Book contents
- Cambridge Handbook of Project Behavior
- Cambridge Handbook of Project Behavior
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Guiding Principles
- Part II Deviating from Plans
- Part III Practical Tips
- Chapter 13 Setting Realistic Project Goals
- Chapter 14 At the Brink of a Project
- Chapter 15 The Roles of Governance Mechanisms to Manage Misbehaviors in the Project Front-End
- Chapter 16 Coping with Changes to the Plan
- Chapter 17 Project Behavior, Disruptions, and the Antifragility Spectrum
- Chapter 18 Curbing Cost Increases and Benefit Shortfalls
- Afterword
- Index
- References
Chapter 16 - Coping with Changes to the Plan
Dealing with Twists and Turns in Projects
from Part III - Practical Tips
Published online by Cambridge University Press: aN Invalid Date NaN
Book contents
- Cambridge Handbook of Project Behavior
- Cambridge Handbook of Project Behavior
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Guiding Principles
- Part II Deviating from Plans
- Part III Practical Tips
- Chapter 13 Setting Realistic Project Goals
- Chapter 14 At the Brink of a Project
- Chapter 15 The Roles of Governance Mechanisms to Manage Misbehaviors in the Project Front-End
- Chapter 16 Coping with Changes to the Plan
- Chapter 17 Project Behavior, Disruptions, and the Antifragility Spectrum
- Chapter 18 Curbing Cost Increases and Benefit Shortfalls
- Afterword
- Index
- References
Summary
To investigate project behaviour, and to better understand it from the perspective of a practitioner, I undertake an ethnographic study of the construction of a house in India that I was recently involved with. I find that the project evolved through three distinct phases – the teething troubles phase, the honeymoon phase and the nightmare phase – each of which displayed distinct behaviours. Using both quantitative and qualitative analysis of observational data, this chapter attempts to describe the evolution of the project through these phases and their inherent internal dynamics. In doing so I provide a micro-perspective on project behaviour, suggestions on how each of these distinct phases can be managed and insights to scholars of project behaviour on how project behaviours is not only fragmented across a project’s lifecycle, but is also perhaps shaped by simultaneously occurring and entangled ‘hands’ or guiding forces. This chapter adds to the debate on whether observed project behaviour that often leads to mis-performance is the result of unwitting or malignant influences.
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- Information
- Cambridge Handbook of Project Behavior , pp. 246 - 264Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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