The Jean Monnet Chair will provide a radar for the latest research and work related to projectification.
Throughout this website you will be able to find the latest news, works and significant research related to the phenomenon of projectification from all possible viewpoints: management, sociology, psychology, economics, organization, etc.
A brief summary of the main contributions of the work will be presented and the original work will be cited and linked so that everyone can study the work presented in as much depth as they wish.
In this way, the Jean Monnet Chair aims to provide researchers and practitioners with information that will enable them to improve their knowledge of a phenomenon that is already a global reality and that is conditioning and will continue to condition relations between individuals, companies and countries in the future.
Margrét Eva Sigurðardóttir's Thesis
- "Projectification within the Icelandic economy and the major industrial sectors".
- Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Engineering Management Reykjavík University.
- June 2024.
This thesis examined the phenomenon of projectification within the Icelandic economy, with the aim of providing a comprehensive understanding of the extent to which projectification is evident in various economic sectors in Iceland.
Additionally, it examined industry-specific differences and what underlying factors possibly contribute to these disparities. Furthermore, the thesis explored potential relationships between key financial aspects and the degree of projectification, on both a company level and an economic sector level. Projectification within the Icelandic economy has been increasing since first measured in the previous study from 2014. The share of project work in 2022 was found to be 34,9% of total working hours. The trend of increasing projectification is anticipated to continue in future years, forecasted to reach 39,3% in 2027.
The growth in project work will vary between economic sectors, as some have now reached a level of saturation with their project work. These results support the previously held assumption that the share of project work in advanced economies seems to be about one third, along with the commonly held assumption of an increasing projectification of the entire economy. The prevalence of projects varies significantly between economic sectors due to differences in industry dynamics, organisational structures and project requirements.
Some sectors rely heavily on project-based work while others have much lower levels of project involvement due to the nature of their operations. However, it is evident that the vast majority of projects are internal projects, rather than the more prominent and visible external projects. Possible relationships between key financial aspects and projectification were explored at both a company level and economic sector level. Although only a few relationships were discovered in this thesis, many others may still be undiscovered.
As very limited research has been conducted on this area, further examination and research are still needed to gain a better and more comprehensive understanding of the topic. There are several complications and limitations of the study to consider. An important limitation is the low number of fully completed questionnaires received from the study sample. This resulted in too few responses representing both the economic sectors and the entire economy of Iceland.
Therefore, the results obtained from the organisations that participated in the study might not adequately reflect the overall share of project work within these sectors. Another limitation lies in the accuracy and precision of the data obtained by the survey, due to human judgement.
Full text link:
https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/47686/1/MSC-MARGRE%cc%81T-EVA-2024.pdf
María Magdalena Aguilar Velasco's Thesis
- "Navigating the Dark Side of Projectification: Strategies and Resources Shaping the Overall Well-being of Project Workers".
- Ph.D. programme at the School of Business and Law, specialization in International Business. University of Agder - Kristiansand, Norway.
- August 2024.
She has developed an amazing and ambitious research to clarify the dark side components of the projectification phenomenon. Her dissertation aims to enhance conceptual and empirical knowledge of the negative aspects of projectification, their detrimental consequences for individual project workers' psychological well-being and job performance, and how project workers can mitigate and adequately cope with project work challenges and job strain symptoms.
Main conclusions
We encourage all readers to review the original research document detailed below, as the author has done a very extensive and thorough job and only a few of the ideas and conclusions of the research are presented here.
- The literature on negative aspects of project work and their consequences for individual project workers has increased considerably over the past two decades. These studies are predominantly from developed nations, published in project management journals, and based on quantitative, cross-sectional designs.
- Environmental resources, such as workplace and family support, and PsyCap play crucial roles in preventing and mitigating the negative aspects of project work, thereby averting potential detrimental consequences for individual project workers and organizations.
- project workers who employ adaptive coping strategies are “active agents” who strategically put self-prioritization and self-regulation at the core of the coping process to pursue specific goals, resist impulses or temptations, and achieve greater long-term utility, as previous research has emphasized.
- these project workers are proactive and highly resilient agents who use self-initiated job-crafting tactics such as negotiating workloads and deadlines, building strategic relationships, and refocusing on their professional growth to anticipate future common stressors and proactively overcome them.
- By contrast, early-career employees, frontline employees, and those with perfectionistic tendencies tend to use more maladaptive coping strategies, such as workaholic behaviours, passive acceptance, self-blame, work-related rumination, and avoidance behaviours (e.g., quitting). These project workers appear to be “constrained agents” who are limited by the structural conditions of their jobs, their acceptance of the temporary organization, and the masculine work culture of project work.
- Participants who report using adaptive coping strategies, such as job crafting, seeking instrumental support, voice behaviour, positive cognitive reframing, and PVM, possess crucial coping resources that empower them to proactively employ these strategies. Thus, both environmental and personal resources are essential for project workers to cope effectively, particularly in multi-project settings.
Reference and full text link:
Aguilar Velasco, M. M. (2024). Navigating the Dark Side of Projectification: Strategies and Resources Shaping the Overall Well-being of Project Workers [Doctoral Dissertation]. University of Agder.
https://uia.brage.unit.no/uia-xmlui/handle/11250/3137982?locale-attribute=en