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CITPI researcher contributes to rethinkIMPACTS 2017-publication on project research

The European Capital of Culture, Aarhus 2017, shows interesting prospects for research on project value creation

Hansen and Laursen have published the following paper: Louise Ejgod Hansen , Markus Laursen , (2015) "From applicant to designated European Capital of Culture", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 8 Iss: 4, pp.715 - 731. Doi: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/IJMPB-01-2015-0009

The paper belongs a special issue on ‘Organizing cultural projects’ in the International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.

Abstract for the paper:
Purpose

  • The purpose of this paper is to investigate the management challenges related to the transition from the application phase to the delivery phase of the project of being a European Capital of Culture (ECoC).
  • Design/methodology/approach
  • Case study based on qualitative research interviews with the management team, combined with existing research on ECoC and documents on the Aarhus 2017 project.
  • Findings
  • The first main finding is that the challenges are caused by the way in which the transition from applicant to designated ECoC includes a change in management, shifting from a project to a programme structure and change in organisation. The second main finding is that stakeholder management in relation to politicians and cultural agents is challenged by a high level of ownership and expectation.
  • Research limitations/implications
  • The study focuses on just one case and one phase of the project.
  • Practical implications
  • Consequences for the way ECoC are managed and the programme organised could be drawn from this.
  • Originality/value
  • The originality of the work is in that it studies this very critical phase in the project’s life-cycle in great detail, and focuses specifically on the management of ECoC.