Inter-organizational Projects Research Articles

Interorganizational knowledge sharing barriers and enablers: the case of Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit project

PurposeThe paper aims at identifying knowledge sharing barriers and enablers in an interorganizational setting at different levels of units. For this purpose, the interorganizational setting of Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit project in Pakistan is examined.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts an exploratory single case study approach. The empirical data comprise semi-structured interviews and archival documents. Thematic analysis is used for analyzing the data.FindingsThe findings identify distinct knowledge sharing barriers and enablers at different level of units (individual, team, organizational and interorganizational). Based on the findings, an integrative framework of knowledge sharing barriers, enablers, and levels of units is proposed. Furthermore, the findings provide guidance to managers as the findings show how different knowledge sharing barriers and enablers are important at different levels of units.Originality/valueThis study novelty lies in determining separate sets of knowledge sharing barriers and enablers at different level of units in an interorganizational project. This study contributes to the literature on knowledge sharing by studying an interorganizational project.

Interorganizational R&D projects in clustering contexts: A resource interaction perspective

Interorganizational relationships have been acknowledged as engines of innovation. Collaboration often takes the form of interorganizational projects (IOPs) concerned with R&D and innovation activities, and a context where R&D IOPs are implemented is high-tech clusters. Notwithstanding the attention on local innovation, there are limited insights into the features, functioning, and impact of cluster-promoted formal mechanisms. This study provides an understanding of how cluster firms participate in cluster-promoted R&D IOPs and the main effects of their involvement in the development of technological and organizational resources. A case-study methodology is adopted to analyze the development process of the Apulia Space Project, implemented in the Aerospace Technological Cluster of the Apulia Region (Italy). The Resource Interaction Approach and 4R model are the frameworks of reference. The study shows that the cluster-promoted IOP represents a valuable organizational resource itself and its effectiveness is increased if its “project identity” embodies a strong “shared cluster identity”.

The role of communication style in adaptation to interorganizational project disruptions

AbstractInterorganizational projects often suffer disruptions that require participating organizations to adapt in order to restore project operations. We study the role of communication style in facilitating adaptation to such disruptions. Whereas the literature on interorganizational communication has emphasized communication mode and frequency, we study the content and features of written communication in seven U.K. construction projects. Communication style mattered for adaptation quality in these projects, and we found that several properties of communication style were particularly important for adaptation: cost and information orientation, as well as informality, precision and authenticity. Moreover, managerial slack and organizational reputation were important precursors of communication style. These results provide novel insights into the role of communication style in adaptation to interorganizational project disruptions. We discuss the implications of these insights for research on interorganizational projects in operations and supply chain management.

Organizing for knowledge creation in a strategic interorganizational innovation project

A fundamental challenge for interorganizational innovation projects is employing diverse actors’ knowledge, expertise and perspectives for situation-specific demands of complex innovation. Innovation advancement is dependent on the degree to which knowledge is used and synthesized to address emerging and situation-specific demands of innovation. The goal of this study is to shed light on organizing for joint knowledge creation in a strategic interorganizational innovation project. Based on an inductive analysis of interview data from one strategic interorganizational innovation project, we identified the iterative process, self-organizing working groups and dynamic participation as practices through which the actors involved arranged and enacted their joint efforts, namely, knowledge creation and progress of innovation. This study contributes to research on managing strategic interorganizational projects by suggesting that organizing, which involves structural and informal organizing practices, supports managing strategic interorganizational projects where the diverse actors’ knowledge integration is at the core of the innovation project's goals.

Towards Sustainable Project Management: Evaluation of Relationship-Specific Risks and Risk Determinants Threatening to Achieve the Intended Benefit of Interorganizational Cooperation in Engineering Projects

Nowadays, we can observe a growing number of investment projects in the construction industry and environmental engineering, as well as a growing interest in socially responsible projects aiming to contribute to sustainable development. Interorganizational cooperation in engineering projects is associated with many opportunities and risks that continue to be a challenge for today’s world. The aim of this work is to identify and assess relationship-specific risks and risk determinants threatening to achieve the intended benefit of interorganizational cooperation and to develop assumptions for the risk management model in such projects. It will support sustainable project management in interorganizational engineering projects and increase their sustainability. In this work, 18 risks and 28 risk determinants were identified. Risks’ frequency of occurrence, consequences, possibility of detection and Risk Priority Numbers as well as the significance of risk determinants were assessed based on the data gathered from 12,352 interorganizational projects from 100 Polish companies. It was found that self-interest orientation, hiding internal problems and/or problems related to the joint venture, unfavourable and imprecise contract, and lack of a good project coordinator pose the highest risk in interorganizational engineering projects. The study revealed that the highest Risk Priority Numbers in interorganizational projects were generally obtained for construction projects, lower for socially responsible projects taken by engineering companies, and the lowest for environmental engineering projects.

Risk assessment of unfavorable interorganizational relationships in CSR projects considering the logistic aspects

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to present a new model for risk assessment of unfavorable interorganizational relationships, among other things, in ventures classified as corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects. Design/methodology/approach: Scenario analysis, brainstorm sessions, literature study and own observations of interorganizational projects were used to develop a list of unwanted events and factors determining their occurrence. In the proposed risk assessment model, fault tree analysis and fuzzy logic were applied for qualitative and quantitative risk analysis. Thanks to applying the elements of fuzzy sets theory, it was possible to decrease the uncertainty and lack of precision in obtaining crisp values of the basic events’ probability. Findings: In this work 13 basic events and 41 risk factors determining occurrence of unfavorable interorganizational relationships in ventures were identified and described. The proposed model enabled to carry out qualitative and quantitative risk assessment of unfavorable interorganizational relationships projects. Its practical application was shown in an example of interorganizational CSR project concerning the organization of a mass event, considering its logistics aspects. Research limitations/implications: It is necessary to involve experts in risk assessment. This could be overcome by applying machine learning in future research. Practical implications: The application of the proposed model allows to effectively identify the critical risks, which should be of particular attention during the risk treatment stage. It aims to give a helping hand to all managers and practitioners who want to deliver attainable and successful interorganizational projects, supporting meeting the expectation of the engaged stakeholders. Social implications: Socially responsible activities contribute to solving and counteracting social problems. Originality/value: A novel risk assessment model of unfavorable interorganizational relationships in which 13 basic events and 41 risk determinants were considered. The model was presented at ventures classified as Corporate Social Responsibility projects. Keywords: risk assessment; interorganizational relationships; Corporate Social Responsibility; fuzzy logic; logistics for the organization of a mass event. Category of the paper: Research paper.

The Role of Communication Style in Adaptation to Interorganizational Project Disruptions

The Role of Communication Style in Adaptation to Interorganizational Project Disruptions

Open Innovation Process for Inter-Organizational Projects

Open Innovation (OI) research has covered various organizational forms in dimensions of durability (permanent versus temporary organizing) and organizational scope (intra- or inter-organizational). Inter-organizational forms - both temporary and permanent – are regarded mainly as modes of OI. However, these organizational forms also act as initiators of OI activities to extend knowledge transfer across the inter-organizational consortium borders, which is hardly researched. To address this gap, the research presented in this article develops an OI process for inter-organizational projects (IOP) as initiators of OI. The initial model is developed by action research with an IOP of museums and educational institutions implementing a series of hackathons. The model’s applicability is then evaluated for other IOPs by a survey, indicating the model’s suitability for practitioners. Findings point to the importance of collaborative activities for aligning the OI initiative with both individual partners’ and common project goals, while outbound activities are regarded least important despite the time-limitation of the project. The research is limited by its focus on the specific IOP environment of EU-funded projects and the small scope of the survey.

Coping With Institutional Complexity and Voids: An Organization Design Perspective for Transnational Interorganizational Projects

This study investigates how transnational interorganizational projects (IOPs) cope with institutional complexity and voids. A case study of a cross-border gas pipeline suggests the coexistence of institutional complexity and voids that amplify collaboration hazards in developing transnational IOPs. Institutional complexity harms the feasibility of a unified form of organizing, whereas institutional voids sabotage the ability of involved organizations to collaborate in a market-based approach. A hybrid organization featured by modular structure, complementary advantages, and system integrator, was designed to navigate complex institutional environments. This study contributes to the project–organization–institution linkage by depicting the impacts of institutions on project organizing.

Modeling and Analysis of Interorganizational Knowledge Transfer Considering Reputation Mechanisms

Transferring a quantity of credible knowledge is a key sustainable competitive advantage for multi-agent cooperation in an interorganizational network (ION). This study presents simulation research to identify the impacts of reputation mechanisms in interorganizational knowledge transfer through systematic evolutionary game theory, addressing the sustainability of knowledge transfer behaviors in innovation, R&D, and low green carbon. The simulation results showed that an agent’s reputation provides information about having valuable knowledge, which can reduce some of the opportunistic behaviors of knowledge transfer faced by knowledge agents. Regardless of its form, we found that reputation distribution significantly promotes interorganizational knowledge transfer behaviors. In addition, higher reputation thresholds and more significant differences in the impact of high and low reputations prominently contribute to knowledge transfer efficiency and effectiveness. The relationship between reputation mechanisms and the efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge transfer is examined. This study sheds light on the sustainable management of interorganizational projects from reputation mechanisms.

The motives system for developing project-based inter-organizational cooperation

Despite the importance of motives in driving cooperation formation, project management literature lacks an inclusive and systematic framework to recognize the motives for project-based inter-organizational cooperation (PIOC). PIOC that arises when inter-organizational cooperation and inter-organizational project collaboration fuse is a new form of inter-organizational relationships. By combing interview data with the theoretical framework based on prior literature, the current paper constructed a conceptual model of the motives system for PIOC, including five groups of motives related to project performance, organizational benefits, project risks, organizational risks, and relational motives. A typology of PIOC was proposed consisting of four types classified on the actors’ relative positions in the value chain and roles in the project. Differences in motives between PIOC types and differences in strength between motives themselves were discussed in light of empirical examples. This study contributes a syatematic perspective on recognizing the cooperation motives. It suggests future research to focus on the motives’ differences among various cooperation contexts due to the lack of theoretical support for these differences found in this paper.

The evolution of R&D collaboration in inter-organizational project networks: Effects of reference points for competitive preference

This study examines the evolution of R&D collaboration in inter-organizational project networks by simulating the play of an appropriate game model. We assume that players display reference-dependent competitive preferences, in that each player’s utility is the sum of a material payoff and a subjective utility that depends on the difference between her material payoff and those of her neighbors. Some players, called max-players, are aggressively competitive, comparing their payoffs to the maximum payoff of their neighbors; the others, called min-players, are prudent, comparing their payoffs to their neighbors’ minimum. In each period, a player decides whether to share a high level or a low level of knowledge with her neighbors. We find that the mean collaboration level across the network decreases as a parameter representing the ability to make use of a partner’s knowledge increases. When the majority of decision-makers are min-players, a higher competitive preference intensity induces greater average collaboration, but the level of collaboration decreases as preference heterogeneity increases. In contrast, a high intensity of competitive preference prevents the diffusion of collaboration when most decision-makers are max-players, and increased competitive preference heterogeneity leads to greater collaboration. Furthermore, increasing the fraction of max-players leads to a decrease in the total payoff of the entire network. Collaboration in an inter-organizational network is more robust when most decision-makers are max-players. Nonetheless, max-players and min-players are equally likely to collaborate when either type is in the majority.

Learning from interorganizational projects

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to consolidate the existing research on interorganizational projects and to explore how organizations learn by closely examining multilevel learning, that is, organizational and interorganizational learning.Design/methodology/approachThis article adopts a single case study approach, examining the Islamabad–Rawalpindi Metro project in Pakistan, with data consisting of interview results and archival data. An inductive approach is used for data analysis.FindingsAn empirically grounded learning model was developed based on an interorganizational project following eight lessons: capacity building, personality traits of leadership, working procedures, impeccable planning and implementation, involvement of stakeholders, design compatibility, investigation of underground services, conditions and maintenance of databases, and conceive rational timelines. These lessons learned were classified into three categories: (1) organizational capacity, (2) organizational embeddedness and (3) collective awareness.Originality/valueThis paper develops a novel learning model that can deepen our understanding of the practices and processes involved in multilevel learning. This study contributes to and extends the literature on organizational and interorganizational learning by studying an interorganizational setting.

Sustainability Transition through Dynamics of Circular Construction Projects

The aim of this paper is to better understand the dynamics of circular construction projects and how these interorganizational projects contribute to the transition towards a circular economy. It is essential that the construction sector develops and adopts interorganizational initiatives to support the transition to a circular and low-carbon construction economy. A benefit of being involved in such initiatives is that organizations reflect on the emergence and acceptance of new practices related to changing organizational roles and responsibilities. In this paper, we study eight circular construction projects within the context of an interorganizational initiative to stimulate the transition towards a circular economy by exploring insights from evaluations thereof. We build upon literature from Sustainability Transitions Research (STR), circular construction research, and interorganizational project studies. Our findings show three clusters of dynamics that are relevant in the realization of circular ambitions in interorganizational construction projects: (1) prerequisites, (2) temporal dynamics in interorganizational projects, and (3) contextual influences. These insights highlight factors that enable the realization of circular ambitions in construction projects and contribute to our understanding of the dynamics of interorganizational construction projects and their role in the context of STR.

Prior and governed stakeholder relationships: The key to resilience of inter-organizational projects

Increasingly, scholars are recognising the importance of resilience in projects. However, there is a lack of research on the resilience of temporary inter-organisational projects while considering the intricate relationship among multiple stakeholder organisations. We conducted an embedded comparative case study to investigate the mechanisms how stakeholder relationships involving prior ties and inter-organisational governance in the project support its resilience. Our results show that few prior ties among stakeholders keep them vigilant, fostering the readiness and preparedness for resilience, while many prior ties keep social solidarity among stakeholders, fostering the response and recovery for resilience. Contractual and relational governance improves resilience by clarifying stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities and forming collective cognition, respectively. We believe a plural governance design based on prior ties among stakeholders will improve resilience of the inter-organisational project, by promoting dynamically distributed and centralised stakeholder engagement in preparing, responding and recovering from the unexpected.

Mechanisms and Dynamics in the Interplay of Trust and Distrust: Insights from project-based collaboration

Trust and distrust are two distinct organizing principles that play a critical role in interorganizational projects where highly interdependent organizations collaborate to build tailor-made and technologically complex solutions. Whereas an emerging body of research has debated the conceptual distinction between trust and distrust, this paper emphasizes the processual nature of trusting and distrusting and the interplay between them. Drawing upon insights from project-based collaboration in a complex products and systems industry, we explore the distinct cognitive and behavioral mechanisms through which trust and distrust work and orient firms towards optimism and watchfulness in the interaction. Our findings show that trust and distrust can act both as substitutes and complements through three interconnected dynamics—undermining, enabling, and compensating. These dynamics develop and recursively interrelate through interfirm interactions within single projects and in the broader network. We conclude by presenting our contributions to interorganizational trust literature and by proposing that the interplay of trust and distrust can have both positive and negative effects on the pursuit of project-based relationships.

Emergence and Evolution of Network Structures in Complex Interorganizational Project Teams

AbstractNetworks in complex interorganizational engineering project teams are shaped by individuals’ actions to perform specific project functions. These networks are dynamic; they change based on ...

Science-Nonscience Research Partnership in Poland

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to inquire into the network structure of publicly financed research collaboration, which Polish scientific institutions undertake with their commercial and non-commercial partners from a multilevel perspective (international, domestic, and intra-regional one). Design/Methodology/Approach: Data collected from the POL-on was used. There were identified 97 publicly financed scientific inter-organizational projects launched in 2019. Social network analysis was applied: there were recognized components, bi-components, centrality measures were calculated (degree, closeness, betweenness). Findings: Polish scientific institutions conduct cross-sectoral projects at different hierarchical levels, and nearly half of them involve partners from different domestic regions. A trilateral partnership between sectors is visible within international projects, while at domestic and local levels, science collaborates with those sectors separately. Warsaw University of Technology is a dominant entity recognized within the identified network. Practical Implications: The conducted analysis helped describe some effects of the public financing system of Polish science. There were also indicated entities of significant meaning within this network. Particular science sector institutions may apply the research results to their future strategies. Originality/Value: This study enriches the empirical investigation on cross-sectoral research collaboration in Poland (that includes not only university-industry-government linkages but also encompasses other types of scientific, commercial, and non-commercial entities). Moreover, a multilevel perspective was applied.

Shared and fragmented understandings in interorganizational IT project teams: An interpretive case study

Shared understanding is essential in interorganizational projects to integrate the divergent knowledge of individual team members and support collaborative knowledge building. This can nevertheless be a challenging undertaking in interorganizational projects as team members must continuously negotiate differences in their organizational and professional backgrounds during project work. In this paper, we explore how interorganizational IT project teams deal with sources of ‘fragmentation’ in their understanding, explicating the theoretical and practical implications that these have for project management. Our study is needed to explore the increasingly complex and emergent nature of interorganizational project management today where neither goals nor the means of attainment are known with precision at a project's launch. We analyze interpretive case study findings from an 8-month IT project involving diverse organizations from industry, academia, and healthcare. Based on our findings, we develop a framework which highlights the relationship between three sources of fragmentation of understanding (interpersonal, technical, and contextual) across key project activities. We contribute towards project management literature by revealing how these sources of fragmentation might be overcome through framing project activities (the problem, method, and solution formulation) differently. While fragmentation may characterize any, or all, of these key activities, it is not without remedy.

New routine formation in temporary interorganizational project

Organizational routines have been a useful concept to understand how organizations work. In interorganizational settings, routines can largely influence the effectiveness of interfirm coordination and cooperation. New routines are often required to set up to facilitate the workflow between organizations and to balance competition and cooperation dynamics. Although we have a much better understanding of how routines are both for stability and change, we do not yet have a clear idea of how routines are born and established. In this paper, we chose to study the routine formation process and dynamics in a temporary interorganizational project, as establishing routine swiftly is vital for the survival and success of temporary organizations in an increasingly projectified society. Using an ethnographic approach, we investigated a Horizon 2020 innovation project and how its actors managed to establish the chicken sampling routine at the beginning of the project as fast as possible. In addition to the ostensive and performative aspect of routines, we identify a projective perspective that actors reflectively project and establish new routines in a layered process. We highlight the need to further explore when routines are born to better understand the lifecycle of organizational routines. In the end, we give practical suggestions to managers how the projective aspect of routines can be helpful in their day-to-day organizational life.