Matching of resources and the design of organisations for project management. (1st January 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cunningham, Scott W.; Slinger, Jill H.
• Is Part Of: International journal of strategic engineering asset management. Volume 1 Number 4(2013)
• Page Start: 407
• Page End: 424
• Publication Date: 2013-01-01
• Subjects: organisational design -- project management -- stable matching -- resource-based perspectives of the firm -- game theory; Facility management -- Periodicals; Plant engineering -- Periodicals; 658.2005
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1759-9733

Abstract

This paper addresses a problem common to many high-technology firms. How can firms balance the needs of management as well as technologists in resourcing projects when both material and knowledge are needed for project success? The union between material and engineering knowledge in the form of projects within a firm is viewed as a matching, and the established literature on matching is brought to bear on the issue. In particular, the project resourcing problem is related to the well-known 'problem of stable marriage'. A formal argument demonstrates that a range of potential choices for project resourcing exists and that such choices are anchored and routinised by the different organisational designs of the firm. Efficient outcomes of project resource matching are related to several well-known organisational forms including the functional form, the project matrix, and the project-based organisation. The paper reveals that the project matrix organisation pays a heavy cost for its compromise between resource-preferable and knowledge-preferable projects.