Management of flexibility in projects

Abstract Project managers are challenged to keep their projects focused and at the same time support their organisation’s need to adapt to changes and uncertainty in the business environment. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the dynamics related to project flexibility, both from a theoretical and an empirical perspective. To ensure the efficiency of the project organisations, flexibility is usually not desired in the late phases of projects. The projects in this study often applied flexibility even during these phases, usually based on initiatives from project owners or users. It is paradoxical that while flexibility was frequently needed in the studied projects, it was rarely prepared for. As a consequence, structured approaches to project flexibility management are called for. The study indicates that the opinion on project flexibility held by the involved stakeholders can to a large extent be explained by their incentives related to the projects. The empirical results in this paper are based on a multi-case study covering 18 projects.

[1]  Kristian Kreiner.  In search of relevance: Project management in drifting environments , 1995 .

[2]  Anders Söderholm,et al.  A theory of the temporary organization , 1995 .

[3]  James A. Gordon,et al.  Does a Rubber Baseline Guarantee Cost Overruns on Defense Acquisition Contracts? , 1998 .

[4]  J. U. M. Smith,et al.  Project Risk Management: Processes, Techniques and Insights , 1998, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[5]  C. Midler.  “Projectification” of the firm: The renault case , 1995 .

[6]  Nalin Kulatilaka,et al.  Real Options: Managing Strategic Investment in an Uncertain World , 1998 .

[7]  Stewart Brand,et al.  How Buildings Learn , 1994 .

[8]  Stewart Brand,et al.  How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built , 1997 .

[9]  Pernille Eskerod,et al.  Why Do Companies Standardize Project Work , 2000 .

[10]  Z. Irani,et al.  Learning to Reduce Rework in Projects: Analysis of Firm's Organizational Learning and Quality Practices , 2003 .

[11]  Gilles Garel,et al.  Front-Loading Problem-Solving in Co-Development: Managing the Contractual, Organizational and Cognitive Dimensions , 2000 .

[12]  W. Duncan.  A GUIDE TO THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT BODY OF KNOWLEDGE , 1996 .

[13]  Siri Hunnes Blakstad,et al.  A Strategic Approach to Adaptability in Office Buildings , 2001 .

[14]  Stephen Ward,et al.  Project risk management , 2005 .

[15]  John A. Buzacott,et al.  Flexibility and decision making , 1990 .

[16]  Mary Poppendieck,et al.  Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit , 2003 .

[17]  Peter W. G. Morris,et al.  The Anatomy of Major Projects , 1987 .

[18]  Kirsten Arge.  Generalitet, fleksibilitet og elastisitet i bygninger. Prinsipper og egenskaper som gir tilpasningsdyktige kontorbygninger , 2003 .

[19]  Roger Miller,et al.  The Strategic Management of Large Engineering Projects: Shaping Institutions, Risks, and Governance , 2001 .

[20]  Sydney Gregory,et al.  Great planning disasters , 1982 .

[21]  Nils O. E. Olsson,et al.  FLEXIBILITY IN ENGINEERING PROJECTS : BLESSING OR CURSE ? , 2004 .

[22]  Gilles Garel,et al.  Time-to-market vs. time-to-delivery: Managing speed in Engineering, Procurement and Construction projects , 2004 .

[23]  Peter W. G. Morris,et al.  The Anatomy of Major Projects: A Study of the Reality of Project Management , 1988 .

[24]  Audley Genus.  Managing large-scale technology and inter-organizational relations: the case of the Channel Tunnel , 1997 .

[25]  C. William Ibbs,et al.  PROJECT CHANGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM , 2001 .

[26]  Dov Dvir,et al.  Plans are nothing, changing plans is everything: the impact of changes on project success , 2004 .

[27]  Awad S. Hanna,et al.  Quantitative Definition of Projects Impacted by Change Orders , 2002 .

[28]  M. Engwall.  No project is an island: linking projects to history and context , 2003 .

[29]  Kam Jugdev,et al.  Through the Looking Glass: Examining Theory Development in Project Management with the Resource-Based View Lens , 2004 .

[30]  R. Yin.  Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 1984 .

[31]  Isaac Pentinmaki,et al.  Review of "Lean software development: an agile tookit" by Mary and Tom Poppendieck. Addison Wesley 2003. , 2004, SOEN.

[32]  L. Trigeorgis,et al.  Project flexibility, agency, and competition : new developments in the theory and application of real options , 2000 .