Klaus Brockhoff

On the Novelty Dimension in Project Management

Novelty has substantial implications for project management. Because novelty is not objectively determined but perceived by project initiators and participants, diverging perceptions establish first-source managementtasks. Also, novelty is a multidimensional construct. A review of dimensions proposed in empirical measurement of novelty shows that, although about 20 items are used in many studies, no standard measurement approach has yet emerged. This hinders comparability and learning from empirical research on project management. Novelty should be considered as moderating the effects of management on success, because this is the more encompassing approach. The paper presents empirical research results on role structures of project management, team performance, autonomy of project management and clarity of objectives as well as ideal versus real characteristics of project managers. These results are primarily taken from studies by German authors with the aim of introducing this research to a broader audience. Although a substantial wealth of research results is available to support project management, optimisation is not yet possible. But, “one size fits all” is certainly not the right approach, and research results give some indications of how to respond to specific project characteristics. Furthermore, radically innovative projects call for more specific characteristics of projects managers than for more sophisticated planning aids.

Agency theoretic ideas in ancient India: the Arthašāstra of Kautilya

The Arthašāstra of Kautiliya is an important Indian text on governance dating back to 300 BC. Since its rediscovery in 1905, the book has inspired many authors to interpret and to analyze its contents, as well as to discuss its importance for management today. In the present paper, it is shown that basic assumptions on agency theory are presented in this early work. These include assumptions on organization, about people and on information. It is suggested that information, control and incentives should be used in combination to make it likely that agents support the objectives of their principal. Environmental conditions seem to have influenced the choice of instruments. For instance, high-risk levels of business operations at the time called for relatively more control than for offering incentives.

A short note on Martin Luther’s idea of business ethics

Abstract Among the many works of Martin Luther, one deals with trade and usury. It appeared in 1524. Various aspects of it have stimulated interest and debates in theology, sociology, and economics. The work contains two sentences, which address business ethics in general. These appear to be contradictory. They refer to conscience on the one hand, and to worldly regulations of interest and pricing on the other hand. Luther relates these two views to his doctrine of a truly Christian kingdom versus a worldly kingdom. In the first kingdom, moral behavior based on Christian ethics prevails. This is not entirely true in the worldly kingdom. In this environment, authorities have to administer and to supervise rules to achieve behaviors of merchants, which should not diverge too much from the behavior in the first kingdom. Consequences of these ideas are discussed.

Blick zurück und Einordnung in eine Allgemeine Betriebswirtschaftslehre

Die Betriebswirtschaftslehre ist eine Wissenschaft. Das wird an Hand von Kriterien belegt, die aus heutiger Sicht eine Wissenschaft kennzeichnen. Auch schon vor der wissenschaftlichen Betriebswirtschaftslehre gab es aus Erfahrung entstandene Ideen und Regeln fur vorteilhaftes Wirtschaften.

Customer Integration into Continuous Development of IT-based Services

Developers of IT-based services should be aware of potential conflicts arising from involving customers in co-development projects. This is a first step toward securing continuous development processes. The analysis in this chapter is based on extensive use of literature, including empirical research on the topic. The topic is developed from the perspective of the service supplier, and four contextual conditions are analyzed: (1) Stage specific or continuous, unspecific integration; (2) Customer abilities; (3) Intensity of involvement and its enhancement; (4) Number of customers involved. With a limited number of competing customers involved in the co-development, three types of conflicts might arise. As not all conflicts can be foreseen, building trust can contribute to reduce disruptions of the development processes. The exposition and the findings should be of interest and help decision makers on co-development projects as well as those involved in running the projects.

Struggling to fight managerial opportunism in nineteenth- century Europe

Abstract During the second half of the nineteenth century, a growing interest in joint-stock corporations emerged. At the same time, managerial opportunism was observed in many of these corporations. Inefficient capital markets and inadequate transparency of operations as well as their results were characteristics of the time. Little was known about the means to reduce this opportunism. This knowledge grew over time out of pragmatic ideas, which foreshadow elements of present day agency theory. The important question to be answered by these pragmatic ideas was how managers could be influenced to act according to the goals of the owners of these corporations. In this paper, we draw on mostly academic literature of the nineteenth century to illustrate the developments of such pragmatic ideas. The presentation is structured by major mechanisms of agency theory. It is shown that attempts at reducing asymmetry of information by limiting corporate activities to less risky business, belief in high moral standards of managers or governmental supervision of operational activities were basically unsuccessful ideas. However, the empowerment of shareholders by introducing a supervisory board and the offering of monetary incentives showed more promise. Obviously, these ideas were not perfect. The pros and cons of any of these instruments became more visible over time, which led to better legal structures for establishing supervisory boards. With respect to monetary incentives, the contemporary debates seem to have been quite enlightened as compared with recent discussions.

Potenziale und Grenzen einer Geschichte der Betriebswirtschaftslehre

In den vorhergehenden Kapiteln sind bereits historisch wichtige Beitrage zur Methode und zu Inhalten der Betriebswirtschaftslehre vorgestellt worden. Dies erfolgte aber nicht konsequent im Zeitablauf. Nach einer kurzen Betrachtung zu Potenzialen und Grenzen einer zeitlaufbezogenen Betrachtung in diesem Kapitel soll diese dann im 6. Kapitel erfolgen.