A Collective-Action Perspective on the Planning of Megaprojects
This chapter adopts a collective action perspective to study the planning of large infrastructure developments: so-called “megaprojects.” The research is grounded on the analysis of make-or-break issues that beset four megaprojects in the UK. First it is argued that megaprojects are organizational networks that at the core create large arenas of consensus-oriented collective action. The analysis shows how the conflation of resource scarcity, conflicting interests, and concerns with legitimacy complicates local searches for mutually consensual solutions and brings to the fore bargaining and political activity. The central contribution is a model that proposes a combination of four high-order coordination mechanisms for management to carry the actors along openly: relaxing performance targets, building organizational slack, espousing flexible designs, and creating a structure of umpires to settle disputes that could not be self-resolved. Implications for the megaproject performance debate are discussed.