- Title
- An examination of power relations in megaproject decision-making: application of governmentality theory
- Creator
- Siva, Jessica Pooi Sun
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Megaprojects involve large budgets with complex decision-making processes, they are transformational and can shape the future of cities and economies. However, less is known about the actual decision-making practices that occur in megaprojects. Their sheer size, duration and complexity make them fertile ground for problematic power dynamics impacting on decision-making and project performance. Existing investigations and policy directions reflect a preoccupation with developing governance frameworks and prescriptive models that largely assume decision-making can be structured and controlled with little reference to the power relations influencing them. Decision-making is not wholly predetermined by formalised contracts and protocols but instead often emerges from the informal use of power whereby deviations and non-conformities are part and parcel of megaprojects. The research problem is concerned with the inability to capture the diverse forms of power exercised when dealing with the deviations that characterise megaproject decision-making. This research addresses the knowledge gap in empirical research to explain the nature of power relations influencing megaproject decision-making. This research adopted governmentality theory to frame the exploration of power relations impacting the megaproject decision-making environment. Drawing from the philosophical underpinning of critical realism, which uses causal language to describe the world, this research has elucidated the causes behind why certain decisions were made in two case study megaprojects, in terms of the power relations that enabled the decision-making actions to occur. Using the story analysis technique, different stories told by participants were connected to examine how decisions were made in the two case studies, resulting from the exercise of deviance. Through a narrative inquiry approach, eighty-four detailed stories of practice were analysed using data collected from a total of thirty-nine interviews. The key outcome of this study is a governmentality framework for decision-making, revealing the diverse forms of power – overt and covert – exercised in everyday megaproject decision-making. The framework illustrates various permutations of the formal and informal aspects of governance and governing which gives rise to four broad behavioural contexts; namely, entrepreneurship, box ticking, recklessness, and deception. Although the inherent uncertainties and complexities characterising megaproject decision-making may not be eliminated, to achieve more favourable project outcomes, the findings of this research reveal that it is possible to better prepare megaproject clients and team members in the set up and navigation of the decision-making environment. While there can be a great deal of variance in situations that give rise to megaproject challenges, the findings demonstrate that how clients and project team members respond to those challenges is not infinitely various. Clients and project team members draw from a common repertoire of tactics, which can be categorised into constructive or destructive deviance, whereby the practice of constructive deviance can be particularly beneficial to megaprojects. Furthermore, this study’s identification of the three key factors that can facilitate or disrupt the practice of megaproject deviance provides an opportunity to link specific governance frameworks and their inherent capabilities and limitations to actors, and the ways in which specific tactics are used in context to achieve intended outcomes. The key factors include the ethical climate, autonomy, and project business environment. The outcomes of this study should lead to increased certainty in terms of understanding the tendencies for actors to behave in particular ways and to exercise specific deviant tactics when dealing with decision-making on megaprojects. This knowledge is critical in helping to intervene and direct future megaproject decision-making events in more favourable ways. Increased predictability is related to an increased chance of clients controlling megaproject outcomes.
- Subject
- power relations; megaprojects; decision-making; governance frameworks
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1508205
- Identifier
- uon:56105
- Rights
- Copyright 2022 Jessica Pooi Sun Siva
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
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| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 5 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 393 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |