So many projects, so little result: The self-perpetuating cycle of inter-institutional projects

Abstract

This study aims to provide an explanation for the lack of implementation of innovation generated through publicly funded research. While previous scholars have categorized organizational cycles as either virtuous or vicious, cycles of inter-institutional projects can have simultaneous benefits for some organizations while causing drawbacks for others. Such a cycle was observed across inter-institutional projects in port logistics, where the primary objective was to implement innovation. During the investigation of ten projects, it became apparent that an excessive emphasis on certain practices at the expense of others, unintentionally resulted in delays in innovation implementation while collaborations continued to thrive. These practices led to a self-perpetuating cycle of inter-institutional projects that rarely resulted in implemented innovations. In contrast to the solutions proposed in existing literature to address organizational cycles, this study suggests that temporary hybridizing competing logics may be the root cause of cycles of inter-institutional projects.