Context, Informality and the Practice of Project Management

About the Project

Project management scholarship has long assumed a relatively stable institutional backdrop around formal structures, codified methods, and predictable operating environments. Yet for much of the world’s workforce, and across a wide range of industries and cultural settings, project delivery looks quite different. This project brings together two connected strands of inquiry: how entrepreneurs in informal economies plan, coordinate and deliver projects without the benefit of formal systems; and how organisational, industrial and socio-cultural environments more broadly shape the selection, adaptation and effectiveness of project management tools, methods and behaviours. Together, these strands pursue a more context-sensitive, pluralistic theory of project management practice.

Candidates may choose to focus on either of the following sub-directions, or to develop a comparative approach across both:

Sub-direction 1: Informal Economies and the Global South

In much of the Global South, and in marginalised communities worldwide, project organising happens through improvisation, relationships and resourcefulness rather than formal structures. This sub-direction aims to build theory that reflects how project delivery actually works for the majority of the world’s entrepreneurs. Possible avenues include:

• How coordination happens under conditions of volatility and uncertainty
• How micro-entrepreneurs navigate cash-flow gaps, informal credit and ad-hoc financing
• How informal projects plug into formal value chains, navigate compliance and manage visibility
• How factors such as gender, age, migration and other identity factors shape informal project practices

Sub-direction 2: Context, Culture and Industry Variation

Project management standards often present themselves as universal, but in practice they are shaped heavily by context. This sub-direction explores how organisational, industrial and socio-cultural environments influence the selection, adaptation and effectiveness of project management tools and behaviours. Candidates may explore areas such as:

• How culture and institutions shape the adaptation of project methodologies and governance
• How practitioner communities and academic research influence each other (or do not)
• How leadership, communication and relationships shift under different contextual pressures
• Comparative patterns across public, private and third-sector delivery environments

Applicants should have a background in management, sociology, economics, or related fields. Prior fieldwork experience, familiarity with social capital or network theories, or experience in cross-cultural or comparative research would be an advantage. Methodological approaches could include ethnography, comparative case studies, mixed-methods research or practice-based analysis.

Supervisors

Dr Chinomso Nwagboso

Sulaimon Adebiyi