Abstract

State support is critical to enhancing a country’s capacity for innovation and for delivering large-scale complex projects where significant upfront investment is required. These megaprojects are high risk due to their size, investment level, time duration and the type of innovation required. Their complexity means that context affects decision-making, innovation approach taken and project implementation. We utilise the 1921 Great Britain Imperial Airship Scheme to examine the impact of environment on the delivery by a State/government firm and a Private firm of a megaproject bound by common technical specifications. Edquist’s System of Innovation (2006) was used to examine the context; Flyvbjerg’s four sublimes (2012, 2014) to examine shifting stakeholder motivations, and Morris and Geraldi (2011 Morris, P. W., & Geraldi, J. (2011). Managing the institutional context for projects. Project Management Journal, 42(6), 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmj.20271[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) project management levels to critically examine how the megaproject unfolded. We argue the value of using select contemporary theory to deepen understanding of past historical megaproject implementation and perceptions of success.

摘要

国家支持对于提高一个国家的创新能力和交付需要大量前期投资的大型复杂项目至关重要。这些大型项目因其规模、投资水平、持续时间和所需创新类型而具有高风险。它们的复杂性意味着环境会影响决策制定、采用的创新方法和项目实施。我们利用 1921 年大不列颠帝国飞艇计划来研究环境对国家/政府公司和私营公司交付受通用技术规范约束的大型项目的影响。Edquist 的创新系统 (2006) 被用来检查上下文；Flyvbjerg 的四个 sublimes（2012 年、2014 年）研究了不断变化的利益相关者动机，以及 Morris 和 Geraldi（2011 年） Morris, PW和Geraldi, J.（2011 年）。管理项目的制度环境。项目管理期刊，42 (6), 20 – 32。https://doi.org/10.1002/pmj.20271 [Crossref]、[Web of Science®]、 [Google Scholar]）项目管理水平，以批判性地检查大型项目是如何展开的。我们论证了使用精选的当代理论来加深对过去历史性大型项目实施和成功认知的理解的价值。