Doctoral theses at NTNU, 2010:15 Ole Jonny Klakegg Ole Jonny Klakegg Governance of Major Public Investment Projects In Pursuit of Relevance and Sustainability ISBN 978-82-471-1985-3 (printed ver.) ISBN 978-82-471-1986-0 (electronic ver.) ISSN 1503-8181 Doctoral theses at NTNU, NTNU philosophiae doctor Thesis for the degree of Norwegian University of Science and Technology 2010: 15 Department of Civil and Transport Engineering Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology Ole Jonny Klakegg Governance of Major Public Investment Projects In Pursuit of Relevance and Sustainability Thesis for the degree of philosophiae doctor Trondheim, February 2010 Norwegian University of Science and Technology Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology Department of Civil and Transport Engineering NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology Thesis for the degree of philosophiae doctor Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology Department of Civil and Transport Engineering ©Ole Jonny Klakegg ISBN 978-82-471-1985-3 (printed ver.) ISBN 978-82-471-1986-0 (electronic ver.) ISSN 1503-8181 Doctoral Theses at NTNU, 15 Printed by Tapir Uttrykk Preface and Acknowledgements In the year 2000 the Norwegian Ministry of Finance initiated a new quality assurance scheme under which all major public investment projects financed by the State were to be appraised and analysed by external QA-consultants. In 2002 the Ministry initiated the Concept research programme to support and follow up the QA scheme. The main task of the programme is to perform trailing research, gathering and analysing empirical data from these projects and develop new knowledge that could help to improve the front-end governance of major public projects. In 2006 the Concept research programme arranged an international symposium with the title ‘Principles of Governance for Major Investment Projects’. This marked the start of preparations for this dissertation. The main topic studied in this doctoral thesis falls within the same thematic field, as reflected in the following question in the symposium brochure: What would it take to develop more effective governance regimes at international, government or corporate level to ensure maximum utility and return on investment for society and investors? For the last five years I have had the pleasure of holding the position as Research Director of the Concept research programme. During this period I have developed a strong interest in the issues studied by the programme. These are complex issues that no one can expect to have full knowledge of. I have often felt humbled by the complexity in the issues when studying the challenges faced by those involved in governance and management of public projects. Typically, they are under pressure from many sides, and with a multitude of expectations to fulfil. I hope this research will contribute to make some of these challenges more manageable in the future. The selection of problems addressed in the research reported in this dissertation was influenced by the symposium in 2006, as well as by the experience I gained through my position in the Concept research programme. In addition, my research had to be relevant for the Concept research programme in order to make it practically possible to combine my position with the doctoral studies. Finally, several other candidates have been or are currently working on their doctoral thesis in collaboration with the Concept research programme. My choice was to study governance of projects using a qualitative approach. Other candidates associated with the programme have chosen other research issues and applied more quantitatively based approaches. Methodologically, this work represents an engineer’s attempt to stretch beyond the usual approaches in the engineering field. I have done this without leaving the basic perspectives of an engineer, while at the same time I have tried to draw lessons from 3 social and political sciences to find new approaches. As a result, the dissertation covers issues that traditionally have not been much in focus in the engineering world. I am deeply grateful for the financial support received from the Norwegian Ministry of Finance via the Concept research programme. Concept has also provided access to empirical data. Without this support the work would never have been possible. I carried out a major part of the writing during one year as a visitor at the School of Management, University of Southampton, UK. My sincere thanks are due to Professor Terry Williams for making my stay possible and for his encouragement and support in the research work. My thanks also go to my colleagues in Southampton who, through their hospitality and friendship, made it a fantastic year for my whole family. The remaining work was carried out at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Civil and Transport Engineering. Sincere thanks are given to my supervisors, Professor Tore Haavaldsen, Department of Civil and Transport Engineering, and Professor Bjørn Andersen, Department of Production and Quality Engineering. I would also like to thank Deputy Director General Peder Berg of the Ministry of Finance, and Professor Knut Samset, Department of Civil and Transport Engineering, as important sources of knowledge and inspiration in the matters discussed in the dissertation. Thanks are also due to my co-authors: Ole Morten Magnussen, Nils O.E. Olsson and Helene Glasspool. I also thank all other friends and colleagues among the researchers, interviewees and informants who contributed additional data, knowledge and encouragement through discussions and analysis, and who are too numerous to mention by name here. Thanks are also due to friends outside the university, with whom I can still talk about things that keep my feet on the ground. Without them, I could not have gone through this process. Last, but not least, I thank my parents and family – my wife Anne-Sissel and children Anette, Kristian and Renate – who still bear with me after this busy period. Trondheim, October 2009 Ole Jonny Klakegg 4 5 Contents Preface and Acknowledgements .................................................................................... 3 Contents ......................................................................................................................... 6 List of Figures ................................................................................................................ 8 List of Tables ................................................................................................................. 9 Papers and Appendix ................................................................................................... 11 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 13 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 17 1.1 Establishing problem awareness .................................................................. 17 1.2 Current trends in project management ......................................................... 19 1.3 Positioning this dissertation among current trends in PM ........................... 23 1.4 Starting points of this research ..................................................................... 24 1.5 The research area ......................................................................................... 26 1.6 Definitions .................................................................................................... 28 1.7 Outline of the dissertation ............................................................................ 31 2 Scope and limitations ........................................................................................... 37 2.1 Defining the scope ....................................................................................... 37 2.2 Discussion of some important aspects of limitations ................................... 39 2.3 Expected consequences of the limitations ................................................... 44 3 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 49 3.1 Research paradigm – the platform for a research strategy ........................... 49 3.2 Research design – the research questions .................................................... 50 3.3 Research design - research tasks and data sources ...................................... 52 3.4 Research strategy - methods used in this dissertation .................................. 54 3.5 Overview and concluding remarks on methods used .................................. 61 3.6 The methodical structure of the dissertation ................................................ 63 4 Governance of the front-end of projects .............................................................. 65 4.1 The governance concept .............................................................................. 65 4.2 Linking governance and projects ................................................................. 66 4.3 Project governance? ..................................................................................... 68 4.4 Functions included in governance of projects ............................................. 69 4.4.1 Functions of policy making/strategy development .............................. 73 4.4.2 Functions to support decision making ................................................. 76 4.4.3