerful ‘implicit personality theories’ (IPTs) which conflate the risk taker with the innovator; (2) these IPTs lead us to evaluate risk‐taking innovation either positively or negatively; (3) these evaluations also manifest the positions we adopt, as we undertake identity work, along the rich and complex personological and cultural continuum that contrasts risk‐averse conservatism with liberal radicalism; and (4) this highly political self‐positioning carries multiple implications for how we identify and evaluate risk within the context of organisational innovation.

Private sector participation in health and social care services in Scotland: assessing the risk

The UK Government faces increased pressure to provide health and social care services more cheaply yet at a high level of quality. Increased private sector involvement in the funding and delivery of services is seen as a major part of the solution. When assessing the relative merits of approaches to private versus public sector provision, risk may be an important differentiator. This article explores some key points of comparison on risk issues and builds a framework for the assessment of risk-related issues. A twin case study approach is adopted: a care home for older people and a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) hospital. The analysis suggests that in the case of both private financing and of private delivery of health and social care services, the increased involvement of the private sector necessitates rigorous risk assessment and management.

Unconventional competition - drawing lessons from the military

We explore aspects of unconventional competition between firms. In particular, we address two critical questions. The first is: what happens when firms decide to compete outside the rules and frameworks of conventional competition? In other words, how should firms react to competitors who employ unconventional means of competition that differ from recognised Western ethical and legal norms? Secondly, we examine whether current warfare models provide guidance to firms facing such unconventional competition. To address these two questions, we seek to draw lessons from decision‐making approaches adopted by the military. We come to the conclusion that businesses can learn a great deal from how the military deals with unconventional competition.

Project Management Learning: A Comparative Study Between Engineering Students’ Experiences in South Africa and the United Kingdom

This study explores how engineering students studying project management perceive their learning experiences. To facilitate an understanding of the constituent components of engineering students’ experiences and to understand how these experiences influence preferred learning styles, a comparative study of university students studying engineering in South Africa and the United Kingdom is conducted. The study finds no significant demographic differences in learning experiences across the two student cohorts. However, the South African cohort reports higher levels of overall experiences. They also report higher usage of online learning materials but lower levels of blended learning and individual critical evaluation skills experiences.

Heterogeneity and perception congruence of project outcomes

This study examines the impact of project manager and practitioner heterogeneity on congruent perceptions of the outcome of service operations projects. More specifically, the study focuses on congruence in the formation and subsequently revision of project outcome perceptions of service operations. Data were obtained from 1413 project management practitioners and subsequently analysed using multi-layered and combined statistical methods. The results suggest that perception congruence, that is relationships or agreements between different stakeholders, may be impacted by age and role heterogeneity of project managers and practitioners, but not gender.

Managing risk through the veil of ignorance

Background. We view overconfidence within risk management as a problem likely to manifest within philosophical preferences for anticipationism over resilienism, and in assumptions that risks are objectively real external powers or potentialities rather than subjective knowledge propositions. Methods. We argue that the realist tradition within Italian social theory, first crystallised by Niccolò Machiavelli and later elaborated by the sociologist Vilfredo Pareto, offers valuable lessons for corporate risk management praxis by demanding that we map out the complex relations between the risk subjectivities of risk managers, and their objective risk environments, from a standpoint of psychological and sociological realism which stresses the risk ignorance of practitioners. We caution that risk management efforts to improve risk subjectivities to achieve perfect veridicality to objective risk environments might often amount to a wishful bildungsroman of epistemological growth, reflecting the common aspirations of risk managers to demonstrate professional competence. We suggest that the profession should control this overconfidence problem by stressing the corrigibility of risk subjectivities with reference to sociological understandings that reflect on the widespread risk ignorance that can persist and even intensify where risk management effort is made. Results. Following the macrosociological framework sketched by Pareto, we show how two common ‘modes of uncertainty’ can be scrutinised for their adaptive fitness to two common types of risk environment. Conclusions. It can be helpful to think sociologically of organisations as engaging with some highly significant strategic risks blindly through a veil of ignorance.

Managing Competition Risk: A Critical Realist Philosophical Exploration

As firms act to meet competitive challenges, they separately vary their exposure to objectively real risks, and their subjective risk perceptions. Hence the ‘fit’ between each firms subjective risk map and its objective ‘riskscape’ is in constant flux. Realist thought, which emphasizes the separateness of mind from external reality, and sets itself the slow and painstaking task of improving the fit between the two, is therefore universally relevant for risk management. This simple ‘risk realism’ has value for academics wishing to analyse risk management practice and can provide useful working assumptions and procedural guidelines for practitioners. Mindful of both uses, this paper utilizes the philosophical thesis of critical realism to develop ontological and epistemological standpoints that relate specifically to what we call ‘competition risk’. Working from these standpoints we develop parallels between business and military engagements with competition risk. We explore what we treat as ontologically indistinct competition risk issues present across both contexts and conclude that firms can learn much from how the military deals with both ‘regular’ and ‘irregular’ forms of competition risk.

Prioritisation of performance indicators in air cargo demand management: an insight from industry

Purpose – Real operational data are used to optimise the performance measurement of air cargo capacity demand management at Virgin Atlantic Cargo by identifying the best KPIs from the range of outcome-based KPIs in current use. Design/methodology/approach – Intelligent fuzzy multi-criteria methods are used to generate a ranking order of key outcome-based performance indicators. More specifically, KPIs used by Virgin Atlantic Cargo are evaluated by experts against various output criteria. Intelligent fuzzy multi-criteria group making decision-making methodology is then applied to produce rankings. Findings – A useful ranking order emerges from the study albeit with the important limitation that the paper looked solely at indices focussing exclusively on outcomes while ignoring behavioural complexity in the production of outcomes. Originality/value – This paper offers a practical overview of the development of performance measures useful for air cargo capacity demand management.

Consumer action in response to ethical violations by service operations firms: the impact of heterogeneity

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine whether individual demographic and socio-cultural factors affect actions taken by consumers in relation to ethical violations and failure (or perceived ethical violations and failure) by service operations firms. Design/methodology/approach – Data collection was undertaken over a two-year period, from 2011 to 2013, and involved sampling 3,155 respondents from 19 countries. Data analysis was undertaken utilizing hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). Findings – Findings suggest that although both individual demographic factors (age and gender) and societal differences do affect ethical actions taken by service consumers, inter-societal cluster variations have a more significant effect on the ethical action than individual demographic differences do. Originality/value – For service operations firms, the study findings offer evidence on the need for constant readjustment of service attributes in line with the ethical dispositions of the different demographic an...