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Community engagement is essential for creating social value and fostering high-quality development in megaprojects. However, organizing such engagement within public-private partnerships is particularly complex in weak institutional contexts, such as those found in sub-Saharan Africa. Existing research often depoliticizes community engagement, overlooking the critical role of government. Additionally, empirical studies on this phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa remain scarce. In this study, we adopt a governmentality lens and a design science research method to identify meta-organizing and responsibilization as governmental strategies for organizing community engagement in weak institutional contexts, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa. Through an embedded case study of a megaproject in Nigeria, we develop two sets of design principles that form a transformational community engagement framework. Our findings have implications for community engagement practices in megaprojects within weak institutional contexts and contribute to mainstream external stakeholder engagement research.

Based on the Foucauldian concept of governmentality, this paper overcomes the atomistic view of external stakeholder engagement research to examine the specific conditions under which community engagement in urban infrastructure public-private partnerships (PPPs) can be transformational and create social value with and for communities. In particular, it shows that a transformational approach to community engagement is, in practice, closer to a form of governance that emphasizes involved stakeholders’ responsibility. It traces this line of argument through the literature and practice of social enterprises and other hybrid collaborations in the private sector. Conceptually, it contributes to a political and transformational understanding of community engagement within the context of public-private partnerships. First, by proposing a “governmentality analytical framework” for understanding and uncovering the often purposefully concealed dynamic power relations in the engagement process between the state, communities, and private investors. Second, by proposing a set of guiding principles on how to: empower communities to be organized; reconfigure the institutional environment to offer incentives and reliability; and design public-private partnerships as hybrid organizations capable of including other actors, such as non-governmental organizations.

While projectification of society has received attention in research, little has been done to exemplify underlying processes and actors involved. By applying institutional theory, we offer an explanatory avenue. Our explorative research advances the understanding of how project management associations influence the projectification of society. To answer this question, we drew on available insights, interviewed international experts and conducted a case study on institutional work of the German Project Management Association.Project management associations have so far focused primarily on the corporate world and have done little for the projectification of society overall. Especially in times of disruption and major challenges for society, the support of project management associations becomes necessary. The application of institutional theory opens promising perspectives for future research on the projectification of society. Our findings on project management associations are not only relevant for researchers, but also for decision-makers in all areas of the society.

The level of sensitivity to project success of large infrastructure projects is significantly greater in front-phase than in execution phase. Yet, due to focus on execution phase, methods for project assessment and on-going evaluation during front phases are insufficiently developed. On the other hand, risk management approaches has been moved from risk management towards holistic uncertainty management which is the most beneficial in front end phase of the project. This research identifies that majority of methods and techniques available does not support uncertainty management concept. The purpose of this paper is to develop and new method for risk based project assessment and evaluation inte­grating risk impact modelling using cumulative distribution curves (CDC) and multi-criteria project evaluation approach. Research is based on in-depth risk analysis of 15 large infrastructure projects using risk model of components and char­acteristics. The conclusion of the paper is verification and validation of method that combines qualitative and quantita­tive analysis using risk components, risk breakdown structure, AHP method and risk impact modelling using cumulative distribution curves (CDC) for internal and external risk based assessment and evaluation of large infrastructure projects.

Over the years the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence model (EFQM) has become a popular performance management tool and representation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in Europe. Although the model has been tested and supported by many questionnaire surveys, EFQM has never been validated on real self-assessment scores obtained from companies. Therefore this study validates the model on scores from 34 construction companies in South Eastern Europe. The analysis shows that: a) there is an enabler excellence construct that is obtained by each enabler criteria; b) there is a result excellence construct that is obtained by each result criteria; and c) the EFQM model is most suitable for Contractor type organizations. Furthermore, we have found that the EFQM weights do not entirely correspond with the construction industry. Therefore we present new weights for the better use in the construction. Although this study proves EFQM to be a good representation of TQM in the construction industry, further improvements are needed. This is especially evident within investor and consultant type organization, where the criteria of Policy and Strategy, Leadership and Processes, People results and Client results showed certain limitations.

In the recent years the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and EFQM Excellence Model (EFQM) became very popular performance management (PMM) models. However, many studies showed their flaws, especially in communicating, integrating and aligning Key Performance Indicators (KPI) with strategy, setting targets and conducting benchmarking. BSC or EFQM have always been used alone and regarded as exclusive PMM tools. In contrast, this study introduces a novel PMM framework that relies on the strengths of both BSC and EFQM. The framework uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to connect these two models. At first, AHP is used for setting priorities among competitive strategic objectives and afterwards for selecting KPIs against SMARTER (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound, Encouraging and Rewarding) criteria. By verifying the framework on the construction industry we discovered that companies can integrate EFQM and BSC to conduct benchmarking, identify best practice, align strategy with the competitive surroundings and selecting strategy aligned KPIs. Using this framework, construction companies can thus achieve strategic control that otherwise by just using BSC could not be achieved. These findings are important because they bring a new perspective on managing organizations and confront many authors who have put EFQM and BSC against each other.

Shared leadership is a complex phenomenon as it is a dynamic, interactive, and cyclic process that is shared among several team members at different times. The focus of research on shared leadership is on the preconditions and consequences of shared leadership, but little is known about the process of its emergence. In our study, we take a process perspective to gain deep insights into the emergence of shared leadership. In an exploratory case study, data were collected through observation of team meetings, semi-structured interviews and internal project documents and analysed via a coding process and content analysis. Based on our findings, we develop a process framework for the emergence of shared leadership in a product development project team. We make several contributions. First, we extend the theory of shared leadership by adding a process framework for the emergence of shared leadership in product development project teams. Second, we enhance the leadership emergence theory to include additional antecedents and process mechanisms. Third, we extend the functional leadership theory by identifying the occurrence of leadership functions. The practical contributions we make are relevant for project managers/sub-project leaders and team members to promote and develop shared leadership in product development project teams.

The extent to which projects are established as an organizational form in society to cope with various challenges has been analyzed extensively in research under the term ‘projectification’. However, it remains unclear how the projectification at the level of society begins and which actors are involved in its institutionalization. Drawing on an explanatory case study in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, responses are provided to these questions and propositions for further research. The country is undertaking reforms as part of its ongoing transformation, which includes the professional implementation of projects, particularly in the public sector. These activities are, to some extent, based on the developments in project management in neighboring Kazakhstan, where a presidential decree also constituted a first step towards the institutionalization of projectification. It later found its way into relevant sectors and to key actors via the presidential administration, primarily through regulative and normative institutions. Because of increased international cooperation, the number and importance of projects in Kyrgyzstan will continue to increase in the coming years, requiring greater emphasis on projectification. The results are informative for research into projectification and for those involved in countries with comparable situations.

While the projectification of society continues to evolve, it is clearly lagging behind in the public construction sector in Germany. The purpose of the research upon which this article is based was to reveal the role that leadership has on the projectification of the construction sector and to identify the differences between the public and private sectors. Building on the theoretical concept of Institutional Work, semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted on both sides of the construction sector in Germany to ultimately reconcile the findings. The interview’s transcripts were analyzed by applying qualitative content analysis. The responses from the private sector show a very high significance of projects for everyday work and a further trend toward projectification in enterprises. This development is attributable to a positive image of executing projects in the private sector and to the leadership provided. In contrast, projects in the public sector still play a rather subordinate role and tend to be perceived culturally and cognitively as being exceptional. As projects are increasingly important for the public sector, leaders can play a key role in nurturing the necessary cultural and cognitive conditions for projectification. The application of Institutional Work concepts opens promising perspectives for future research in the context of projectification.

Projectification has become an important phenomenon in the field of project studies. Projectification represents an important portion of the gross national product gathering significant resources in all types of industries. There is significant number of micro-level studies investigating this phenomenon but only few have investigated the macro-level design. This paper adopted approach originally implemented in Germany, Norway and Iceland. Aim of this paper is to broaden the scale of the previous research including Croatia as one of the Eastern European post transition countries. This paper offers unique results from the first projectification research of the Croatian economy based on the analysis of 250 companies. Primary data was collected through interviews with company employees. Results reveal the level of Croatian national economy projectification being below 30% enabling sector and cross country comparison. According to results Croatia is still within the range of the European Union countries. These results add to the existing body of knowledge regarding an ongoing research of the projectification phenomenon.

The application of project management practices in contemporary business is continuously increasing with the aim of delivering the work packages in a more cost-conscious and controlled way while making the best use of limited human resources to meet customer requirements and create competitive advantage. In order to be considered competent, individuals working in the field should demonstrate a certain level of knowledge, skills, and abilities – assessed, developed or improved through a certification system. Taking into account the importance of information modeling and technology in the domain of project management as a set of practices that determine structure, lifecycle and accessibility requirements of information and the emphasis placed on the behavioral competencies of project, program and portfolio managers, the authors of the paper focused on exploring the challenges and specificities of the project management profession in Croatia. Empirical research was conducted in two steps. Firstly, a qualitative research was done using in-depth interviews with a member of the editorial board of a new project management international certification standard and two representatives of the certification body in Croatia: the director and the assessor. The collected data were analyzed using grounded theory approach and results in four main areas were obtained: project management and certification challenges, addressing certification body needs, the missing link between educational institutions and project management in practice and key project management competencies. In the next step, a quantitative research with a questionnaire as a research instrument was conducted among 53 certified project, program and portfolio managers in Croatia regarding their perception of the importance of the behavioral project management competencies. The results show that the majority of the certified experts in the field consider "leadership" to be the most important behavioral project management competency, closely followed by teamwork and self-management, while relations and engagement, conflict and crisis as well as negotiation and resourcefulness are considered to be of the least importance for conducting the project, program, and portfolio successfully. Statistically significant differences in assigning importance to various project management competencies were revealed with regard to several respondents' independent characteristics.

Risk governance is mostly viewed through the lens of disaster or emergency management departments, agencies, or organizations. Visible in times of crises, risk governance is rarely seen as part of everyday public or private functions such as planning, social welfare, investments, or fiscal responsibilities. This paper emphasizes the importance of disaster risk governance in disaster risk management activities on the example of the post-disaster recovery of Croatia after a series of strong seismic events in mainland Croatia. The analysis is made based on a thorough review of national documents of Croatia and other selected countries overlapped with the national journals reporting on the situation from the affected areas. In accordance with the authors’ opinion, the necessary elements of disaster risk governance are clearly stated through the four Sendai framework priorities, and this statement is supported by the facts from the case study. Without either the political will or the enabling surrounding the disaster, risk management is next to impossible. The Croatian case study emphasizes the importance of disaster risk governance, showcasing the adaptation process for the post-disaster recovery process to start.

Results obtained by studying project performance and project management success rates are presented in the paper. The current context of construction project management practices applied in the Republic of Croatia, with principal challenges and factors influencing project management success in practical settings, is explained. A detailed comparative analysis of worldwide research focusing on project performance and project management success rates is given. A model aimed at enhancing project management performance levels by combining three organisational roles, i.e. strategic role, project-oriented role and operational role, is developed.

There is a continuous need to improve existing project management decision-making support models, particularly those for monitoring and control are needed to increase chances for success. In this paper, potential of early warning in project management was focused, along with its connection to project success via project success factors. First, a systematic literature review was conducted, along with the focus group method, in order to identify project success factors. The selected success factors were also collected on 93 water infrastructure projects through a survey. By the means of linear regression analysis, critical success factors were finally determined. The results were integrated in the early warning system algorithm, composed by three modules – detection, validation and response module. The response module is composed by three dimensions: 1) risk, constraint and change management, 2) incorporation of project management competences and 3) application of project management methods, tools and techniques. The proposed early warning system was tested on three infrastructure projects. The results confirmed that improved early warning system can contribute in increase of project management success. As original database is composed by projects from only one country (Croatia), in the final stage of the research proposed approach was checked in five countries from the Central or South East Europe (Czech Republic, Slovenia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina). The results from the final stage confirmed potential of the proposed approach as declared originally, so it is reasonable to expect success in early warning system’s implementation due to similarities of critical success factors on projects as well as project management problems in general, that countries in regions share. This research presents new and creative way in linking early warning and project success, as well as interpretation of early response through different dimensions in project management. Also, based on the results of this research, it is possible to create a useful practical tool for managing other types of projects.

An original methodology for development of the risk register system for construction projects in Croatia, with its integration into the risk management process, is presented in the paper. The application of the methodology enables development of the risk register that assumes the central role in the risk management process. In this form, the risk register becomes an active link between the risk and knowledge management on construction projects, through which the project management is raised to a higher level, and hence the overall successfulness of project management activities is also increased.

The importance of performance based benchmarking has become a necessity in a modern construction company and presents a constant challenge for the construction industry. The aim of this paper is to elaborate significance, role and types of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in the construction industry and show how different management perspectives perceive the indicators. A literature review was carried out in order to generate a listing of KPIs, used among academe and the industry. Afterwards, using surveys and semi‐structured interviews, the data was gathered from more than 30 South‐East European construction companies. Results were analyzed, producing a final set of 37 indicators. This study identified a low level of awareness of KPI models and performance management processes among the companies. Furthermore, the analysis showed a substantial difference in perception of KPIs among investors, consultants and contractors, which consequently led to a compiling list of KPIs. The top ten KPI's are: Quality, Cost, Number of investor interferences, Changes in project support, Time increase, Client satisfaction, Employees’ satisfaction, Innovation and learning, Time and Identification of client's interest. The paper concludes with final remarks and guidelines for the implementation of KPIs in practice. Santrauka Šiuolaikineje statybos imoneje efektyvumu pagristo lyginimo svarba jau yra neišvengiama, o statybu pramonei tai reiškia nuolatinius iššūkius. Šiuo darbu siekiama išnagrineti pagrindiniu statybu sektoriaus veiklos rodikliu (PVR) reikšme, vaidmeni ir rūšis bei pademonstruoti, kaip šie rodikliai vertinami remiantis skirtingais vadybos požiūriais. Apžvelgta literatūra, siekiant sudaryti akademineje aplinkoje ir pramoneje naudojamu PVR saraša. Pasitelkus apklausas ir iš dalies struktūrinius pokalbius, buvo surinkti duomenys iš daugiau kaip 30 pietryčiu Europos statybos imoniu. Išanalizavus rezultatus gautas galutinis 37 rodikliu rinkinys. Šiame tyrime nustatyta, kad imones menkai ka težino apie PVR modelius ir efektyvumo valdymo procesus. Be to, paaiškejo, kad investuotojai, konsultantai ir rangovai PVR suvokia gana skirtingai, ir del to teko sudaryti PVR saraša. Dešimt pagrindiniu PVR yra šie: kokybe, kaina, investuotojo kišimosi atveju skaičius, pasikeitusi parama projektui, nukelti terminai, kliento pasitenkinimas, darbuotoju pasitenkinimas, naujoves ir mokymasis, laikas, kliento interesu nustatymas. Darbo pabaigoje pateikiamos baigiamosios pastabos ir PVR taikymo praktikoje rekomendacijos. Reikšminiai žodžiai: pagrindiniai veiklos rodikliai, statybu sektorius, darbo efektyvumas, suvokimas, vadyba, požiūris

The methodological procedure for forecasting cost distribution over time is given for the project realization phase using cost s-curves for three different types of structures: building, tunnel, and motorway. Three different approaches are used, and their results are correlated and presented in form of mathematical regression expressions and appropriate diagrams. The proposed methodology can be used for cash flow forecasting during all phases of construction projects, specially in the earliest phase in which detailed information about the project is scarce.