Harnessing Human Capital in Large Scale Projects - Towards an Elaborated Model of Organizational Climate for Project Organizations

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to uncover the important dimensions of organizational climate for project organizations, and to explore which organizational levels are most important, to use this as the basis for developing an elaborated model of organizational climate for project organizations. Interviews with employees in a project organization in the Norwegian oil sector were coded onto two models, the general and validated Organizational Climate Measure (OCM), and the best-practice project-specific Project People Survey (PPS), as well as coded onto six organizational levels. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted to capture dimensions outside the models. The results show that OCM captured 1747 statements, while PPS captured 1900, of the total 2875 statements. The two models had an overlap of 1321 statements, while 549 statements were thematically outside the models. Also, a majority of the statements were found on the levels Organization and Company. Based on the findings, a new model, the Organizational Climate Measure for Projects (OCMP), was proposed. The model was based on the general dimensions of OCM, but also included situation specific dimensions from PPS and the thematic analysis. Whether the OCMP can be statistically validated should be the aim future studies.