February/March 2017 ? Project Management Journal 19
Project Management Journal, Vol. 48, No. 1, 19–36
© 2017 by the Project Management Institute
Published online at www.pmi.org/PMJ
PAPERS ...
February/March 2017 ? Project Management Journal 19
Project Management Journal, Vol. 48, No. 1, 19–36
© 2017 by the Project Management Institute
Published online at www.pmi.org/PMJ
PAPERS
Tension Awareness of Stakeholders
in Large Technology Projects:
A Duality Perspective
Albert Boonstra , Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Marjolein A. G. van Offenbeek , Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen,
The Netherlands
Janita F. J. Vos , Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
PAPERS
INTRODUCTION
P
roject management approaches based on a linear rationality and
unitarist thinking are still common in large technology projects.
Linear rational approaches view projects as a consecutive series of
directed and planned activities that lead to predetermined results.
Unitarist thinking expects participants to contribute harmoniously to the
project goals (Goodman & Griffith, 1991). At the same time, evidence shows
that project failure can often be attributed to social, cultural, and political
factors and processes (Alderman & Ivory, 2007; Boonstra & Van Offenbeek,
2011; Constantinides & Barrett, 2006; Doolin, 2004; Greenhalgh, Potts,
Wong, Bark, & Swinglehurst, 2009; Jensen & Aanestad, 2007; Lapointe &
Rivard, 2005). It has, therefore, been argued that the complexity of large
projects requires pluralist approaches (Flood & Jackson, 1991; Robey &
Boudreau, 1999; Van de Ven & Poole, 2005) that recognize diversity in beliefs,
values, and interests among stakeholders (Senior & Swailes, 2010). Although
organizational scientists have long recognized plurality as an essential
ingredient for performance (Cyert & March, 1963; Thompson, 1967), project
management prescriptions (e.g., Project Management Institute, 2013; Van
Donk & Riezebos, 2005) are often still based on assumptions of common
interests among the actors involved, shared goals (Cicmil & Hodgson, 2006),
and predictable means to achieving them (Williams, 2005).
Authors, including Robey and Boudreau (1999), Cicmil and Hodgson (2006),
and Greenhalgh et al. (2009) suggest playing down this deterministic logic. They
argue that the complexity inherent in large technology projects can better be
grasped through concepts such as dialectics (Saberwhal & Newman, 2003), para -
doxes (Bresnen, 2007), managerial dilemmas, and opposing views among stake -
holders (Cho, Mathiassen, & Robey, 2007). In this article, we take up this challenge
by applying Smith and Graetz’s (2011) dualistic perspective on organizational
change to the management of a large technology project. Duality is the central con -
cept in one of the four basic theories that explains change in organizations (Van de
Ven & Poole, 2005) and is considered significant in understanding change dynam -
ics (Barge, Lee, Maddux, Nabring, & Townsend, 2008; Cameron & Quin, 1988; Seo,
Putnam, & Bartunek, 2004). Duali
