Transitions in complex programmes and projects: a case study of transition to operations in the new prisons building programme

Abstract

In the United Kingdom, government policies tend to be delivered through projects and programmes, framed by pledges to achieve specific outcomes, by precise dates and within a given budget. In consequence, ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of the project is often evaluated against those criteria, with transition seen in terms of ‘handover’ from project to operations, after which delivery can be considered done. The importance of ‘front-end’ considerations is now well established in the project studies literature (see Morris, 2013; Edkins et al., 2013; Smyth, 2018; Williams et al., 2019 and 2022). However, an increasing number of studies (see Artto et al., 2016; Zerjav et al., 2018; Whyte and Nussbaum, 2020) signal the importance of the ‘back end’ phase, and of the organisational strategies and routines in enabling a successful transition into operations or ‘business-as-usual’. In this study, the landscape of transition is studied through a single in-depth case study within a complex and challenging area of government project delivery and transformation: the construction and operationalisation of Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Five Wells in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. The prison is one in a succession of major prison building projects supporting the UK government’s policy commitments to deliver 20,000 new prison places by the mid-2020s and to transform how infrastructure is delivered. Drawing on literature review, semi-structured interviews with key actors associated with the HMP Five Wells programme and Gioia-based qualitative analysis methods (Gioia et al., 2013), first order concepts related to the routines of transition to operations are identified. Secondary thematic analysis is then used to identify key factors that are potentially capable of theoretical generalization: firstly, as organisational strategies which appear important for transition to operations in the prisons environment; and secondly, as theoretical constructs to support transition for use by other projects in similarly complex societal environments. Key themes of duality, complex temporality, asymmetry, instability and dynamic shift are identified as characterising transition, pointing to particular considerations for managing transition, particularly in balancing dynamic relationships between principal actors, and to strategies for managing the inherent tensions of transition and re-establishing stability as an essential outcome of successful delivery and enabler of longer-term benefits.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Richard Kirkham (Supervisor)