Unveiling the Impact of Communication Network on Engineering Project Team Performance: The Interplay of Centralization and Tie Strength

Purpose

Recent research has focused on the impact of communication networks on the performance of construction project teams, attempting empirical exploration from various social network analysis perspectives. However, there is still a significant gap in understanding the variations in performance and the mechanisms for teams using different communication networks. Drawing from organizational learning theory and social network theory, this study, based on the Input-Mediator-Output (IMO) model, explores the effects of the interaction between centralization and tie strength in communication networks on team performance, as well as the mediating mechanisms of knowledge sharing behavior and team resilience performance in engineering project teams.

Methods

Drawing on classic group communication experiment, we design an online communication and collaboration platform to simulate the execution of a construction engineering project. Finally, data was collected through the communication experiment with 720 participants, and hypotheses were tested using ANOVA and PROCESS.

Results

The results indicate that under conditions of weak tie strength, centralized communication networks yield higher performance. Conversely, under conditions of strong tie strength, decentralized communication networks demonstrate superior performance. Furthermore, this study also verifies the mediating role of knowledge sharing behavior and team resilience performance when tie strength is strong.

Conclusion

This study focuses on engineering project team, exploring the evolutionary development of knowledge sharing behavior and team resilience performance from the perspective of the interaction of communication network structural characteristics, as well as the paths to enhancing team performance. Our research results highlight the interactive effects of structural indicators and relational indicators of communication networks, revealing the mechanism by which the structure of communication networks impacts team performance. Additionally, from the perspectives of forming and timely adjusting team communication models, and motivating and supporting employee communication behavior, our study provides practical insights for project managers and relevant administrators.

Governance of Interorganizational Projects: A Process-Based Approach Applied to a Latin American–European Case

This article proposes a theoretical–conceptual model that describes how the governance of collaborative interorganizational projects (IOPs) develops over time. The model is based on empirical insights from a process-based study, which reveals that IOP governance relies on key partners as holders of a project’s capacity for specialization, centralization, coordination, and control over time. The results also show that trust and interpersonal relationships are essential elements for effective governance and the generation of relational rents. Moreover, relational factors help compensate for the destabilization of the governance configuration in case of unexpected events. These insights contribute to a theory of successful IOP management as a matter of dynamic governance.

Lord of the Flies in Project-Based Organizations: The Role of Passive Leadership on Creativity and Project Success

This study examines the role of passive project leadership in project success. The article deduces a theoretical model implying that passive project manager leadership behavior affects the success of information technology projects, directly and indirectly, via employees’ creativity. Self-regulation is proposed as a mitigating factor to minimize the destructive effects of passive leadership on creativity. The current study is based on a quantitative research design. A time lag design was used to collect data from 347 respondents working on information technology projects in Pakistan. SmartPLS was used for data analysis. The findings demonstrated that although passive leadership appears in flat organizations, it can have a negative impact on project success via creativity. Additionally, if the person is self-regulatory, it will not alter the results. The study added to the project management body of knowledge by confirming that a strong leadership role, instead of a passive one, is essential to boosting the creativity of project personnel. A passive leader remains inactive during situations where a strong leader is needed; however, self-regulation on the part of employees proved insufficient to propel a project toward success.

Network Governance for Interorganizational Temporary Organizations: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda

Governance of interorganizational networks for joint project execution has become a popular research theme in recent years. However, little is known about how the knowledge in this field is structured and how to further develop it based on the given structure. This systematic literature review identifies three main categories of literature in this field: design of network governance, network performance, and theory in network governance. Each of these categories is further divided into subcategories, which are assessed for the timely development and current state of knowledge. This provides the foundation for the development of a research agenda, which includes configurational understanding of network governance design, governing for temporary organizing particularities, and level-crossing theoretical development.

A Dynamic Capabilities Model of Innovation in Large Interfirm Projects

Large-scale projects often involve hundreds or even thousands of businesses. There are opportunities for these firms to produce innovations to solve problems and improve the project’s outcomes, but the time-bounded nature of the project and technical interdependencies also constrains innovation. Using quantitative analysis of data from firms in large oil and gas projects, we show that Teece’s sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring model of dynamic capabilities theorizes innovation in this interfirm project context. We also identify connections between these microfoundations that are not captured in Teece’s linear model, where sensing activities moderate the relationship between seizing activities and innovation.

Why Do Business Organizations Participate in Projects? Toward a Typology of Project Value Domains

Project scholarship suggests that an increasing volume of activities in organizations, economies, and societies occurs in the form of temporary projects. Drawing on research on project value, we aim to build a contextual understanding of why business organizations choose to participate in projects. Discussing value creation, capture, and destruction patterns for the owner, project-based firm, and the temporary project domains of project organizing, we develop a typology of project value domains for business organizations. We contribute to the theory and debate in project studies, integrating the conversations on the projectification of economies and societies with the stream of work on project value.

Governance Mechanism and Structural Power Fit: Evidence from an Information System Development Project

This study identifies how relational and contractual governance mechanisms differently influence the distinct output of information systems development (ISD) performance at the project level. This study also reveals how the consequence of two modes of inter-organizational relationships (IOR) governance mechanism is affected by the gap of a dyadic partner’s centrality within the network — the client’s structural power (CSP). We collected dyadic samples of clients and vendors for 107 ISD projects and explored their governance mechanisms and project performances, all of which were evaluated by both parties. Our results first reveal a positive relationship between relational (or contractual) governance and qualitative (or quantitative) performance, respectively, but not vice versa. Second, the results incorporating a structural position within the network reveal that CSP facilitates the efficacy of relational governance to lead the quantitative performance, but surprisingly, CSP also mitigates the efficacy of contractual governance.

Re-Creating Organizational Routines to Transition Through the Project Life Cycle: A Case Study of the Reconstruction of London’s Bank Underground Station

This article provides new insights into the project life cycle by proposing an alternative image to the predefined time boundary between life cycle stages. It makes a theoretical contribution by identifying how project organizations re-create patterns of action—organizational routines—as they transition through life cycle stages. It presents the findings of an autoethnographic empirical study and, through the lens of routine dynamics, contributes to the project management literature by identifying a five-stage process model of transitioning and the generative mechanisms involved in re-creating patterns of action.

How Does Governance Influence Decision Making on Projects and in Project-Based Organizations?

Research on the governance of project management suggests governmentality and governance are associated with improved project performance. However, the mechanism is unknown. We propose that they influence decision making, which, in turn, improves performance. Few articles on governance comment directly on how governance influences decision making. We identify six areas of organizational psychology that influence decision making, and study what research on the governance of project management suggests about how governance influences those six areas. We review 36 articles on the governance of project management published in the past six years in the three main journals in project management.

Applying Social Network Analysis to Identify Project Critical Success Factors

A key challenge in project management is to understand to which extent the dynamic interactions between the different project people—through formal and informal networks of collaboration that temporarily emerge across a project´s lifecycle—throughout all the phases of a project lifecycle, influence a project’s outcome. This challenge has been a growing concern to organizations that deliver projects, due their huge impact in economic, environmental, and social sustainability. In this work, a heuristic two-part model, supported with three scientific fields—project management, risk management, and social network analysis—is proposed, to uncover and measure the extent to which the dynamic interactions of project people—as they work through networks of collaboration—across all the phases of a project lifecycle, influence a project‘s outcome, by first identifying critical success factors regarding five general project collaboration types ((1) communication and insight, (2) internal and cross collaboration, (3) know-how and power sharing, (4) clustering, and (5) teamwork efficiency) by analyzing delivered projects, and second, using those identified critical success factors to provide guidance in upcoming projects regarding the five project collaboration types.