In our account of the successful transformation of a software development unit at Ericsson, we show how a combination of trial-and-error learning processes, operating at the management and employee levels, can bring about routine change. In developing this explanation, we refer to the off-line/online search dichotomy as a basic way of distinguishing between how routines are tried out at management and employee levels. Furthermore, we suggest a way in which the performative view of routines can be linked to the teleological and life cycle modes of change at the level of management and employees, respectively. As a result, we arrive at a view of routines as both “inherently changeable” and directional and suggest how the combined use of managerial- and employee-level processes makes it possible to gain the benefits associated with each of them, while at the same time mitigating the effects of their shortcomings.

Technology-based firms continue to compete primarily on innovation, and are continuously required to present new solutions to an exacting market. As technological complexity and specialization intensifies, firms increasingly need to integrate and co-ordinate knowledge by means of project groups, diversified organizations, inter-organizational partnerships, and strategic alliances. Innovation processes have progressively become interdisciplinary, collaborative, inter-organizational, and international, and a firm's ability to synthesize knowledge across disciplines, organizations, and geographical locations has a major influence on its viability and success.

The Oxford Handbook of Project Management presents and discusses leading ideas in the management of projects. Positioning project management as a domain much broader and more strategic than simply “execution management”, this book draws on the insights of over forty scholars to chart the development of the subject over the last fifty years or more as an area of increasing practical and academic interest. It suggests we could be entering an emerging “third wave” of analysis and interpretation following its early technical and operational beginnings and the subsequent shift to a focus on projects and their management. Topics dealt with include: the historical evolution of the subject; its theoretical base; professionalism; business and societal context; strategy; organization; governance; innovation; overruns; risk; information management; procurement; relationships and trust; knowledge management; practice and teams

This paper takes an empirical point of departure in the development of a new steam turbine. Project work here relied on a process of iteration between a small core group of team members with extensive experience and team members with less of that currency. In this project, the core group had a major integrative role, whereas other team members were mainly responsible for the specific tasks assigned to them. Quite a few of the latter category felt uneasy about their role and felt decoupled from the project. In our analysis we use the Teamwork Quality (TWQ) construct proposed by Hoegl and Gemuenden (2001). In conclusion, our findings suggest that in highly complex projects of this type, team-based knowledge integration need not presuppose equality of participation and we introduce the notion of a Segregated Team to account for these findings.

Firms investing in project organization often do so in order to become more flexible, adaptable and customer-oriented. This promotes the question of whether there are specific properties of project organization, which contribute to instilling such capabilities in a firm, and if so, what managers could do in order to bring them on board. I discuss how certain project organization features may be conducive to that end, and suggest that project-level processes display features of an evolutionary learning process, with pre-selection, variation and retention as distinguishable process steps. Similarly, at higher levels within project-based firms, projects can be used as experiments within trial-and-error based strategic learning. A case study of a project-based firm is used to illustrate the propositions and managerial implications put forward. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA.

This article takes an empirical point of departure in a longitudinal study in Tanzania that focuses on the trust formation process in its `bare' form, i.e. in a context where formal institutions are of little help in curbing opportunistic behaviour. The study's framework suggests a knowledge-based view of trust where the interplay between an individual's subjective knowledge or `good reasons' for trusting others and inclination to take a `leap of faith' explains his or her engagement in cooperative activity. The empirical findings show that people do not tend to be gamblers and take a big leap of faith when institutional prerequisites imply bad odds. On the contrary, people instead try hard and imaginatively to create reasons for trusting that are really good. In particular, they favour reasons that are related to control, such as those where sanctions or hostage-like measures come into play. As a result, the findings do not support the argument that the use of control(s) signals distrust and casts doubt over a partner 's good will.

  The International Encyclopedia of Organization Studies is the definitive description of the field, spanning individual, organizational, societal, and cultural perspective in a cross-disciplinary manner. It is the premier reference tool for students, educators, scholars, and practitioners to gather knowledge about a range of important topics from the unique perspective of organization studies with extensive international representation. The Encyclopedia is thoroughly cross-referenced, and entries are based around a series of broad themes. Editors Stewart R. Clegg and James R. Bailey bring together a team of international contributors from the fields of management, psychology, sociology, communications, education, political science, public administration, anthropology, law, and other related areas