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Papers by Allen McKenna
International Journal of Project Management, 2015
Conceptualizing complex projects, especially in the face of powerful communities of conflicting s... more Conceptualizing complex projects, especially in the face of powerful communities of conflicting stakeholders can be messy. Doing so requires some means of coordinating the different ideas of stakeholders. The pragmatic cultural ethics summarized in the Australian 'mate-ship' argues success requires opportunity be given to all. This pragmatic philosophy provides the solution by offering all stakeholders the opportunity to be heard. After briefly reviewing pragmatism, this paper draws on the work of McKenna and Metcalfe and the linguistic turn, published in an earlier version of the International Journal of Project Management. It explains how this method can be used to help project managers conceive projects made complex by powerful communities of conflicting stakeholders. It then uses an Australian based organizational change project as an example of its application. Idea mapping is used to categorize stakeholder statements, revealing underlying linguistic concepts. It is argued that this approach provides a practical, yet philosophical and scientifically sound means of conceptualizing complex projects, and one that takes genuine advantage of the experience and knowledge of a wide range of stakeholders.
International Journal of Project Management, 2013
Prior and conflicting stakeholder concerns can make projects complex. Listening to, and integrati... more Prior and conflicting stakeholder concerns can make projects complex. Listening to, and integrating, this concern into the project is easier said than done. However the pragmatic ethics of the Australian 'fair-go' argues long term success requires an attempt be made. This pragmatic philosophy provides a solution by explaining the relationship between community, conceptualization and agreed reasonable action. After introducing pragmatism, this paper uses an Australian based re-organization project to explain why linguistic concepts might be used to conceive projects made complex by conflicting stakeholders. The philosophy is made operational by using idea networking to reveal the concepts underpinning stakeholders' comments. This method clusters similar statements to enable exposure of these underlying concepts (themes, meta narrative), which are named. It was found that using this concept driven method provides an internally consistent means of conceptualizing projects with conflicting stakeholders' concerns.
International Journal of Business Strategy, 2015
This paper reviews the management cognition literature. It explores some of the paths that resear... more This paper reviews the management cognition literature. It explores some of the paths that research on cognition and strategy has taken over the last twenty five years. It does this by highlighting some of the challenges in establishing cognitive explanationsthose of the creation of useful measures of cognition, linking cognition to performance, outcomes and actions as well as making sense of organizational change. It is argued that cognitive explanations in strategy are being recognised as useful and legitim ate, alongside more traditional explanations in management and organizational research. This paper closes with some thoughts about promising future paths for the strategic management community that builds on the primary insights of various influential writ ers. In light of this, it raises some important questions: What methods might be useful for strategic alliances as well as other types of complex organizational change processes? Where do concepts come from? How should organizations adapt to changing circu mstances? What methods are best to measure team cognition? How does the CEO's vision develop and how is it influenced and how can it become shared?
International Journal of Project Management, 2015
Conceptualizing complex projects, especially in the face of powerful communities of conflicting s... more Conceptualizing complex projects, especially in the face of powerful communities of conflicting stakeholders can be messy. Doing so requires some means of coordinating the different ideas of stakeholders. The pragmatic cultural ethics summarized in the Australian 'mate-ship' argues success requires opportunity be given to all. This pragmatic philosophy provides the solution by offering all stakeholders the opportunity to be heard. After briefly reviewing pragmatism, this paper draws on the work of McKenna and Metcalfe and the linguistic turn, published in an earlier version of the International Journal of Project Management. It explains how this method can be used to help project managers conceive projects made complex by powerful communities of conflicting stakeholders. It then uses an Australian based organizational change project as an example of its application. Idea mapping is used to categorize stakeholder statements, revealing underlying linguistic concepts. It is argued that this approach provides a practical, yet philosophical and scientifically sound means of conceptualizing complex projects, and one that takes genuine advantage of the experience and knowledge of a wide range of stakeholders.
International Journal of Project Management, 2013
Prior and conflicting stakeholder concerns can make projects complex. Listening to, and integrati... more Prior and conflicting stakeholder concerns can make projects complex. Listening to, and integrating, this concern into the project is easier said than done. However the pragmatic ethics of the Australian 'fair-go' argues long term success requires an attempt be made. This pragmatic philosophy provides a solution by explaining the relationship between community, conceptualization and agreed reasonable action. After introducing pragmatism, this paper uses an Australian based re-organization project to explain why linguistic concepts might be used to conceive projects made complex by conflicting stakeholders. The philosophy is made operational by using idea networking to reveal the concepts underpinning stakeholders' comments. This method clusters similar statements to enable exposure of these underlying concepts (themes, meta narrative), which are named. It was found that using this concept driven method provides an internally consistent means of conceptualizing projects with conflicting stakeholders' concerns.
International Journal of Business Strategy, 2015
This paper reviews the management cognition literature. It explores some of the paths that resear... more This paper reviews the management cognition literature. It explores some of the paths that research on cognition and strategy has taken over the last twenty five years. It does this by highlighting some of the challenges in establishing cognitive explanationsthose of the creation of useful measures of cognition, linking cognition to performance, outcomes and actions as well as making sense of organizational change. It is argued that cognitive explanations in strategy are being recognised as useful and legitim ate, alongside more traditional explanations in management and organizational research. This paper closes with some thoughts about promising future paths for the strategic management community that builds on the primary insights of various influential writ ers. In light of this, it raises some important questions: What methods might be useful for strategic alliances as well as other types of complex organizational change processes? Where do concepts come from? How should organizations adapt to changing circu mstances? What methods are best to measure team cognition? How does the CEO's vision develop and how is it influenced and how can it become shared?