This thesis is, broadly, an analytical project, a pragmatically governed interpretation of the ex... more This thesis is, broadly, an analytical project, a pragmatically governed interpretation of the experiences that practitioners have with work and life in project-labelled arrangements. It has aspired to generate insights into what goes on in such arrangements in local situations from the practitioner point of view, to examine the conditions under which useful knowledge can be created to support social action in project settings, and to suggest an alternative framework for understanding project working, organising and management to the mainstream perspectives. The study refocuses attention to some key problems with the extant body of thought and contributes to developing a practical-wisdom centred sociology of project work and project management. It uncovers, and reaches above, instrumental rationality, functionalism, and mostly normative approaches, which reproduce and are reproduced by, a large body of dominant epistemic project management theory and its application in practice. The...
The philosophies of Martin Heidegger and Richard Rorty are used to redescribe the fundamental ass... more The philosophies of Martin Heidegger and Richard Rorty are used to redescribe the fundamental assumptions underpinning project management. Rather than viewing project management as merely a science, the significance and value of philosophy for project management are developed. The philosophical practice of redescription as a way of responding to existential disruptions of the lived experience of managing projects is seen as vital not only to being a project manager but also to describing project management.
This paper provides avenues for a broader engagement with the conceptual considerations of projec... more This paper provides avenues for a broader engagement with the conceptual considerations of projects and project management with the aim of creating new possibilities for thinking about, researching, and developing our understanding of the field as practiced. Attention is drawn to the legacy of conventional but deeply rooted mainstream approaches to studying projects and project management, and implications of the specific underpinning intellectual tradition for recommendations proposed to organisational members as best practice project management. The identified concerns and limitations are discussed in the context of project management evolution where taken-for-granted advantages of project management as a disciplined effective methodology and its popularity are reexamined. The paper sheds light on a variety of voices from both scholarly and practitioner communities that have attempted to respond to this paradox and move the field forward. Taking issue with conventional labels of p...
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 2016
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between project-based organizin... more Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between project-based organizing and the initiatives labelled as “development” by critically engaging with some unchallenged assumptions inherent in the notion of both projects as a means through which social change can be achieved and the wider possibility of delivering social good as an objective of development.Design/methodology/approach– From a phenomenologically informed critical participatory perspective the authors focus on contradictions within the practices of community development (CD) by attending to the interplay between the dominant project form of organizing that frames those practices and the rhetoric of “development”.Findings– Drawing on two CD examples, the authors illustrate and discuss the contradictions and damaging consequences of the developmentalism-projectification double-act. The position is that social good is local and contextual and draws expediently and contingently on the means through wh...
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 2016
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the formation and evolution of the “Making Projects... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the formation and evolution of the “Making Projects Critical” movement in project management research.Design/methodology/approachRetrospective and discursive paper.FindingsReflections on tensions and challenges faced by the MPC movement.Originality/valueThe paper establishes the historical trajectory of this movement and clarifies the tensions and challenges faced by MPC.
Offers an insight into the renaissance of project management discipline in the context of strateg... more Offers an insight into the renaissance of project management discipline in the context of strategic management and organizational design, and the need for increased awareness of and organizational learning in the subject. Proposes a flexible framework to facilitate the efforts for general and project management development and learning with an appreciation of the paradox and ambiguity in business environments. Opens up some scope for a discussion about the fit between project management and TQM.
This thesis is, broadly, an analytical project, a pragmatically governed interpretation of the ex... more This thesis is, broadly, an analytical project, a pragmatically governed interpretation of the experiences that practitioners have with work and life in project-labelled arrangements. It has aspired to generate insights into what goes on in such arrangements in local situations from the practitioner point of view, to examine the conditions under which useful knowledge can be created to support social action in project settings, and to suggest an alternative framework for understanding project working, organising and management to the mainstream perspectives. The study refocuses attention to some key problems with the extant body of thought and contributes to developing a practical-wisdom centred sociology of project work and project management. It uncovers, and reaches above, instrumental rationality, functionalism, and mostly normative approaches, which reproduce and are reproduced by, a large body of dominant epistemic project management theory and its application in practice. The...
The philosophies of Martin Heidegger and Richard Rorty are used to redescribe the fundamental ass... more The philosophies of Martin Heidegger and Richard Rorty are used to redescribe the fundamental assumptions underpinning project management. Rather than viewing project management as merely a science, the significance and value of philosophy for project management are developed. The philosophical practice of redescription as a way of responding to existential disruptions of the lived experience of managing projects is seen as vital not only to being a project manager but also to describing project management.
This paper provides avenues for a broader engagement with the conceptual considerations of projec... more This paper provides avenues for a broader engagement with the conceptual considerations of projects and project management with the aim of creating new possibilities for thinking about, researching, and developing our understanding of the field as practiced. Attention is drawn to the legacy of conventional but deeply rooted mainstream approaches to studying projects and project management, and implications of the specific underpinning intellectual tradition for recommendations proposed to organisational members as best practice project management. The identified concerns and limitations are discussed in the context of project management evolution where taken-for-granted advantages of project management as a disciplined effective methodology and its popularity are reexamined. The paper sheds light on a variety of voices from both scholarly and practitioner communities that have attempted to respond to this paradox and move the field forward. Taking issue with conventional labels of p...
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 2016
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between project-based organizin... more Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between project-based organizing and the initiatives labelled as “development” by critically engaging with some unchallenged assumptions inherent in the notion of both projects as a means through which social change can be achieved and the wider possibility of delivering social good as an objective of development.Design/methodology/approach– From a phenomenologically informed critical participatory perspective the authors focus on contradictions within the practices of community development (CD) by attending to the interplay between the dominant project form of organizing that frames those practices and the rhetoric of “development”.Findings– Drawing on two CD examples, the authors illustrate and discuss the contradictions and damaging consequences of the developmentalism-projectification double-act. The position is that social good is local and contextual and draws expediently and contingently on the means through wh...
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 2016
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the formation and evolution of the “Making Projects... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the formation and evolution of the “Making Projects Critical” movement in project management research.Design/methodology/approachRetrospective and discursive paper.FindingsReflections on tensions and challenges faced by the MPC movement.Originality/valueThe paper establishes the historical trajectory of this movement and clarifies the tensions and challenges faced by MPC.
Offers an insight into the renaissance of project management discipline in the context of strateg... more Offers an insight into the renaissance of project management discipline in the context of strategic management and organizational design, and the need for increased awareness of and organizational learning in the subject. Proposes a flexible framework to facilitate the efforts for general and project management development and learning with an appreciation of the paradox and ambiguity in business environments. Opens up some scope for a discussion about the fit between project management and TQM.
Uploads
Papers by Svetlana Cicmil