Clash of the Titans: Temporal Organizing and Collaborative Dynamics in the Panama Canal Megaproject

van Marrewijk, A; Ybema, S; Smits, K; Clegg, S; Pitsis, T

Clash of the Titans: Temporal Organizing and Collaborative Dynamics in the Panama Canal Megaproject

van Marrewijk, A Ybema, S Smits, K Clegg, S

Pitsis, T

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Organization Studies, 2016, 37 (12), pp. 1745 - 1769
Issue Date:: 2016-12-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	van Marrewijk, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ybema, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Smits, K	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Clegg, S https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6083-4283	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Pitsis, T	en_US
dc.date.issued	2016-12-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Organization Studies, 2016, 37 (12), pp. 1745 - 1769	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0170-8406	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/48618
dc.description.abstract	© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. Recent studies of temporary organizing and project-based work explain how organizational actors establish and maintain clear role structures and harmonious relations in the face of precariousness by engaging in stabilizing work practices. This focus upon ‘order’ undervalues conflict-ridden negotiations and power struggles in temporary organizing. This paper demonstrates that in temporary organizing conflict and order may exist in tandem. Drawing close to the collaborative dynamics in a large-scale global project, we analyse the political struggles over role patterns and hierarchic positioning of client and agent in the temporary organization of the Panama Canal Expansion Program (PCEP). In such projects, the agent typically takes the position of project leader. In this case however, the client was formally in charge, while the agent was assigned the role of coach and mentor. The diffuse hierarchy triggered project partners to engage in both harmony-seeking social and discursive practices and to enter into conflict-ridden negotiations over authority relations in the everyday execution of the PCEP project. Our study contributes to existing literatures on temporal organizing by presenting a case of simultaneous practices of harmonization and contestation over mutual roles and hierarchic positions. We also show that studying collaboration between project partners involves, not merely analysing project governance structures, but also offering a context-sensitive account of everyday social and discursive practices. Finally, we reflect on a view of ‘permanence’ and ‘temporariness’ as themselves contested categories and symbolic sites for struggle.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Organization Studies	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/0170840616655489	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Business & Management	en_US
dc.title	Clash of the Titans: Temporal Organizing and Collaborative Dynamics in the Panama Canal Megaproject	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	12	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	37	en_US
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	12	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	37	en_US

Abstract:

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. Recent studies of temporary organizing and project-based work explain how organizational actors establish and maintain clear role structures and harmonious relations in the face of precariousness by engaging in stabilizing work practices. This focus upon ‘order’ undervalues conflict-ridden negotiations and power struggles in temporary organizing. This paper demonstrates that in temporary organizing conflict and order may exist in tandem. Drawing close to the collaborative dynamics in a large-scale global project, we analyse the political struggles over role patterns and hierarchic positioning of client and agent in the temporary organization of the Panama Canal Expansion Program (PCEP). In such projects, the agent typically takes the position of project leader. In this case however, the client was formally in charge, while the agent was assigned the role of coach and mentor. The diffuse hierarchy triggered project partners to engage in both harmony-seeking social and discursive practices and to enter into conflict-ridden negotiations over authority relations in the everyday execution of the PCEP project. Our study contributes to existing literatures on temporal organizing by presenting a case of simultaneous practices of harmonization and contestation over mutual roles and hierarchic positions. We also show that studying collaboration between project partners involves, not merely analysing project governance structures, but also offering a context-sensitive account of everyday social and discursive practices. Finally, we reflect on a view of ‘permanence’ and ‘temporariness’ as themselves contested categories and symbolic sites for struggle.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/48618