Title: Considering representational gaps - how subsidiaries' relationship affects multi-location project management

Authors: Fanny Seus; Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl; Rubina Zern-Breuer

Addresses: Department for Innovation and Technology Management (iTM, EnTechnon), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany ' Department for Innovation and Technology Management (iTM, EnTechnon), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany; Fraunhofer Institute for System und Innovation Research ISI, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany ' German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer, 67346 Speyer, Germany

Abstract: Our study of project cooperation between two company subsidiaries addresses everyday challenges in project management with a new focus on shared cognition. By conducting 36 in-depth interviews, we found that the relationship between the subsidiaries affects team-level perception in distributed product development. Based on the each subsidiary's specific role, each team develops a joint representation, or mental model, of the task and its role in the project. Having different roles, the teams' understanding of the project differs. With inconsistent assumptions and divergent expectations, the two mental models are incompatible. From this phenomenon called representational gaps, goal conflicts arise. We advance project management research by identifying the relationship of the cooperating groups - a result from the respective roles the subsidiaries play in the company's strategy - to be an important driver of typical challenges in project management. Consequently, we propose a model that acknowledges the influence of the site strategy on project cooperation, an aspect of everyday project management, rather neglected so far.

Keywords: international project management; representational gaps; shared cognition; distributed teams; headquarters-subsidiary relations; distributed product development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPOM.2020.111068

International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 2020 Vol.12 No.4, pp.321 - 345

Received: 16 Aug 2019
Accepted: 04 Nov 2019
Published online: 09 Nov 2020 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article