Organizational paradoxes persist. In their persistence, they resist closure; we demonstrate how, by using an exemplary project, that of the construction of the Sydney Opera House. By analyzing paradoxes encountered in the construction of a notable contemporary architectural project, we discuss how dialogical interactions enable options to emerge in the form of responses that were not previously evident. Engaging paradoxes dialogically requires accepting rather than denying contradictions, meaning that rather than resolving them in favor of one pole or the other, the contradictions remain in play. Monologic interactions—favoring dominant and singular voices, rather than producing consensus—repress dissent, leading to conflict, through suppressing paradox.

Drawing on institutional theory, this article aims to investigate how owners’ project-based organizations (PBOs) can promote production efficiency and legitimate power under the influence of legal enforceability. Analyzing a sample of Chinese construction projects, we find that PBOs can achieve this goal by designing more complex contracts when legal enforceability increases. The PBOs’ expertise reduces the effect of legal enforceability on contracts and alleviates their dependence on contracts when pursuing efficiency. These results can guide PBOs to design contracts according to their expertise and the legal environment to promote production efficiency and legitimate power.

Employing self-determination and social identification theories, we examined how servant leadership, which focuses on employees’ needs, influences project success. Based on 453 responses from project team leader–project team member dyads working in a single organization, our findings suggest that servant leadership enhances project success predominantly by mitigating project work withdrawal, rather than accentuating work engagement. Additionally, when team members’ project identification is high, the servant leadership–work engagement relationship is weakened, whereas the servant leadership–project work withdrawal relationship is strengthened. We contribute to the nascent literature that positions servant leadership as an effective style in the project context.

Recently, scholars have called for a focus on subjective aspects of risk management as a suitable lens for understanding how it functions. In line with this lens, this study focuses on project actors’ viewpoints on risk management in the context of construction projects to provide novel insights in risk management. Drawing on Renn's model and following a Q methodology, we identify four risk management approaches among asset managers and project managers working at the Dutch Schiphol Airport. The action-oriented and future-oriented viewpoints are dominant, while the expert input and stakeholder-centric viewpoints are in the minority. Our findings extend the risk management debate by showing that (1) there are various approaches to risk management that have been identified independently from the formal risk management; (2) these approaches cannot be explained by a project actor's role or objective within the project; and (3) that project actors have a dominant focus on managing complexity-induced risks at the expense of managing other types of risks.

Through a systematic literature review we explore how digital technologies reshape and catalyze digital innovations in the built environment—a highly project-based setting. We analyzed circa 3,000 titles, further narrowed down to 87 articles. We synthesized an original framework for data analysis. The article presents implications for the deployment of digital technologies on three levels: individuals, organizations, and projects. Whereas most of these studies examined the impact of digital innovation in projects, recommendations focused on organizations, suggesting future directions for performance measurement, developing capabilities of firms to manage changes in dynamic environments and interorganizational settings.

Greenwashing behaviors (GWBs) are positive environmental communications in combination with poor environmental performance. Using fraud triangle theory, this study investigated the effects of three types of factors (pressures, opportunities, and rationalizations) that shape contractor GWBs. Primary data from 586 respondents were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The SEM results indicate positive effects for these factors with the exception of isomorphic pressures and reveal the mediating role of rationalization. The fsQCA results present three configurational models that trigger GWBs. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided that shed new light on facilitating environmental sustainability in projects.

While the effect of power on organizations has been well researched, how power influences behavior in projects is less well understood. Taking a case-study approach and using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), we traced the thoughts of project managers subject to power, particularly those who resisted. We discovered that power bore down on project managers through new injunctive norms, encouraging them either not to resist or eventually to compromise and yield to new norms that changed their experiential attitudes. The TPB brings a new perspective to project management research, illustrating how power affected project managers’ behavior and influenced project outcomes.

The impact of behavioral aspects on project success remains an area that requires more attention. Drawing on the social exchange theory (SET), our study tested the mediating role of project citizenship behavior (PCB) in the relationships of all four organizational justice dimensions (i.e., procedural, distributive, informational, and interpersonal justice) with project success. A time-lagged survey of project team members ( n = 233) was conducted and analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that all four organizational justice dimensions are positively associated with project success, whereas informational justice appears to be the most influential dimension, and that PCB mediates all of these relationships. Project managers/sponsors should enact organizational justice and enhance project citizenship to achieve project success.