Kristian Kreiner

In search of relevance: Project management in drifting environments

It can be assumed that projects are designed to produce relevant outcomes. However, it cannot be assumed that originally intended outcomes will necessarily remain relevant over time. This article explores the challenges to project management that stem from the possibility of relevance becoming eroded in the course of implementation. Relevance can become eroded when the environment of a project starts drifting. This may happen if, for example, customers change their preferences, competitors their strategies or corporate management their commitments. Alternative strategies for coping with drifting environments are discussed.

Tacit knowledge management: the role of artifacts

This article discusses both the management of tacit knowledge and the tacit approach to knowledge management. Tacit knowledge must be made manageable by being explicated and separated from the knowledge workers, so that the knowledge resources do not go home at night. However, the less knowledge leaving in the evening, the less knowledge will return the following morning. Making the organization as independent as possible of the tacit knowledge of its knowledge workers is an ironic program for knowledge management, since it advocates a reduction of the total resource pool for the sake of managerial control. The article searches for alternatives to knowledge management exercised from a position of control and ownership. A case study of product development is analyzed. This specialized context focuses attention on knowledge mobilization rather than knowledge control and sharing. The artifact provides sufficient pressure for order and coordination to emerge spontaneously. Knowledge management can in such circumstances become tacit without losing its value.

Organizational Behaviour in Construction

the extra CO2 output that concrete has compared to a natural stone. Concrete additives, accelerators, and reinforcing research and options are discussed in a large part of the text. Using concrete to deal with hazardous wastes from other industries and reduce the use of raw materials is discussed as well as the effects on the concrete strength and longevity. In addition to the large amount of research results reported on concrete, there are chapters on toxicity of common building materials (and the chemicals needed to manufacture these materials), construction and demolition waste, and masonry. Different compositions for concrete masonry units (CMUs) and of bricks is covered and explained in terms of which choice is best. Since bricks use up a non-renewable resource (clay) and are baked at high temperatures they embody a much higher CO2 footprint than do CMUs, thus the authors predict a much higher use of CMUs in the future compared to that of bricks. Alternative mix components and additives to both masonry options to reduce mining of raw materials and incorporate waste products or harmful residuals from other industries are reported and how they affect the resulting blocks and concrete strength and longevity. Alternative materials for developed countries, or ‘earth construction’ more commonly seen in undeveloped countries, are also covered by the authors, since these are proven sustainable construction methods for many areas of the planet. The book reports that they are superior in management of indoor humidity levels and air quality compared to the toxic materials used for more traditional modern construction used mostly in developed countries. The last chapters focus on new nanotechnology and how to make choices. Chapter 10 introduces nanoparticles and how they are being used in construction materials, and the possible health, pollution, and benefit issues from using them. Nanoparticles have been researched for use in self-cleaning exterior materials and as additives in pavements to reduce CO2. Unfortunately, long-term studies do not always agree about the benefits, but that is part of the reported research in the book. The authors include the published research on materials from all countries, and do not just focus on positive results but give a balanced picture. Chapter 11 is about how to make better choices in construction materials for the health of the planet. The authors discuss the limitations of life cycle analysis and consideration of the project location and options in order to make more ecoefficient decisions. This book, at 247 pages, packs an extreme amount of research results into a small, concise summary for those interested in construction and making the process more ‘green’. For any instructor of construction in any country, or researcher wanting to find other authors and research results on materials used in construction this book will be a valuable resource. DENISE GRAVITT Western Illinois University, USA 2013, Denise Gravitt http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2013.833665

Soft cultures: the symbolism of cross-border organizing 1

It is not always true that the concept of culture implies a convergence on one meaning, one set of values, one pattern of behaviour. This paper develops the notion of soft culture. Cultures are soft in the sense that multiple renderings of reality are accepted and legitimized. Soft culture is studied in the context of cross-national technology development projects. Such projects are loosely structured communities, as organizational actors are separated in time and space. The paper demonstrates how symbols work among those actors. In addition to the traditional uses of symbolic categorizing, in soft culture the symbols also play an important role in attracting more networks to the action and licensing a wide variety of exploratory activities. These equivocal characteristics of symbols should be considered a strength in face of overwhelming uncertainty since they allow actors to construct multiple futures and pursue them.

Comments on challenging the rational project environment

Purpose – Kristian Kreiner is one of the co‐authors of Projektledning i en ofulstandig varld. The purpose of this paper (commentary) is to reiterate and update a few of the fundamental tenets on which the original text was based. The purpose is also to argue that the need to challenge conventional project management thinking is still pressing today.Design/methodology/approach – This commentary highlights two ideas and makes one plea for future research.Findings – Project managers must bridge two notions of a project: one focussing on some desired future state which can guide current, contingent action, and the other one focussing on the conscious design and planning of social action to enable efficient, collaborative achievements. In practice, project managers face a dilemma in having to encourage both behavioural flexibility (adaptability) and behavioural rigidity (discipline). Secondly, project managers face conditions of complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Conventionally, such conditions are made t...

The value of style in architectural practice

To date, organization theory’s attempts to understand architecture firms have focused by and large on debates about increasing managerialization and economization of the profession. This paper suggests an alternative approach by conceptualizing architecture as practice that does not adhere only to a narrow economic logic of value creation but also focuses on the production of aesthetic value. We will introduce the concept of style to understand how architecture practice routinely breaks routines and follows the rule of rule breaking. We will analyze architecture practice as a form of organized heresy – a hegemonic engine for the production of difference. In order to illustrate our points we will draw on qualitative empirical fieldwork with an architecture firm (synonym Earth Architects).

Organizational Decision Mechanisms in an Architectural Competition

Competitions celebrate meritocratic values. Letting the best man or woman win leaves little room for human choice, since presumably the result follows from ascertaining the fact that someone did better than the rest. But in architectural competitions, appointing a winner involves human choice. An in-depth empirical investigation demonstrates that such human choice has the character of intuition and judgment. The choice of the winner preceded the process by which the winning design proposal was established as being better than the other proposals. We discuss the role of intuitive choices in architectural competitions and claim that they reflect necessity more than vice. They are ways around the fundamental incommensurability of the alternative design proposals. The garbage can model is used as a framework for making sense of the observed counterintuitive ways of decision making. Its attempt to theorize alternative forms of orderliness proves helpful, but on certain points our observations also suggest modifications to the model.

Discourse on the Potentials for Innovation in Contemporary Planning

Kristian Kreiner is Professor Emeritus at Copenhagen Business School, Department of Organization. He was the founder and director of the Center for Management Studies of the Building Process. He has published widely on managerial practices and strategies in relation to design and construction, focusing especially on the impact of the complex and uncertain conditions that characterize the building industry.