Abstract
Major projects face complexity as a potential determinant of their performance. Project management literature devotes a central place to the understanding and management of complexity. However, it remains a controversial topic (a never-ending discussion) due to the fragmentation of the literature, the ambiguity of its interpretations, the lack of consensus around its definitions and constituents, and the continuous generation of new forms. Drawing on a practice perspective, this article mobilizes network actor theory to focus on the social processes underlying the dynamics of complexity in the context of major projects. This research aims to capture the dynamics of social complexity in the context of major projects by understanding the social processes underlying the perceptions, strategies, decisions, changes, and practices - involving human and non-human actors involving human and non-human actors - that are configured throughout the project and thereby construct the project. Three major infrastructure projects were selected in Canada and provided qualitative data through interviews, observations, and internal documentation. Data analysis was conducted using grounded theory. The findings allowed us to suggest a socio material conceptualization of the major project complexity. Three configurations of temporal construction of social complexity are identified: prospective complexity, concurrent/real-time complexity, and retrospective complexity. They manifest and materialize during the project network arrangements (human and non-human) and involve dimensions at the contextual, organizational and project levels. These three temporal modes of social complexity are moderated by collective sense-making, tensions recognition and understanding, and knowledge co-construction.
Keywords: social complexity, practices, major project, infrastructure, actor-network,