Our Completed Research
& Relevant Reading.
Journal Articles.
Vo, H, Kirkham, R, Williams, T, Howells, A, Forster, R & Cook-Davies, T 2021, 'An empirical study of assurance in the UK government major projects portfolio: from data to recommendations, to action or inaction', International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.
Caught in a crossfire: Front-end decision-making in airport expansion programmes
Pierpaolo Avanzi, Vedran Zerjav 2020, ‘Caught in a crossfire: Front-end decision-making in airport expansion programmes’, Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2020.100222
How to measure and manage the UK Government’s major project portfolio
Bourne, M., Anker, D., Chambers, G. and Torjai, L. (2020), "How to measure and manage the UK Government’s major project portfolio", Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 461-474. https://doi.org/10.1108/MBE-02-2020-0035
Project Transitions—Navigating Across Strategy, Delivery, Use, and Decommissioning
Locatelli G, Zerjav V, Klein G. Project Transitions—Navigating Across Strategy, Delivery, Use, and Decommissioning. Project Management Journal. 2020;51(5):467-473. doi:10.1177/8756972820953976
The manifestation of coordination failures in service triads
Kalra, J., Lewis, M. and Roehrich, J.K. (2020), "The manifestation of coordination failures in service triads", Supply Chain Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-03-2019-0115
Denicol, J., Davies, A., Krystallis, I., 2020. What Are the Causes and Cures of Poor Megaproject Performance? A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda: Proj. Manag. J.
What about the people? Micro-foundations of open innovation in megaprojects
Locatelli, G., Greco, M., Invernizzi, D.C., Grimaldi, M., Malizia, S., 2020. What about the people? Micro-foundations of open innovation in megaprojects. Int. J. Proj. Manag.
Types and functions of special purpose vehicles in infrastructure megaprojects
Sainati, T., Locatelli, G., Smith, N., Brookes, N., Olver, G., 2020. Types and functions of special purpose vehicles in infrastructure megaprojects. Int. J. Proj. Manag. 38, 243–255.
Adil Eltigani, Paul Gardiner, Richard Kirkham, Terry Williams, Lixiong Ou & Antonio Calabrese (2019) Learning in and from projects: the learning modes and a learning capability model, Production Planning & Control, DOI: 10.1080/09537287.2019.1690175
Governing major transformation portfolios in practice: illustrations from the UK central government
Kortantamer, D., 2019. Governing major transformation portfolios in practice: illustrations from the UK central government. Int. J. Manag. Proj. Bus. 12, 755–784.
The front-end of projects: a systematic literature review and structuring
Williams, T., Vo, H., Samset, K., Edkins, A., 2019. The front-end of projects: a systematic literature review and structuring. Prod. Plan. Control 30, 1137–1169.
Terry Williams, Hang Vo, Mike Bourne, Pippa Bourne, Terry Cooke-Davies, Richard Kirkham, Gordon Masterton, Paolo Quattrone & Jason Valette (2019): A cross-national comparison of public project benefits management practices – the effectiveness of benefits management frameworks in application, Production Planning & Control
Howard, M., Roehrich, J.K., Lewis, M.A., Squire, B., 2019. Converging and Diverging Governance Mechanisms: The Role of (Dys)Function in Long-term Inter-organizational Relationships. Br. J. Manag. 30, 624–644.
Risk assessment in public contracts
Bloomfield, K., 2019. Risk assessment in public contracts. Eur. Procure. Public Priv. Partnersh. Law Rev. 14.
Systemic risk in major public contracts
Bloomfield, K., Williams, T., Bovis, C., Merali, Y., 2019. Systemic risk in major public contracts. Int. J. Forecast. 35, 667–676.
Zerjav, V., Edkins, A., & Davies, A. (2018). Project capabilities for operational outcomes in inter-organisational settings: The case of London Heathrow Terminal 2. International Journal of Project Management, 36(3), 444-459
Cha, J., Newman, M. and Winch, G. (2018), "Revisiting the project management knowledge framework: Rebalancing the framework to include transformation projects", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 1026-1043. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-11-2017-0147
Our Webinars.
Multi-dimensional Impacts of Infrastructure Project Delivery
10th November 2020
Delivered by our Project X members: Dr Richard Kirkham, Professor Terry Williams, Terri Harrington, Fiona Spencer and Amanda Howells
This webinar explored the concept of 'multi-dimensional impacts' of infrastructure project delivery in the UK and internationally.
Infrastructure project delivery in the UK, and the role of the economic and social sciences in shaping the public’s understanding of how the benefits of investment are identified, justified managed and realised is the focus of this seminar - part of the Manchester ESRC Festival of Social Sciences.
Infrastructure is a catalyst for economic and social mobility. This includes physical infrastructure (roads, railways, ports, bridges etc.) and social infrastructure (education, community centres etc). As tools for territorial restructuring and repositioning, infrastructure projects are often intended to facilitate people movement, capital investment, connecting regions, removing inequality and unlocking economic opportunities. Therefore, a clearer understanding of the impacts (costs and benefits) of major infrastructure projects is crucial for decision-making by local, regional and national governments. Based on several multi-disciplinary works on the economic and socio-political implications and management of projects undertaken by the research team members, this workshop stimulated discussion on the future for infrastructure investment in a COVID19 world.
The Ingredients of Successful Megaproject Management
18th June 2020
The webinar is accessible to PMI members here.
This webinar was delivered by our Project X researchers: Dr Juliano Denicol, and Professor Andrew Davies
This webinar presents the results of a two-year research project funded by the Project Management Institute about the performance of megaprojects. Researchers conducted a systematic review of the megaproject management literature, in which over 6,000 scientific papers were analysed to identify the causes and cures to address poor megaproject performance.
The paper identifies six themes, which reveal 18 causes of poor performance and 54 solutions:
· Decision-making behaviour
· Strategy, governance and procurement
· Risk and uncertainty
· Leadership and capable teams
· Stakeholder engagement and management
· Supply chain integration and coordination
To learn more about this review, read the full research paper: What are the causes and cures of poor megaproject performance?
Benefits Realisation Management and the Public Sector
20th May 2020
This webinar was funded and hosted by the PMI, and delivered by our Project X researchers: Terry Williams, and Richard Kirkham.
The webinar slide deck can be accessed here.
Project Governance: From Data to Recommendations to Action or Inaction
15th January 2019
This webinar was funded and hosted by the PMI, and is available to PMI members.
Assurance reviews are essential to the overall good governance of major public projects and programs; in this webinar, we explore some of the challenges around framing and implementing assurance review recommendations during the life-cycle. PMI have funded a research study led by The University of Hull, which seeks to uncover how the treatment of assurance review data influences recommendations and the subsequent actions (or inactions) that arise, using a definitive set of data. During the webinar, we discuss some of the implications arising from the findings of this study, explore suggestions for improving current assurance processes in practice and identify recommendations for future research.
This webinar was delivered by our Project X researchers: Hang Vo, Terry Williams, and Richard Kirkham
Access this Webinar with your PMI Log-In
Our Industry Reports.
Enhancing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for Transport Infrastructure Skills
ICE Report: A Systems Approach to Infrastructure Delivery.
APM Report: Project and Programme Research Centres: Lessons for Scholarship, Policy and Practice.
PMI Report: Identifying and Realizing Project Benefits: Recommendations for Improvement.
PMI Report: Developing the Practice of Governance.
APM Report: Leadership: Responding to Complexity.
PMI Report: A Systematic Literature Review: The Front End of Projects.
PMI Report: Benefits Realization Management
PMI Report: Identifying and Realizing Project Benefits: Effectiveness of Frameworks in Application.
APM Report: Project leadership: skills, behaviours, knowledge and values.
APM Report: Project capabilities for operational outcomes in inter-organisational settings
PMI Report: Project Governance: From Data to Recommendations to Action or Inaction.
APM Report: Conditions for Project Success.
Theses.
The intelligent client: learning to govern through numbers at Heathrow
Vine, Rebecca (2018). Doctoral thesis (PhD), University of Sussex.
Systemic risk in public sector outsourcing contracts
Bloomfield, Katherine (2018). Doctoral thesis (PhD), University of Hull.
This thesis was sponsored by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory between 2015-2018.
Performance of Public Sector Information Systems Projects: The Case of UK Central Government
Cha, Jong Hyuk (2016). Doctoral Thesis (PhD), University of Manchester.
Book Chapters.
Civil Engineering Procedure, Eighth Edition, Chapter One: Civil Engineering Projects
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) (2020).
Working Papers.
Delivering Impact in an expertise economy (Blog 1)
Research by Dr Rebecca Vine and Professor Paul Nightingale, SPRU
Delivering Impact in an Expertise Economy (Blog 2)
Research by Dr Rebecca Vine and Professor Paul Nightingale, SPRU
Riskwork in the construction of Heathrow Terminal 2
Research by Dr Rebecca Vine, SPRU Working Paper Dec 2020, Innovation and Project Management
Conference Papers.
The Role of Risk Allocation on Achieving Collaborative Outcomes in the Commissioning of Major Public Projects
Research by Yasmin Merali et al. Presented at EURAM 2020 in December 2020.
Shifting social constructions of time in the front-end of temporary organisations
Research by Vedran Zerjav. Presented at the 36th EGOS Annual Colloquium 2020 in July 2020.
The Role and Recognition of the Gestation Phase in Temporary Organisations
Research by Doctor Katherine Bloomfield and Doctor Vedran Zerjav. Presented at 36th EGOS Annual Colloquium in July 2020
Front-end Risk and its Consequences for Interorganisational Collaboration in Complex Projects
Research by Doctor Katherine Bloomfield and Professor Yasmin Merali. Presented at EurOMA Conference 2020 in June 2020
The Hinterlands of Project Management? Project Bookends and the (Neglected) Role of Boundary Organising
Research by Prof Andrew Edkins, Dr Vedran Zerjav, Prof Mike Lewis and Fiona Spencer. Presented at the EPOC 2018 Conference, Engineering Project Organization Society, Brijuni, Croatia, June 25-27, 2018.
Transition from Project to Operation in Infrastructure Megaprojects: Coordination by Mutual Adjustment
Research by Zerjav, V., Nussbaum, T. and Whyte, J. Proceedings of the 34th EGOS Colloquium, European Group for Organizational Studies, Tallinn, Estonia, 5-7 July 2018.