The limitations of planning : The importance of learning

The ability to create new knowledge is a key to success. This paper explores two facets of the process of knowledge creation and their impact on project outcomes. The first deals with knowledge that is related to learning about the project. It is associated with the arrangement of the planning process, the characteristics of the project, and the behaviors of the project participants. The second type of knowledge creation deals with the project participants' learning about each other. It examines the activities and behaviors that take place early in the project and their affect on the activities that take place during the project. The results raise some provocative questions related to the efficacy of planning. The ability to manage change on an ongoing basis rather than the ability to plan appears to be the key to project management success. The results also suggest that the conditions necessary to manage change evolve over the duration of the project. The planning activities that occur early in the project are important in determining the path of evolution.

[1]  K. Eisenhardt,et al.  PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: PAST RESEARCH, PRESENT FINDINGS, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS , 1995 .

[2]  Clyde B. Tatum,et al.  Noncontractual Methods of Integration on Construction Projects , 1992 .

[3]  P. Ring,et al.  Developmental Processes of Cooperative Interorganizational Relationships , 1994 .

[4]  Carl E. DeVilbiss,et al.  Partnering Is the Foundation of a Learning Organization , 2000 .

[5]  Paul Chinowsky,et al.  Construction Engineering Management Educators: History and Deteriorating Community , 2004 .

[6]  John Kenny,et al.  Effective Project Management for Strategic Innovation and Change in an Organizational Context , 2003 .

[7]  J. Stevens,et al.  Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences , 1993 .

[8]  James A. Narus,et al.  A Model of Distributor Firm and Manufacturer Firm Working Partnerships , 1990 .

[9]  Peter E.D. Love,et al.  Optimal allocation of construction planning resources , 1999 .

[10]  J. Stevens.  Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences , 1986 .

[11]  Aaron J. Shenhar,et al.  Toward a typological theory of project management , 1996 .

[12]  Shamil Naoum,et al.  Critical Analysis of Time and Cost of Management and Traditional Contracts , 1994 .

[13]  Hal Macomber,et al.  Linguistic Action: Contributing to the Theory of Lean Construction , 2003 .

[14]  Donald E. Hatfield,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF CORPORATE RESTRUCTURING ON AGGREGATE INDUSTRY SPECIALIZATION , 1996 .

[15]  K. Weick.  The social psychology of organizing , 1969 .

[16]  K. Arrow.  The limits of organization , 1974 .

[17]  Jay R. Galbraith.  Organization Design , 1977 .

[18]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Knowledge Creating Company , 2008 .

[19]  Christopher M. Gordon,et al.  Choosing Appropriate Construction Contracting Method , 1994 .

[20]  K. Clark.  Project scope and project performance: the effect of parts strategy and supplier involvement on product development , 1989 .

[21]  Eliot R. Smith,et al.  Research methods in social relations , 1962 .

[22]  Erik Larson,et al.  Project Partnering: Results of Study of 280 Construction Projects , 1995 .

[23]  Bart Bossink,et al.  Managing drivers of innovation in construction networks , 2004 .

[24]  Ali Jaafari,et al.  Construction Business Competitiveness and Global Benchmarking , 2000 .

[25]  Gregory A. Howell,et al.  Toward construction JIT , 1997 .

[26]  Michael S. Puddicombe,et al.  Designers and contractors: Impediments to integration , 1997 .

[27]  Subhash Sharma,et al.  Identification and Analysis of Moderator Variables , 1981 .

[28]  Y. Doz.  The evolution of cooperation in strategic alliances: Initial conditions or learning processes? , 2007 .

[29]  Paul S. Adler,et al.  Interdepartmental Interdependence and Coordination: The Case of the Design/Manufacturing Interface , 1995 .

[30]  Mohan M. Kumaraswamy,et al.  Improved subcontractor selection employing partnering principles , 2000 .

[31]  Aviad Shapira,et al.  Process of Planning During Construction , 1994 .