SIG OFFICERS (2026-2027):
SIG chair: Luca Sabini, Leeds University, United Kingdom – l.sabini@leeds.ac.uk
SIG chair elect: Carl Marnewick, Department of Applied Information Systems, University of Johannesburg, South Africa – cmarnewick@uj.ac.za
Programme Chair: Lauri Vuorinen, University of Turku, Finland – lauri.vuorinen@utu.fi
General Track Chair: Linzhuo Wang, BI Norwegian Business School – linzhuo.wang@bi.no
Past Chairs, but still active:
Maude Brunet, HEC Montréal, Canada
Christine Unterhitzenberger, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Per Svejvig, Aarhus University, Denmark
Tuomas Ahola, Tampere University, Finland
Alexander Kock, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
Graham Winch, Manchester Business School, UK.
Miia Martinsuo, Tampere University, Finland
Hans Georg Gemünden, Berlin University of Technology, Germany
Rodney Turner, SKEMA Business School, France
Christophe Midler, École Polytechnique, France
Brian Hobbs, University of Quebec at Montreal, Canada
PROJECT ORGANISING SIG STANDING TRACKS
GT10_00 – Project Organising General Track
Short description:
The Project Organising track provides a platform to share and debate topical issues in the management of projects as temporary organisations and their context in organisations or interorganisational networks. This includes the management of single projects, megaprojects, programs, and project portfolios, as well as project-oriented organisations, which deliver projects to external or internal customers, and project networks or multi-enterprise meta-organisations created to deliver projects. We invite both conceptual and empirical papers, based on quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods. In our track, we run competitive sessions as well as development sessions, to help authors further develop their work.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
Goal 5: Gender equality;Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation;Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy;Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth;Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure;Goal 10: Reducing inequalities;Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities;Goal 13: Climate action
For more information contact:
Linzhuo Wang , BI Norwegian Business School, linzhuo.wang@bi.no
ST10_01 – Multi-level Perspectives on Major and Megaprojects
Short description:
Major and megaprojects are often complex endeavors, having many different structural arrangements and linkages with organizations and their wider institutional environments. Although research in project management has addressed the embeddedness of projects within their context, we need to understand the specificities of major and megaprojects’ institutional and organizational contexts, i.e. how actors collaborate, coordinate, and innovate in these temporary yet long-lasting, transformative and evolutive environments. This track raises the importance of understanding the multi-levelness of major projects; the interfaces among project actors, organisations and institutional levels; the governance issues, and the coordination of the people involved across these levels.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth;Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure;Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
For more information contact:
Juliano Denicol, University College London – juliano.denicol@ucl.ac.uk
ST10_02 – Projects and Society
Short description:
This track explores how project management addresses societal ‘Grand’ challenges, focusing on sustainability, stakeholder engagement, humanitarian and societal concerns and potential ‘dark side’ of projects, such as corruption and modern slavery. It examines the relationship between projects and society, highlighting how projects contribute to or undermine dealing with societal Grand challenges. The intersection of stakeholder governance and joint value creation is emphasised, highlighting the need for further research into cooperative structures within project organisations. We invite bold, innovative research that links the long-term vision of Grand challenges to the temporality of projects.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities; Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production; Goal 13: Climate action
For more information contact:
Ambi Ambituuni , Birmingham Business School. University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, a.ambituuni@bham.ac.uk
ST10_03 – Reimagining projects through responsible AI, agile, and sustainable digital transformation
Short description:
This topic examines how project organizing can rise above disruption by integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital twins, agile approaches and digital transformation rather than treating them as separate solutions. It invites research on how projects, programs, portfolios and products build resilience through intelligent technologies, adaptive delivery models and digital capabilities. It also foregrounds responsible project management, including explainability, traceability, human-AI, professional judgment, autonomy, leadership, well-being, and accountability. It connects digital transformation with sustainable futures, addressing environmental, social, and institutional value, while encouraging longitudinal, historical, comparative, processual, and multilevel studies across diverse project settings in public, private, and interorganizational contexts.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth;Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure;Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals
For more information contact:
Alejandro Romero-Torres , ESG UQAM, romero-torres.alejandro@uqam.ca
PROJECT ORGANISING SIG TRACKS
T10_04 / T11_04 Managing Projects in Public and Non-Profit sectors (co-sponsored PO / PM NPM SIGs)
Short description:
We explore project management in the public and non-profit sectors, where organizations increasingly propose, deliver, and monitor projects, which remain instruments of choice for policy makers. While projects can foster positive change and deliver value to citizens and society, they also challenge organizations with demands for agility, knowledge, capacities, and resources. Key issues include the temporary nature of projects, differing institutional logics and shared responsibilities between public and private actors, value creation and distribution, and evolving governance at national, regional, and local levels. We welcome bold, innovative research at the intersection of project management and public and non-profit administration,
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure;Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities;Goal 13: Climate action;Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions;Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals
For more information contact:
Francesco Di Maddaloni , University College London, f.dimaddaloni@ucl.ac.uk
T01_07 / T02_05 / T03_08 / T10_ 05 / T11_05 / T12_ 03 / T13_10 Action Research in Management: Approaches for Greater Research Impact upon Practice (co-sponsored by B4S & CoGo & ENT & PO & PM&NPM & RP&RM & SM SIGs)
Short description:
Action Research (AR) provides a collaborative, cyclic method for helping organizations steer through today’s complexity of geopolitical shocks, digital upheaval, and regulatory turbulence. It moves iteratively between practice and theory, resonating with real impactful and phenomenon-driven research, and bridging academic knowledge with organizational practice. This track welcomes methodological contributions on rigorous AR design and evaluation, and practical contributions on AR research protocols organization. Aligned with the conference theme of “rising above,” the track explores how AR addresses grand challenges for improved articulation between management sciences and practice for a greater impact on society.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
Goal 4: Quality education;Goal 5: Gender equality;Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth;Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure;Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals
For more information contact:
Miriana Ferrara , University of Salerno, mferrara@unisa.it
T10_06 Rising above convention: New ways of leading and working in projects
Short description:
Historically, projects emerged where established organisational conventions proved inadequate, particularly in the face of ambitious goals and radical uncertainty. They allowed actors to step outside routine practices and experiment with new ways of working. Yet over time, project management itself has become conventionalised. Contemporary developments, ranging from agile and virtual ways of working to rapid technological innovation, and rising geopolitical complexities, increasingly disrupt established project conventions. “Rising above convention: New ways of leading and working in projects” invites research that re-examines how leadership, governance, teamwork, learning, wellbeing, stakeholder engagement, supply chains, value creation and future making is understood and practiced.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
Goal 1: No poverty;Goal 2: Zero hunger;Goal 3: Good health and well-being for people;Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure;Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities;Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions;Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals
For more information contact:
Dicle Kortantamer , University of Leeds, D.Kortantamer@leeds.ac.uk
