IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/scaman/v30y2014i2p197-213.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of complexity on the success of temporary organizations: Relationship quality and transparency as substitutes for formal coordination mechanisms

Author

Listed:
  • Hanisch, Bastian
  • Wald, Andreas

Abstract

The organizational literature has considered complexity as an important factor influencing organizations. More recently, the degree of dissemination of temporary organizations (TOs) increased and today TOs can be found in almost every industry. This corresponds to an augmenting treatment in the literature where TOs are often described as appropriate means to cope with complexity. Yet, few empirical studies to date have analyzed the effects of complexity on the success of TOs. This paper considers three prevalent types of complexity (structural, task, temporal) and integrates two factors (relationship quality, transparency) which are hypothesized to mediate the influence of complexity on the efficiency and effectiveness of TOs. We test the hypothesis using a sample of knowledge-intensive consulting projects. The results show that TOs possess a high degree of “complexity resistance” and are therefore particularly suited for solving unique and complex problems. Of the three types of complexity considered, only structural complexity significantly influences efficiency and effectiveness of TOs. Relationship quality and transparency act as mediators on this effect and can be used to mitigate negative effects of complexity.

Suggested Citation

  • Hanisch, Bastian & Wald, Andreas, 2014. "Effects of complexity on the success of temporary organizations: Relationship quality and transparency as substitutes for formal coordination mechanisms," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 197-213.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:scaman:v:30:y:2014:i:2:p:197-213
    DOI: 10.1016/j.scaman.2013.08.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956522113000894
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.scaman.2013.08.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Benoit Morel & Rangaraj Ramanujam, 1999. "Through the Looking Glass of Complexity: The Dynamics of Organizations as Adaptive and Evolving Systems," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(3), pages 278-293, June.
    2. Dvir, Dov & Lechler, Thomas, 2004. "Plans are nothing, changing plans is everything: the impact of changes on project success," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Maaninen-Olsson, Eva & Müllern, Tomas, 2009. "A contextual understanding of projects--The importance of space and time," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 327-339, September.
    4. Christophe Midler, 1995. "Projectification of the Firm : the Renault Case," Post-Print hal-00262524, HAL.
    5. Maylor, Harvey, 2001. "Beyond the Gantt chart:: Project management moving on," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 92-100, February.
    6. Kim B. Clark, 1989. "Project Scope and Project Performance: The Effect of Parts Strategy and Supplier Involvement on Product Development," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(10), pages 1247-1263, October.
    7. Haridimos Tsoukas & Robert Chia, 2002. "On Organizational Becoming: Rethinking Organizational Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(5), pages 567-582, October.
    8. Leonardo P. Santiago & Pirooz Vakili, 2005. "On the Value of Flexibility in R&D Projects," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(8), pages 1206-1218, August.
    9. Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa & Dorothy E. Leidner, 1999. "Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(6), pages 791-815, December.
    10. Royston Greenwood & Stan X. Li & Rajshree Prakash & David L. Deephouse, 2005. "Reputation, Diversification, and Organizational Explanations of Performance in Professional Service Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(6), pages 661-673, December.
    11. Laurie J. Kirsch, 1996. "The Management of Complex Tasks in Organizations: Controlling the Systems Development Process," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(1), pages 1-21, February.
    12. Wolfram Elsner, 2004. "The “new” economy: complexity, coordination and a hybrid governance approach," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 31(11/12), pages 1029-1049, October.
    13. Lundin, Rolf A. & Steinthórsson, Runólfur S., 2003. "Studying organizations as temporary," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 233-250, June.
    14. Dekker, Henri C., 2004. "Control of inter-organizational relationships: evidence on appropriation concerns and coordination requirements," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 27-49, January.
    15. Beth A. Bechky, 2006. "Gaffers, Gofers, and Grips: Role-Based Coordination in Temporary Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 3-21, February.
    16. Philip Anderson, 1999. "Perspective: Complexity Theory and Organization Science," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(3), pages 216-232, June.
    17. Lundin, Rolf A. & Söderholm, Anders, 1995. "A theory of the temporary organization," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 437-455, December.
    18. Jones, Robert E. & Deckro, Richard F., 1993. "The social psychology of project management conflict," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 216-228, January.
    19. Martin Hoegl & Hans Georg Gemuenden, 2001. "Teamwork Quality and the Success of Innovative Projects: A Theoretical Concept and Empirical Evidence," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 435-449, August.
    20. Svenja C. Sommer & Christoph H. Loch, 2004. "Selectionism and Learning in Projects with Complexity and Unforeseeable Uncertainty," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(10), pages 1334-1347, October.
    21. Kaj U. Koskinen & Pekka Pihlanto, 2008. "Knowledge Management in Project-Based Companies," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-59507-1.
    22. Jarvis, Cheryl Burke & MacKenzie, Scott B & Podsakoff, Philip M, 2003. "A Critical Review of Construct Indicators and Measurement Model Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(2), pages 199-218, September.
    23. Hobday, Mike, 2000. "The project-based organisation: an ideal form for managing complex products and systems?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(7-8), pages 871-893, August.
    24. Richard L. Daft & Robert H. Lengel, 1986. "Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(5), pages 554-571, May.
    25. Shenhar, Aaron J. & Dvir, Dov, 1996. "Toward a typological theory of project management," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 607-632, June.
    26. Gino Cattani & Simone Ferriani & Lars Frederiksen & Florian Taübe, 2011. "Project-Based Organizing and Strategic Management," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/206786, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    27. Georg Schreyögg & Jörg Sydow, 2010. "CROSSROADS---Organizing for Fluidity? Dilemmas of New Organizational Forms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(6), pages 1251-1262, December.
    28. Dvir, D. & Lipovetsky, S. & Shenhar, A. & Tishler, A., 1998. "In search of project classification: a non-universal approach to project success factors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(9), pages 915-935, December.
    29. Damian Hodgson & Svetlana Cicmil, 2007. "The Politics of Standards in Modern Management: Making ‘The Project’ a Reality," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 431-450, May.
    30. Michael T. Pich & Christoph H. Loch & Arnoud De Meyer, 2002. "On Uncertainty, Ambiguity, and Complexity in Project Management," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(8), pages 1008-1023, August.
    31. John Hulland, 1999. "Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: a review of four recent studies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 195-204, February.
    32. Anne Y. Ilinitch & Richard A. D'Aveni & Arie Y. Lewin, 1996. "New Organizational Forms and Strategies for Managing in Hypercompetitive Environments," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(3), pages 211-220, June.
    33. Clift, Thomas B. & Vandenbosch, Mark B., 1999. "Project Complexity and Efforts to Reduce Product Development Cycle Time," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 187-198, June.
    34. Paul S. Adler, 2001. "Market, Hierarchy, and Trust: The Knowledge Economy and the Future of Capitalism," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 215-234, April.
    35. Wanda J. Orlikowski & JoAnne Yates, 2002. "It's About Time: Temporal Structuring in Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(6), pages 684-700, December.
    36. Turner, J. Rodney & Müller, Ralf, 2004. "Communication and Co-operation on Projects Between the Project Owner As Principal and the Project Manager as Agent," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 327-336, June.
    37. Linus Dahlander & Siobhan O'Mahony, 2011. "Progressing to the Center: Coordinating Project Work," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 961-979, August.
    38. Alvesson, Mats & Kärreman, Dan & Sturdy, Andrew & Handley, Karen, 2009. "Unpacking the client(s): Constructions, positions and client-consultant dynamics," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 253-263, September.
    39. Aaron J. Shenhar, 2001. "One Size Does Not Fit All Projects: Exploring Classical Contingency Domains," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(3), pages 394-414, March.
    40. Sebastian Raisch & Julian Birkinshaw & Gilbert Probst & Michael L. Tushman, 2009. "Organizational Ambidexterity: Balancing Exploitation and Exploration for Sustained Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 685-695, August.
    41. Packendorff, Johann, 1995. "Inquiring into the temporary organization: New directions for project management research," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 319-333, December.
    42. Midler, Christophe, 1995. ""Projectification" of the firm: The renault case," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 363-375, December.
    43. Rajdeep Grewal & Gary L. Lilien & Girish Mallapragada, 2006. "Location, Location, Location: How Network Embeddedness Affects Project Success in Open Source Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(7), pages 1043-1056, July.
    44. Daniel Z. Levin & Rob Cross, 2004. "The Strength of Weak Ties You Can Trust: The Mediating Role of Trust in Effective Knowledge Transfer," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(11), pages 1477-1490, November.
    45. Stewart Clegg & David Courpasson, 2004. "Political Hybrids: Tocquevillean Views on Project Organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 525-547, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pichault, Francois & Fatien Diochon, Pauline & Nizet, Jean, 2020. "Autonomy of independent professionals: A political process perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 623-633.
    2. De Toni, Alberto F. & Pessot, Elena, 2021. "Investigating organisational learning to master project complexity: An embedded case study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 541-554.
    3. Eldon Y. Li & Shu-Fen Ko, 2021. "Employee’s Market Orientation Behavior and Firm’s Internal Marketing Mechanism: A Multilevel Perspective of Job Performance Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-25, June.
    4. Joanna Moczydłowska & Joanna Sadkowska & Beata Żelazko & Carmen Nadia Ciocoiu & Ewa Stawicka, 2023. "Understanding Risk Culture in the Context of a Sustainable Project: A Preliminary Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-16, March.
    5. Chen, Hong Long, 2023. "Influence of supply chain risks on project financial performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    6. Irina Isaeva & Marianne Steinmo & Einar Rasmussen, 2022. "How firms use coordination activities in university–industry collaboration: adjusting to or steering a research center?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(5), pages 1308-1342, October.
    7. Manuel Knott & Franz Strich & Kim Strunk & Anne-Sophie Mayer, 2022. "Uncovering potential barriers of using initial coin offerings to finance artistic projects," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 46(2), pages 317-344, June.
    8. Spanuth, Thomas & Wald, Andreas, 2017. "Understanding the antecedents of organizational commitment in the context of temporary organizations: An empirical study," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 129-138.
    9. Víctor Hermano & Natalia Martín-Cruz, 2020. "The Project-Based Firm: A Theoretical Framework for Building Dynamic Capabilities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-14, August.
    10. Hui Lei & Xiang Fang & T. M. Rajkumar & Clyde Holsapple, 2022. "Recovering Troubled IT Projects: The Roles of Transformational Leadership and Project Complexity," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 233-245, February.
    11. Meng Lv & Shaohong Feng, 2021. "Temporary teams: current research focus and future directions," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 1-18, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Engwall, Mats, 2003. "No project is an island: linking projects to history and context," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 789-808, May.
    2. Manning, Stephan, 2017. "The rise of project network organizations: Building core teams and flexible partner pools for interorganizational projects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1399-1415.
    3. Spanuth, Thomas & Wald, Andreas, 2017. "Understanding the antecedents of organizational commitment in the context of temporary organizations: An empirical study," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 129-138.
    4. Gernot Grabher, 2002. "Cool Projects, Boring Institutions: Temporary Collaboration in Social Context," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 205-214.
    5. Davies, Andrew & Manning, Stephan & Söderlund, Jonas, 2018. "When neighboring disciplines fail to learn from each other: The case of innovation and project management research," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(5), pages 965-979.
    6. Gil, Nuno & Tether, Bruce S., 2011. "Project risk management and design flexibility: Analysing a case and conditions of complementarity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 415-428, April.
    7. von den Driesch, Till & Eva Susanne da Costa, Maika & Christina Flatten, Tessa & Brettel, Malte, 2015. "How CEO experience, personality, and network affect firms' dynamic capabilities," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 245-256.
    8. Ping Yung, 2015. "A new institutional economic theory of project management," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 228-243, February.
    9. Goh, Shao Hung & Eldridge, Stephen, 2019. "Sales and Operations Planning: The effect of coordination mechanisms on supply chain performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 80-94.
    10. Peter B. Doeringer & Pacey Foster & Stephan Manning & David Terkla, 2013. "Project-based industries and craft-like production: structure, location and performance," Chapters, in: Frank Giarratani & Geoffrey J.D. Hewings & Philip McCann (ed.), Handbook of Industry Studies and Economic Geography, chapter 4, pages 99-151, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Alajoutsijärvi, Kimmo & Mainela, Tuija & Salminen, Risto & Ulkuniemi, Pauliina, 2012. "Perceived customer involvement and organizational design in project business," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 77-89.
    12. Marek Kasperek & Monika Odlanicka-Poczobutt, 2021. "The Etiology of Formation and Reacting Way to a Change in the Supply Chain," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2), pages 915-947.
    13. De Toni, Alberto F. & Pessot, Elena, 2021. "Investigating organisational learning to master project complexity: An embedded case study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 541-554.
    14. Luz Stella Cardona-Meza & Gerard Olivar-Tost, 2017. "Modeling and Simulation of Project Management through the PMBOK® Standard Using Complex Networks," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2017, pages 1-12, December.
    15. Galeazzo, Ambra & Furlan, Andrea & Vinelli, Andrea, 2014. "Understanding environmental-operations integration: The case of pollution prevention projects," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 149-160.
    16. Fanny Simon & Albéric Tellier, 2016. "Balancing contradictory temporality during the unfold of innovation streams," Post-Print hal-01572302, HAL.
    17. Ofer Arazy & Johannes Daxenberger & Hila Lifshitz-Assaf & Oded Nov & Iryna Gurevych, 2016. "Turbulent Stability of Emergent Roles: The Dualistic Nature of Self-Organizing Knowledge Coproduction," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 792-812, December.
    18. Kennedy, Deanna M. & Sommer, S. Amy & Nguyen, Phuong Anh, 2017. "Optimizing multi-team system behaviors: Insights from modeling team communication," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(1), pages 264-278.
    19. Serghei Floricel & Sorin Piperca & Richard Tee, 2018. "Strategies for Managing the Structural and Dynamic Consequences of Project Complexity," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-17, May.
    20. Georg Schreyögg & Jörg Sydow, 2010. "CROSSROADS---Organizing for Fluidity? Dilemmas of New Organizational Forms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(6), pages 1251-1262, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:scaman:v:30:y:2014:i:2:p:197-213. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/872/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.