Global Projects: Institutional and Political Challenges

Cambridge University Press, 6/23/2011
EAN 9781107004924, ISBN10: 1107004926

Hardcover, 472 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
Language: English

As the world's population continues to grow, there is an ever increasing need for huge investment in basic infrastructure: water and sewage, energy production and distribution, transportation and telecommunication. At the same time, infrastructure systems in developed countries are deteriorating and in need of renewal. Today, many of the engineering and economic problems surrounding infrastructure construction projects have been solved, but the threat of social misalignments and political conflicts renders the development and management of such projects more challenging than ever before. This book presents a new theoretical framework that allows us to analyze the institutional and social movement processes, both negative and positive, that surround global infrastructure projects as they confront cross-national and cross-sectoral (such as private-public partnerships) institutional differences. The value of this framework is illustrated through a series of studies on a wide range of infrastructure projects, including roads, railroads, ports, airports, water supply and energy pipelines.

List of figures
List of tables
List of contributors
Preface Ray E. Levitt and Ryan J. Orr
Introduction W. Richard Scott
Part I. Foundational Themes
1. Global projects
distinguishing features, drivers, and challenges Ryan J. Orr, W. Richard Scott, Raymond E. Levitt, Karlos Artto and Jaakko Kujala
2. The institutional environment of global projects W. Richard Scott
3. Social movements and the growth in opposition to global projects Doug McAdam
Part II. Institutional Differences and Global Projects
Empirical Studies
4. Rules vs. results
sources and resolution of institutional conflicts on Indian Metro Railway projects Ashwin Mahalingam, Raymond E. Levitt and W. Richard Scott
5. Institutional exceptions on global projects
a process model Ryan J. Orr and W. Richard Scott
6. Local embeddedness of firms and strategies for dealing with uncertainty in global projects Ryan J. Orr and Raymond E. Levitt
7. Who needs to know what? Institutional knowledge and global projects Amy Javernick-Will and W. Richard Scott
Part III. Political Conflicts and Global Projects
8. Site fights
explaining opposition to oil and gas pipeline projects in the developing world Doug McAdam, Hilary Schaffer Boudet, Jenna Davis, Ryan J. Orr, W. Richard Scott and Raymond E. Levitt
9. To talk or to fight? Effects of strategic, cultural and institutional factors on renegotiation approaches in public-private concessions Henry Chan and Raymond E. Levitt
Part IV. Governance Strategies and Structures
10. Network-based strategies and competencies for political and social risk management Witold J. Henisz
11. Organizations enabling public-private partnerships
an organization field approach Stephen F. Jooste and W. Richard Scott
References
Index.

'Project organizations have been around a long time - think of master builders coordinating the work of many trades in the construction of a cathedral. But until the advent of modern communications and transportation, projects were limited geographically and conducted face-to-face. Scott, Levitt, and Orr show us how projects now span space, culture, and political boundaries in the development of megaprojects of vast scale. Global projects greatly increase the possibilities for what engineering can accomplish, but the ensuing social, cultural, and technological complexity creates new challenges as well. A very timely and well researched book.' Nicole Biggart, Chevron Chair in Energy Efficiency and Professor of Management, University of California, Davis