Factores condicionantes y desencadenantes

The research findings demonstrate that particularly programme adaptation contributed significantly to the performance programme management effec- tiveness of the Room for the River programme. This finding is conform the suggestions of others that have pointed out that that programme success depends significantly on the ability to cope with contextual changes (Ritson et al., 2011; Shao et al., 2012). As illustrated by the Room for the River case study, this ability to adapt is determined by the design and, subsequently, the management of a programme. Programmes need to acknowledge the complexity of their context (Ritson et al., 2011). Dealing with complexity is, despite exceptions (e.g. Aritua et al., 2009; Hertogh and Westerveld, 2010; Ritson et al., 2011), new to research about programme management, but more commonly embedded in the literature about governance (e.g. Folke et al., 2005; Olsson et al., 2006; Teisman, 2005) and organisations (e.g. Boisot and McKelvey, 2010; Gomez and Jones, 2000). For example, adaptive gov- ernance research has described ‘management as learning’ approaches that consist of exploring problems and uncertainties, deliberating alternative solutions and reframing problems and solutions (van Herk et al., 2011b) and iterative re-evaluation of the fit-for-purpose of applied management ap- proaches under different contextual conditions (Rijke et al., 2012a). Alterna- tively, organisational research has, for example, developed insights in the

nature and properties of conventions within contexts and how these evolve over time to change the ‘deep institutional’ structures that are at the heart of organisations (Gomez and Jones, 2000). I therefore recommend further investigation of the applicability of the insights about dealing with complex- ity from, for example, the governance and organisational literature for pro- gramme management.

In addition, the findings illustrate the importance of stakeholder collabora- tion throughout the Room for the River programme, which confirms the find- ings of others that point out the benefits of stakeholder engagement in terms of, for example, legitimacy, knowledge management, early signalling of potential problems (e.g. Beringer et al., 2013; Hertogh et al., 2008; Hertogh and Westerveld, 2010). Establishing a stable programme manage- ment approach that is able to respond to uncertain and changing conditions can be considered one of the most challenging aspects of programme man- agement (Davies and Mackenzie, 2013; Sanderson, 2012). Without clearly defined boundary conditions of the programme design, particularly the clearly defined roles and responsibilities, it would be uncertain whether stakeholder engagement had a positive effect on the programme manage- ment performance (Beringer et al., 2013). In addition, other research sug- gests that the level of autonomy of the programme management office within its hosting organisation Rijkswaterstaat has a positive effect on its ability to manage the programme, as interventions from the hosting organi- sation undermine the position of programme managers and, thus, negatively affect stakeholder collaboration (Jonas, 2010).

We note that the six attributes for effective programme management that were identified from the literature are contributing differently to the pro- gramme management performance, but that they cannot be seen in isolation of each other. For example, the three attributes of the programme design (i.e. programme vision, priority focus, planning framework) that were estab- lished during the initiation stage were highly influential on the management processes that took place during the consecutive stages of the Room for the River programme (see also Heising, 2012; Reiss et al., 2006; Shehu and Akintoye, 2009). The research data suggest that particularly stakeholder col- laboration and programme adaptation are highly interrelated factors that reinforce each other (section 5.4.6). As such, it can be concluded that stake-

holder collaboration and programme adaptation have a recursive relation- ship and both factors cannot be considered in isolation of each other (see also Feldman and Orlikowski, 2011). Especially because the interplay be- tween both factors were considered at the heart of successful balancing be- tween a strategic and performance oriented focus of the management of the individual projects and the programme as a whole, I suggest to further inves- tigate how stakeholder collaboration and programme adaptation can rein- force each other effectively within megaprojects such as Room for the River. As this research is based on a single case study, it is impossible to derive generally applicable conclusions from the analysis. In the light of complexity, it is uncertain how the lessons of the analysis of the Room for the River pro- gramme will translate to other megaprojects. Moreover, it is impossible to reconstruct the exact conditions in which the Room for the River programme emerged and evolved. However, as complexity implies a combination of both chaos and order (Boisot and McKelvey, 2010), it is likely that the findings could provide, at least some, relevant insights for other megaprojects. I therefore recommend exploiting the lessons from the Room for the River case study as a starting point for developing appropriate programme man- agement approaches of new megaprojects. Applicability of the lessons from the analysis would depend on the nature of the megaprojects and their con- text. For example, it would be worthwhile to investigate if the lessons are applicable to programmes with other programme management styles than the combination of a goal-oriented and service centre programme manage- ment styles that was applied in the Room for the River programme. Also, it would be interesting to investigate the implications of a lesser degree of autonomy of individual projects, such as arguably in megaprojects of road, rail and powerplant infrastructure, on the capacity and organisation of pro- gramme adaptation.

5.6 Conclusion

This paper presents the findings of a study of how the programme manage- ment processes in the Room for the River programme have evolved. Using six attributes for effective programme management that were identified from the literature, it was identified that, during the initiation stage, the Room for the River established: 1) a clear programme vision for flood risk

protection through river widening that was widely supported by all relevant stakeholders; 2) a clear priority focus that provided opportunities to connect stakeholder ambitions to the overall programme objectives though combin- ing the flood protection objective with a secondary objective for achieving spatial quality; and 3) a transparent programme planning framework that outlined the boundary conditions and roles of the stakeholders and that was based on a steering philosophy of “controlled trust”. Furthermore, three key management processes were identified for the consecutive stages of the programme: 4) programme governance involving internal and external stakeholders that matches the vision, priority focus and planning framework of the programme to enhance the legitimacy and quality of the programme and its projects; 5) appropriate programme coordination to monitor progress of intermediate milestones and management performance and, if needed, assist projects in achieving their objectives; and 6) programme adaptation to adjust the programme’s organisation or plans and designs to the context of the individual projects and the programme as a whole.

The analysis of the case study shows that the focus of the programme man- agement office and the individual project teams differed from what is tradi- tionally expected from the programme management literature. As a result of the programme design, which was set up to support decentralised decision making within centralised boundary conditions, both the programme and project management have been balancing their focus between creating stra- tegic value (through stakeholder collaboration within the local and national context) and achieving high performance (through coordination). This has particularly benefited the collaboration between project and programme management and, as a consequence, the capacity of the programme and projects to adapt to new insights and changing contextual conditions. The relevance of the analysis may be relevant for other megaprojects within and beyond the domain of flood risk management as unfortunately cost and time overruns are unfortunately common for such projects. I suggest that the results of the analysis are used as a starting point for developing appropriate programme management approaches of new megaprojects. However, appli- cability of the lessons from the analysis would obviously depend on the na- ture of these megaprojects and their context.

CHAPTER SIX

Governance for strategic planning and delivery of adapta-