ME2018 Leading temporary
organizations and projects
Course ending
Course goals
The aim of the course is to develop advanced
in-depth knowledge on leading different
forms of temporary organizations, departing
from several contemporary perspectives in
operations management and project
management research.
Learning outcomes
The student shall be able to:
• Describe the connections, similarities and differences
between project management and general operations
management.
• Describe, analyse and solve managerial problems in
different forms of dispersed and/or network-based projects
• Use bibliographical databases for continuous learning and
development within the fields of project management and
operations management.
• Apply contemporary research perspectives for the practical
solving of managerial problems in project-based
operations.
Traditionally:
Project management research implies
development of
A set of operations management-inspired
models and techniques for the effective
handling of time-limited unique tasks
From Project Management to project
research
•
•
•
•
Forms and stages of critique
Levels of analysis
New theoretical linkages
Schools of thought
Project research as critique
Comfortable
Organizational
critique
Makes
things
complicated
Taxonomy/typology, Bounded
rationality, planning critique,
learning, stakeholder
management, temporary
organisations, improvisation, work
life
Ideological
critique
Power and control, actor network
theory, gender, diversity, labour
process
Traditional project
management
Systems theory, planning models,
team dynamics, stage-gate
models, control systems
Effectiveness
critique
Multi project methods, Critical
Chain, Risk analysis, project
evaluation & audit,
communication, project maturity
Uncomfortable
Make
things
simple
Global economy
Society
Project research in new levels of
analysis
The industry
The application
The organization
The project office
The project portfolio
The project
The team
The individual
Theoretical linkages
???
Leadership/teamwork
Entrepreneurship/
innovation
Communication/IT
Social psychology
Operations mgmt
Organization theory
Projekt
Critical mgmt-theory
SCM/logistics
Industrial dynamics
Operations analysis
Management control
Finance
Six themes
1. Lean project management
2. Project management across borders
3. The lived experience of working in
projects
4. Leadership in projects
5. Innovation, entrepreneurship and projects
6. Critical research perspectives
Exams
Tentamen (50%), LPH (25%), IJPM (25%)
Tentamen
• Questions aiming at reasoning,
argumentation, analysis and reflection
• Mandatory sign-up for the examination
through ”mina sidor” at www.kth.se no later
than two weeks before the exam
Grade setting for each exam question
Degree of
quality/
effort
E
C
A max
Question 1 (8p): Some practitioners and theorists
argue that the project as a way or working is
essentially a Western construction not suited to
other cultures around the world. Project
management presupposes a certain view of time,
of control etc, views that are not the same
everywhere, the argument goes. Is this right or
wrong? If it is right, what does that mean for the
management of cross-cultural projects? Use the
course literature in your discussion!
Question 2 (8p): In her article on UK film projects,
Linda Ludwin claimed that the extreme time
pressures implied that almost any problem in the
working conditions was accepted. A film project
became an outburst of activity where no normal
rules applied. Do you think that this is a common
feature of all projects, or is this specific to the film
industry? Is this a problem that can be solved, or is
it just an inevitable part of being a professional
project worker? Discuss!
•
•
•
•
•
Question 3 (8p): One of the themes in the course
concerned the relationships between project work and
entrepreneurship. Based on the articles by Delmar &
Shane and Lindgren & Packendorff, what main
similarities and differences do you see between:
project leaders and entrepreneurs
project planning and an entrepreneurial start-up
the project idea phase and an entrepreneurial idea phase
project management and entrepreneurship as practical
and theoretical fields
Question 4 (8p): The main reason for inquiring into project
management from critical perspectives is to identify
underlying consequences for individuals and society of the
increased use of project management in organizations. In
the sub-theme we discussed two critical perspectives on
project management; the gender perspective (Lindgren &
Packendorff) and the power/professionalisation perspective
(Hodgson). Choose one of these perspectives, explain what
it means and discuss practical implications of the
perspective if put into action.
• Question 5 (8p): A major theme in the course is the trend that
operations management (in the guise of lean manufacturing) and
project management (in the guise of standardized multi-project
management) is converging. Choose one of the below project
applications and describe (a) the reasons for increased standardization,
(b) the implication of “lean manufacturing” in this application, and (c)
discuss possible drawbacks of this development. Applications to
choose from:
• Construction industry
• Pharmaceutical development projects
• The cars/trucks industry
• Cultural industry
• Telecom industry
Theme 3 questions
• This case study presents an organizational change project in a Swedish
subsidiary of a multinational chemical corporation. The project is
enforced from above and concerns the mandatory implementation of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that was initiated by the US government as a
way of preventing fraud, corruption and accounting scandals. The case
study describes how the implementation unfolds in the Swedish
subsidiary. Your task is to analyse the implementation process and
come up with suggestions on how the implementation process could
have been improved.
• Your suggestions should be based in the previous themes of the course
and concern both the top-down perspective (i.e. how the ChemCorp
management could have handled the SOX project in a better way) and
the bottom-up perspective (i.e. how the local actors in ChemCorp
Sweden could have done a better job in handling the practical project.