Yu, Miao; Vaagaasar, Anne Live, Müller, Ralf Josef, Wang, Linzhuo & Zhu, Fangwei (2018)

Empowerment: the key to horizontal leadership in project teams

International Journal of Project Management, 36(7), s. 992- 1006. Doi: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2018.04.003

Leadership in projects can shift between the project manager (a.k.a. vertical leadership) and one or more team members (a.k.a. horizontal leadership). Our study examines the processes, dimensions, and conditions for empowerment of project team members to temporarily assume leadership of project processes. Twenty interviews were conducted in 10 organizations in China. Results show that empowerment for horizontal leadership is a 3-stage process, wherein the project manager takes justification perception and demand factors as essential conditions for his/her empowerment orientation, which in turn frames the announcement, acceptance, control, autonomy and future of horizontal leaders. Four categories of horizontal leaders were revealed, namely Deputies, Future Stars, Bench Players and Oysters. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.

Drouin, Nathalie; Müller, Ralf Josef, Sankaran, Shankar & Vaagaasar, Anne Live (2018)

Balancing vertical and horizontal leadership in projects: Empirical studies from Australia, Canada, Norway and Sweden

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 11(4), s. 986- 1006. Doi: 10.1108/IJMPB-01-2018-0002 - Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: to identify how horizontal leaders (within project teams) execute their leadership task in the context of balanced leadership; and to pinpoint scenarios that can occur when horizontal leaders are identified and empowered by the vertical leader (senior or project managers) and a project task is handed over to them to lead. This research is based on the concept of balanced leadership, which conceptualizes leadership as a dynamic, situation-dependent transition of leadership authority from a vertical leader (like a project manager) to a horizontal leader (a project team member) and back again, in order to contribute positively to a project’s success. Balanced leadership consists of five events (nomination, identification, empowerment, horizontal leadership and its governance, and transition). This paper focuses on the fourth event, and its specific aspect of leadership distribution between horizontal and vertical leader. This event begins when a team member(s) accepts the empowerment to assume the role of horizontal leader. This paper explicitly links the leadership style of the vertical leader based on Frame’s (1987) leadership styles and the nature of decisions taken by both the vertical and horizontal leaders to deliver the project. Design/methodology/approach The method used for this paper is the qualitative phase of a sequential mixed methods (qualitative-quantitative) study. Data were collected through case studies in four different countries, using a maximum variety sampling approach. Data collection was through interviews of vertical leaders (senior leaders who were often sponsors of projects or members of senior management or project managers) and horizontal leaders (team leaders or members) in a variety of industry sectors. Data analysis was done through initial coding and constant comparison to arrive at themes. Thematic analysis was used to gain knowledge about the split of leadership and decision-making authority between the horizontal and vertical leader(s). Findings The results show that for Canadian and Australian projects, a combination of autocratic and democratic leadership styles were used by vertical leaders. In the case of Scandinavian projects, a democratic leadership style has been observed. Linked to these leadership styles, the horizontal decision making is predominantly focused on technical decisions and to daily task decisions to deliver the project. Delegation occurs most of the time to one specific team member, but occasionally to several team members simultaneously, for them to work collaboratively on a given issue. Research limitations/implications The paper supports a deeper investigation into a leadership theory, by validating one particular event of the balanced leadership theory, which is based on Archer’s (1995) realist social theory. The findings from this paper will guide organizations to facilitate an effective approach to balancing the leadership roles between vertical and horizontal leaders in their projects. The findings can also be used to develop horizontal leaders to take up more responsibilities in projects. Originality/value The originality lies in the new leadership theory called balanced leadership, and its empirical validation. It is the first study on the leadership task distribution between vertical and horizontal leadership in projects. Its value is new insights, which allow practitioners to develop practices to find and empower the best possible leader at any given time in the project and academics to develop a more dynamic and, therefore, more realistic theory on leadership as it unfolds in projects.

Müller, Ralf Josef; Sankaran, Shankar, Drouin, Nathalie, Vaagaasar, Anne Live, Bekker, Michiel C. & Jain, Karuna (2018)

A theory framework for balancing vertical and horizontal leadership in projects

International Journal of Project Management, 36(1), s. 83- 94. Doi: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.07.003

This paper develops a framework for understanding the interaction between person-centered leadership by project managers (a.k.a. vertical leadership (VLS)) and team-centered leadership by individuals in the project team (a.k.a. horizontal leadership (HSL)). It builds on Archer's Realist Social Theory and its morphogenetic cycle, which describes the interaction of structure with agency for task fulfillment and the resulting reshaping (morphogenesis) or continuation (morphostasis) of structure for subsequent iterations of the cycle. Data were collected globally in 33 case studies with 166 interviews and analyzed using Alvesson's Constructing Mystery technique. A theory about the cycles and events that shape the interaction between VLS and HLS is developed, which includes events such as nomination, identification, selection, execution and governance, as well as transitioning. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.

Kokkonen, Anne & Vaagaasar, Anne Live (2017)

Managing collaborative space in multi-partner projects

Construction Management and Economics, 36(2), s. 83- 95. Doi: 10.1080/01446193.2017.1347268

Collaboration across company borders in multi-partner construction projects has proven to be challenging. An increasing number of projects aim to strengthen such collaboration by collocating project members from different companies in the same physical space. Yet we know little about the management practices required for taking advantage of such a collaborative space. To begin to remedy this shortcoming, we present an in-depth case study of a hospital construction project that applied a collaborative space and focus on the management practices influencing this space. With the help of affordance theory, we identified two types of management practices and show how they transform across project phases. These management practices included designing the physical elements of the collaborative space, and creating shared collaboration practices for the space. We contribute to the construction management literature by taking the first step in conceptualizing the connections between space, management and collaboration practices in the context of multi-partner projects. We suggest managers to consider carefully what kind of collaboration practices the space is expected to enhance and plan the physical and social space to support it.

Bygballe, Lena Elisabeth; Swärd, Anna Sundberg & Vaagaasar, Anne Live (2016)

Coordinating in construction projects and the emergence of synchronized readiness

International Journal of Project Management, 34(8), s. 1479- 1492. Doi: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2016.08.006

Karlsen, Jan Terje; Solli-Sæther, Hans, van Oorschot, Kim & Vaagaasar, Anne Live (1)

Kan du stole på din utenlandske leverandør?

BI Leadership Magazine [Kronikk]

Swärd, Anna; Bygballe, Lena Elisabeth & Vaagaasar, Anne Live (2017)

Interorganizational Routines

[Academic lecture]. SMS Costa Rica.

Skyttermoen, Torgeir & Vaagaasar, Anne Live (2017)

Värdeskapande projektledning

[Scientific book]. Studentlitteratur AB.

Värdeskapande projektledning är en grundlig introduktion till projektledning där alla de viktiga temana och teorierna presenteras. Boken kombinerar forskning och teori med praktik och presenterar både etablerade teorier och modeller och moderna goda exempel. Läsaren får en god insikt om hur man genomför projekt i en komplex och osäker verklighet präglad av många aktörer, förhandlingar och ständig förändring.
 ”Den här boken täcker det mesta som man kan säga om projekt och deras funktions­sätt. Boken är visserligen en pedagogisk lärobok, men ger samtidigt en god inblick om forskningen och bekräftar det goda rykte som Skandinavien har som ledande inom projektfältet.”


Vaagaasar, Anne Live & Skyttermoen, Torgeir (2017)

Prosjektveilederen

[Scientific book]. Cappelen Damm Akademisk.

Drouin, Nathalie; Müller, Ralf, Sankaran, Shankar, Vaagaasar, Anne Live, Nikolova, Natalia & Jain, Karuna (2017)

Balanced leadership in projects: The concept of socio-cognitive space to support the building of organizational capabilities. The "Project Hat"

[Academic lecture]. IRNOP 2017 Conference.

Müller, Ralf; Sankaran, Shankar, Drouin, Nathalie, Vaagaasar, Anne Live, Bekker, M & Jain, Karuna (2017)

A theory framework for balancing vertical and horizontal leadership in projects

[Academic lecture]. IRNOP 2017.