Research Workshop by Bent Flyvbjerg – Project Management Research: Where Is It Going?
Project management is booming, as ever-larger parts of business and government are delivered as projects. But is research in project management following suit?
This workshop discusses the ideas, data, theories, and methodologies of project management research, much of which is found wanting. We will also discuss how to get beyond this weakness to high-quality research.
Like in the previous workshops, Bent Flyvbjerg will kick off with a short intro after which we will discuss, as a group, specific research problems of the participants. Therefore, please bring a problem from your own research that you would like us to discuss. This is crucial for making the workshop work according to its intentions. So please.
Readings
Flyvbjerg, Bent, 2021, "Top Ten Behavioral Biases in Project Management: An Overview,"
Project Management Journal, vol. 52, no. 6, pp. 531–546, free pdf:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3979164.
Flyvbjerg, Bent, Atif Ansar, Alexander Budzier, Søren Buhl, Chantal Cantarelli, Massimo Garbuio, Carsten Glenting, Mette Skamris Holm, Dan Lovallo, Daniel Lunn, Eric Molin, Arne Rønnest, Allison Stewart, Bert van Wee, 2018, "Five Things You Should Know about Cost Overrun," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, vol. 118, December, pp. 174-190, free pdf: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3248999.
Flyvbjerg, Bent, 2021, "Make Megaprojects More Modular," Harvard Business Review, November-December, pp. 58-63, free pdf:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3937465.
Flyvbjerg, Bent, 2014, "What You Should Know about Megaprojects and Why: An Overview,"Project Management Journal, vol. 45, no. 2, April-May, pp. 6-19,
free pdf: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2424835.
About the Research Workshops by Bent Flyvbjerg
Bent Flyvbjerg will argue that for good research you need a good idea, good data, strong theory, and robust methodology. If you don't tick these four boxes, not only is your research unlikely to be successful, it's also likely to be painful. Unfortunately, the world is filled with bad ideas, bad data, weak theory, and fragile methodology, or so Flyvbjerg holds. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid the bad stuff and get to good research, which will be a focus of the workshops.
The research workshops by Flyvbjerg are aimed at researchers – Danish or international – who want to improve their skills for carrying out hands-on empirical and theoretical research. Qualitative and quantitative methodology will be covered, as will data collection, choice of theory, and development of methodology. Doctoral students and postdocs are particularly welcome, but researchers at any stage of their career will find value in the workshops.
If possible, please bring problems from your own ongoing research that you are prepared to share and discuss.
Bent Flyvbjerg will kick off each workshop with a 10-to-15-minute introduction to the day's topic based on his own experience, after which the floor will be opened for discussion of participants' research issues. There will also be time for more general Q&A. Participants are encouraged to hang around after 15:00 to socialize further and ask questions one-on-one.
It would be an advantage, and would facilitate discussion, if participants acquaint themselves with the readings before each workshop.
Women are encouraged to participate. We're tired of male-dominated research.
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