Per Morten Schiefloe

Understanding project success through analysis of project management approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that project success is dependent on the project management approach selected, relative to the challenges posed by the project, and to develop an analytical model for analyzing the performance of the project organization. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on literature review, model development, interviews, and case studies. Findings – The findings define two different approaches in project management: The prescriptive approach focusses on the formal qualities of the project organization, including governing documentation and procedures. The adaptive approach focusses on the process of developing and improving a project organization, project culture and team commitment. The two approaches have been identified through studies of three different case projects. An analytical model, referred to as the Pentagon model, has been applied for analyzing the performance of the project organization and explaining the project management approach. The mod...

Networks in urban neighbourhoods: Lost, saved or liberated communities?

The article presents theories and empirical findings on social relations in urban neighbourhoods. It briefly puts the tradition of neighbourhood studies into the history of mainstream sociology, especially concerning the question of community. The overview of studies of locally based social relations is organized in terms of the hypotheses of urban communities as being lost, saved or liberated. The empirical material presented strongly favours the last of these. The article also deals with the processes of network‐formation and discusses the importance of weak ties in the neighbourhood.

The development, distribution and maintenance of trust in distributed work groups: a social network approach

An increasing number of teams and groups have members who are distributed at multiple sites, often working in different departments or organisations, sometimes also in different countries. Although separated in space, such units must collaborate and deliver results and value to their organisations. It is now generally acknowledged that trust is a core asset for such groups, as it can help to reduce conflicts and enhance knowledge sharing and efficiency. This article argues that a network approach can be useful for developing a deeper understanding of trust in such groups. The network approach is particularly useful in providing an understanding of the development, distribution and maintenance of trust across organisational, geographical and cultural boundaries. These aspects are described and illustrated in a case study of a distributed work group in an international telecommunications company.

Coordination in Knowledge-Intensive Organizations

The emerging knowledge economy is not only changing existing industries and companies, it is also creating entirely new business opportunities which are purely knowledge based. The global, digital information network known as the Internet, enables information products to be duplicated and distributed at virtually no cost, and almost at the speed of light.

Managing Complexity and Resilient Performance in Experiments on the International Space Station

Planning, integration and execution of space experiments are dependent on a complex division of tasks and responsibilities. Interfaces and coordination issues are explored according to four sets of dependencies (resource, sequential, simultaneity and task) and two main strategies for coordination (constitutive and concurrent). Managing complexity and resilience are considered.