Development Arena in Project Management

Abstract

Today, project managers face a lot of different problems, when entering a project. These problems are often characterized by their complexity and the challenges of addressing the solution, since the solution is often defined by multiple, sometimes competing, perspectives and stakeholders. Since 1968, this kind of problem has been referred to as the so-called “wicked problem” . Just as these problems are complex and entangled and difficult to navigate in, likewise are the networks by which they are surrounded and participate in. In order to navigate and manage complex problems and networks, it is beneficial for project- and program managers to use simple tools for creating structure. This is where the tool “Development Arena” by Jørgensen and Sørensen 1999 enters the picture. Using this tool, project, program, and portfolio managers perform as facilitators in the design- and management processes, where dialog and negotiations between different actors and stakeholders are key criteria for a successful project or program.

The development arena is a systematic and analytical framework that can be used as a tool to understand and analyze processes in which companies and other actors try to influence and control technologies, products, and markets . Under the auspices of project management, the framework is firstly a unique tool to map the complex network of stakeholders, that the project team enters when working on a new project. Secondly, and most important of the use of the development arena is its ability to identify different stakeholders and their needs and dividing them into common grounds with their relevant activities and interests, which can help project managers to be more aware of the environment they are in and the operations that are involved.

This article will provide an insight into what defines a development arena, what elements the arena consists of, and finally how this framework can be used as a tool within management and more specifically its relation to project, program, and portfolio management.

Introduction

Before diving more into the development arena and its components, it is essential to understand how this method was developed, as this lays the foundation for the basic understanding of the method.

The concept of Develop Arena takes its most important theoretical inspiration from Bruno Latour, Michel Callon, and John Law’s community of ideas throughout the 1980s and 1990s – especially Actor-network theory (Jørgensen, 2012) which was one of the outcomes. Some of us already know ANT as a theory that can be helpful in the description and understanding of complex, heterogeneous networks, in which both human and non-human actors are involved. These actors are described in the network through the relationships they are part of. Unlike actor-network theory, the concept of development arena focuses rather on how development and change can be created in the network by inviting new actors into the arena and thereby reconfiguring the network. It can be argued that the Arena concept is a response to a need for an improved theory that deals more with transition processes in project management (Jørgensen, 2012).

Another important difference between the two concepts is that the Development Arena concept adds a “spatial dimension” to the theory. This dimension must be understood as a delimitation or division of the network - i.e., the network is divided into different spaces in which different actors interact (Jørgensen, 2012). We can now add another concept that better describes these boundaries and spaces in the network - namely "actor-worlds", developed by Callon in 1986. An actor-world represents different industries, organizations and stakeholders with different scientific background and is described by Jørgensen (2012), as; "An actor-world is developed around a certain set of situations and is thereby limited to what we here call a location in the space of a development arena." (Jørgensen, 2012). In other words, an actor-world only arises through actions of different actors present in the arena. If the actors do not take an active part in decision-making processes or the like, then they will be described as “spectators”, who are passive participating actors (Udviklingsarena – aktør verdner, Strategisk Konceptudvikling AAU, C. Clausen og S. Pedersen 2021). In this way, the Development Arena and the actor-worlds are strongly connected since the actor-world defines and identify different actions that take place in the network.

Finally, it is important to point out that development arenas are constantly evolving and changing, due to the continuous development in society, which the term itself also insinuates; "The word ‘arena’ comes from Arabic. It refers to sand both as the ground for activities and as the never settled character of this ground and its place - it is moving and the ground is thus eternally reshaped (Fink, 1996).”(Jørgensen, 2012)