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Chapter 7 - Intra- and Inter-Organizational Governance and the Behavior of Projects

from Part II - Deviating from Plans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2025

Lavagnon A. Ika
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa
Jeffrey K. Pinto
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
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Summary

This chapter addresses the impact of governance on project behavior from an intra-organizational and an inter-organizational perspective. It starts by introducing governance fundamentals, like principles, approaches, standards, and paradigms, and subsequently describes the implications of these fundamentals for project behavior. Four behavior types are identified based on projects’ teleological, deontological, introvert, and extravert behavior. The inter-organizational view introduces a three-layered model for the governance of inter-organizational networks for large and megaprojects. This addresses multi-layer governance at the levels of a) network governance (i.e., for a single project), b) governance of networks (i.e., for the network of networks for several projects of a firm), and c) metagovernance (i.e., the investor’s ground rules for governance). The reader benefits from the discussion on the impact of these layers on project behavior, from understanding the impact of governance complexity on project behavior, and the practical examples given throughout the text.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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