Abstract
General management research has increasingly recognised the significance of routines in organisational performance. Among organisational tasks, megaprojects depend more on routines selected and created within the project than standard, small-scale projects do, owing largely to their size, duration, and uniqueness. Within this context, the present paper investigates how project routines were established and developed during the early design phase of an inter-organisational megaproject. A case study of a large public infrastructure project was conducted, in which data were collected during observations, semi-structured interviews, and project document studies over the course of three years. Results of analysis revealed that the client exerted the greatest impact on choice of routines and that the temporary nature of tasks limited efforts to fine-tune routines. Changes in routines were primarily reactive to new knowledge concerning project needs. The findings suggest that meta-routines to consciously review routines should be used to a greater extent and designed to capture supplier experiences as well.
Highlights
Projects are temporary with limited lifespans, they are not necessarily short-term
The routines are classified according to Gersick and Hackman’s (1990) categories; routines in italics did not influence consultants, routines in bold were partially developed by consultants, and routines in normal text were decided by the client project organisation
Routines are pivotal to permanent organisations and help to shape organisational capabilities
Summary
Projects are temporary with limited lifespans, they are not necessarily short-term. The budgets of large infrastructure projects may exceed USD $1 billion, and project organisations can involve hundreds of project workers. In important ways, these megaprojects are more similar to permanent organisations than to projects addressed in project management research, though they retain the fundamental characteristic of being a temporary endeavour. Managing large infrastructure projects is undoubtedly a challenge. They often affect urban areas and are mostly managed by government authorities, something which typically implies substantial influence from political entities and heterogeneous stakeholder groups. Project organisations involve a host of companies and tasks requiring the sophisticated coordination of dispersed, specialised technical knowledge. Many megaprojects have historically been plagued by cost overruns, delays, technical complications, and negative media attention (Hertogh et al, 2008; Priemus, 2010; Lundman, 2011)
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