Organisering av projektbaserade företag : Ledning, styrning och genomförande av projektbaserad industriell verksamhet

Sammanfattning: AbstractThis thesis focuses on the management and organizing of project-based companies, and the purpose is to enhance the understanding of multi-project management. The main part of the research and literature on project-based organizations has too narrow focus, since it is mainly interested in how to handle the difficulties that arise when executing a multi-project portfolio. Multi-project management is also often dominated by the thought of effectiveness and rationality through the use of project portfolio management methods and tools, which makes resource allocation and project priority the number one issue.Therefore, the profound theoretical ambition with this thesis is to complement the literature on project-based organizations with an empirically based understanding, inspired by organizing theory, for both research on, and practical execution of, multi-project management from a project-as-practice perspective. The thesis is based on case studies of two different project-based industrial companies, and the main methods for the empirical fieldwork were interviews and observations.The need for an organizing perspective on industrial organizations’ management and control of their project-based business originates from the importance of managing the need for organizational cooperation that arises because of the increased amount of temporary organizing procedures in a project-based company. This study sheds light on several important aspects for management and organizing of the special dynamics that characterize project-based organizations. One aspect is how the organizing of a project-based business demands a kind of insecurity-management, actions and activities aiming to balance the need for structure with the need for situated management. Another aspect is the importance of integrating the management and organizing of the multi-project business on a top management level.