Jonas Söderlund is professor in the Department of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at the BI Norwegian Business School. He is educated at IMIE, Linköping University, and Harvard Business School. Söderlund has been a visiting scholar at MIT Sloan School of Management and Cranfield School of Management. He has been a Visiting Professor at l'Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and at LUISS, Rome.
Dr Söderlund has published 10 books and more than 50 articles in journals such as Organization Studies, Human Relations, Management Learning, Long Range Planning, International Business Review, Advances in Strategic Management, International Journal of Management Reviews, Human Resource Management, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Personnel Review, R&D Management, International Journal of Innovation Management, and International Journal of Project Management.
Dr Söderlund is on the editorial board of Organization Studies and the International Journal of Project Management. He is one of the editors of Project Management Journal. In addition, Professor Söderlund is a member of the academic advisory group of the Project Management Institute - one of the world's largest professional associations with more than 500,000 members. He is a member of the funding committee of Forte - the major Swedish research council in the area of organization and work and was for eight years one of the research leaders for KITE - one of the largest research programs in the area of management and innovation in Sweden.
Dr Söderlund is the founder of two companies, one operating in the IT industry and one in strategy consulting. He has worked with leading international firms to develop project competence and management skills in project-based operations.
He lives in Stockholm with his wife and children.
Research areas
Dr Söderlund's main areas of research include: strategy, capabilities, projects, knowledge integration and new organizational forms. His research primarily centers on improving the understanding of projects as organizational forms, knowledge integration in projects, time and timing in projects, the dynamics of project-based firms, and the dynamics of mega-projects.
Dr Söderlund's research explicitly centers on addressing three levels of analysis: the individual level (such as liminality practices, liminality competence, coping strategies, competence of individual project workers), the project level (such as the dynamics and conditions of mega-projects, institutional logics in large projects, theory of projects, projects as organizational forms, knowledge integraiton and temporality in projects), and the firm level (such as the capabilities of project-based firms, the dynamics and evolution of project-based firms, strategy in project-based firms).
Teaching areas
Dr Söderlund is primarily teaching the Master of Management program in Project Management and Executive Short Programs in the Strategic Management of Projects. He is also course director of the doctoral course on Innovation in Projects and Networks.
Project management research has evolved over the past five decades and is now amature disciplinary field investigating phenomena of interest to academics, practi-tioners and policymakers. Studies of projects and project management practicesare theoretically rich and scientifically rigorous. They are practically relevant andimpactful when addressing the pursuit of operational, tactical and strategicadvancements in the world of organisations. We want to broaden the conversa-tion between project management scholars and other scholars from cognate disci-plines, particularly business and management, in a true scholarship of integrationand cross-fertilisation. This Manifesto invites the latter scholars to join effortsproviding a foundation for further creative, theoretical and empirical contribu-tions, including but not limited to tackling grand challenges such as climatechange, pandemics, and global poverty. To this end, we identify five theses: 1. Projects are often‘agents of change’and hence fundamental to driving theinnovation and change required to tackle grand challenges. 2. Much project management research leverages and challenges theories acrossdisciplines, including business, organisation and management studies, con-tributing to developing new theories, including those specific to projects andtemporary organisations. 3.‘Projects’are useful units of analysis, project management research is idealfor scientific cross-fertilisation and project management scholars welcomeacademics from other communities to engage in fruitful conversations. 4. As in many other fields of knowledge, the project management research com-munity embraces diversity, welcoming researchers of different genders andvarious scientific and social backgrounds. 5. Historically rooted in‘problem-solving’and normative studies, project man-agement research has become open to interpretative and emancipatoryresearch, providing opportunities for other business, management and orga-nisational scholars to advance their knowledge communities.
Lenfle, Sylvain & Söderlund, Jonas (2022)
Project-oriented agency and regeneration in socio-technical transition: Insights from the case of numerical weather prediction (1978-2015)
This paper analyzes the unfolding of socio-technical transition (STT) using the multi-level perspective (MLP) framework. It relies on an in-depth case study of the “quiet revolution” of numerical weather prediction. The study reveals how key actors targeted the reverse salient of data assimilation and thereby facilitated the tran- sition toward a new “variational” regime. In so doing, the paper makes three contributions to the STT literature: (1) it identifies a new type of transition pathway, “regeneration,” in which the regime transforms itself from within, despite the lack of changes in landscape pressure, to overcome internal tensions; (2) it showcases “project-oriented agency” as the central mechanism of this transition, which allows the actors to join forces and cooperate to counteract the reverse salient; and (3) it proposes a process model of project-oriented agency that accounts for the role of the reverse salient in the regeneration pathway.
Söderlund, Jonas & Pemsel, Sofia (2021)
Changing times for digitalization: The multiple roles of temporal shifts in enabling organizational change
Shifting an organization’s temporal order can be a key mechanism for accomplishing organizational change, but it is also fundamentally problematic: instead of helping an organization accomplish change, it may simply reinforce an already failing course of action. Our current understanding of the roles that temporal shifts play in enabling organizational change is inconclusive in terms of when and how temporal shifts contribute to the success of organizational change. We exploit an in-depth case study of a new digitalized design approach implemented at Advanced Construction to demonstrate how a temporal shift can increase temporal awareness, among organizational members, of the salient and differing temporalities involved. In this case, the increased temporal awareness facilitated improved temporal coordination, which in turn figured prominently in making actual change possible. Our study identifies three complementary roles of change-inducing temporal shifts—namely, in connection with past experience, current activities, and future directions. Thus, we develop a deeper understanding of the relation between temporal shifts and organizational change, and offer a novel account of how the establishment of a temporal zone harbors those three roles of temporal shifts.
Lu, Weisheng; Xu, Jinying & Söderlund, Jonas (2020)
Exploring the Effects of Building Information Modeling on Projects: Longitudinal Social Network Analysis
Who’s Got The Time? Temporary Organising Under Temporal Institutional Complexity
Braun, Timo & Lampel, Joseph (red.). Tensions and paradoxes in temporary organizing
This chapter addresses the challenges associated with temporary organising under conditions of institutional complexity. The authors draw on findings from an in-depth case study of a megaproject initiated to reshape healthcare in Sweden. At the centre of this transformation was the construction of a new, ‘world-class’ hospital to replace the former (historical and renowned) university hospital. The authors posit that organising such projects is largely a matter of creating, responding to, and re-creating temporal institutional complexity. Thus, their study identifies four distinct response strategies – innovating, partial decoupling, avoiding, and surfing – on which project actors relied when dealing with the multiplicity of temporal institutional requirements. The authors propose a model for explaining how these strategies affected the temporal institutional complexity faced by the project. Their chapter adds to the literature on temporary organisations by highlighting the nature and dynamics of temporal institutional complexity and by revealing how inter-institutional temporary organisations cope with such complexity.
Geraldi, Joana; Söderlund, Jonas & van Marrewijk, Alfons (2020)
Both project management and international development came of age as scholarly and practice domains in the 20th century. They share a central concern with organizing work and delivering change. Though international development played a role in defining the project management domain in the 1950s and the 1960s, there has been little cross-fertilization between project management and international development in recent decades. The centrality of projects in international development efforts and the need for project management to help tackle global challenges that overlap with international development, such as climate change and COVID-19, make such cross-learning timely and rewarding. Accordingly, with the aim of cross-fertilization and integration, this paper examines what connects and differentiates the two domains of project management and international development, both conceptually and through the distinctive nature of their modes of delivery. The paper lays out a research agenda for the interface between project management and international development.
Pantic Dragisic, Svjetlana & Söderlund, Jonas (2020)
Swift transition and knowledge cycling: Key capabilities for successful technical and engineering consulting?
This paper introduces the notion of “temporal boundary spanning” and highlights the key role of project management in resolving temporal tensions among partners participating in interorganizational projects (IOPs). The present study, which is based on data from 93 IOPs undertaken within a major change program, relies on in-depth, semi-structured interviews, observations, and detailed analyses of written documents and procedures from those IOPs. Based on the data, we inductively develop a practice-based theory that identifies three main practices (framing, synchronizing, hyping) used to resolve the central temporal tensions observed in the studied IOPs. In that respect, the paper offers novel insights into the role and practice of project management in IOPs.
Pantic-Dragisic, Svjetlana & Söderlund, Jonas (2018)
On the move to stay current: Knowledge cycling and scheduled labor mobility
Technical consulting plays an increasingly important role in developing and transferring knowledge in a wide range of industries and sectors. We present a case study of Swift Tech, a leading Scandinavian technical consulting firm, to identify and assess the importance of knowledge cycling—a knowledge process based on scheduled and recurrent rotation of technical consultants among organizational and problem-solving contexts. Our study identifies four main phases of knowledge cycling: entering an assignment, building experience, contributing to the project, and shifting to a new assignment. These phases underpin our model of knowledge cycling, which demonstrates that two aspects of local knowledge processes are critical: project task familiarization and project organization familiarization. We show that knowledge cycling relies on a dynamic interaction between client organization, consulting firm, and individual consultant in the ongoing transfer of knowledge among distinct contexts and communities. Knowledge cycling demonstrates the significance of “mobile knowledge” for the development of situated knowledge; hence, our results have important implications for situated learning theory.
Lenfle, Sylvain & Söderlund, Jonas (2018)
Large-Scale Innovative Projects as Temporary Trading Zones: Toward an Interlanguage Theory
Large-scale innovative projects (LSIPs) play a central role in arranging for exploratory and strategic opportunity seeking that transcends organizational and disciplinary boundaries. This paper outlines a theory that addresses the two most salient characteristics of such organizations: their extreme task uniqueness and high degree of interdisciplinarity. Drawing on the work of Peter Galison and the case of the Radiation Laboratory project, we introduce the notion of LSIPs as ‘temporary trading zones’ and posit the centrality of ‘interlanguage creation’ for coordinating such projects. We demonstrate that LSIPs foster and, indeed, practically necessitate the creation of an interlanguage via interaction among three core elements: linguistic representations, project management tools and material representations. Summarizing our observations, we propose a process model of interlanguage creation in LSIPs; this model identifies five critical developmental phases that reveal how the three core elements interact to create an interlanguage.
Pemsel, Sofia; Söderlund, Jonas & Wiewiora, Anna (2018)
Contextualising capability development: configurations of knowledge governance mechanisms in project-based organizations
Given the project-based organization’s (PBO) strong focus on autonomy and temporary decentralisation, it faces unique challenges with regard to longterm organisational learning and capability development. To address how PBOs cope with these challenges, we address the role of knowledge governance (KG) mechanisms to foster capability development. The present paper reports on a multiple case study comprising 23 PBOs and demonstrates the importance of ‘configurations of KG mechanisms’ for facilitating learning and capability development. This paper develops four distinct configurations (balanced, formalistic, interactive, and fragile) that promote three principal organisational-level learning processes: shifting, leveraging and adapting. This research underscores the close relationship between knowledge governance mechanisms and capability development and the importance of designing the appropriate configuration of KG mechanisms to foster capability development.
Davies, Andrew; Manning, Stephan & Söderlund, Jonas (2018)
When neighboring disciplines fail to learn from each other: The case of innovation and project management research
As knowledge production becomes more specialized, studying complex and multi-faceted empirical realities becomes more difficult. This has created a growing need for cross-fertilization and collaboration between research disciplines. According to prior studies, the sharing of concepts, ideas and empirical domains with other disciplines may promote cross-fertilization. We challenge this one-sided view. Based on an analysis of the parallel development of the neighboring disciplines of innovation studies and project management, we show that the sharing of concepts and empirical domains can have ambivalent effects. Under conditions of ideological distancing, shared concepts and domains will be narrowly assimilated − an effect we call ‘encapsulation’ – which creates an illusion of sharing, while promoting further self-containment. By comparison, reflexive meta-theories and cross-disciplinary community-building will enable a form of sharing that promotes cross-fertilization. Our findings inform research on research specialization, cross-fertilization and effectiveness of interdisciplinary collaborationAs knowledge production becomes more specialized, studying complex and multi-faceted empirical realities becomes more difficult. This has created a growing need for cross-fertilization and collaboration between research disciplines. According to prior studies, the sharing of concepts, ideas and empirical domains with other disciplines may promote cross-fertilization. We challenge this one-sided view. Based on an analysis of the parallel development of the neighboring disciplines of innovation studies and project management, we show that the sharing of concepts and empirical domains can have ambivalent effects. Under conditions of ideological distancing, shared concepts and domains will be narrowly assimilated − an effect we call ‘encapsulation’ – which creates an illusion of sharing, while promoting further self-containment. By comparison, reflexive meta-theories and cross-disciplinary community-building will enable a form of sharing that promotes cross-fertilization. Our findings inform research on research specialization, cross-fertilization and effectiveness of interdisciplinary collaboration
Dille, Therese; Söderlund, Jonas & Clegg, Stewart (2018)
Temporal conditioning and the dynamics of inter-institutional projects
This paper presents an in-depth and processual case study of a major infrastructural innovation project involving diverse private and public-sector organizations. The case study shows how organizing developed recursively in response to diverging temporal requirements, induced by the temporal institutional complexity facing the project. We introduce the idea of temporal conditioning to demonstrate how large-scale temporary organizations dynamically cope with conflicting temporal institutional requirements by making use of three strategies: (1) temporal avoidance, (2) temporal splitting, and (3) temporal matching. With its focus on the emergence of the project, this paper adds to our understanding of the dynamics of organizing in temporary and institutionally pluralistic settings – settings that put greater pressures on our ability to deal with conflicting institutional requirements pertaining to time and timing. Accordingly, we offer a new perspective on the dynamics of large-scale projects and how they respond to a particular kind of institutional complexity.
Wang, Hongdi; Lu, Weisheng, Söderlund, Jonas & Chen, Ke (2018)
The interplay between formal and informal institutional in projects: A social network analysis
In projects, various kinds of formal and informal institutions are crucial for imprinting and controlling behavior. The interplay and potential conflict between these two types of institutions have attracted increasing scholarly and managerial attention, but conventional institutional analyses are hampered by the lack of effective methodological instruments for understanding these institutions and examining their fit (or misfit). Underpinned by the theoretical argument that institutions governing projects are networks, this study employs the methodology of social network analysis (SNA) to capture and analyze institutional interplay. We use four construction projects to illustrate the interplay between formal and informal institutions in projects and to show how this interplay affects project performance. Our findings reveal that, in general, performance is better when there is a better fit—which indicates the extent of interplay—between a project’s formal and informal guiding institutions. We also show how project managers can use SNA to diagnose formal and informal institutions, enhancing their fit and thereby improving project performance. The results presented here have implications for the role of these two institutional types and for how the fit between them can be improved through conscious effort.
Söderlund, Jonas & Elisabeth, Borg (2018)
Liminality in management and organization studies: Process, position and place
International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(4), s. 880- 902. Doi: 10.1111/ijmr.12168
This paper explores liminality, a concept receiving increased attention in management and organization studies and gaining prominence because of its capacity to capture the interstitial and temporary elements of organizing and work. The authors present a systematic review of t he literature on liminality, covering 61 published papers, and undertake a critical analysis of how the concept of liminality has been used in prior research. This review reveals associations with three main themes: process; position; and place. For each theme, the authors identify the central research questions posed, while comparing individual and collective levels of analysis. During this process, the Authors revisit several ideas central to the original, anthropological research on liminality, a perspective from which they suggest a rejuvenation of liminality research in management and organization studies. This paper argues for a greater focus on the liminal experience itself – especially its ritual and temporal dimensions – and for improving the comparative analysis of liminality following the three themes identified in this paper. The authors suggest that revising the agenda for liminality research along these lines could facilitate more informed responses to the challenges of an increasingly temporary and dynamic work life
Ika, Lavagnon; Söderlund, Jonas, Munro, Lauchlan & Landoni, Paolo (2017)
Special issue: When project management meets international development, what can we learn?
Project organising is a growing field of scholarly inquiry and management practice. In recent years, two important developments have influenced this field: (1) the study and practice of projects have extended their level of analysis from mainly focussing on individual projects to focussing on micro- as well as macro-level concerns around projects; and (2) there has been a greater interest in different kinds of scholarly inquiry. Taken together, these two developments call for closer scrutiny of how the levels of analysis and the types of inquiry are related and benefit each other, and of the explanations of project practices they could offer. To discuss avenues for future research on projects and project practice, this paper suggests the notion of project studies to better grasp the status of our field. We combine these two sets of ideas to analyse the status and future options for advancing project research: (1) levels of analysis; and (2) type of research. Analysing recent developments within project studies, we observe the emergence of what we refer to as type 3 research, which reconciles the need for theoretical development and engagement with practice. Type 3 research suggests pragmatic avenues to move away from accepted yet unhelpful assumptions about projects and project organising. The paper ends with an agenda for future research, which offers project scholars a variety of options to position themselves in the field of project studies, and to explore opportunities in the crossroads between levels of analysis and types of research.
Bredin, Karin; Enberg, Cecilia, Niss, Camilla & Söderlund, Jonas (2017)
Knowledge Integration at Work: Individual Project Competence in Agile Projects
Tell, Fredrik; Berggren, Christian, Brusoni, Stefano & Van de Ven, Andrew (red.). Managing Knowledge Integration Across Boundaries
Ika, Lavagnon & Söderlund, Jonas (2016)
Rethinking revisited: Insights from an early rethinker
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 9(4), s. 931- 954. Doi: 10.1108/IJMPB-05-2016-0041
Geraldi, Joana & Söderlund, Jonas (2016)
Project studies and engaged scholarship: Directions towards contextualized and reflexive research on projects
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 9(4), s. 767- 797. Doi: 10.1108/IJMPB-02-2016-0016
Pemsel, Sofia; Müller, Ralf & Söderlund, Jonas (2016)
Knowledge governance strategies in project-based organizations
This study reveals how learning and experiences accumulated in temporary projects contribute to capability development and change of strategic orientation in project-based organizations. We argue that capability development in project-based organizations must rest upon an understanding of projects as “capability bridges”, thus contrasting extant literature’s common treatise of the temporariness inherent in project-based organizing. This paper presents an analytical framework that identifies how capabilities develop over time and across levels in specific contexts. The empirical data is derived from a longitudinal case study of capability development in an international project-based professional service firm. The case study demonstrates how projects function as bridges connecting both past, present and future, and individual-, project and- organization levels, thus illustrating the temporality of capabilities, on the one hand, and the multi- level features of capabilities, on the other hand. Thus, this study shows how knowledge and experiences accumulated from past and current projects influence the formation of future capabilities and strategies. Simultaneously, anticipations of the future influence current activities and the utilization of past project experiences. This leads to an improved understanding how capabilities are developed across organizational levels and across time.
Söderlund, Jonas (2015)
Project-Based Organizations: What Are They?
Chiocchio, Francois; Kelloway, E. Kevin & Hobbs, Brian (red.). The psychology and management of project teams
Sankowska, Anna & Söderlund, Jonas (2015)
Trust, reflexivity and knowledge integration: Toward a conceptual framework concerning mobile engineers
Collaborative Academic/Practitioner Research in Project Management: Examples and Applications
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 1(2), s. 168- 192.
Söderlund, Jonas (2008)
Competence dynamics and learning processes in project-based firms: shifting, adapting and leveraging
International Journal of Innovation Management, 12(1), s. 41- 67.
Brady, Tim & Söderlund, Jonas (2008)
Projects in Innovation, Innovation in Projects: Guest Editorial
International Journal of Project Management, 26(5), s. 465- 468.
Berggren, C. & Söderlund, Jonas (2008)
Rethinking project management education: social twists and knowledge co-production
International Journal of Project Management, 26(3), s. 286- 296.
Berggren, C.; Järkvik, J. & Söderlund, Jonas (2008)
Lagomizing, organic integration, and systems emergency wards: Innovative practices in managing complex systems development projects
Project Management Journal, 39(1), s. 111- 122.
Söderlund, Jonas; Vaagaasar, Anne-Live & Andersen, Erling S. (2008)
Relating, reflecting and routinizing: Developing project competence in cooperation with others. International Journal of Project Management
International Journal of Project Management, 26(5)
Söderlund, Jonas (2007)
Projekt som organisationsform: ett kunskapsperspektiv
Organisation: teorier om ordning och oordning, D. Kärreman & A. Rehn (Eds.)
Geraldi, Joana; Söderlund, Jonas & van Marrewijk, Alfons (1)
Bright and Dark Spots in Project Studies: Continuing Efforts to Advance Theory Development and Debate
Project Management Journal [Kronikk]
Ika, Lavagnon A.; Söderlund, Jonas, Munro, Lauchlan T. & Landoni, Paolo (1)
When project management meets international development, what can we learn?
International Journal of Project Management [Kronikk]
Müller, Ralf & Söderlund, Jonas (1)
Innovative approaches in project management research
International Journal of Project Management [Kronikk]
Söderlund, Jonas & Müller, Ralf (1)
Project Management and Organization Theory: IRNOP Meets PMJ
Project Management Journal [Kronikk]
Söderlund, Jonas & Bakker, Rene M. (1)
The case for good reviewing
International Journal of Project Management [Kronikk]
Søderlund, Jonas & Lenfle, Sylvain (1)
Special issue: Project history International journal of project management
International Journal of Project Management [Kronikk]
Söderlund, Jonas & Pemsel, Sofia (2019)
Temporal shifts and the dynamics of organizing
[Academic lecture]. EGOS.
Söderlund, Jonas (2017)
Organizing beyond the line
[Article in business/trade/industry journal]. Management of Innovation and Technology, s. 3- 4.
Söderlund, Jonas (2017)
A reflection of the state-of-the-art of megaproject research: The Oxford Handbook of Megaproject Management
[Article in business/trade/industry journal]. Project Management Journal, 48(6), s. 132- 137.
Söderlund, Jonas (2016)
The nature and dynamics of P-form corporations
[Academic lecture]. Anzam Conference.
Pemsel, Sofia & Söderlund, Jonas (2016)
Responding to multiple institutional logics in inter-institutional temporary organizations: A longitudinal study of the making of the 21st century hospital
[Academic lecture]. Anzam Conference.
Söderlund, Jonas (2016)
Projects as contexts for disciplinary and interdisciplinary research: Examples and insights
[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Conference.
Pantic, Svjetlana & Söderlund, Jonas (2016)
On the move to stay current
[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Conference.
Bredin, Karin; Niss, C. & Söderlund, Jonas (2015)
Specialist med bredd eller flerbent generalist
Andersson, Hans & Berggren, Christian (red.). Kunskapsintegration och innovation i en internationaliserande ekonomi