Link to thesis - Concept - NTNU

7. ConclusionsAs mentioned, the vast majority of the studied projects are Norwegian governmentalprojects, and all projects were in a ‘public sector context’. While some of theprinciples discussed in the thesis are likely to be relevant for non-governmentalprojects, other aspects are likely to be different in commercial projects.Stakeholder roles are likely to be different in projects where there is a close businesslink between investment costs and realised benefits. A close business link means bothin terms of short time horizon and accountability for investment costs. Such closebusiness links can be present in investments in new production facilities. Theinvestment cost will be compensated for by increased productivity and possiblyincreased production volume. In such situations, it is likely that more stakeholderswill be involved in balancing cost/benefit ratios regarding project scope andadjustments. However, the results from this thesis are likely to be more relevant tocommercial projects for which the business link is not so close. This is the case ifthere is a long time between a decision and the ‘moment of truth’ when theinvestment provides payback, or when accountability for investment costs is lessdirect.Only Norwegian investment projects have been analysed. The presentation ofprevious research has not been limited to Norwegian studies. During the literaturesearch, one possible difference was found between experiences from Norwegianprojects and general experiences in the project management community. In aScandinavian management tradition, user involvement is emphasised as a key successfactor in projects involving organisational change (see, for example, Trist & Bamforth1951, Emery & Thorsrud 1976). The degree of user involvement is likely to varybetween different countries and traditions. These variations may also influence otherstakeholder roles in projects. On a detailed level, Paper 5 includes a discussion aboutthe extent to which experiences from Norwegian railway projects are applicable toother countries.7.4 Further researchThis thesis has explored project flexibility in a general perspective. An analysis ofproject flexibility in relation to project types; including industry, uncertainty level anddegree of innovation is recommended. Industry-specific models and guidelines forproject flexibility are likely to appeal to practitioners within the project managementfield. Further research is needed to map the implementation and effects of differentapproaches to flexibility in different types of projects.Four approaches to flexibility management were proposed. A fifth approach can beimagined. With reference to Figure 18, this would mean to lower the ‘desired roomfor manoeuvring’-curve. In practice, this means to reduce the number and size ofdesired changes. To reduce user initiated changes, alignment, collaboration andcommunication in the front-end phase are likely issues. Computer-based visualisationtools can contribute to earlier and increased understanding of project deliveries. Toanticipate and reduce owner initiated changes, selecting proper project concepts are akey issue, and it has to a certain extent been addressed in the thesis.44