Lynn Crawford - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Lynn Crawford
Advances in IT standards and standardization research series, May 31, 2011
Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management,... more Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management, where certification and licensure are either necessary to practice or to demonstrate individual competence and capability. In many professions there is no basis for international reciprocity of professional standards. This paper documents the development of a standard for global reciprocity between already existing professional standards in the field of project management. Data are based on personal involvement by the authors and interviews with participants. This discussion addresses different approaches to standardisation, how common issues in the standardisation process have been addressed, and how the hin
This paper provides clarification on the use of the terms 'hard' and 'soft' in the context of pro... more This paper provides clarification on the use of the terms 'hard' and 'soft' in the context of project and program management, by exploring what it means for a project to be hard or soft. This paper draws on the authors' practice based research into large organisational change programs in a variety of contexts, and the literature on project management, systems thinking and evaluation. A framework for exploring the hardness and softness of project process and outcomes is provided. It acts as an aid to structured discussion and informed decision making about the application of methods for managing projects and programs and the appropriate methods for evaluating their success. This framework is designed to aid in the transfer of lessons learned to practice by offering a common point of comparison between projects, and has potential for use as a predictive aid to resourcing. Its use is demonstrated in three cases.
Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management,... more Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management, where certification and licensure are either necessary to practice or to demonstrate individual competence and capability. In many professions there is no basis for international reciprocity of professional standards. This paper documents the development of a standard for global reciprocity between already existing professional standards in the field of project management. Data are based on personal involvement by the authors and interviews with participants. This discussion addresses different approaches to standardisation, how common issues in the standardisation process have been addressed, and how the hin
Project Leadership and Society, 2022
Project leadership increasingly occurs in the context of ecological risks, whether from a viral p... more Project leadership increasingly occurs in the context of ecological risks, whether from a viral pandemic or an anthropogenically changing climate. It requires adaptability to change, especially as projects grow in complexity, becoming seen as interventions into wider systems. In this paper, we take a socialized perspective, synthesising recent work and proposing a new research agenda in three inter-related areas that need to be addressed by project leadership: 1) changing technologies, unpacking the values that technologies represent to achieve desirable outcomes;2) organizational complexity, engaging multiple actors and addressing emerging complexity and uncertainty and 3), ecological concerns, addressing the demands for projects to intervene positively to create sustainable, resilient and just futures. Our contribution is to theorize what socialized leadership means for these crucial issues emerging in project studies and set out directions for further research on positive forms of project leadership in a changing world.
International Journal of Project Management, 2006
The field of project management continues to develop in response to changing emphases in the mana... more The field of project management continues to develop in response to changing emphases in the management community and the demands of new project management application areas. This paper uncovers the trends of emphasis within the project management literature over the period 1994-2003, by analysing articles in the International Journal of Project Management and the Project Management Journal. Trends identified in this study are then compared to trends of emphasis identified in a variety of previous studies of changes to the field. These results are then synthesised to provide a overall impression of how the field is changing.
The power of projects has been demonstrated by the growth in their use across an increasing range... more The power of projects has been demonstrated by the growth in their use across an increasing range of industries and workplaces in recent years. Not only has the number of people involved in project management increased, but the qualifications and backgrounds of those people have also broadened, with engineering no longer being the only path to project management (PM). Predicting the career trajectories in Project Management has become more important for both organisations employing project managers and project managers building career portfolios. Our research involved interviewing more than 75 project officers and project managers across a range of industries to explore their career journey. We used Wittgenstein’s family resemblance theory is to analyse the information from the transcripts to identify the extent to which the roles of participants fit with the commonly accepted definition of project management. Findings demonstrate diversity of project manager backgrounds and experie...
IGI Global eBooks, 2010
Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management,... more Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management, where certification and licensure are either necessary to practice or to demonstrate individual competence and capability. In many professions there is no basis for international reciprocity of professional standards. This paper documents the development of a standard for global reciprocity between already existing professional standards in the field of project management. Data are based on personal involvement by the authors and interviews with participants. This discussion addresses different approaches to standardisation, how common issues in the standardisation process have been addressed, and how the hin
The Australian economy is currently supported by a resources boom and work opportunities in tradi... more The Australian economy is currently supported by a resources boom and work opportunities in traditionally male dominated fields of construction and engineering and information technology are at a premium. Yet despite more than 25 years of anti discrimination and equal employment opportunity legislation these industries still employ few women in operational or management roles. This paper investigates the issue of the low representation of women in project management and their different work and career experiences through interviews with male and female project managers.
This paper describes how project-based organizations use structured experience to aid the learnin... more This paper describes how project-based organizations use structured experience to aid the learning and development of individuals, and how they capture their experience of projects to feed that back into the improved management of future projects and the experiential learning of individuals. We show that successful project-based organizations ensure their project managers obtain a broad range practical experiences following a spiral staircase career. This takes them through lead design and project team leadership and management roles. These organizations also capture project experience through post completion reviews, and codify them in company procedures which are used as part of the development of new project managers and other professionals.
All levels of government recognise the widespread devastation of communities by natural or other ... more All levels of government recognise the widespread devastation of communities by natural or other disasters. They have responded with emergency management arrangements and policies to enhance government and community capacity to anticipate, withstand and recover from disastrous events. Although the construction industry has a significant role to play, particularly in recovery and reconstruction, it has not generally been considered as a key stakeholder in building capability for disaster resilience. One barrier to more active involvement of the construction industry in disaster response and management is that traditional methods of construction project management have been criticised as too time consuming and inflexible for use under circumstances of high uncertainty, requiring rapid response in complex multi-stakeholder environments. The 2011 Queensland floods represent one of the most disastrous extreme weather events of recent times. Using this event as a case study, this paper pr...
... Localización: Las personas en la gestión de proyectos / coord. por J. Rodney Turner, 2005, IS... more ... Localización: Las personas en la gestión de proyectos / coord. por J. Rodney Turner, 2005, ISBN 84-8143-432-9 , pags. 79-104. © 2001-2011 Universidad de La Rioja · Todos los derechos reservados. XHTML 1.0; UTF‑8.
This chapter discusses changes that have taken place in the workplace in general, including the i... more This chapter discusses changes that have taken place in the workplace in general, including the increased use of project teams to deliver outcomes. It looks at human resource management practices in general, and examines how these practices fit within an integrated project delivery (IPD) workplace environment. IPD-alliance project work entails people from a range of organisations being co-located to work collaboratively alongside each other towards a common goal. Project team members may be challenged by the need to work co-operatively with other team members who have come from, perhaps, competitor organisations. Flattened organisational structures and projectification have changed the way that organisations are structured and how work is performed. The precarious employment nature of careers in temporary organisations has attracted attention while the predicted increased demand for project workers challenges organisations to find ways of ensuring they have a pool of highly capable ...
This paper reports on the first stage of a multi-stage research project exploring the effective b... more This paper reports on the first stage of a multi-stage research project exploring the effective behaviors of successful project managers, as perceived by senior management. The data was collected using a Web-based questionnaire that included personality dimensions and behavioral competencies. We analyze this data and discuss the perceptions of personality characteristics and behavioral competencies of successful project managers, using information we obtained from a sample of 40 supervisors of project managers. These respondents identified several personality characteristics common among successful project managers: Conscientious, Vigorous, Controlling, Socially Confident, Evaluative, Persuasive, and Behavioral. The least frequently reported characteristics include Independent Minded, Conventional, Modest, Conceptual, and Worrying. The behavioral competencies reported as essential to superior performance in the role of project manager included Delivering Results and Meeting Customer...
Systems
In this article, we consider a variety of different mechanisms through which crises such as COVID... more In this article, we consider a variety of different mechanisms through which crises such as COVID-19 can propagate from the micro-economic behaviour of individual agents through to an economy’s aggregate dynamics and subsequently spill over into the global economy. Our central theme is one of changes in the behaviour of heterogeneous agents, agents who differ in terms of some measure of size, wealth, connectivity, or behaviour, in different parts of an economy. These are illustrated through a variety of case studies, from individuals and households with budgetary constraints, to financial markets, to companies composed of thousands of small projects, to companies that implement single multi-billion dollar projects. In each case, we emphasise the role of data or theoretical models and place them in the context of measuring their inter-connectivity and emergent dynamics. Some of these are simple models that need to be `dressed’ in socio-economic data to be used for policy-making, and ...
Sustainability
Preparing well before entering a contract is always vital, independent of the characteristics of ... more Preparing well before entering a contract is always vital, independent of the characteristics of the project and type of contract. However, as projects become larger and more complex, and value for stakeholders and society becomes the dominating perspective on success, the need for well-developed collaboration is becoming more and more critical. In this paper, we investigate how the parties should prepare for a collaborative project. The purpose is to help owners secure the success of the project for its key stakeholders. We choose to address the issues as an active risk mitigation strategy that serves as a vehicle to reduce uncertainty, avoid unnecessary risks, and utilize opportunities as a project owner. We look at the project mainly through a project owner perspective, but on key points, we contrast this with contractor perspectives. The research was performed in Australia in 2020 and includes public and private sector investment projects. The methodology is qualitative case stu...
International Research Network on Organizing by Projects (IRNOP) 2017
Managing within the unpredictable and complex environments of today's projects calls for new comp... more Managing within the unpredictable and complex environments of today's projects calls for new competencies to help interpret and respond to problems. Quantum storytelling can play a powerful role in reinterpreting project concepts such as risks, and their resulting problems, by harnessing the properties of emergence. The reframing of problems is explored through a complexity lens and underpinned by stories from the international development sector. Research design Actuality research, with its focus on the lived experience, provided the foundation for a research study exploring how project managers currently interpret problems on complex projects. Application of the storytelling diamond model supported methodology choice, and in-depth interviews were undertaken with six project managers from two organizations managing complex projects.
Project Management Journal
Organizations that undertake many projects need to identify the types undertaken, and use labels ... more Organizations that undertake many projects need to identify the types undertaken, and use labels to name them. These labels are attributes that form the basis of a project categorization system. There are two reasons why organizations need to categorize projects. The first is to develop and assign appropriate competencies to undertake projects successfully (do them right). The second is to prioritize projects within an investment portfolio to maximize return on investment (do the right projects). Prior research into project classification, the methodology adopted, and the model developed is described. Two major components of a project classification system, the purposes for classifying projects and the attributes used to classify them, are identified; as well as that attributes can be grouped into larger classes. There are also more complex, multidimensional systems for categorizing projects. Finally, how an organization can implement a categorization system is described. This resea...
Project Management Journal
This paper traces the evolution of conceptions of project management from the use of tools and te... more This paper traces the evolution of conceptions of project management from the use of tools and techniques on standalone projects to the conceptualization of project management as an organizational capability. Working from the premise that project management is a socially constructed field of practice that has developed through the conversations and deliberate efforts of practitioners, principles of discourse analysis are used as a framework for studying the extent to which practice reflects the espoused theories of organizational project management capability development. The actuality of practice is represented by periodic reports over a five-year period by the “owners” of project management in an organization with an expressed commitment to development of organizational project management capability and is analysed with reference to the related espoused theories of practitioners as represented in the project management literature, including bodies of knowledge, standards, and guides.
Advances in IT standards and standardization research series, May 31, 2011
Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management,... more Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management, where certification and licensure are either necessary to practice or to demonstrate individual competence and capability. In many professions there is no basis for international reciprocity of professional standards. This paper documents the development of a standard for global reciprocity between already existing professional standards in the field of project management. Data are based on personal involvement by the authors and interviews with participants. This discussion addresses different approaches to standardisation, how common issues in the standardisation process have been addressed, and how the hin
This paper provides clarification on the use of the terms 'hard' and 'soft' in the context of pro... more This paper provides clarification on the use of the terms 'hard' and 'soft' in the context of project and program management, by exploring what it means for a project to be hard or soft. This paper draws on the authors' practice based research into large organisational change programs in a variety of contexts, and the literature on project management, systems thinking and evaluation. A framework for exploring the hardness and softness of project process and outcomes is provided. It acts as an aid to structured discussion and informed decision making about the application of methods for managing projects and programs and the appropriate methods for evaluating their success. This framework is designed to aid in the transfer of lessons learned to practice by offering a common point of comparison between projects, and has potential for use as a predictive aid to resourcing. Its use is demonstrated in three cases.
Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management,... more Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management, where certification and licensure are either necessary to practice or to demonstrate individual competence and capability. In many professions there is no basis for international reciprocity of professional standards. This paper documents the development of a standard for global reciprocity between already existing professional standards in the field of project management. Data are based on personal involvement by the authors and interviews with participants. This discussion addresses different approaches to standardisation, how common issues in the standardisation process have been addressed, and how the hin
Project Leadership and Society, 2022
Project leadership increasingly occurs in the context of ecological risks, whether from a viral p... more Project leadership increasingly occurs in the context of ecological risks, whether from a viral pandemic or an anthropogenically changing climate. It requires adaptability to change, especially as projects grow in complexity, becoming seen as interventions into wider systems. In this paper, we take a socialized perspective, synthesising recent work and proposing a new research agenda in three inter-related areas that need to be addressed by project leadership: 1) changing technologies, unpacking the values that technologies represent to achieve desirable outcomes;2) organizational complexity, engaging multiple actors and addressing emerging complexity and uncertainty and 3), ecological concerns, addressing the demands for projects to intervene positively to create sustainable, resilient and just futures. Our contribution is to theorize what socialized leadership means for these crucial issues emerging in project studies and set out directions for further research on positive forms of project leadership in a changing world.
International Journal of Project Management, 2006
The field of project management continues to develop in response to changing emphases in the mana... more The field of project management continues to develop in response to changing emphases in the management community and the demands of new project management application areas. This paper uncovers the trends of emphasis within the project management literature over the period 1994-2003, by analysing articles in the International Journal of Project Management and the Project Management Journal. Trends identified in this study are then compared to trends of emphasis identified in a variety of previous studies of changes to the field. These results are then synthesised to provide a overall impression of how the field is changing.
The power of projects has been demonstrated by the growth in their use across an increasing range... more The power of projects has been demonstrated by the growth in their use across an increasing range of industries and workplaces in recent years. Not only has the number of people involved in project management increased, but the qualifications and backgrounds of those people have also broadened, with engineering no longer being the only path to project management (PM). Predicting the career trajectories in Project Management has become more important for both organisations employing project managers and project managers building career portfolios. Our research involved interviewing more than 75 project officers and project managers across a range of industries to explore their career journey. We used Wittgenstein’s family resemblance theory is to analyse the information from the transcripts to identify the extent to which the roles of participants fit with the commonly accepted definition of project management. Findings demonstrate diversity of project manager backgrounds and experie...
IGI Global eBooks, 2010
Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management,... more Professional standards are a significant issue for professions such as IT and project management, where certification and licensure are either necessary to practice or to demonstrate individual competence and capability. In many professions there is no basis for international reciprocity of professional standards. This paper documents the development of a standard for global reciprocity between already existing professional standards in the field of project management. Data are based on personal involvement by the authors and interviews with participants. This discussion addresses different approaches to standardisation, how common issues in the standardisation process have been addressed, and how the hin
The Australian economy is currently supported by a resources boom and work opportunities in tradi... more The Australian economy is currently supported by a resources boom and work opportunities in traditionally male dominated fields of construction and engineering and information technology are at a premium. Yet despite more than 25 years of anti discrimination and equal employment opportunity legislation these industries still employ few women in operational or management roles. This paper investigates the issue of the low representation of women in project management and their different work and career experiences through interviews with male and female project managers.
This paper describes how project-based organizations use structured experience to aid the learnin... more This paper describes how project-based organizations use structured experience to aid the learning and development of individuals, and how they capture their experience of projects to feed that back into the improved management of future projects and the experiential learning of individuals. We show that successful project-based organizations ensure their project managers obtain a broad range practical experiences following a spiral staircase career. This takes them through lead design and project team leadership and management roles. These organizations also capture project experience through post completion reviews, and codify them in company procedures which are used as part of the development of new project managers and other professionals.
All levels of government recognise the widespread devastation of communities by natural or other ... more All levels of government recognise the widespread devastation of communities by natural or other disasters. They have responded with emergency management arrangements and policies to enhance government and community capacity to anticipate, withstand and recover from disastrous events. Although the construction industry has a significant role to play, particularly in recovery and reconstruction, it has not generally been considered as a key stakeholder in building capability for disaster resilience. One barrier to more active involvement of the construction industry in disaster response and management is that traditional methods of construction project management have been criticised as too time consuming and inflexible for use under circumstances of high uncertainty, requiring rapid response in complex multi-stakeholder environments. The 2011 Queensland floods represent one of the most disastrous extreme weather events of recent times. Using this event as a case study, this paper pr...
... Localización: Las personas en la gestión de proyectos / coord. por J. Rodney Turner, 2005, IS... more ... Localización: Las personas en la gestión de proyectos / coord. por J. Rodney Turner, 2005, ISBN 84-8143-432-9 , pags. 79-104. © 2001-2011 Universidad de La Rioja · Todos los derechos reservados. XHTML 1.0; UTF‑8.
This chapter discusses changes that have taken place in the workplace in general, including the i... more This chapter discusses changes that have taken place in the workplace in general, including the increased use of project teams to deliver outcomes. It looks at human resource management practices in general, and examines how these practices fit within an integrated project delivery (IPD) workplace environment. IPD-alliance project work entails people from a range of organisations being co-located to work collaboratively alongside each other towards a common goal. Project team members may be challenged by the need to work co-operatively with other team members who have come from, perhaps, competitor organisations. Flattened organisational structures and projectification have changed the way that organisations are structured and how work is performed. The precarious employment nature of careers in temporary organisations has attracted attention while the predicted increased demand for project workers challenges organisations to find ways of ensuring they have a pool of highly capable ...
This paper reports on the first stage of a multi-stage research project exploring the effective b... more This paper reports on the first stage of a multi-stage research project exploring the effective behaviors of successful project managers, as perceived by senior management. The data was collected using a Web-based questionnaire that included personality dimensions and behavioral competencies. We analyze this data and discuss the perceptions of personality characteristics and behavioral competencies of successful project managers, using information we obtained from a sample of 40 supervisors of project managers. These respondents identified several personality characteristics common among successful project managers: Conscientious, Vigorous, Controlling, Socially Confident, Evaluative, Persuasive, and Behavioral. The least frequently reported characteristics include Independent Minded, Conventional, Modest, Conceptual, and Worrying. The behavioral competencies reported as essential to superior performance in the role of project manager included Delivering Results and Meeting Customer...
Systems
In this article, we consider a variety of different mechanisms through which crises such as COVID... more In this article, we consider a variety of different mechanisms through which crises such as COVID-19 can propagate from the micro-economic behaviour of individual agents through to an economy’s aggregate dynamics and subsequently spill over into the global economy. Our central theme is one of changes in the behaviour of heterogeneous agents, agents who differ in terms of some measure of size, wealth, connectivity, or behaviour, in different parts of an economy. These are illustrated through a variety of case studies, from individuals and households with budgetary constraints, to financial markets, to companies composed of thousands of small projects, to companies that implement single multi-billion dollar projects. In each case, we emphasise the role of data or theoretical models and place them in the context of measuring their inter-connectivity and emergent dynamics. Some of these are simple models that need to be `dressed’ in socio-economic data to be used for policy-making, and ...
Sustainability
Preparing well before entering a contract is always vital, independent of the characteristics of ... more Preparing well before entering a contract is always vital, independent of the characteristics of the project and type of contract. However, as projects become larger and more complex, and value for stakeholders and society becomes the dominating perspective on success, the need for well-developed collaboration is becoming more and more critical. In this paper, we investigate how the parties should prepare for a collaborative project. The purpose is to help owners secure the success of the project for its key stakeholders. We choose to address the issues as an active risk mitigation strategy that serves as a vehicle to reduce uncertainty, avoid unnecessary risks, and utilize opportunities as a project owner. We look at the project mainly through a project owner perspective, but on key points, we contrast this with contractor perspectives. The research was performed in Australia in 2020 and includes public and private sector investment projects. The methodology is qualitative case stu...
International Research Network on Organizing by Projects (IRNOP) 2017
Managing within the unpredictable and complex environments of today's projects calls for new comp... more Managing within the unpredictable and complex environments of today's projects calls for new competencies to help interpret and respond to problems. Quantum storytelling can play a powerful role in reinterpreting project concepts such as risks, and their resulting problems, by harnessing the properties of emergence. The reframing of problems is explored through a complexity lens and underpinned by stories from the international development sector. Research design Actuality research, with its focus on the lived experience, provided the foundation for a research study exploring how project managers currently interpret problems on complex projects. Application of the storytelling diamond model supported methodology choice, and in-depth interviews were undertaken with six project managers from two organizations managing complex projects.
Project Management Journal
Organizations that undertake many projects need to identify the types undertaken, and use labels ... more Organizations that undertake many projects need to identify the types undertaken, and use labels to name them. These labels are attributes that form the basis of a project categorization system. There are two reasons why organizations need to categorize projects. The first is to develop and assign appropriate competencies to undertake projects successfully (do them right). The second is to prioritize projects within an investment portfolio to maximize return on investment (do the right projects). Prior research into project classification, the methodology adopted, and the model developed is described. Two major components of a project classification system, the purposes for classifying projects and the attributes used to classify them, are identified; as well as that attributes can be grouped into larger classes. There are also more complex, multidimensional systems for categorizing projects. Finally, how an organization can implement a categorization system is described. This resea...
Project Management Journal
This paper traces the evolution of conceptions of project management from the use of tools and te... more This paper traces the evolution of conceptions of project management from the use of tools and techniques on standalone projects to the conceptualization of project management as an organizational capability. Working from the premise that project management is a socially constructed field of practice that has developed through the conversations and deliberate efforts of practitioners, principles of discourse analysis are used as a framework for studying the extent to which practice reflects the espoused theories of organizational project management capability development. The actuality of practice is represented by periodic reports over a five-year period by the “owners” of project management in an organization with an expressed commitment to development of organizational project management capability and is analysed with reference to the related espoused theories of practitioners as represented in the project management literature, including bodies of knowledge, standards, and guides.