Developing legacy in project management: a study of construction and infrastructure projects in the north east of Scotland.

Davies, Raymond

Abstract

Legacy is a research topic previously developed and established within an events management context, as in, for example, explorations of the long-term plans and impact of FIFA World Cups and Olympic Games on host regions and their people. Legacy is the vision and process of attempting to create positive outcomes and generational benefits that outlast the period of the hosted event. The concept, terminology, and methods used for creating a "legacy" have started to be considered in other areas. In project management, legacy claims for specific projects have become more common with legacy plans, charters and visions now often incorporated into project approaches. This is despite project management being a discipline where future-orientated legacy development is not being addressed by its governance bodies and their guidance documentation. Legacy is a research theme that currently lacks collective agreement on how it is defined, understood and practised. It is a research area that is primarily conceptual, untested and can differ in each context in which it is sought. This thesis addresses the research gap of legacy within project management. Findings include how project decision-makers understand, define and apply legacy to a range of Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire projects. The research investigates the substance of legacy claims being made in public communications for these projects. It provides an understanding of the key factors for creating legacy by project leaders. A theoretical framework was developed to guide this research. A phenomenological methodological approach was adopted and multiple methods were applied (document analysis and semi-structured interviews with project decision-makers). 14 construction and infrastructure projects were identified as key resources for achieving a future regional legacy from the local council authorities' strategic vision and transformation plan publications. Investigating the narrative of these projects, the document analysis process identified 704 appropriate documents from project stakeholders, with 58 specific claims for creating a legacy determined. Within these documents, a thematic coding approach returned 47 legacy characteristic groupings, with 8061 individual factors coded for these projects. These were explored further and tested through the application of semi-structured interviews with the stakeholders who designed or implemented each of these projects. The qualitative return from the interviews revealed eight key recurring legacy themes, which were compiled into a conceptual model to show how legacy was understood and applied within this regional project context. The research reveals that legacy development within projects often goes against established project management fundamentals, as its incorporation adds additional complexity, time and costs. It changes project expectations for quality, community engagement, environmental management and sustainability integration. Project purposes are fundamentally targeted towards an agreed collective regional vision. The project management approach should incorporate a plan to provide generational benefits that are monitored over a period of at least 25 years, extending the traditional project lifecycle. This thesis includes guidance on effective practices for project professionals to better incorporate legacy, and provides recommendations for future research and development on this topic.

Citation

DAVIES, R. 2024. Developing legacy in project management: a study of construction and infrastructure projects in the north east of Scotland. Robert Gordon University, PhD thesis. Hosted on OpenAIR [online]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-2445751

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 26, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 26, 2024
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-2445751
• Keywords: Project management; Project governance; Sustainability; Legacy; Aberdeen
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2445751
• Award Date: Mar 31, 2024