Purpose

Trust in how projects are managed is important because leaders have the power to make decisions that impact project outcomes. Steering committees provide strategic direction and governance for projects and they support the project manager. The purpose of this paper is to study how steering committees contribute to governance and trust. More specifically, the aim is to explore, which steering committee features and governance mechanisms are important for building trust.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data were collected using in-depth interviews. The studied case concerns the Norwegian Navy’s experience with a steering committee in the project of building new frigates.

Findings

Findings show that the steering committee had a significant impact on governance and trust in the project. The identified governance mechanisms performed by the steering committee included: control and performance measurement, support, decision-making, relationship management, reporting, resource management, risk management and strategic focus.

Research limitations/implications

Despite the limitations of studying only a single case, the findings may provide general learning, as well as important practical information and experience to managers interested in the role of the project steering committee.

Practical implications

The paper provides key managerial implications that project owners should take into account when organizing a steering committee. The analysis identifies composition, competence, authority, responsibility, commitment and continuity as steering committee features that contribute to building trust. Findings particularly highlight the choice to include external steering committee members to be successful.

Originality/value

This research extends the current understanding of how through different features and governance mechanisms a steering committee can build trust in the management of projects.

中文翻译：

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项目指导委员会、项目治理和信任：来自实际案例研究的见解

目的

对项目管理方式的信任很重要，因为领导者有权做出影响项目结果的决策。指导委员会为项目提供战略方向和治理，并为项目经理提供支持。本文的目的是研究指导委员会如何促进治理和信任。更具体地说，目的是探索哪些指导委员会特征和治理机制对于建立信任很重要。

设计/方法/方法

实证数据是通过深度访谈收集的。所研究的案例涉及挪威海军与指导委员会在建造新护卫舰项目中的经验。

发现

结果表明，指导委员会对项目的治理和信任产生了重大影响。指导委员会执行的已确定治理机制包括：控制和绩效衡量、支持、决策、关系管理、报告、资源管理、风险管理和战略重点。

研究限制/影响

尽管仅研究单个案例存在局限性，但研究结果可为对项目指导委员会的角色感兴趣的管理人员提供一般性学习以及重要的实践信息和经验。

实际影响

该文件提供了项目所有者在组织指导委员会时应考虑的关键管理影响。该分析将组成、能力、权威、责任、承诺和连续性确定为指导委员会有助于建立信任的特征。调查结果特别强调选择包括外部指导委员会成员才能取得成功。

原创性/价值

这项研究扩展了目前对指导委员会如何通过不同的特征和治理机制建立对项目管理的信任的理解。