TY  - UNPB
TI  - Bridging the gap between the project and its environment: An explorative study on boundary spanning within Dutch infrastructure projects.
AV  - public
EP  - 40
A1  - Haaze, Yorick
UR  - https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/3947/
Y1  - 2022///
N2  - Infrastructure project organisations stumble upon a social boundary between the project organisation
and the project environment, which often leads to plans that are considered as unsatisfactory in within
the project environment. Infrastructure planning literature and policy, however, tends to improve the
link between the project and its environment by shifting this boundary, instead of spanning it. Although
the concept of boundary spanning has shown great potential integrating different worlds and
achieving more inclusive solutions, the concept is barely explored within an infrastructure context. This
research explored boundary spanning between the project and its environment, by analysing the
boundary spanning activities (relational activities, information exchange, coordination/negotiation,
mediation/facilitating, guarding/isolating) that are employed in relation to the conditions
(Environmental characteristics, Composition of the boundary spanning role, organisational support &
feedback, and individual determinants) that facilitate boundary spanning activity. Based on the
qualitative case study data, collected from two Dutch infrastructure projects (ViA15 &
Blankenburgverbinding), two major findings have been made. Firstly, a higher degree of environmental
stress (political uncertainty, diversity/complexity, interdependency) leads on the one hand to more
guarding and isolating behaviour due to decreased motivation, but because of interdependency, the
organisation is also forced to coordinate/negotiate with the stakeholders. This finding is in conflict with
the findings in other boundary spanning literature, which suggest a higher degree of boundary
spanning activity due to these conditions. Secondly, the personal network of a boundary spanner
(project director) at the ministry in combination with personal conditions like motivation and
experience had a big impact on the boundary spanning activity within the project, characterised by a
high degree of information exchange/knowledge sharing, relational activities, and mediation and
facilitating.
M1  - master
ID  - theses_frw3947
ER  -