Open focus : implenenting projects in multi-organizational settings

Abstract

Most managers charged with implementing projects in a complex, public/private partnership setting can cite cases of drastically changed, delayed, or thwarted community projects that at the outset seemed likely to proceed without a hitch. Although the specific context and project affect outcomes, the management approach toproject implementation also influences the degree of implementation difficulty and success. Implementation problems are likely to be compounded if the management approach is based upon a “traditional” hierarchical, stable organizational model. If, however, the arena is seen as the open, dynamic, amorphous, complex, “metaorganization” that it is, and management strategies appropriate to this arena are adopted, success is more likely. From the findings of a case study of project implementation in such a setting and interviews with more than forty community leaders emerged a conceptual model for this situation. This model, called the “Open Focus” model, is characterized by openness to the metaorganization, linking cormnunication, evocative leadership, and collaborative vision.