Project (management): a debate beyond “pop management”

Project management is constantly evolving and plays a crucial role in all organizations (Söderlund, 2004). As the complexity of projects and the speed of changes in the business environment increase, the community of scholars and practitioners must stay abreast of the latest trends and developments in the field (Steen Klein, & Potts, 2022).

The significant advances in the field of project management did not come without many challenges, particularly when considering the organization’s need to adapt to an ever-changing environment. Some of these challenges include increasing complexity, risk management, workforce heterogeneity, sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) issues, as well as technology and data security.

Studies on projects (and project management) share many similarities with other areas of administration. In this context, they have inspired what is known as “pop management,” which refers to books, texts, and articles designed for quick consumption without a scientific basis, often produced by the business media (Wood & Paula, 2002).

The lack of methodological rigor, commitment to science, and the media shows performed by project management gurus can compromise and, in extreme cases, reduce this field of knowledge to tactical-operational discussions. According to Unterhitzenberger (2021), this approach to project management has led to its exclusion from corporate strategy formulation and implementation.

However, our viewpoint in this editorial aligns with Sabini, Muzio, and Alderman (2019) and Gerardi and Söderlund (2018), advocating that projects should be seen both as instruments for implementing strategies and as sources of emerging strategic insights.

In this sense, it is necessary to encourage further research on how organizational strategy is translated into the project level and to understand the factors supporting the project’s bidirectional communication and implementation strategies (Slavinski, Todorović, & Obradović, 2023).

Discussions on project management can also focus on sustainable projects and project sustainability. Additionally, they should address Artificial Intelligence and how emerging technologies can be used to enhance project planning, execution, and monitoring. Other research avenues to explore include leadership development in project management, especially leadership in crisis environments, and advanced risk management, which involves improving the identification and mitigation of risks through advanced analysis techniques. Lastly, there is always the possibility of advancing the debate about ethics, morals, values, and organizational purposes.

With this backdrop, we invited Professors Lavagnon Ika (University of Ottawa; University of Pretoria), Marcos Lopez Rego (PUC-Rio), Vered Holzman (The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo), and Nuno Gil (University of Manchester) to organize this special issue addressing the theme of “Infrastructure delivery and project management in low-and middle-income economies.” This issue also welcomes studies in other areas, such as accounting and entrepreneurship.

We begin this edition with an invited article titled “Invisible Shareholder: a theoretical perspective on the relationship among natural capital, business, and society” by authors Rayla dos Santos Oliveira Dias and Aracéli Cristina de S. Ferreira. They argue that natural capital, derived from natural resources comprising our natural heritage, contributes to creating value in businesses. They point out that accounting often overlooks society’s contribution to this value and propose the theoretical perspective of the “invisible shareholder,” emphasizing the need to recognize society’s role as a supplier of natural capital to businesses.

Next, this issue includes a contribution from our guest editors, offering insights in their presentation, “Special issue: infrastructure delivery and project management in low-and middle-income economies.”

In the article “Underdevelopment historical analysis about management in Brazil: the influence of the World Bank on the consolidation of managerialism in public projects in the developing countries,” Adele de Toledo Carneiro explores the influence of multilateral institutions in development projects in Brazil through a historical review of the concept of development management.

Authors Ana Karine Pereira, Alexandre de Ávila Gomide, Raphael Machado, and Marcela Ibiapino use Mill’s method of difference to compare the role of governance arrangements’ conditions in processing five socio-environmental demands related to the implementation of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant and the paving of BR-163 in Brazil in their article, “Governance arrangements for socio-environmental sustainability in the implementation of large infrastructure projects in the Brazilian.” They find that the relevance of these conditions depends on the context and identify that the condition “social participation effectiveness” is shared by all successful cases.

The fifth article, “A territorial approach for infrastructure project management: the case of the hydropower plant of Belo Monte, Pará, Brazil,” is written by Daniela Gomes Pinto and Marco Antonio Carvalho Teixeira. The authors conducted a documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews to build a case study about the development of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant in the Brazilian Amazon. The case explores how a territorial approach to infrastructure governance can affect project management.

The article “Budget performance and governance in infrastructure project management: the case of Brazilian inland waterway transport” is authored by Bruna Renata Cavalcante de Barros, Eliezé Bulhões de Carvalho, and Antonio Cesar Pinho Brasil Junior. In this article, the researchers assess the budget execution of Brazilian waterway infrastructure and examine the governance arrangements designed to determine the influence of these factors on policy failures.

The seventh article, “Entrepreneurship in a circular economy: a systematic review of material cycles and business models,” is written by Marianna Konyosi Miyashiro, Nadia Kassouf Pizzinatto, Alexandre Luzzi Las Casas, and Márcio Shoiti Kuniyoshi. The authors conduct a systematic literature review and analyze the current entrepreneurship landscape, observing a correlation between the quantitative aspects of publications, the economic activities studied, and the solutions found by enterprises through material cycles and business models.

Subsequently, we present the article by Loreni Maria dos Santos Braum, Vânia Maria Jorge Nassif, Júlio Araujo Carneiro da Cunha, and Luis Eduardo Brandão Paiva, “Propensity to entrepreneurship and its antecedents: development and validation of a measurement scale.” The authors introduce their work on developing and validating the Measurement Scale of the Propensity to Entrepreneurship and Its Antecedents (EMPEA).

The article “Multidimensional impact of research: developing and testing a model for assessment,” written by Thomaz Wood Junior and Adriana Wilner, aims to develop an impact evaluation model and demonstrates the experimental application of the model.

Fabio Emanuel Farago, Felipe Mendes Borini, and Leonardo Augusto de Vasconcelos Gomes present the article “Business ecosystem management: a capabilities-based view.” The study seeks to identify and map the capabilities applied to the management of business ecosystems.

Finally, this issue includes two teaching cases. The first is “Buying your way in: Brazil’s biggest football club internationalization strategy,” by Clarice Secches Kogut and João Vitor Fernandes Carvalho. The second is “Breaking down barriers to citizen participation: the case of CGE-GO,” by Victória Vilvert Costa, Daniel Moraes Pinheiro, and Everton Luis Pelizzaro de Lorenzi Cancellier.

We hope you enjoy your reading!

REFERÊNCIAS

• Geraldi, J. & J. Söderlund (2018). Project studies: What it is, where it is going. International Journal of Project Management, 36(1), 55-70. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.06.004
  » https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.06.004
• Sabini, L., Muzio, D., & Alderman, N. (2019). 25 years of ‘sustainable projects’. What we know and what the literature says. International Journal of Project Management, 37(6), 820-838. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2019.05.002
  » https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2019.05.002
• Slavinski, T., Todorović, M., & Obradović, V. (2023). The past will guide us: What the future could bring according to the last 40 years of IJPM? International Journal of Project Management, 41(5), 102481. Recuperado dehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2023.102481
  » https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2023.102481
• Söderlund, J. (2004). Building theories of project management: past research, questions for the future. International Journal of Project Management, 22(3), 183-191. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(03)00070-X
  » https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(03)00070-X
• Steen, J., Klein, G., & Potts, J. (2022). 21st-century general-purpose technologies and the future of project management. Project Management Journal, 53(5), 435-437. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1177/87569728221125095
  » https://doi.org/10.1177/87569728221125095
• Unterhitzenberger, C. (2021). Project Management Journal® Special Issue on Project Behavior. Project Management Journal, 52(6), 527-530. Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1177/ 87569728211054716
  » https://doi.org/10.1177/ 87569728211054716
• Wood, T., & Paula, A. (2002). Pop-management: contos de paixão, lucro e poder. Organizações & Sociedade, 9(24). Recuperado de https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-92302002000200003
  » https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-92302002000200003

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  17 Nov 2023
• Date of issue
  2023