Elmar Kutsch

Cranfield University · School of Management

Effective integration of the Regular and Reserve Armed Forces is essential to operational effectiveness, but evidence suggests that this remains problematic. Past research has focused on the professional values of Regulars and the perceptions that this group holds about Reservists. In this study, we argue that it is necessary to consider the percep...

This paper examines how managers’ framing and sensemaking of unexpected events alters and adapts over time during the course of a major project implementation. By adopting a process ontology, we study the temporal evolution of framing and sensemaking of unexpected events and how they recursively influence each other. We show how over time managers’...

Resilience is clearly a desirable attribute, but characterising it is challenging, especially as it can be understood either as the response to an incident, or its successful avoidance. Individual- and organizational-level resilience are established fields of study, whereas mid-range, managerial-level, evidence of how ‘localised’ resilience (e.g. i...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether learners from different cultures adopt a serious 3D game to facilitate the learning of transferable managerial skills (ethics) and knowledge. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional, cross-country survey study ( n =319) was conducted recruiting participants from one North American a...

The battlefield of the past is an opportunity for the future commander, the future manager to reflect. The books rationale for translating military concepts into management speak is the authors impression in the classroom that managers in commercial organisations tend to follow 'outdated' models of management, without reflecting on a military scien...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to bring together two seemingly disparate bodies of literature – ambidexterity (the ability both to exploit and explore) and mindfulness – to take a fresh perspective on the management of uncertainty. The authors differentiate between “rule-based” and “mindfulness-based” reliability and explore project risk resp...

In this chapter we argue that the ‘process' approach to developing reliable organizational performance, although powerful, is insufficient for increasingly complex environments. We offer the alternative perspective of ‘mindfulness-based' reliability, and use the K2 mountaineering tragedy of 2008 as a case in which this can be explored. This was the...

Many organizations turn to project management offices (PMOs) in order to increase project efficiency, cut costs, and improve success rates in project delivery. However, many PMOs face the challenge of a lack of recognition of their contribution, leading to the need to repeatedly justify their existence. This paper provides new insights into the suc...

Purpose – In the light of challenges experienced in cost estimation at the bidding stage of complex engineering services in the defence industry (e.g. contracting for availability), the purpose of this paper is to present a framework to manage the influence of uncertainty on cost estimates. Design/methodology/approach – The research applied the So...

We develop a framework to analyze the multi-level knowledge requirements of complex, major projects in terms of ambidexterity—the ability to exploit (refine existing knowledge) and explore (develop new knowledge). This is an important theme within the wider literature, yet practical operationalization methods for managers and researchers are not ev...

OVERVIEW: New product development projects are highly risky technical undertakings. Organizations frequently seek to manage the risk involved using standard risk management procedures, knowing that a company that better manages risks is less vulnerable. Nevertheless, NPD projects continue to fail to meet expectations for delivery time, budget, and...

Risk management and ‘routine-based reliability’ is considered fundamental to project performance. Existing theories of project risk management do not fully explain why project managers stop practicing risk management information systems (IS); however, constructs drawn from organisation theory offer insights into how and why such disengagement occur...

As business problems become more complex, so do their associated risk and uncertainty. Frequently, organizations try to deal with risk through the application of standard processes -- often supported by rigid structures of compliance. Despite this, risk still creates huge problems for all sorts of activities, from banking to major investment projec...

Project‐based initiatives form a major part of government investment and, so, learning from past projects should be a major concern for public sector organizations. Previous research has explored systems and processes for project‐based learning but little research has examined the social and cultural factors that enable this learning to be applied...

The consistently successful delivery of projects remains an ambition that many organisations do not achieve. Whilst the reasons behind project failure are many, one recognised factor is the ‘planning fallacy’ – over-optimism in the planning phase of a project. Whilst the planning phase of a project may be a battle for acceptance and resource alloca...

Quality has been extensively studied in repetitive operations, but it remains under-researched in projects. The uncertainty and dynamics of projects challenge the principles of quality developed for repetitive operations, and call for project-tailored solutions. This article explores the attributes of quality in projects, based on interviews conduc...

The recent epidemic of information systems (ISs) programme failures worldwide suggests that the effective management of programmes to cope with uncertainty and achieve mission in the medium term remains a key challenge. Research into high reliability organisations (HROs) has shown that it is possible to avoid, trap and mitigate the risks inherent i...

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of qualitative project risk management processes as used in IS/IT projects. Risk management is widely identified as one of the key processes within project management, and previous empirical evidence, combined with high levels of project failure, has questioned whether the prevailing approac...

Projects are inherently uncertain and face unexpected events, from small changes in scope to unforeseen client’s bankruptcy. This paper studies how project managers respond to such events and how successful and unsuccessful responses differ from the perspective of the practitioner. We analysed 44 unexpected events faced by 22 experienced project ma...

The purpose of this study was to explore the zone of tolerance concept in relation to perceptions of service encounters, specifically when service failures are likely to occur. A simulated restaurant experience consisting of a series of dining service encounters was conducted with a sample of academic staff and research students. Results showed tha...

The management of project risk is considered a key discipline by most organisations involved in projects. Best practice project risk management processes are claimed to be self-evidently correct. However, project risk management involves a choice between which information is utilized and which is deemed to be irrelevant and hence excluded. Little r...

The management of risk is considered a key discipline by the Project Management Institute and the Association for Project Management. However, knowledge of what needs to be done frequently fails to result in action consistent with that knowledge. The reasons for this seem to have received little attention. This study researched the degree of use of...

This paper reports a grounded empirical study into the role of failure recognition in project-based work. The findings show that project managers considered a set of performance measures beyond those of time, cost and quality. Further, they focused on finding elements of success and did not recognise elements of failure in their projects as opportu...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight the main findings of a successfully defended doctoral thesis that studied factors or interventions causing the discrepancy between how adequate project risks should be managed and how project risks are actually managed. Design/methodology/approach The approach involved interviews and a survey using...

Most literature in project management suggests that project success and failure should be measured by the project manager's ability to meet cost, quality and time objectives. However, the concept of project success and failure remains ambiguous and ill defined. This paper presents the results of an empirical study investigating the project outcome...

Project risk management is the systematic utilisation of a process by project managers to identify, analyse and respond to risks posed by events and conditions that are not definitely known in advance but which may adversely affect IT project success. However, although best practice standards in project risk management are applied in information te...

A review of the outcome of many information technology (IT) projects reveals that they fail to meet the pre-specified project objectives of scope, time and budget. Despite well-established project risk management processes, project managers perceive their application as ineffective to manage risk. This failure may well be attributed to the inadequa...