MASTER THESIS WITHIN: Business Administration NUMBER OF CREDITS: 30 ECTS PROGRAMME OF STUDY: Global Management M.Sc. AUTHORS: Krcic, Šabo & Schubert, Nick TUTOR: Zawadzki, Michal, Ph.D JÖNKÖPING May 2020

Here lies our beloved project, may it rest in peace - the impact of grief after project failure

An exploratory study of negative emotions within the context of project failure and their impact on emotional recovery and subsequent learning

Master Thesis in Business Administration Title Here lies our beloved project, may it rest in peace - the impact of grief

after project failure

Authors Krcic, Šabo & Schubert, Nick Tutor Zawadzki, Michal, Ph.D. Date 2020-05-18 Key terms Project management; Failure; Negative emotions; Grief;

Emotional recovery; Learning. Background: Firms steadily increase their entrepreneurial activities to maintain competitive advantages as today’s fast-paced business environment requires dynamic responding to increasing customer demands. Projects serve to internally coordinate and respond to external influences that require a firm to react. Meeting set objectives when managing projects is deemed as a necessity when endeavoring to stay competitive. The increased frequency of initiated projects resulting from this setting demands involved project managers to rapidly and effectively recover from project failure as subsequent project success often lies within the seeds of previous failures. Yet, failing can cause intense negative emotional reactions, oftentimes grief. Therefore, we aimed to explore the impact of grief on project managers’ recovery and learning after project failure within the scope of this research. Purpose: Our aim was to understand and reflect on project managers’ perspectives on how they recover from the negative emotional experience after project failure within organizations and what the role of grieving is within this process. We claim that organizations and project managers can utilize our findings to enhance their understanding of this complex interplay. Method: To meet our research aims, we conducted a qualitative multi-case study with an exploratory research design based on an abductive form of grounded theory. Our primary data were gathered through in-depth interviews with a semi-structured approach. Sixteen current or former project managers from a variety of industries were interviewed as they shared their experience on project failure. Finally, we used grounded analysis to make sense of and derive findings of the collected data. Conclusion: Our findings unveil the complex interrelations among project failure, grief, emotional recovery, and learning when surveying it as one intertwined process. We identified the influence of grief on project managers as two-fold: it can interfere with the recovery process and obstruct learning, yet, it can serve as a driving force for action and enhanced abilities. When utilizing beneficial aspects of project failure, organizational support plays an essential role - if mutually coordinated between organization and project managers.

Acknowledgments ___________________________________________________________________________ We are genuinely grateful for the numerous individuals engaged in the development of this study. This work could not have been completed without your contributions, particularly not in the challenging times this research was conducted. Therefore, we would like to dedicate this page to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation. First, we would like to thank our supervisor Michal Zawadzki, whose objective judgment and criticism pushed and challenged us to constantly refine, simplify, and improve our work. Thank you for all the insights making this study to be of high academic standards. Also, thank you for being accessible throughout these tumultuous times. Second, we want to communicate a sincere thank you to our fellow students who have read and provided feedback on our study during the course of various seminars. Your inputs were highly valued and have contributed to ensuring the consideration of different perspectives on key subjects. In this context, we also thank all our proofreaders whose final touches ensured the research is comprehendible for readers who only were presented with the final work. Third, a special thanks to the interviewees. Thank you for devoting your valuable time to participate with great enthusiasm and commitment. You have not only provided us with relevant insights to finalize this work but inspired us to critically reflect on the working environments of tomorrow. Furthermore, your shared insights can provide learning opportunities for various forms of organizations. Finally, we would also like to express our gratitude and appreciation to our friends and family, supporting us by simply being there when needed throughout this research process. Thank you.

Šabo Krcic & Nick Schubert

May 2020

Table of contents

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1.1 Project management .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1.2 Objectives and failure ............................................................................................................................ 2 1.1.3 Learning ................................................................................................................................................. 2 1.1.4 Grief ....................................................................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Problem discussion ....................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Purpose .......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Research questions ....................................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Delimitation .................................................................................................................................. 4

2. Literature Review ................................................................................................................... 6

2.1 Failure ........................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Defining failure ...................................................................................................................................... 6

2.1.1.1 Attribution theory .......................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 Implications of failure ........................................................................................................................... 9

2.1.2.1 Discontinuity of ownership ............................................................................................................ 9 2.1.2.2 Lack of resources ......................................................................................................................... 10 2.1.2.3 Project failure due to low fulfillment of expectations ................................................................. 10

2.1.3 Chosen definition ................................................................................................................................. 10 2.1.4 Endnotes on failure .............................................................................................................................. 10

2.2 Grief ............................................................................................................................................. 11 2.2.1 Emotional reactions ............................................................................................................................. 11 2.2.2 Factors influencing the grieving process ............................................................................................. 12

2.2.2.1 Promotive PO ............................................................................................................................... 13 2.2.2.2 Preventative PO ........................................................................................................................... 13

2.3 Grief-recovery ............................................................................................................................ 14 2.3.1 Recovery strategies .............................................................................................................................. 15 2.3.2 Emotional intelligence ......................................................................................................................... 16

2.4 Sense-making and learning ....................................................................................................... 17 2.4.1 Cognitive capacities ............................................................................................................................. 18

2.4.1.1 Metacognition .............................................................................................................................. 18 2.4.1.2 Analogical thinking ...................................................................................................................... 18 2.4.1.3 Cognitive complexity ................................................................................................................... 19

2.4.2 Normalization of failure ...................................................................................................................... 19 2.4.3 Self-compassion ................................................................................................................................... 19 2.4.4 Support groups ..................................................................................................................................... 20

3. Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 21 3.1 Research philosophy .................................................................................................................. 21

3.1.1 Ontology .............................................................................................................................................. 21 3.1.2 Epistemology ....................................................................................................................................... 21

3.2 Systematic methodology and research design ......................................................................... 22 3.2.1 Grounded theory .................................................................................................................................. 22 3.2.2 Exploratory research ............................................................................................................................ 23 3.2.3 Abductive approach ............................................................................................................................. 24

3.3 Data collection ............................................................................................................................ 25 3.3.1 Literature review .................................................................................................................................. 25 3.3.2 Qualitative multi-case study ................................................................................................................ 26 3.3.3 Participant selection ............................................................................................................................. 27

3.3.4 Interviews ............................................................................................................................................ 28 3.4 Data analysis ............................................................................................................................... 31

3.4.1 Grounded analysis ............................................................................................................................... 32 3.5 Ethical considerations ................................................................................................................ 33 3.6 Quality trustworthiness ............................................................................................................. 34

4. Empirical findings ............................................................................................................... 35

4.1 Project relevance ........................................................................................................................ 36 4.1.1 Project and failure experience ............................................................................................................. 36 4.1.2 Control and decision-making ............................................................................................................... 36 4.1.3 Success anticipation ............................................................................................................................. 37 4.1.4 Project priority ..................................................................................................................................... 38

4.2 Project failure reflection ............................................................................................................ 39 4.2.1 Individualistic expectations ................................................................................................................. 39 4.2.2 Deterioration point and response ......................................................................................................... 40 4.2.3 Project failure cause ............................................................................................................................. 41 4.2.4 Project failure consequences ............................................................................................................... 41

4.3 Emotional impact ....................................................................................................................... 42 4.3.1 High degree of negative emotions ....................................................................................................... 42 4.3.2 Low degree of negative emotions ........................................................................................................ 44 4.3.3 Optimistic self-perception ................................................................................................................... 45 4.3.4 Emotional triggering ............................................................................................................................ 45

4.4 Emotional recovery .................................................................................................................... 46 4.4.1 Emotional processing .......................................................................................................................... 46 4.4.2 Distractive measures ............................................................................................................................ 47 4.4.3 Emotional detachment ......................................................................................................................... 48 4.4.4 Opportunity-seeking ............................................................................................................................ 48

4.5 Individual learning ..................................................................................................................... 49 4.5.1 Failure sense-making ........................................................................................................................... 49 4.5.2 Emotional interference ........................................................................................................................ 49 4.5.3 Learning transferability ....................................................................................................................... 50

4.6 Organizational learning ............................................................................................................. 51 4.6.1 Failure acceptance and encouragement ............................................................................................... 51 4.6.2 Normalization of emotions .................................................................................................................. 51 4.6.3 Supportive learning .............................................................................................................................. 52

5. Data analysis ........................................................................................................................ 53

5.1. Project relevance ....................................................................................................................... 53 5.1.1 Project experience and control ............................................................................................................ 53 5.1.2 Project priority and success anticipation ............................................................................................. 54

5.2 Project failure reflection ............................................................................................................ 54 5.2.1 Individualistic expectation ................................................................................................................... 54 5.2.2 Project deterioration and response ....................................................................................................... 55 5.2.3 Project failure cause ............................................................................................................................. 55

5.3 Emotional impact ....................................................................................................................... 56 5.3.1 High degree of negative emotions ....................................................................................................... 56 5.3.2 Low degree of negative emotions ........................................................................................................ 57 5.3.3 Optimism ............................................................................................................................................. 58 5.3.4 Triggers ................................................................................................................................................ 58

5.4 Emotional recovery .................................................................................................................... 59 5.4.1 Emotional processing .......................................................................................................................... 59 5.4.2 Distractive measures ............................................................................................................................ 59 5.4.3 Emotional detachment ......................................................................................................................... 60

5.4.4 Opportunity-seeking orientation .......................................................................................................... 61 5.5 Individual learning ..................................................................................................................... 61

5.5.1 Learning origin .................................................................................................................................... 61 5.5.2 Emotional interference ........................................................................................................................ 62 5.5.3 Learning transferability ....................................................................................................................... 62

5.6 Organizational learning ............................................................................................................. 63 5.6.1 Internal culture ..................................................................................................................................... 63 5.6.2 Failure management ............................................................................................................................ 64

6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 65 6.1 Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 65 6.2 Purpose and research question ................................................................................................. 67 6.3. Implications ............................................................................................................................... 69

6.3.1 Theoretical implications ...................................................................................................................... 69 6.3.2 Practical implications .......................................................................................................................... 69 6.3.3 Societal implications ............................................................................................................................ 69

6.4. Limitations and future research suggestions .......................................................................... 70

Reference list ........................................................................................................................... 72

List of tables

Table 1 | Interview lengths……………………...……………………………………….……31

Table 2 | Project overview. ……………….………….…………………………………………35

Table 3 | Summarization of key aspects…..……….……………………………...……………68

List of figures

Figure 1 | The Failure/Turnaround Process……..………………………..……………….……7

List of appendices

Appendix 1 | Interview guide…………………...……………………………………….……78

Appendix 2 | Interview consent form...………….……………………………………………80

Appendix 2 | Categories and themes...…………..……………………………………………81

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1. Introduction ___________________________________________________________________________

This chapter introduces the topic of grief within the setting of project failure and its correlation to

subsequent learning from a managerial perspective. Thereafter, a problem discussion clarifies the

relevance of the study along with its identified research gap. This gap lays the foundation for the purpose

and research question. The chapter will be concluded with unveiling the study’s delimitation.

___________________________________________________________________________

1.1 Background

1.1.1 Project management

Within the last decade, organizations have increased their entrepreneurial activities to gain and

maintain competitive advantages. This is required as the world in which they operate is

characterized as dynamic and ever-changing (Kuratko, Ireland, Covin & Hornsby, 2005;

Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009). Exploiting product and market opportunities through innovative

and proactive endeavors continuously occurs within all forms of businesses (Dess, Lumpkin,

& McGee, 1999, pp. 85). New technological advancements and increasing customer demands

steadily push firms towards fiercer competition, demanding innovation not only as a means to

compete but to survive and maneuver this volatile environment. Consequently, the notion of

high performance within the context of project management is deemed as a necessity for growth

and strategic renewal (Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009). Projects’ objectives tend to be outlined prior

to its initiation, these are achieved by adhering to the organizational or external

customer/delegator’s preferences utilizing finite resources. Hence, projects are considered

temporary work that is restricted by resource-, time-, and demand aspects (McGhee &

McAliney, 2007). Due to projects’ unique characteristics, project teams are oftentimes

composed only for the purpose of the project with the project manager being responsible for

the outcome. Project managers are not seldomly assigned to projects based on their technical

skillset rather than their managerial capacities, yet, they need to master the duties of a traditional

manager. Therefore, they take on an essential role as they are required to coordinate various

tasks revolving around continent planning, managing resources, decision-making,

communication, controlling, and reporting. Ultimately, project managers must understand the

environment they are operating in for the sake of the project as it can be volatile and not

immutable (Hollensen, 2017; McGhee & McAliney, 2007).

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1.1.2 Objectives and failure

The goals of introducing new projects are as diverse as the firms pursuing them. Objectives

may focus on increasing profitability, gaining knowledge to develop new revenue streams, and

as an additional but independent strategy (Kuratko et al., 2005). The success of projects

oftentimes depends on the degree of commitment towards the innovation effort, which

originates mainly from the project manager. Yet, where one encounters uncertainty, there is

bound to be a failure. Consequently, the number of new endeavors failing in relation to the

attempts is remarkably high (Moenkemeyer, Hoegl & Weiss, 2012; Ucbasaran, Shepherd,

Lockett & Lyon, 2012).

1.1.3 Learning

The concept of project failure is not solely portrayed negatively in today's business

environment, quite the contrary, it is often considered to be beneficial for economic growth.

Failed projects or business endeavors can release vast amounts of knowledge and resources that

can be utilized to enhance the success rate of the following undertakings (Knott & Posen, 2005).

The authors Covin, Kuratko, and Shepherd, (2009), claim that the subsequent success of

projects lies within the seeds of the previous failure. Yet, this subsequent success depends on

the organization's ability to learn from prior mistakes. Farso and Keyes (2002), describe failure

as a prerequisite for being innovative as they claim that a firm needs to stimulate risk-taking

and learn from mistakes to develop new products or processes. Researchers have shifted

towards focusing on the beneficial aspects of learning from failure. Today, several researchers

claim that within organizations people tend to learn more from failure than from success

(Patzeld, Shepherd & Wolfe, 2011).

1.1.4 Grief

Literature is glut with critical insights revolving around learning after failure in organizational

contexts including project management. Yet, little is known about the aspect of grief as a

negative emotional reaction after project failure and its impact on subsequent learning.

Shepherd and Kuratko (2009), describe grief as a negative emotional response that emerges

within an individual after the loss of something of great importance leading to the activation of

behavioral, psychological, and physiological symptoms. Therefore, understanding the

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implications of grief after project failure on a personal and organizational level has significant

importance in today’s business environment.

1.2 Problem discussion

Organizations are in the need of a workforce that can adapt to change and learn from

experiences (Cardon & Shepherd, 2009). This learning can relate to positive and negative

events depending on the emotional reaction being triggered within an individual when

reflecting on the event. We emphasized the increasing relevance of project work leading to an

increased frequency of commenced projects and project failure as McGrath (1995) claimed:

“the primary purpose of venturing is to yield new competences, and it is virtually inevitable

that errors will be made along the way” (McGrath,1995, pp.123). The interim periods between

two projects become shorter, resulting in a compressed time window to recover.

The initial reaction to project failure is a negative emotional response, of which the intensity

depends on several factors - these will be discussed in the literature review. According to

Kuratko and Shepherd (2009), the most influential factor determining the intensity of grieving

is the project relevance: the more important a project is to an individual, the more intense the

level of grief when it fails. Yet, project relevance is subjective and varies among individuals

working on the same project. Therefore, individuals can experience grief in a different intensity

leading to expressing it in different ways. Therefore, we focus in our study on one group of

individuals, making the cases comparable. How individuals within organizations perceive,

respond, make sense of, and learn from failure has received wide academic coverage, yet, the

concept of grief within the project failure context is a limited area of research (Fang He, Sirén,

Singh, Solomon & von Krogh, 2018; Kuratko & Shepherd, 2009).

Previous research suggests that even though failure provides opportunities for personal growth

and learning (Cope, 2003, 2011; McGrath, 1999), it also creates emotional obstacles to

information processing, deep reflection, and other cognitive functioning (Shepherd, 2009).

McGrath (1999), stresses the value of thoroughly analyzing failures rather than solely successes

as she believes this leads to scholars being able to construct more useful analytical models of

value creations. We assume this to be applicable today in the field of project management. To

conclude, we identify the problem of emotional interferences after project failure to be essential

in various business environments where projects occupy an important role in daily operations.

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1.3 Purpose

Within this study, we aim to understand and reflect on project managers’ perspectives on how

they recover from the emotional experience after project failure within organizations and what

the role of grieving is within this process. Understanding this complex matter has not only

academic motivations by aiming to minimize a gap in research, but we want to aid organizations

and individuals within them to better understand a context that is part of daily operations.

Therefore, the findings of this study can also benefit firms to discover which role the

organizational setting plays in this context and what measures might benefit establishing an

environment in which project managers recover effectively from failed projects, thus being

enabled to keep their engagement and intrinsic motivation for future projects. Furthermore,

project managers themselves can utilize the findings of this study to enhance their

understanding of the role of grief after failed projects.

1.4 Research questions

The core problem as discussed in sub-chapter 1.2 combined with the purpose results in the

formulation of the following research question:

How do project managers recover and learn from the negative emotional experience after

project failure and what is the role of grieving in this process?

With the guidance of this research question, we will explore the context of project failure,

emotional reactions to project failure, and subsequent learning as one interdependent process

thus we add crucial insights to existing literature that has acknowledged the importance of grief

in the setting of project failure.

1.5 Delimitation

To detect all interdependencies between grief and learning in project management contexts, it

would be interesting to interview each member of a project group that has been directly

involved in a failed project. However, this would go beyond the scope of this study since we

could only focus on a minority of projects as team sizes vary. This, in turn, would lead to an

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unpredictable number of interviews to conduct. A single case study would give us the

opportunity to interview all project members, however, it would also narrow down the

usefulness and transferability of the results. Hence, we only focus on individuals who were in

charge of a project. We define being in charge based on several criteria that are presented in

the methodology. These criteria are our own construct and based on the ones set by McGhee

and McAliney (2007).

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2. Literature Review ___________________________________________________________________________

This chapter presents the main theories used for this thesis. The segments within this chapter are divided

into the following topics: project failure, grief, recovery, and sense-making, and learning. We discuss

various viewpoints on the mentioned concepts. The aim is to facilitate the understanding of how grieving

after project failure influences the recovery and learning process.

___________________________________________________________________________

2.1 Failure

2.1.1 Defining failure

The definition of failure is an ever-changing concept that has been discussed by many scholars

in different time eras. However, the difficulties regarding the terminology and the hindrance

from developing a deeper understanding of failure stem from the lack of a universally accepted

definition (Ucbasaran et al., 2012; Walsh & Cunningham, 2017; Zhao, 2010). Ucbasaran et al.,

(2012) argue that the definition of failure a researcher decides upon depends on the initial

research questions for the study. Research that solely focuses on the financial aspects of failure,

should utilize the definition related to insolvency, whilst questions related to the social aspect

should take a wider approach and utilize a definition that uses other individuals’ viewpoints.

However, failure is widely concurred to be of an undesirable nature that has either direct or

indirect negative consequences, which furthermore could have been avoided (Ucbasaran et al.,

2012; Zhao, 2010).

Sheppard and Chowdhury (2005), claim that failure is neither the fault of the environment nor

the organization but that both factors hold equal accountability. They continue to explain that

failure is caused by the misalignment of the organization to the reality of the environment. The

same authors propose that a failing business emigrates through a sequence of four stages, this

‘journey’ may lead to failure or a turnaround. These stages all revolve around the concept of a

business failure, yet, there are similarities between the business failure and project failure

context.

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Stage 1: Decline

This stage is focused on a performance metric indicating whether the firm or project is declining

or not. The decline is visible once the results of previous misalignments of strategies/decisions

and environmental obstacles materialize into a slump. It often starts from a balanced firm level

and then drops until it reaches its lowest point.

Stage 2: Response Initiation

The mentioned low point then prompts management into corrective actions. In struggling firms

or projects these actions often occur when resources are scarce to make the essential changes.

The focus has now migrated towards strategy rather than the previous stage with a high-

performance orientation.

Stage 3: Transition

The third stage is described as a period of transition and most complex. The reason for the

complexity lies within the dynamic and large quantity of factors that are at play: strategy,

structure, culture, and people influence each other during times of uncertainty. This stage is

focused on implementation, meaning that one needs to invest in people and systems for a

manager to properly align all the various activities within the boundaries of the firm or the

project.

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Stage 4: Outcome

In times of uncertainty and rapid business decline, the aforementioned actions may not be

sufficient to turn the firm or project around. The fourth and final stage presents the outcome of

the implemented activities within the third stage and can thus be assessed as successful or failed.

Due to the results being at the center of this stage the focus has migrated back to the

performance-orientation (Sheppard & Chowdhury, 2005).

2.1.1.1 Attribution theory

Researchers have turned their attention to attribution theory to investigate the cause-and-effect

of failure and learning. This theory claims that individuals search for meaning and try to

discover why an event has occurred, whether it is positive or negative. The attributions that

dictate the origin of the failure are categorized into the three following dimensions: locus of

causality, controllability, and stability (Mandl, Berger & Kuckertz, 2016; Walsh &

Cunningham, 2017).

Locus of causality - This dimension revolves around whether the failure occurred due to factors

perceived to be either internal (controllable) or external (uncontrollable) to the individual.

Controllability - The second dimension focuses on the control that the individual perceived to

have at the time in relation to the cause of the failure.

Stability - The third dimension is related to whether or not the individual considered the event

related to the failure to remain stable or unstable over time, meaning whether it was deemed to

contain a high level of risk.

According to Walsh and Cunningham (2017), when attributing one's failure, factors that are

considered to be internal are arguably deemed controllable, whilst external ones are deemed

uncontrollable. The same authors argue that locus of causality and stability are connected since

factors that are considered internal are oftentimes unstable (prone to change) and the ones

considered external are stable (contingent). Locus of causality is arguably the most crucial

dimension to consider when exploring the attributions connected to failure. This factor is

strongly connected to the origin of the failed business or project, regardless if it originates from

internal or external forces. Moreover, the dimension showcases a clear identification of the

cause of the failure along with where one might implement corrective precautions when moving

forward (Yamakawa & Cardon, 2015). In a study by Morris, Kuratko, Schindehutte and

Spivack (2012), the authors claim that isolated business failures do not capture the essence of

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how one experiences failure. The authors further state that failures are experienced differently

alongside the following three dimensions: volume (the number of failure occurrences), velocity

(the rate of failures experienced), and volatility (the intensity based on highs and lows related

to the failure events). During high levels of failure velocity, negative emotions could create

different barriers that disrupt learning procedures, this factor holds a major role when

examining the intensity of negative emotions (Morris et al., 2012). Jenkins, Wiklund and

Brundin (2014) strengthen the claim that prior failures influence not only the learning process

but the intensity of the negative emotions connected to the ‘new’ failure.

2.1.2 Implications of failure

Patzelt, Shepherd, Trenton and Warnecke (2014) elaborate on how project failure is perceived

by a person depends on the role within the project. The termination of a project can be either a

conscious decision (the individual is in the role of the decision-maker) or delegation (the

individual is a project member). However, failure in an organizational context should not be

considered a one-time event, thus negative emotions can accumulate over time across multiple

failures (Haynie, Patzelt & Shepherd, 2013). Another perspective related to the experience of

failure is presented by Singh, Corner and Pavlovich, (2015), these authors examine failure as a

concept that is encouraged and associated with learning but in contradiction society still

stigmatizes failure. The same authors argue that stigmatization influences individuals' actions,

behaviors, and decisions before, during, and after failure. Singh and her colleagues (2015)

conclude the study by claiming that stigmatization from society is not a label but rather a

process. Previous research regarded stigmatization as a mark of discredit for failed individuals,

but this is not the case according to this study (Singh et al.,2015). The variations of definitions

and the implications each definition holds will be presented below.

2.1.2.1 Discontinuity of ownership

One of the most common definitions of project failure within a business context is that of a key

person no longer being a part of the project. However, this approach to defining project failure

can be considered rather general and outdated. The definition is argued to be misleading in

recent studies, as the action of linking business failure with exit can also have a positive

outcome. Individuals that leave certain projects or businesses can do so due to success. (Singh,

Corner & Pavlovich, 2007; Ucbasaran et al., 2012).

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2.1.2.2 Lack of resources

Another definition of project failure takes a more precise and transactional approach, which

connects project failure to bankruptcy and a financial management strategy that was found

wanting. Since this approach relies heavily on numbers and monetary in- and outflows, the

definition holds an advantage, as that the event which led to the failure is easily observable and

recorded, thus making comparisons easier (Jenkins et al, 2014). Yet, this narrow indication of

failure neglects certain businesses or projects that are not generating enough substantial

revenues to owners or investors and thus classifies the endeavor as failed (Singh et al., 2007;

Ucbasaran et al., 2012).

2.1.2.3 Project failure due to low fulfillment of expectations

Another approach to defining the concept of project failure is from the personal criteria of the

manager. This definition argues that failure stems from the project initiators’ expectations: these

expectations materialize into a threshold that measures whether the minimum requirements of

the project or business have been met. This means that the initial manager could still be actively

in charge of the project and that it is generating enough profit to stay out of deficit numbers but

does not meet the expectations of the project manager, making it ultimately a failure (Ucbasaran

et al., 2012). Fang He et al. (2018) concur that business continuance or discontinuance and the

performance threshold should be the leading metrics when studying failure.

2.1.3 Chosen definition

As our focus is mainly directed towards the individual project managers experience of failure

and because we want a broad—yet comprehensive—definition that reflected our focus, we

defined project failure as the cessation of involvement in a project because it has not met a

minimum threshold of the expectations set by the project manager.

2.1.4 Endnotes on failure

Singh et al., (2007) present the following categories which they claim are the core aspects that

are affected by business failure: economic, social, psychological, and physiological. Their study

provides us with a broad view of the influence failure has on an individual’s life. This thesis

will touch upon most categories, yet, the main focus will be directed toward the psychological

aspect, as we research negative emotions after project failure within the individual. As

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organizational projects occur under the umbrella of an organization, whilst still being managed

by a particular individual with unique expectations for the project. As this definition of failure

is so strongly linked to the individuals’ expectations, the narrow approach to defining failure is

lost, since the definition needs to satisfy both the organizational and individual points of view.

This issue has been previously discussed by Farso and Keyes (2002), the authors describe that

the level of corporate policies and practices by which firms recognize and accept the value of

failure differs to a large extent. The previous statement is further developed by the statement

that wounds due to project failure are shallower for individuals who perceive that the

organization they are part of accept failure as part of its culture (Kuratko, 2005; Patzeld et al.

2011).

2.2 Grief

2.2.1 Emotional reactions

Grief is a common emotional response concerning the loss of a loved one. Although ceasing a

project in a business context can vaguely be compared to the loss of a loved person, Archer

(1999) argues that the occurrence of grief as a first emotional reaction after the loss-event is

similar. According to Davis and Nolen-Hoeksema (2001) people who just lost someone try to

make sense of the event and also strive to derive some benefit from it, making the concept

interesting for research purposes.

Jenkins et al. (2014), claim that failure within the business climate will most likely end up

associating the failure with emotional distress leading to grief. Fang He et al. (2018) further

strengthen this claim and develop the concept of negative emotions connected to failure by

arguing that negative affiliations to failure consist of a wide spectrum of emotions such as

disappointment, sorrow, fear, anger, shame, and grief. In an older study by McGrath (1995),

the author discusses disappointment as prominent negative emotion rather than the modern one

of grief. The same author stresses the importance of failures and the vital set of information

they hold within projects. She claims that failures that lead to disappointment are a natural and

inevitable part of the project journey. To conclude, although linked to negative emotions,

grieving helps an individual to recognize and accept the causes of a loss (Blau, 2008; Shepherd,

2009; Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009).

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Chen et al. (2019) introduce the concept of “positive” and “negative” grieving which relates to

an individual's level of error learning orientation. Negative grieving is expressed by emotions

or reactions such as denial, anger, negotiation, or even depression, while positive grieving

emphasizes exploration and acceptance of the failure event. Finally, the conducted study found

that “positive” grieving mediates the correlation between error learning orientation and learning

from failure: failure is then considered a chance for development and thus individuals are more

willing to learn from the experience. A prior study by Arenas, Briones and Tabernero (2006)

found that people with a higher level of error learning orientation perform better and

demonstrate more innovation skills. However, Chen et al. (2019) highlight the aspect of

personal traits in this context: since the success or failure of a project often relates to the

reputation of an individual, the occurrence of failure could harm one’s social image - a person

could lose his or her face. People who are afraid of such face-loss focus on the damages the

event has caused to their social image and thus grieve more 'negatively' while people who are

not afraid of such face-loss have a more rational and constructive approach to it (Singh et al.,

2015). Chen et al. (2019) also found that people who are afraid of losing face do not care about

the negative reaction to their failure by other individuals, while individuals who are afraid of

losing face are sensitive towards other peoples’ reactions

2.2.2 Factors influencing the grieving process

Cardon and Shepherd (2009) recognized that following a failed project the intensity of triggered

negative emotional reactions can differ from one person to another. They highlighted that it is

crucial to understand why this is the case and to understand why the impact on subsequent

learning of negative emotional reactions of individuals differ in their detriment. In another study

made by Shepherd and Kuratko (2009), the authors also emphasize that the impact of grief

differs between individuals, they continue to argue that individuals that have made a sustained

emotional investment will experience a more intensified feeling of grief. The same study

defines ‘investments’ as a time dimension, meaning that projects that have been worked on for

an extended period of time would likely result in grief.

Hsu, Burmeister Lamp, and Hong, (2017), drew on the literature of psychological ownership

(PO) to explain how grief affects individuals. The PO theory revolves around the degree to

which individuals perceive the project or business as theirs, or as part of their possession. The

authors claim that the influence of grief after loss varies amongst individuals connected to the

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PO of that person. Therefore, individuals that exude strong feelings towards ownership would

experience intense grief. Furthermore, according to the regulatory focus theory, individuals can

be promotion-focused or prevention-focused. Individuals that lean towards the promotion-

focused mindset tend to be driven by their achievement needs and are prone to ‘focus’ on the

bright side of failure. Prevention-focused individuals are driven by their safety needs, these

particular individuals focus on the dark side of failure events (Brockner & Higgins, 2001; Hsu

et al., 2017). Avey, Avolio, Crossley and Luthans, (2009) further claim that the aforementioned

orientations are not exclusive, hence an individual can score a high index in both orientations

but can likewise be dominated by either one. The same authors have merged regulatory focus

theory into PO and developed the following two dimensions: promotive PO and preventative

PO.

2.2.2.1 Promotive PO

Promotive PO is described as the ownership feeling that is focused on one's individual

achievement needs through possession. Since this factor is primarily driven by achievement

needs, individuals that score a high index here focus more on positive outlooks. Failure is

regarded as an opportunity to complete other achievement needs that are set by the individual.

Therefore, this factor can ease the negative emotions caused by failure (Avey et al., 2009). The

author Hsu (2015) continues to explain that individuals with a strong focus towards promotive

PO would focus on potential benefits rather than the losses. However, if there are no potential

benefits in the loss of a business or project, promotion-oriented individuals will seek-out these

gains from other activities, such as pursuing a new career or re-entering a project in order to

fulfill his/her achievement needs (Hsu, 2015). Hsu et al., (2017) acknowledge that negative

emotions would also be present for individuals that score high within this factor as their

achievement needs that drive their ownership feelings were not met. However, the action of

seeking-out new gains from other activities, whether they are of professional nature or not, may

be regarded as a psychological ‘band-aid’ for such emotions.

2.2.2.2 Preventative PO

Preventative PO is connected to the aspect of territoriality, mainly because territoriality focuses

on the individual’s safety and security needs. The term is defined as, “individuals’ protective

behaviors such as marking and defending their territories to maintain ownership and

communicated ownership to potential threats” (Avey et al., 2009; Hsu et al., 2017, pp. 166).

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Brown, Lawrence, and Robinson, (2005) claim that territoriality is merely an outcome of PO.

This dimension would reflect the ‘dark side’ of the PO (Avey et al., 2009). In comparison to

promotive PO, individuals that are more dominant within this dimension tend to focus on the

downside of events that happen to their possessions rather than the benefits that could possibly

emerge. This approach to ownership is rather conservative in terms of protecting the territories

these individuals feel that they are entitled to. This dimension is highly relevant within the

business environment, should a project fail, individuals connected to that event may see it as a

potential job loss or a threat to their security needs, which may lead to strong negative emotions

that discourage new undertakings or learning outcomes (Hsu et al, 2017).

2.3 Grief-recovery

Covin et al., (2009) state that there are two main approaches to managing failure, while the first

is acknowledging the interference of negative emotional reactions by normalizing failure

assuming that this would lead to negative emotions not being induced. Second, acknowledging

the positive impact of grief on learning: this approach can be considered “grief regulation”

referring to processes involved in dealing with high levels of negative emotions. According to

the same authors grieving benefits the learning process since it signals the relevance of an event.

They continue to discuss that diminishing grief would lower the signals that direct towards

learning, therefore grief regulation has severe benefits in an organizational context (Covin et

al., 2009).

Recovery from a loss or a failure is arguably a crucial procedure for any learning to take place.

Reaching a stage where a person considers him- or herself to be recovered is a procedure that

takes time and consists of multiple phases. The concept of recovery can shift depending on the

cause and event, but one aspect, presented by Shepherd (2009), defines recovery as the time

period after a loss, before thoughts about the events that have led to the loss, no longer trigger

any negative emotions. When examining the recovery aspect within an organization its crucial

to understand that firms and departments within one firm differ in a great number of factors

such as industry conditions or markets served, therefore employees are differently exposed to

the probability and frequency of project failure (Haynie, Patzelt & Shepherd 2013).

Furthermore, in environments characterized by a higher frequency of project failure, there is

less time to recover and thus less time to reduce the negative emotions before the next project.

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2.3.1 Recovery strategies

The author Cope (2011) describes the concept of recovery to be divided into three major phases

that are interrelated. Initially, there is a ‘pause’ where the individual removes himself/herself

from the failed project in order to heal. This phase is similar to a phase of Shepherd’s (2003)

model, where the process is presented as the restoration orientation. The second phase revolves

around critical reflection: the person that experienced the failure tries to determine and make

sense of the events that led to the failure. This phase is oftentimes characterized by suppression

and distraction of certain painful emotions and memories. The last phase mainly concerns the

procedure of reflective action, meaning that one would move on from the initial failure and

pursue new opportunities and projects. Patzelt et al. (2014) also highlight the importance of

reflection after a project failure which requires an adequate time span.

Shepherds’ perspective

Shepherd (2003) grief-recovery strategy is presented in the following order: loss orientation,

restoration orientation, and oscillation/transition orientation. This strategy differs not only in

chronology but also in terms of execution. The loss orientation stage revolves around

confronting the ‘loss’. The person revisits the events before and during the time of the failure.

Solely focusing on thoughts and memories surrounding the failure can slow down the entire

recovery process. Shepherd’s second stage, restoration orientation, focuses on removing

oneself from the failure. This process means that the individual will distract him- or herself

from triggering the negative emotions connected to the failure. This stage is less emotionally

distressing, however, the suppression of one’s feelings can affect long-term recovery. The last

stage contains a crucial process which is described as oscillation, meaning that one would

switch between the loss- and restoration orientation. This enables the individual to maximize

the benefits from each stage, whilst minimizing the negative effects of remaining in one phase

for too long. The oscillation process is further discussed by Conroy and O'Leary-Kelly (2014),

highlighting its practical significance. However, Byrne & Shepherd, (2013) stated that the

oscillation does not always occur among individuals experiencing failure within the business

context. Their study concluded that the majority of people displayed signs of problem-focused

coping or sense-making, whilst only a few also displayed emotion-focused coping abilities. The

individuals within this study who managed to maneuver between both these orientations made

the most progress and fully grasped the event(s) that led to the failure, just as Shepherd’s

oscillation approach would suggest.

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2.3.2 Emotional intelligence

The previously mentioned oscillation approach is an essential process when considering grief

recovery, however, implementing such a procedure is challenging. For the oscillation approach

to be effective, one must confront the loss and process the event(s) that led to it. Furthermore,

one must then distract his or her thoughts away from the failure and process the embedded

triggers. Lastly, the individual needs to recognize when one of the mentioned orientations have

been ‘held’ for too long, and then switch to the other orientation instead (Shepherd 2003;

Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009).

As with cognitive capabilities, individuals tend to have different abilities to perform the

aforementioned oscillation procedures. The different levels of oscillation could be explained by

different emotional intelligence within individuals. Emotional intelligence can be defined as a

persons’ ability to observe his/her own and others’ emotions and feelings and to separate these

feelings and utilize the information to guide own thoughts and actions. Hence, an emotionally

intelligent person is constantly conscious of his/her emotional state. These individuals are aware

when the negative emotions accumulate, due to them being in the thought-process of working

through the loss. Furthermore, they are aware that these negative emotions can reach a critical

level, and then it becomes necessary to distract oneself (Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009).

Fang He et al. (2018) additionally introduce an emotion regulation process when dealing with

negative emotions. This process dictates which emotions to ‘feel’ and when to feel them, and

how to experience and express them. Similar to the aforementioned recovery strategies, a

shifting mechanism is required for any recovery to take place. These two strategies are

presented as antecedent-focused and response-focused.

Antecedent- and response-focused

In the first phase, should the post-failure emotions not be fully developed nor, should they

change the behavioral or physiological responses, one could implement an antecedent-focused

emotion regulation strategy. This approach pairs the failure event to a certain aspect (arguably

what lead to the failure) and attaches one or many meanings to that particular aspect (Fang He

et al., 2018). In the second phase, once an emotional response is being activated, the emotional

regulation starts. The occurrence of failure often results in negative emotions. However, these

emotions may initiate different responses such as activating one's learning behavior.

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From a managerial perspective, one should not restrain negative emotions after failure,

however, it is beneficial to manage emotions effectively. For example, a manager could create

a learning-from-failure friendly environment (Song et al., 2018). Moenkemeyer et al., (2012)

stress that managers can proactively minimize the negative impact of failure in projects by

clarifying the reason for the termination and providing an outlook for the future to the members

of the team. Furthermore, providing the team and oneself with honest and constructive feedback

can limit emotional setbacks and facilitate sense-making.

2.4 Sense-making and learning

As mentioned, grief can be described as an emotional response of a negative nature that

interferes with the learning process from the events that surrounded the loss. However, in

contrast to learning from the loss of a loved person, which is philosophical and existential,

learning from a loss in a business context is practical and constructive (Shepherd, 2003).

The relationship between project failure and learning from it has attracted considerable

attention and it is an important connection that is recognized and familiar to the world of

academia, both within management and entrepreneurship studies (Shepherd, 2003; Zhao &

Olivera, 2006). Fang He et al. (2018) states that project failure offers a wide spread of valuable

opportunities to learn, not only limited to areas such as market tendencies, product(s), and the

venture or project itself but also about one's strengths and weaknesses (Cope, 2011). Patzeld et

al. (2011) found that learning does not occur instantly after a failure, but that time is required.

Furthermore, learning does not occur automatically since individuals differ in their ability to

utilize coping orientations. Although the saying ‘time heals all wounds’ is true, also in an

organizational context - referring to the decrease of negative emotions linked to the project

failure - the healing process differs depending on the ability to utilize coping orientations

(Patzeld et al., 2011).

McGrath (1999) claims that failure offers more benefits than success, this is due to the fact that

it is oftentimes easier to pinpoint why a failure occurred rather than success. The author

continues to claim that this makes failure analysis such a strong tool for dealing with

uncertainty. Cope (2011) further defines recovery from business or project failure as a complex

sense-making process, it inhibits both avoidance and confrontation, this aligns with the

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aforementioned studies and strengthens the oscillation procedures relevance in terms of

learning and recovery.

2.4.1 Cognitive capacities

Past research within the psychological area has indicated that certain negative emotions are

crucial for the sense-making procedure to commence, whilst they simultaneously obstruct

learning (Christianson, 1992; Kumar, 1997). The negative effect oftentimes causes the

individual to diminish their ‘attention’ perspective and obstruct ‘information’ processing. These

two processes are essential and affect all sense-making attempts such as activities that focus on

scanning, processing, and learning from the project (Byrne & Shepherd, 2013; Shepherd, 2009).

According to Byrne and Shepherd (2013), certain individuals possess the cognitive capacity to

make sense of turbulent and emotional situations. The authors continue to explain that

‘superior’ learning outcomes derive from three main cognitive activities: metacognitive

abilities, analogical thinking, and cognitive complexity. The following segments will present

and elaborate upon the different cognitive activities that occur when making sense of a

particular event (Aleven & Koedinger, 2002).

2.4.1.1 Metacognition

Metacognition is related to an individual's knowledge about their own cognitive processes or

the factors that influence them. Another approach to defining this abstract concept could be by

breaking it apart. Metacognition captures the awareness, control, and process an individual

possesses when it comes to ‘thinking about thinking’ or making sense of your thoughts and

why they are there. It is argued that individuals with a high metacognitive ability tend to learn

more, by conduction conscious observations and by adapting their thinking when issues emerge

(Byrne & Shepherd, 2013).

2.4.1.2 Analogical thinking

Analogical thinking revolves around transferring information. Furthermore, this particular

capacity focuses on the individual's capability to process and compare certain projects. This

procedure is essential when it comes to transferring information related to the sense-making

process and it should be anchored within the relational similarities rather than the superficial

differences between the cases that are being compared. Lastly, should an individual be effective

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in his/her analogical thinking, then it would facilitate the process of separating relational

knowledge and transferring it from one project to the next (Byrne & Shepherd, 2013).

2.4.1.3 Cognitive complexity

Cognitive complexity is a more perceptive approach, it focuses on an individual's capability of

utilizing a number of constructs to perceive and evaluate their current environment. Individuals

with low cognitive complexity tend to have a black-white perception of reality, moreover, they

possess few but rigid rules of integration. Individuals that are considered fairly complex tend

to perceive an increased number of differences or constructs within their environment (Byrne

& Shepherd, 2013).

2.4.2 Normalization of failure

An approach that can ease the intensity of grief or terminate it, is to normalize the concept of

failure. The act of normalization concerns the activity of transforming the extraordinary (project

failure) and turn it into the ‘ordinary’. This can be achieved by utilizing the organization's norms

and routines. According to Shepherd and Kuratko (2009), the task can be considered a success

when failure has become a run-of-the-mill occurrence whilst simultaneously being accepted

instead of stigmatized. The end-goal is to create an environment where failure does not generate

an intense and prolonged negative emotional reaction such as grief. However, there are

implications related to the implementation of these new norms and routines. When failure is

normalized, it will automatically minimize the emotional output by the initiator(s) of the project

(e.g. reduce grief), but since failure has been widely accepted and the stigma of it removed, the

emotional input concerning subsequent projects will be reduced as well. Grief and commitment

were factors that are interconnected, should grief after project failure be decreased, so would

the level of commitment for the next project (van Dyck, Frese, Baer & Sonnentag, 2005;

Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009).

2.4.3 Self-compassion

Cardon and Shepherd (2009) found that self-compassion influences the level of interference on

learning due to a negative emotional reaction: the greater an individual's self-compassion, the

less learning interference there is. Furthermore, they argue that the greater an individual's self-

compassion, the more motivation there is for a new undertaking. Self-compassion in this

context was defined as self-kindness and mindfulness. Self-compassion is further argued to

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form a close symbiotic relationship with emotional intelligence. This means that the individual

is to a large extend aware that one is experiencing loss, the source of it is known, and the

individual has an intent to respond to it (Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009; Shepherd & Cardon, 2009).

Individuals with self-compassion try to heal themselves from the suffering the loss is causing,

rather than distracting themselves from it. By doing so, they remain connected to the failure

and thus have access to the information required to learn. However, the major hurdle that

disrupts this is the fact the people tend to disconnect themselves from failure, in order to

maintain their self-worth. This practice is effective when the goal is to maintain high self-

esteem, but as described by the authors: “these ego-protective mechanisms obstruct learning”

(Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009, pp. 455). The same authors assume that highly self-compassionate

individuals tend to assess the failure in relation to oneself, place the loss in a perspective to

others, and strive for an emotional balance. When this is executed correctly the failed project is

separated from one’s self-worth. Therefore, self-compassion actively ‘protects’ the individual's

self-esteem and directly counters the negative effects of the mentioned ego-protective

mechanisms (Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009).

2.4.4 Support groups

Supportive groups can be established within the organization to assist with the grief recovery,

self-help groups focus on a particular process or outcome and help individuals deal with

negative emotions. The organization provides its managers with the possibility to interact with

others that have experienced project failure and the loss accompanied by it. By interacting with

other more seasoned managers, ‘first-timers’ can develop their behaviors and their coping

skills. These groups are often held by an individual that successfully coped with a major loss,

they then create an environment where emotional support and information sharing is

encouraged. This will ultimately enable individuals to recover faster from grief and regain their

confidence to face new projects (Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009; Hirak, Peng, Carmeli &

Schaubroeck, 2012).

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3. Methodology ___________________________________________________________________________

Within this chapter, we present the methodological organization of our study. First, we introduce

philosophical positions unveiling our ontological and epistemological assumptions. Second, we

introduce why we organized our research process on grounded theory and explain the reasons for

conducting an exploratory multi-case study. In this context, we demonstrate the reasons for choosing

abduction to collect and analyze data. Third, we reveal the steps of our data collection process. We

describe our sampling process and how we conducted the interviews to gather data. Finally, we

conclude the chapter with an overview of our ethical considerations and quality assurance measures.

___________________________________________________________________________

3.1 Research philosophy

3.1.1 Ontology

Our philosophical standpoints give a direction of how we conducted the research. Compared to

salient components such as sampling strategies or interview techniques, philosophical

standpoints are less conspicuous as they lie behind the scenes (Easterby-Smith, Jackson, &

Thorpe, 2015). Yet, they impact the research design significantly. Therefore, defining our

research philosophy not only led to more transparency but benefitted the overall quality of the

study due to increased consistency and clarity. This mainly relates to ontological and

epistemological standpoints: while ontology refers to philosophical assumptions about the

nature of reality and existence, epistemology refers to a set of assumptions to help to identify

the best means of investigating the nature of the world (Easterby-Smith. et al., 2015). Our firm

belief is that there is not one single truth, but different truths coexist with underlying facts

depending on the observers’ perspective. Hence, we occupied a relativism-standpoint

throughout this study.

3.1.2 Epistemology

We believe that reality is socially constructed and meaning to reality is given by people through

their interaction with others which conclusively makes reality subjective leading to various

realities coexisting. Consequently, we occupied a constructionism-standpoint. Moreover, we

assume that human interests are the driver of science and aimed to increase understanding of a

particular context with our research, reaching generalization through theoretical abstraction

rather than statistical probability (Easterby-Smith. et al., 2015; Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010). We

22

consider our approach as balancing between the strong and weak form of constructionism: even

though we believe that there are many different realities based on subjective perceptions, we

focus on human-based discourse and experiences to gather our data. Furthermore, our analysis

emphasizes sense-making and understanding purposes with new insights and actions as an

outcome (Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010).

Holding relativism- and constructivism-standpoints aligned with the purpose of the study as our

study necessitates a high degree of complexity making the conviction of one single truth

inconceivable. Finally, our research design required a high degree of engagement and

reflexivity, this will further be elaborated in the data collection chapter (Easterby-Smith et al.,

2015; Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010).

3.2 Systematic methodology and research design

3.2.1 Grounded theory

To conceptualize and structure data, we organized our research process on grounded theory as

we identified developing theory by comparative methods to be a principal activity, this relates

to observing the same event in different settings (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). The element of

comparativeness is fundamental as Czarniawska (2014) describes that collecting field material,

coding, analyzing, and theorizing is a continuous process spread throughout the research.

Furthermore, our open approach to the analysis led to structure and categories being derived

from the data rather than having pre-existing codes determining the structure (Easterby-Smith

et al, 2015).

While key elements are the same, there are different variants of grounded theory, yet we

identified Charmaz’ (2000) to be most relevant for our study design due to its close bonds to

constructionism, emphasizing the interplay between researcher and participants rather than

between researcher and data – this aligns with our epistemological standpoints. We argue that

our theory generating was two-fold as we outlined the study to be sufficiently analytic to enable

generalizations but also to make it relatable to peoples’ experiences. We therefore thoughtfully

had to balance the process of narrowing-down our research problem. Finally, we reached

theoretical saturation by comparative methods ultimately resulting in generating new theory

grounded in generated data (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015).

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Based on the iterative character of grounded theory, we implemented an abductive approach to

our research as elaborated in the subsequent section.

3.2.2 Exploratory research

Constructionist research designs offer a wide range of methods to implement. The basis of these

design constitutes the assumption that observations are subject to individual perspectives and

interpretations with the researcher’s purpose to explore several socially constructed truths

(Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). The research design serves as the link between the conceptual

research problem and the practicable empirical research, it hence constitutes the framework for

data collection and analysis (Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010). This section reflects how we

organized our research activity: we identified the methods that provided us with a high

probability to achieve our research aims (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). Since our research

purpose enforced a high level of complexity in the process, we assessed an exploratory research

design as adequate: we needed to stay flexible in our design approach since there was a

possibility of new information becoming available that could have required a direction-change:

it was, therefore, indispensable to alertly collect information, observe and construct our

explanations (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015; Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010). Following an

exploratory approach to understand and reflect upon individual perspectives on a particular

phenomenon and the behaviors that result from it, we conducted a case study. We interviewed

16 project managers from 16 different companies thus making it a multi-case study. All projects

took place in different practice areas (additional information in table two of chapter four). We

did not limit this study to a specific business sector or country as project managers’ experiences

are the unit of research rather than the environment they were in – although we acknowledged

and considered contextual influences. The research on negative emotions, in particular grief,

related to project management within organizations is limited, therefore we valued a broad

approach as our study serves as a foundation future research can build upon.

We are aware of the vulnerability of case studies in scientific contexts due to the large amount

of data generated and the difficulty to generalize findings (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). Yet,

we aimed to minimize vulnerabilities by implementing a clear and transparent design ahead of

the data collection process as elaborated in the following sections.

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3.2.3 Abductive approach

The relationship between theory and research is determined by either allowing theories to drive

the research process, referring to a deductive approach, or developing theories as a product of

the research process, referring to an inductive approach (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). Hence,

the research process offers two primary ways of how to conclude based on assumptions (Ghauri

& Grønhaug, 2010). The deductive approach is the most common one, it requires theory-

research and hypothesis-formulation which impacts the rest of the research process. Due to

empirical testing being one of the final steps, this approach is often intertwined with quantitative

research. To conclude, deductive reasoning asserts that if premises are true, the deducted

conclusion must be true notwithstanding of their content (Bruscaglioni, 2016). The inductive

approach usually starts with observations leading to explicit findings resulting in theory-

building that in turn contributes to existing knowledge: herein, conclusions are drawn from

empirical observations (Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010). Therefore, inductive reasoning relates to

hypothetical reasoning making conclusions only likely to be true (Bruscaglioni, 2016).

Yet, these approaches are not exclusive, and using elements of both is common among

researchers (Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010). Our procedure differed in that we went from desk

research (collecting secondary data) to field research (collecting primary data) and from field

to desk research, thus we could refine the emerging theory-building (Czarniawska, 2014). We

initiated our study with an extensive literature review until arriving at a theoretical saturation

point. When interviews indicated the emergence of theoretical aspects that have not been

examined in the literature review, we went from field back to desk research to complete the

underlying theoretical framework. We argue that this interplay resulted in an increased quality

of our study due to an increased reciprocation of theory and empirical data. Gummesson (2000)

describes the approach of combining elements of both deduction and induction as abduction,

which fosters the exploration of discoveries in a logically and methodologically practice

(Bruscaglioni, 2016; Dubois & Gadde, 2002). The constant process of switching from one type

of research activity to the other led to an inflated understanding of both theory and empirical

data (Dubois & Gadde, 2002). Furthermore, it generates “cross-fertilization where new

combinations are developed through a mixture of established theoretical models and new

concepts derived from the confrontation with reality” (Dubois & Gadde, 2002, pp. 559).

25

3.3 Data collection

3.3.1 Literature review

Literature reviews provide secondary data to better outline existing information that is linked

to answering the research problem (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015; Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010). A

literature review can be considered an analytical summary of existing research to a particular

topic making it an important stage of our study since we aim to advance understanding in a

defined field (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). Before stating what has been researched in this field,

we evaluated and critically reviewed the existing literature as suggested by Ghauri & Grønhaug

(2010). In this context, we obtained an overview of different theoretical and methodological

approaches applied by other researches in this field of study (Bell & Bryman, 2015). We

followed Bell and Bryman’s (2015) advice by mainly processing academic articles that are

returned to in the analysis chapter to only incorporate academic sources that aid in answering

our research question. We emphasize that the literature review was not discontinued the

moment we completed writing the chapter, but we observed relevant publications throughout

the entire research process. This aligned with our abductive analysis approach enabling us to

switch between desk and field research.

After identifying, narrowing down, and formulating the research problem, we agreed on using

Web of Science as a search engine for collecting secondary data. A search engine can be

considered a program that helps researchers finding relevant academic articles (Easterby-Smith

et al., 2015). Our systematic literature review consisted of the following steps: for the first web

of science search, we used the combination “project failure” AND “grief” which resulted in

thre articles. We then conducted another two searches: first, using the combination “project”

AND “grief” AND “failure” which resulted in 13 articles in the Business or Management

category; second, using the combination “project” AND “grief” AND “recovery” which

resulted in 12 articles in the Business or Management category. When we got acquainted with

the articles by thoroughly reading their abstracts, we excluded 13 articles, consequently leading

to ultimately 15 articles. We ensured that all articles were peer-reviewed.

We then identified the six most relevant articles among the results of our systematic search, to

then conduct a traditional review making use of the snowball approach. We, therefore,

examined the references of these articles: this led to reviewing 39 additional articles. In this

context, we could identify key scholars whom we looked further into, picking out their most

26

relevant studies. This snowballing-approach resulted in reaching the saturation point since we

came across the same scholars and articles multiple times. Ultimately, we reviewed 54 articles

and books. To organize their findings, we used an excel table summarizing the articles’ key

ideas, utilized methodology and design, and future research recommendations. We worked with

peer-reviewed articles deriving from business and management studies, yet, we considered

single articles stemming from a psychology discipline as benefitting. Some of them included

essential information about grief processing that nurtured the explaining of complex

intercorrelations.

3.3.2 Qualitative multi-case study

To collect primary data, we chose to conduct interviews, making it a study of qualitative nature.

Qualitative data can be considered information in a non-numeric form that is generated by the

researcher, meaning that their creation-process is of interactive and interpretive nature

(Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). Ghauri and Grønhaug (2010) argue, that how data is collected for

the research depends on the type of data that is needed to address the problem. A researcher

needs to identify methods and techniques that are most suitable for the particular research

problem and purpose, however, positivistic researchers claim quantitative methods to be more

scientific (Jankowicz, 1991). What differentiates qualitative and quantitative research is the

procedure of accumulating and analyzing the data but not the quality of it. The researcher

primarily influences a quantitative study by determining its structure, while the participants’

point of view in a qualitative study determines the point of orientation (Bell & Bryman, 2015).

An underlying premise of qualitative studies is that the subject of analysis is of social rather

than natural sciences. Objects of natural sciences cannot confer meaning to events while

subjects of social sciences - people and their social world - can (Bell & Bryman, 2015). The

decision to conduct a qualitative study is moreover strengthened by our literature review

findings that required us to emphasize understanding and explorative orientation rather than

verification and hypothesis testing (Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010). Qualitative interviews aim to

collect information that relates to the subjective standpoints of the interviewee, capturing the

meaning and interpretation of a specific phenomenon: personal interviews create the

opportunity to collect this information. More superficial information could have been extracted,

for example, by a questionnaire where the quality of the gathered data is less influenced by

personal interaction (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015).

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Qualitative studies are subjective in their nature since the findings depend on what the

researcher considers important for the study. This is fostered by building a personal relationship

with the interviewee. Although establishing trust between us and the interviewees was

important for our study, especially due to the sensitivity of the research topic, we made sure not

to judge or prefer participants based on their responses. Finally, the generalization of our

findings needs to be examined critically: by our non-probability sampling design we restricted

the choice of interviewees, therefore impeding the transferability of findings on a larger group

of the population (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015).

3.3.3 Participant selection

To ensure a high quality of our findings, it was indispensable to conduct the interviews

exclusively with individuals fulfilling defined criteria while being accessible for us during the

time of the study. To conclude, we needed a clear sampling frame and sample. The term sample

has a positivistic rather than constructionist origin, yet, it helps to illustrate the selection

process. The sampling frame is an extract from an entire population that forms a basis for a

sample to be drawn while the sample itself is the sub-quantity of the population (Collis &

Hussey, 2014). The non-transferability of our findings to a wider part of the population makes

probability sampling unfeasible (Bell & Bryman, 2015).

The subordinate strategy that reflects the methods for the data collection and thus defines the

potential research participants who could aid in answering the research questions is the

sampling strategy (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). After acquiring an extensive theoretical

background by collecting secondary data, we finalized the criteria for the interviewees.

According to Ghauri and Grønhaug (2010), by focusing on a sample that was not selected

randomly we implemented a non-probability sampling. This implies that there are sample units

in the population that have a higher probability to be selected than other units do. However,

while non-probability sampling endeavors to select a sample unit guided by various factors, it

also aims to decrease the probability that how the sample unit was determined influences the

findings of the research (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). This process can also be described as

purposeful sampling, the sample unit to choose can therefore also be considered a purposeful

sample. We also had to utilize convenience sampling since we could only interview who was

accessible to us when the study was conducted (Bell & Bryman, 2015). Our research purpose

provided a clear indication of whom to consider as an interviewee what attributes were required

and therefore defined our sampling unit (Bell & Bryman, 2015). As we conducted a multi-case

28

study to understand and reflect on project managers’ perspectives on how they recover from

negative emotional experiences after project failure and what the role of grieving is within this

process, we consequently had to conduct interviews with project managers as their experiences

were the center of the study. Yet, being a project manager in today’s business environment is

versatile. One can be a project manager according to their job title, yet, one can also work in

sales or IT and gets a project assigned for a specific time frame and task. Therefore, the job title

of being officially a “project manager” played a subordinate role in our study as we focused on

the responsibilities within this role. Furthermore, since we asked our interviewees to reflect on

an event from the past, we based our defined criteria on the responsibilities at the time of the

event. Finally, these criteria were: our participants had to be in charge of at least one project in

their career that has failed, and which was executed under the roof of a for-profit organization

(no self-owned business entity). Being in charge translated into the following: being responsible

for the outcome of the project; delegating tasks to project members; having a performance

supervisory function; reporting to a higher entity.

As a result, we reached out to 96 firms located mainly in Sweden, Germany, and USA

requesting interviews per email. In this context, we explained our research purpose and

requirements for potential participants. We chose to contact organizations in the mentioned

countries as we could offer to conduct the interviews in Swedish, English, and German

according to the interviewee’s preference. When we received a response, we double-checked if

our predefined criteria are fulfilled before making an appointment for the interview: this left us

with 18 participants. We finally discarded two interviews as we perceived two participants’

insights concerning their emotional experiences as too superficial with little reflection. We

claim that 16 interviews led to theoretical saturation.

3.3.4 Interviews

Due to a globally active pandemic when executing the study, we had to conduct all interviews

via telephone, however, this has not negatively impacted the quality of our study. The

sensitivity of our research themes required us to build trust with the participants before the

interviews as not creating trust entailed the risk of only providing information by the

interviewee that was believed to be demanded by the research - this could have resulted in

findings that are not viable (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). The first step to create trust is to

provide the participant with a credible rationale about why they were asked to participate (Bell

& Bryman, 2015), which we did before each interview. The same authors describe the process

29

of quickly establishing a relationship with the interviewee as rapport. By clearly explaining our

research purpose, we perceived the interviewees as considerably open when talking about

sensitive issues. A contributing factor might have been that we ensured each participant to

receive an executive summary of our findings and conclusions on request when the study was

completed.

Following our research objectives, we conducted in-depth interviews since we aimed to explore

meanings and interpretations our respondents attached to specific events (Easterby-Smith et al.,

2015). Through in-depth interviews, we could gain an accurate impression of a participant’s

value-based standpoints since the questions allow free answering without constraints (Ghauri

& Grønhaug, 2010). Hence, we mainly worked with open questions and tried to reduce closed

questions to a minimum. We emphasize that the skills of us researchers had an essential role in

the process: we had to thoroughly comprehend the research problem, recognize what is relevant,

be perceptive and sensitive to experiences and events, be able to analyze and grasp sensitive

and complex contexts, listen carefully to what is said and finally be able to refrain from

projecting own opinions and feelings into the context (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015; Ghauri &

Grønhaug, 2010). As non-verbal data are fundamental, we conducted each interview together:

while one of us was asking questions, the other one was taking notes observing additional

insights. When a complex issue was addressed that could potentially raise uncertainties in the

analysis process at a later stage, we briefly summarized what has been said and clarified

common understanding - this has also been effective in the prevention of biased interpretation

(Easterby-Smith et al., 2015).

Before each interview, we provided a topic guide to clarify the purpose of the study and to lead

us through the interview. This was important to create meaningful conversations rather than

having interviews focusing on data extraction only. Initiating a meaningful conversation

reduced the risk of disengagement by the interviewee which would have led to dispensable

outcomes (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). Hence, we reflected on each question of the topic guide

by putting ourselves in the shoes of the interviewee, especially regarding sensitive questions.

The role reversal procedure ahead of the interview led to increased clarity due to formulation

adjustments of several questions before finalizing them (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015).

Since we aimed to explore personal and value-related attitudes and behaviors that require

flexible and open answering we made use of a semi-structured interview technique as suggested

by several researchers (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015; Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010). Furthermore,

30

according to Collis and Hussey (2014), this form of interviewing is particularly suitable when

the aim is to develop an understanding of the respondent's world and when the subject matter

is highly sensitive. In the main part, addressing the themes project failure, emotions

(particularly grief), and learning, we mainly used open-ended questions to impede uniformity

in the behavior of the respondents and to foster extensive elaboration on chosen issues to obtain

data about experiences and feelings (Collis & Hussey, 2014; Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010). When

statements became too descriptive with little disclosure about personal values, we used the

laddering-up technique by asking ‘why’ to foster the revealing of motivations behind specific

behaviors. Another effective technique we implemented was to ask for ‘probes’ such as ‘please

tell us more about this’. Throughout the interviews, we avoided using terms of abstract

theoretical concepts or academic language to prevent misunderstandings (Easterby-Smith et al.,

2015). Ultimately, we adapted our language to the participants during the interview when we

felt this would support the conversation flow and increase trust. Furthermore, we conducted

several interviews in the participants’ native language (Swedish and German) rather than in

English if we felt this would decrease misunderstandings.

Our questions for the interview finally consisted of three overriding sections: opening

questions, questions to our defined main themes, and closing questions. Our abductive research

approach helped us in this stage since we could improve the questionnaire after the first

interviews (Appendix 1). As Czarniawska (2014) suggests, we learned from the field research,

removed irrelevant and adjusted ill formulated questions to improve the data collection process

and thus the quality of our findings. Ultimately, we revised seven questions after conducting

the first two interviews.

Opening questions served as warming-up questions to establish a conversation-flow, these can

be considered ‘icebreaker’ questions. The second set included mainly open-ended questions

requiring the participants to reflect on project failure, emotions (particularly grief), and

learning. When preparing questions, we avoided using terms that could hint towards an answer

as we wanted to minimize the risk of being too leading. To not miss relevant topics, we prepared

a list of bullet points of topics that needed to be covered. Finally, we asked if there was anything

our participants would like to add in case, they perceived that key information got lost within

the flow of the interview. If this was negated, we briefly explained the upcoming steps of our

study, how we would process and analyze their shared insights. Finally, we thanked for the

31

interview and emphasized our availability in case there were any follow-up questions or

remarks as suggested by Easterby-Smith et al., (2015).

3.4 Data analysis

By conducting 16 interviews, we gathered 14 hours of qualitative data. Ending up with large

amounts of data is common within qualitative studies. Data itself in its pure form can be

considered as transmitters of information, while interpretation is required to extract the

information (Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010), making the researchers’ ability to make sense of the

collected data particularly important. The literature provides multiple approaches to analyze

data, the research aim is the key criteria to decide upon which approach is most appropriate.

Our goal was to build theory grounded in the data rather than testing and elaborating pre-

existing theories, this led to grounded analysis being most applicable for our research (Easterby-

Smith et al., 2015).

Table 1

Interview lengths

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3.4.1 Grounded analysis

Grounded analysis requires the researcher to stay open and close to the data making discoveries

and the development of new insights possible (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015). Its nature tends to

be holistic as the purpose is to derive theory by comparing data fragments with one another

rather than framing data according to a preexisting structure. One needs to take the context in

which the data were created into consideration, making the interviewees' perspectives

significantly important for the interpretation process (Bell & Bryman, 2015; Easterby-Smith et

al., 2015; Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2010). According to Easterby-Smith et al.,(2015), grounded

analysis consists of seven steps which we stuck to as we assessed them as appropriate for our

research aims: familiarization, reflection, open (first) coding, conceptualization, focused

(second) re-coding, linking and re-evaluation. To maximize objectivity, we separately coded

the data and then met to reconcile interpretations.

We first familiarized ourselves with and reflected on the collected data. During this stage, it

was crucial to keep the research purpose and question in mind as well as whose perspective was

expressed. Since we collected a vast amount of data, we critically had to evaluate it for sense-

making objectives. Hence, we brought the data into context with the analyzed academic articles

by focusing particularly on the following questions: do they support or challenge what we

already know based on existing knowledge? Do they support in answering our research

questions? (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015)

After familiarizing ourselves with and reflecting on the empirical data (transcripts in English),

we started the first analytical coding process. A code can be considered a word or phrase that

compiles the meaning of merged data: this could be a statement or sentence (Charmaz, 2014).

We only made use of descriptive codes that helped the organization of the data, therefore we

reduced the complexity inherent in qualitative data. According to Bell and Bryman (2015), the

process of coding can be described as quantifying qualitative data, while the approach to the

study remains of qualitative nature. As this first-cycle coding conferred an initial systematic

arrangement, we ended up with 669 codes summarizing merged data from our interviews. We

then compared and examined the codes for patterns. As a result, we identified 24 categories

within them. As we gathered large amounts of data, we implemented a second coding cycle,

based on the developed categories. By our second coding cycle, we developed a narrowed-

down system of the categories leading to six themes: these are rather abstract than descriptive

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(Appendix 3). The penultimate stage was to link the systematically arranged themes which

ultimately led to an increased understanding of the context we aimed to explore. As a final step,

we re-evaluated the results and conclusions by going through the themes, categories, and codes

in a reversed order to double-check the reasoning from codes to categories to themes and finally

theory (Easterby-Smith et al., 2015).

3.5 Ethical considerations

As stated in previous chapters, the topics we were elaborating upon often required the revealing

of personal or sensitive values. Yet, we have been aware of this from the beginning, which is

why we conferred ethical aspects significant consideration throughout conducting the study.

According to Bell and Bryman (2007), there are several key principles to be aware of when

conducting research revolving around protecting the participants’ interests and integrity as well

as having control over the obtained personal data. We implemented several measures to make

sure these key principles accompany our study at all stages (Bell & Bryman, 2015; Easterby-

Smith et al., 2015).

First, we made sure not to harm any of our participants, keeping them anonymous.

Consequently, we only presented quotes in this thesis that cannot be traced back to individuals

nor the organizations they were or are part of. Second, when formulating the questions for our

interviews, we avoided any formulations one could perceive as offensive. Furthermore, the

consent form (Appendix 2) that was provided to each participant documents the right to

withdraw from the study at any time or not to answer questions asked. The consent form also

functioned as follows: providing sufficient and clear information about the purpose of the

research, ensuring the confidentiality of the research data (on a personal and organizational

level), and the anonymity of the individual. We guaranteed the safe storage of the data during

the transcription process as well as the discharging of the data as soon as the transcription

process was completed. To avoid false documentation or misinterpreting of the gathered data,

we implemented several information-verification techniques as briefly described in the

previous chapter. At several stages throughout the interview, we confirmed with the participants

that we understood content correctly by repeating their statements. This led to an overall

increase in the credibility of our gathered data (Bell & Bryman, 2015; Easterby-Smith et al.,

2015)

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3.6 Quality trustworthiness

As introduced by Guba (1981), there are four key criteria to be met by researchers when aiming

to increase the level of trustworthiness. These are credibility, transferability, dependability, and

confirmability.

Credibility

As mentioned in the previous section, to avoid misinterpreting and mispresenting the gathered

data, we confirmed delivered content by information-verification techniques when necessary.

Furthermore, our abductive study design supported comparative methods as we could switch

between desk and field research and thus between collecting primary and secondary data to

practice cross-examination (Bell & Bryman, 2015; Guba, 1981).

Transferability

We consider utilizing the properties of qualitative research as a strength of our study, yet we

are aware that these studies lack generalization and transferability potential due to the

contextual influences when conducting them. Therefore, we made sure to provide the reader

with a broad contextual background (“thick” description) of the main themes we were

elaborating upon. Furthermore, we transparently describe our sampling and analysis process

(Guba, 1981)

Dependability

We made use of replicated structures and methods across our data collection process, increasing

the coherence within our study. Each participant received the same questions, furthermore, we

used lathering-up techniques or follow-up questions mainly for the same questions. This led to

overall similar lengths of our interviews.

Confirmability

As stated in previous sections we practiced reflexivity at several stages in our study.

Furthermore, as suggested by Guba (1981), we revealed out ontological and epistemological

assumptions and aligned our study design and analysis approach accordingly. To conclude, by

implementing several proactive measures, we aimed to assure high levels of quality and

trustworthiness of our findings.

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4. Empirical findings ___________________________________________________________________________

This chapter presents the findings of the gathered primary data and is from a merely descriptive

nature. We made use of the grounded analysis method to structure and illustrate the data. Each

sub-chapter relates to one theme generated by linking our categories. The findings are

highlighted by a meticulous selection of quotes from single participants. We present salient

patterns and discrepancies among the answers before interpreting them in correlation with the

reviewed literature in chapter five of this thesis.

___________________________________________________________________________

Within this chapter, the majority relates to more than eleven participants had concurring

answers, while the minority relates to fewer than five participants had concurring answers.

Table 2 presents an overview of our cases; it provides the reader with a direct relation to the

researched units. The data was gathered from a variety of firms based in multiple countries such

as Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and the United States. The firms differed in their

size and international reach, ranging from SMEs (small and mid-sized enterprises) to MNCs

(multinational corporations) operating in various fields.

Table 2

Project overview

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4.1 Project relevance

Within this theme, the following categories are presented: project and failure experience,

control and decision-making, success anticipation, and project priority. This theme is

particularly important for this study as in order to release a strong negative emotional reaction

after project failure, such as grief, the project itself needs to be relevant ‘enough’.

4.1.1 Project and failure experience

While one person had only worked on one project within his career, the majority had high levels

of project experience: 15 participants managed at least three projects within their career. Along

with high levels of project management experience, we explored high levels of past failure

occurrence. This means that the majority of our participants had experience in project failure

as one respondent said: “project failures are part of a project manager’s life”. Since the main

part of the interview revolves around reflecting on one particular failure event, several answers

concerning the project failure experience resembled with statements such as: this project failure

was “not the first time, but the most extreme one” or “such a strong failure, yes it was the first

time”, implying previously experienced project failure.

To conclude, the vast majority of our respondents had high levels of project management

experience as well as project failure experience.

4.1.2 Control and decision-making

Within this theme, we shifted the focus towards one particular project. We aimed to explore the

level of control and decision-making power our respondents had within the setting of the chosen

project that failed.

Only one person claimed the idea for the project to be their own, while the majority of our

respondents reflected on a project that has been delegated to them, in most cases “delegated

from above” or that they were presented the idea as one respondent said: “the idea was not my

own, it was pitched to me”. Only one person claimed to have had a mutual decision-making

process to initiate the project as he responded: “well, yes and no, we took the decision together

with the management”.

37

Even though being delegated to the project, the majority claimed to be responsible for decision-

making within the project as respondents stated that „the projects that I lead, I am the person

in command” or “ I delegated some tasks (…) but I was still the main project manager“.

However, even though possessing high levels of control within the project, several respondents

confirmed that they had to report to higher instances as respondents said: “I would report back

to my boss, but still I was in charge “. Furthermore, we discovered that each of our participants

was present along the way within the process of the project. Each participants’ response was

assimilable to the following: “I was there, and I supervised it from beginning to end “.

To conclude, the majority of our respondents claimed to be delegated to the project. Yet, when

elaborating on the chain of command we identified high levels of control and decision-making

power among our respondents. Furthermore, all of them stated to be present throughout the

whole process of the project.

4.1.3 Success anticipation

Within this theme, we aim to explore the respondent’s view on the likelihood of successful

completion of the project.

We identified high levels of anticipated success among our respondents. The answers

demonstrated that the majority firmly believed the projects to be completed successfully as they

said: “I did not see any problems at the beginning, it was completely doable” or “I definitely

believed in the project from the beginning”. This implies that the failure occurrence was rather

of sudden and unexpected nature as highlighted by one respondent: “it was like a rolling train,

no problems, no nothing (…) and then, two weeks later, everything failed”. However, it seemed

that high levels of project management and project failure experience led to a realistic

assessment of the situation as some respondent’s claims were assimilable to the following: “you

don’t win all the projects that you are involved in (…) so project failure is kind of a normal

thing”. To conclude, we identified high levels of anticipated success among our respondents. The

majority believed in the project throughout the process.

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4.1.4 Project priority

Within this theme, we aimed to explore the respondent’s view on the project priority. This

section is two-fold as we focus on it from an organizational as well as from a personal view,

while both are expressed from our respondent’s perspective

Organizational level

The answers demonstrated that for the majority of the organizations the participants are/were

belonging to at the time of the failure, the project had significant importance as one participant

stated: „this had the highest priority for the company“ or another respondent who stated that it

was “very very very important (…) it was like a marketing campaign (…) it was even in the

newspapers”. Other respondents also highlighted possible cash flows for the firm as one person

claimed: “every project is important (…) if you win the project it means revenue for the

business”. One respondent highlighted the importance for the firm by claiming that: “this

project was basically life or death for my firm”

The firm priority of the projects was further emphasized by the resource deployment, while we

particularly focused on the time aspect: the average time spent for each project was 15,25

months, yet, some projects took more than two years. The overall high time investments

correlate with the organizational priority as one respondent made the following claim about a

project that took 16 months: “at the time, it was regarded as important (…) we saw it as the

next step both in terms of growth but also to initiate our global presence “.

To conclude, we identified high levels of organizational priority towards these projects from

the perspective of our participants.

Individual level

The answers demonstrated that for the majority of the participants the projects had significant

importance. The successful completion of the project was mainly connected to career

advancements such as improved reputation or prestige as respondents stated: “personally, I

would say it was super important (…) I wanted to succeed to prove myself” or “I always want

to succeed with everything I do, therefore I would say it was important to me”.

39

Additionally, some of the respondents highlighted the project importance in terms of their

emotional connection to it without presenting explicit career benefits. We explored that several

of these respondents partially claimed ownership concerning the projects as one person stated

that “this was MY project (…) I had to do good” or another one who described the project “as

very close to my heart”. Another answer emphasized the emotional bonding one can develop

towards a project when stating that the project “kind of became my baby, so it was very

important to me (…) I worked on it for 5 years”.

To conclude, for the majority of the participants the projects had significant priority either for

career advancement or other personal reasons.

4.2 Project failure reflection

In this part, the following categories are presented: individualistic expectations, project

deterioration point and response, failure cause and consequences. We consider the emergence

of the theme failure reflection as essential for this study as thoroughly reflecting on the failure

event itself is crucial in order to work through and interpret the caused emotional reactions at

later stages.

4.2.1 Individualistic expectations

Within this section, we aim to explore our respondents’ general perspectives on project failure.

Within the associated question set we provided our own definition of project failure as the

cessation of involvement in a project due to not meeting a minimum threshold of the

expectations set by the project manager. While we entirely based our definition of failure within

the bounds of the project managers’ expectations and/or experience, we aimed to explore if our

respondents agree with this definition. The majority indeed had a similar perspective on project

failure, emphasizing the subjective nature within its definition. Yet, some expanded it as one

respondent said: “I agree with that definition, unless the manager does have an abnormal view

on the objectives or that his or her view does not align with the initial goals of the project” or

another person who claimed that: “maybe the expectations are not only restricted to the

manager but the whole team”. However, single participants traced project failure strictly back

to the objectives, stating that project failure for them is not subjective as it solely is “not

reaching the potential or main objective” of the project.

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To conclude, the majority of the participants emphasized the subjective nature of project failure

making the judgment of outcomes dependent on the project managers’ perspective.

4.2.2 Deterioration point and response

We interviewed individuals from diverse fields making patterns among deterioration points and

responses concerning the failure of the project less suitable for comparisons. Yet, several

insightful aspects emerged that indicate similar viewpoints on certain issues within this context.

The majority of our respondents was not able to clearly identify turnaround moments within

their projects, yet, if they could, these were mainly related to moments where a lack of resources

or miscommunication became tangible as one respondent said: “I should have been more clear

in the communication” or another one who stated that “our resources were stretched (…)

people working on this project were also working on 2,3 other projects”. However, an

interesting insight that has emerged throughout several interviews was that project deterioration

is often overshadowed by overconfidence as one respondent said: “I think there is a tendency

to ignore it (project decline) at a point, which is understandable (…) you want it to be

successful, so you try your best to make it work and in some sense not face the emerging issues

(…) no one wants to give up” or another one who said that when a deterioration point becomes

apparent you tend to “more or less push failures to the next day, you brush it under the carpet”.

When it comes to ultimately ceasing the project, we identified a low authority in decision-

making since the majority of our respondents claimed that the decision to end the project came

from higher instances. Another interesting insight was that while the majority of the projects

our respondents were reflecting on failed at late stages, the majority also agreed that most

professional projects tend to fail early in the process: “usually, it's at an early stage you see

that a project will fail” or “you see rather early if projects will hit a few bumps”.

To conclude, the majority of our respondents did not control the decision to cease the project.

Furthermore, the majority could often not identify the project deterioration point during the

process or did overshadow its urgency.

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4.2.3 Project failure cause

The technical failure causes were various, consequently, we neglected comparisons and the

search for patterns among the causes. Yet, precious insights emerged concerning the reflection

upon the controllability of the failure cause and project members’ perspective.

The majority of our respondents claimed that the failure causes were characterized by an

interplay of both internal and external causes as one respondent stated: “I believe most of it was

external reasons, that I couldn't control (…) but also internal circumstances (…) the team

wasn't too competent”. Other respondents initially thought of external reasons but throughout

the interview revealed the influence of internal reasons as one respondent stated, “I would say

that most of the cases where external circumstances which we had no control over” but

continued “the organization was kind of dysfunctional or nonaligned between us (my team) and

the management team”.

When asked about the perception if the rest of the teams shares the viewpoint on why the project

failed, the majority was confident in other people agreeing with their assessment as one

respondent said: “I think there is always some different views but I think we would all agree on

why I didn’t go the way we wanted it”. Only single persons assumed that there would be various

views on why the project failed as one person, for example, stated: “No I don’t think so (…) if

you talk to the people in the IT department, they would probably say it was marketing’s fault

(…) but if you talk to someone outside of IT, one might say the functionality wasn’t there“.

To conclude, we explored that the majority of our respondents detected and attributed both

internal and external causes for the failure event and the majority believes the project team to

share the viewpoint on the causes of the failure.

4.2.4 Project failure consequences

As presented in previous sections the key failure consequence was the ultimate ending of the

project, which translates in seceding from the initial objectives of the project or from the

expectations of the project manager. This resulted in different consequences on an

organizational and personal level.

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Even though we could not identify the emergence of an apparent pattern among the

organizational consequences of the project failure, the majority could be allocated to the

following categories: financial loss, as one respondent claimed “we lost 10-15 million SEK due

to the project failure (…) so of course, I see it as a possessive loss”; organizational

restructurings, as one respondent said: “the main consequence was that the management re-

defined the project (…) and thereafter they kept tighter restraints (…) they managed to finish

it, however, way over time and budget so ultimately, it was a loss”; and, damaging of supplier

relationships, as one respondent said: “it has turned some relationships a bit frosty (…) the

CEO was at a later stage terminated”.

When asked about the consequences on a personal level, we consider it noteworthy that none

of our respondents got fired or lost his or her position due to the project failure. However, the

majority could not link any beneficial aspects with the project failure as several respondents

stated assimilable to the following: “I did not see any benefits at all, I was just sad and bitter

about it.”

The organizational consequences were diverse. Furthermore, the majority of our respondents

did not have any immediate benefits of the project failure, however, worth mentioning is the

fact that no one lost his/her job or position as a result.

4.3 Emotional impact

In this part, the following categories are presented: high degree of negative emotions, low

degree of negative emotions, optimistic self-perception, and emotional triggering. This section

revolves around experienced negative emotions concerning respective project failure, whilst

also showcasing thought processes around emotional triggers. The objective of this theme is to

present each individual’s outlook on perceived emotions.

4.3.1 High degree of negative emotions

This section focuses on the intensity and identification of the negative emotions that emerged

following the project failure. The majority of the participants agreed that they had experienced

an intense emotional (negative) period after their projects failed. This section will present the

participants’ thoughts and emotions.

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One participant described the following experience: “I was completely gutted (…) there is so

much pressure inside and you feel ashamed and angry at yourself (…) someone just pulls the

plug and you deflate”. The feeling of shame is further mentioned by yet another participant: “I

felt ashamed when talking to our supplier (…) but also towards my colleagues. I mean we had

mentioned it to them (the project), people in purchasing and in the marketing department, so,

it was awkward when it fell through”.

The aforementioned segment highlights shame as a ‘driving’ negative emotion, other

respondents took a bit more of a pragmatic approach when rooting out the cause of their

emotions: “when you put so much time, energy and money into something, naturally, you are

disappointed and sad afterward”. The invested time, effort, and funds was a re-occurring aspect

among our respondents. In the next statement, a respondent develops the pragmatic approach

and catches another emotional-spectrum, being people: “I felt disappointed about the time and

effort put into this project, but my negative emotions revolved more around the people (…) I

would mourn the fact that I would lose contact with certain individuals which I have come to

acquaint myself with rather well”. Another participant concurred with this aspect by stating

that: I wasn’t too sad about the project itself, or maybe not directly, but I did feel very sad about

leaving my colleagues, I mean we all lived abroad and worked so intensely together, it was

hard to say goodbye”.

Furthermore, the absence of people introduces a new negative emotion, the feeling of

emptiness. When asked about why emptiness was such a strong negative influence a respondent

answered: “the negative emotion that stood out for me the most (except sadness), was emptiness,

we worked for so long, so intensely, and then when the project was abruptly terminated, you

are left with nothing”. The feeling of going from constantly being busy with work and then

suddenly stopping seemed to have influenced a large portion of the respondents negatively.

Another interesting aspect that emerged was that certain emotions disguised themselves as

others, as one respondent said: “there was definitely some disappointment in there but all in all,

everything was wrapped in a large ‘blanket’ of sadness and grief”. Another respondent portrays

a much more vivid description: " I also believe that some part of that emotion (fear) was anger

and frustration which disguised itself in the beginning as fear. I now believe that anger is a

better emotion to have in terms of energy or rather a motivation, it motivated me, while fear

held me back”. Moreover, this statement explored the ‘switching process’ that turns negativity

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into a positive force or even action. However, the next respondent described the opposite of

that process: “first excitement because you launch something... and then you see people

responding to it…then you get further excitement ... because you think it’s working but then a

few months down the road... the subscriptions are not renewed... that makes you realize we lost

something (disappointment)”

To conclude, the majority of the participants experienced intense negative emotions after their

respective projects had failed, regarding it as a loss that generated sadness (grief). In addition

to that, a multitude of negative emotions emerged such as disappointment, fear, anger,

frustration, shame, and emptiness. Lastly, the loss of relationship with people emerged as

another driving force for grief.

4.3.2 Low degree of negative emotions

This section focuses on the participants that did not showcase an intense negative emotion or

participants that had another outlook on what experience they had in terms of a project failure.

The minority of the participants had not experienced an intensive or prolonged negative

emotional period after their project failed.

Certain individuals perceived the project itself to be a turbulent time of emotions and therefore,

had a decreased level of perceived emotional impact post failure, one participant stated that:

“When I left, I felt a bit relieved, to be honest”. Other participants acknowledged the existence

of a grieving phase but experienced no intense emotions in the example that was discussed: “I

had to leave but the grieving phase which I completely agree with and have experienced myself

(multiple times), was not present here”. Hence, it was evident that certain projects did not

conjure extensive negative emotions, despite their importance and invested resources.

Other participants referred to their long experience of projects and failures as an explanation to

their low negative emotional impact, one participant speculated: “I think it comes back to your

experience and level of seniority... your first project failure hits you really hard (…) I might

have felt grief during my early career projects, but now I turn negative emotions into positive

ones”. Once again, the transformation of emotions appeared in our study and it was utilized to

form a driving force for action.

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To conclude, the minority of our participants only experienced a low degree of negative

emotional impact, the main reasons appeared to be that the termination of the project was

regarded as a break from an already intensely emotional period, or the project managers

experience played a role.

4.3.3 Optimistic self-perception

This section revolves around the level of optimism held by our participants amidst a project

failure. This factor showcases the participants perceived perception of their own opportunity-

seeking mindset and their own reactions during such a turbulent ordeal.

The majority of the participants categorized themselves as optimists and perceived themselves

to be focusing on opportunities rather than challenges. One participant stated: “you never gain

anything on being pessimistic, that tends to make things worse”. Another participant agreed:

“people tend to default to pessimism, it doesn’t give you any options, it’s not productive nor is

it helping you in any way.”. Another participant took a dual approach to this question and

further stated that:” I would say that I focus on both, I want to capture the whole spectrum,

focusing on only one makes you miss out on vital information. I try to be a realist, but I try to

be as positive as possible”.

To conclude, almost every participant saw themselves from a rather optimistic point of view

and believed it to be the only way to succeed and move forward.

4.3.4 Emotional triggering

Within this section we will present factors that triggered memories and emotions related to the

failure event, capturing the post-failure emotional impact and the time aspect. The majority of

the participants partook in a reflective approach once the failure was deemed inevitable.

One participant explained the triggering factor and time scope in his case: “I thought about it

for about 2-3 months, there was a time when I would meet members of my past team quite often

and that would instantly remind me”. Another participant also agreed that members would bring

back memories and reflection: “a colleague I worked with on the team at my former employment

works with me now in my current company, so I would say that tends to bring back memories”.

Individuals directly connected to the failed project tended to trigger thoughts and stir up

emotions, both inside and outside of the professional work setting.

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Other respondents refrained from any prolonged pondering “I let things go rather quickly. 1-2

months tend to be the average”. An interesting insight that emerged was that there was no time

to think about what had transpired as new projects had to be managed shortly after the failure,

another participant said: “I maybe thought about it for like a week after, but due to other projects

starting I got a bit distracted as well”. Only one participant had a long period where he actively

thought about the failure: “Hmm, I thought about it for like 2 years afterwards”.

To conclude, most of the respondents did not think about the failed project for a longer period

unless triggered by past team members. However, most of them still acknowledged that they

had actively been thinking about it. Furthermore, some of them had other projects to attend to,

which eliminated any time to ponder about the shortcomings of the past project. Lastly, the

negative emotions had cooled off and they looked back at the events that transpired rather

neutrally.

4.4 Emotional recovery

In this part, the following categories are presented: emotional processing, distractive measures,

emotional detachment, and opportunity-seeking. This theme explores the recovery process of

our participants.

4.4.1 Emotional processing

Emotional processing focuses on facing one’s negative emotions head-on to overcome the

’emotional hurdle’ they form. The majority of the participants stated that working through

negative emotions was a healthy and essential process for healing to occur.

One participant summarized: “I think it’s healthy to reflect on your emotions as well, but you

have to let them go at some point”. Another participant voiced a more problematic approach:

“at first, I didn’t accept them, I was fleeing from them in a sense. Nowadays I realized it

sometimes stands in the way of my personal development (…) now I’m more ok with that, so if

I have the same issue, I’d be more open to saying I’m angry and ashamed of myself (…) I know

why I feel this way and it ok”. One participant avoided his feeling: “I just tried to distract

myself... I didn’t want to think about it... it’s was not a nice feeling to have”.

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Lastly, a participant voiced his perspective on why emotions are important to consider: “I think

that the emotional aspects of project management are extremely important (...) to just disregard

emotions is not reasonable, projects become a part of us and so does the emotions connected

to them”.

To conclude, the majority of the respondents acknowledged the importance of ‘working

through’ emotions after project failure as neglecting this could stand in the way of their personal

development.

4.4.2 Distractive measures

In contradiction to the aforementioned section, distractive measures address the action of

actively distracting oneself from the failure and negative emotions. The activities varied, some

went for hikes whilst others went straight into the next project. One of the participants

remembered: “video games used to be a good way to distract myself, I could log in to a different

world and forget about my problems (…) I could be whoever I wanted, and it was easy to

achieve success and get a small measure of peace and acknowledgment”. Escaping reality is

something that people tend to do both consciously and subconsciously, it was clearly a pattern

among the participants. However, a small sample voiced an opposing view as one participant

said:” I think that negative emotions are part of life and they also hold a certain value, there is

a level of motivation a level of action hidden in negative emotions, they feel terrible, but they

push you”. Another participant described why it can be problematic to distract oneself: “the

project becomes part of your life nowadays and to every action that occurs within its bounds

there is an equal emotional reaction, especially when dealing with hectic projects”

Lastly, a participant stressed the importance of distraction oneself by stating: “I think that it’s

important to take a pause between projects and invite reflective thoughts, in order to see the

bigger picture. Staring another one could be good but then the risk of you forgetting to reflect

and transmit valuable learning is increased”.

To conclude, the majority of our respondents actively distracted themselves as they regarded

the distraction as a healthy pause. In addition, some respondents addressed the implications of

distracting oneself as projects nowadays become more entangled with one’s private life.

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4.4.3 Emotional detachment

This section addressed whether the participants experience any intense negative emotions when

they think about the failed project in the present time. One can be considered recovered from

grief when being reminded of the project does not bring back any suppressed or painful

emotions.

The majority of the participants could be considered recovered, only a few described minor

feelings of disappointment and some frustration (when talking about it), but all agreed that no

intense emotions arouse from the interview. One respondent stated: “I see it really neutrally

now, more clearly, no intense emotions whatsoever”.

4.4.4 Opportunity-seeking

This section revolves around our respondents’ ability to recognize opportunities and beneficial

aspect during the aftermath of the failure. This section is intended to present a contrast to the

previous theme’s code, optimism. A large portion of the participants regarded themselves as

optimists, however, this section put that outlook to the test.

When asked about their ability to recognize and exploit opportunities or beneficial aspects in

the face of an emotional period within their project, the majority of the participants said that

they would not be able to do so at that moment. One participant stated: “Well, if you asked me

right at the time of the failure, I would have probably been quite dismissive and not too keen

on any reflective analysis at the time”. Another said, “right after… no... there are too many

emotions… after you invested so much time... you’re upset”. It became evident that the

irrationality of intense emotions countered rational sense-making and opportunity scrutiny, as

a third respondent claimed: “I don’t know (…) guess I would need some distance to reflect

before I saw some opportunities or benefits”.

To conclude, all of the respondents agreed that they would not have been able to identify

benefits shortly after the failure event due to the accumulation of negative emotions. Yet, all

our respondents considered themselves to be optimists.

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4.5 Individual learning

This theme explored the experienced learning process in relation to the grief phase that emerged

after the project failure. In this part, the following categories are presented: failure sense-

making, emotional interference, and learning transferability.

4.5.1 Failure sense-making

This section addresses the main sense-making of failure, which was presented to our

participants as either stemming from success or failure. This provided us with key insights into

whether our participants valued rather failure or success as a driving force for learning.

The majority of the participants acknowledged failure as a key factor for learning. One

participant stated: “the learning outcomes that I remember the most was when something did

not work out, that called for some sense-making and reflection”. Another participant provided

a more vivid example: “when something works out it’s generally a straight line with no detours,

but when you encounter failures in projects you have to follow different pathways, and along

those, you learn new skills and obtain new knowledge”. It was evident that failure would

demand further reflection and sense-making amongst the participants.

One participant referred to a quote from a famous musician to describe his approach to learning:

“The hills they take care of themselves but when you reach the valleys that’s when you learn

who you really are”. Some participants argued that there was valuable information within both

outcomes: “I think you learn most about yourself in failed projects, but to manage a project I

would say its 50/50”.

To conclude, the majority of our respondents agreed that failure results in more learning

outcomes than success, as failure causes negative emotions which further call for additional

sense-making, thus making it a valuable occurrence.

4.5.2 Emotional interference

In this section, we present whether the participants agreed that negative emotions can hinder or

disrupt learning after project failure. Furthermore, we showcase examples of how this has

manifested itself in chosen cases.

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All the participants agreed that negative emotions affected learning negatively, it could either

slow down or completely disrupt the process as one participant said: “it blind-sided me... it took

me 2 or 3 months to see as a whole why the project had failed”. Another participant stated:

“When you’re experiencing intense emotional distress, you do not tend to think in a rational

way and certain opportunities might be neglected”. In some cases, the emotional distress was

so potent that certain participants found the sense-making procedure to be too painful, “after

such a project you don’t ever want to think about the events that transpired, which in turn could

steer you clear from any negative emotions but also the valuable learning points they hold”.

To conclude, all the respondents concurred that negative emotions (grieving) affected learning

negatively, too painful emotions did not allow rational sense-making to occur.

4.5.3 Learning transferability

This section focuses on whether the participants feel that the failure has helped them in

subsequent projects. In addition, they also reflected on whether they could have done things

differently to alter the outcome of the project.

The majority of the participants agreed that the failure had developed their abilities to handle

projects and emotions connected to them. One participant shared the following example: “the

learnings I took away from the failed Norwegian market entry I adopted into the Finnish market

entry project and that endeavor has been very successful”. However, even with new insights,

the majority still believed that the outcomes would have been the same (if they went back in

time and changed their decisions). One participant further elaborated: “I think it would probably

have resulted in the same way, but I would at least have saved us all the time and effort”.

To conclude, all our respondents developed new skills and learnings that could be utilized in

new projects. However, they all stated that even with new-found knowledge the outcomes of

the example project that was mentioned would have been the same, even with altering

measures.

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4.6 Organizational learning

Within this section, we aimed to explore patterns among supportive pre- and post-failure

organizational behavior. The following categories are presented: failure acceptance and

encouragement, normalization of emotions, and supportive learning.

4.6.1 Failure acceptance and encouragement

We discovered that the majority of our respondents’ organizations did not implement an internal

culture that encourages failure, furthermore, we could not identify apparent patterns to derive

supportive organizational from as one respondent stated: “in terms of culture or routines, no

not really (…) it’s a system of “cover your butt’ (…) when you fail, you want to escape (…) it’s

almost like you are scared of getting blamed (…) some people are too afraid of taking risks due

to this“ or another respondent saying that: “I haven't experienced it (…) you tend to avoid

mistakes and failures” when asked about his perception on internal failure acceptance. One

respondent described: “they did not encourage any failures or have a culture for it (…) the

culture was not supportive (…) it was very toxic in a way (…) almost like a witch-hunt at times“.

Single respondents, however, characterized their culture as being open to failure as one

respondent stated that: “failing was nothing that was looked down upon “or „we try to

constantly remind our staff that failures are ok and don't judge anybody for committing them“.

4.6.2 Normalization of emotions

We discovered that within the majority of our respondents’ organizations showing or talking

about emotions was uncommon at the workplace as the majority stated something assimilable

to the following: „feelings are okay to talk about after losses, but it never felt common doing

so (…) during management meetings it's more pragmatic rather than emotional” or another

one who said that: „it was not that common (…) my company had no established routine for

this“. One respondent generalized this phenomenon, saying that: “people tend to avoid talking

about emotions (…) organizations are very rational“.

Yet, several respondents emphasized the importance of talking about emotions, especially after

project failure as one respondent said: “I would say it's important to keep trying to talk about

emotions (…) see it in a rational way (…) by doing so you fight the stigmatization of failure“

or another one who claimed that: “it is good if a manager, knowing that someone failed with a

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project that was close to the heart, would have a little debriefing session and aid them in

overcoming their hardships (…) but it's not something common“. An interesting insight

emerged through another statement: “I feel like this all depends on gender and generation (…)

female managers, for example, tend to accept and deal with emotions better (…) they have more

empathy (…) they are more open towards talking about it”.

4.6.3 Supportive learning

When reflecting on post-failure organizational behavior, the majority of our respondents felt

that the responsibility to learn lies within each individual due to the organizations’ limited aid

in the process as one respondent said: „well, we have a lesson-learned meeting (…) but in the

end, it’s up to the individual to really try to learn from it the failure” or another one who said:

„we don't have any structured protocol or knowledge bank (…) I guess we could improve that,

I like the idea (…) it would be nice to evaluate all team members’ perceptions of the project

(…) I think that knowledge gets lost to some extent”.

To conclude, we identified low levels of a supportive culture among our respondents’

organizations when it comes to aiding the learning process subsequent to the failure event.

Furthermore, the majority of our respondents could not identify structured and standardized

learning procedures, yet, the majority confirmed that they would appreciate such endeavors as

they think this would improve the learning process.

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5. Data analysis ___________________________________________________________________________

Within this section, we present the results of analyzing the collected primary data in relation to

what previous research has stated. First, we illustrate whether existing research correlates or

contradicts with our gathered primary data. Therefore, we oppose generated themes to existing

theoretical frameworks. Second, we derive meaning from identified correlations or

contradictions and put them in context with our research aims. ___________________________________________________________________________

5.1. Project relevance

5.1.1 Project experience and control

Existing literature claims that failure is experienced differently according to several

dimensions. These are volume, velocity, and volatility, which relates to the intensity of failure

(Morris et al., 2012). Jenkins et al. (2014) strengthen the claim that prior failures influence the

intensity of the negative emotions attached to the failure event. Within our examined sample,

we identified high levels of project failure experience. However, we could not identify notable

differences in how failures were experienced concerning the emergence of grief, recovery, and

learning between respondents with high and low levels of failure experience. In favor of this

study, the majority of our respondents reflected on a high volatility failure event that has caused

an intense emotional reaction. Hence, we conclude that within the setting of high volatility

failure events in the context of project management, the number of previous failure events

(assuming that these had lower volatility) has a limited impact on the intensity of negative

emotional reactions.

The reviewed literature suggests that project failure is perceived differently based on the role

within the project (Patzelt et al., 2014). Yet, the focus here lies on the decision to terminate the

project. This can be either a conscious decision where the examined individual is the decision-

maker or a delegated decision. Our empirical findings demonstrate that even though project

managers tend to have high levels of control and decision-making power, the decision to

terminate the project oftentimes comes from higher instances. This is neglected by the majority

of the existing literature. Hence, we argue that this needs to be taken into consideration when

researching emotional reactions and their impact on learning after project failure.

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5.1.2 Project priority and success anticipation

The success or failure of a project often relates to the reputation of an individual (Chen et al.,

2019). Our findings correlate as the successful completion of projects was oftentimes connected

to improved reputation resulting in career advancements. When illuminating how grief after

failure affects individuals, the phenomenon of psychological ownership is widely discussed in

the literature (Hsu et al., 2017). In the context of project management, this often translates into

perceiving a project as part of one’s possession. Our empirical findings correlate as we could

identify substantial emotional connections between our respondents and their projects as one

person, for example, claimed: “well in a sense it (the project) was like my baby”. As we

discovered high levels of success anticipation, we consider the intense ownership perceptions

to foster the belief in the successful completion of the project. Furthermore, as the majority of

our respondents’ project managing behavior was driven by performance-related factors, we

argue that project managers tend to develop rather promotion-focused than prevention-focused

psychological ownership where individuals tend to be driven by their safety needs. This aligns

with our finding that the majority of respondents considered themselves to be optimists. In this

context, we also want to shed light on the phenomenon of sustained emotional investments.

Literature suggests that the higher the levels of sustained emotional investments, the more

intense emotional reactions failure can cause. The emotional investment aspect correlates with

the time dimension, meaning that for projects that have been worked on for an extended period

of time there is a higher chance to trigger grief when it fails (Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009). Our

findings correlate as the more time is invested in a project, the more complex the subsequent

recovery, sense-making, and learning process tends to be. Therefore, we emphasize the

importance of supporting measures – either self-directed by the individual or from the

organization – in environments with high levels of project work where the projects tend to be

of an extended period of time.

5.2 Project failure reflection

5.2.1 Individualistic expectation

Literature studies project failure from different angles including subjective and objective

perspectives. Subjective perspectives essentially relate to an individual’s own expectation

towards the project while objective perspectives mainly relate to measurable results. Among

our participants, we found considerably high levels of agreeableness to the subjective

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perspective on project failure, meaning to assess project failure based on own set criteria rather

than external determined metrics. The fact, that the majority of project managers undermine

objective measurable metrics has a significant impact on the organizations in which they

operate. It increases the importance of alignment between determined organizational objectives

and project managers' own expectations. Mutual understanding and objective setting are

necessitated since diverge project goals lead to diverging definitions of project failure. This

might bear the risk of misalignments with respect to project relevance and resource investment

which decreases the probability of successfully completing the project.

5.2.2 Project deterioration and response

Existing literature suggests that projects usually undergo four stages when deteriorating:

decline, response initiation, transition, and outcome. Response initiation requires the project

manager to proactively implement corrective actions (Sheppard & Chowdhury, 2005).

However, our findings indicate that reactive course-changing decisions are difficult to

implement due to the tendency of project managers to overlook the necessity to react based on

overconfidence. The following statements emphasize this: “I think there is a tendency to ignore

it (decline) at a point, which is understandable (…) you want it to be successful, so you try your

best to make it work and, in some sense, not face the emerging issues (…)”. Another respondent

described it as brushing interim failures under the carpet. We, therefore, conclude that reactions

from the project manager in such contexts are less likely to occur. Furthermore, we argue that

the later in the process deteriorations surface, the lower the probability to react based on rational

decision-making. To conclude, as the majority of project managers reports to higher instances,

yet, it might also be useful to have an independent supervisory board implemented taking on

the role of observing the process and interfering when required.

5.2.3 Project failure cause

Reviewed literature differentiates between internal (controllable) and external (uncontrollable)

locus of causality when attributing failure (Walsh & Cunningham, 2017). One might conclude

that failure events attributed mainly to controllable causes would result in more intense grieving

than failure events attributed to mainly uncontrollable causes. First, our empirical findings

suggest that the majority of failure events are caused by an interplay of both internal and

external causes. Second, our empirical findings suggest that the attribution of failure has limited

influence on the intensity of the emotional reactions. Therefore, we conclude that other factors

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(for example personality attributes such as the ability to reflect on and cope with failure) impact

the intensity of the emotional reactions stronger than a persons’ level of control to prevent the

failure from happening.

5.3 Emotional impact

5.3.1 High degree of negative emotions

Existing literature argues that project failure most likely ends up associating the failure with

emotional distress that leads to grief (Jenkins et al., 2014). The authors Fang He et al. (2018),

present multiple arrays of emotions connected to this period, such as disappointment, sorrow,

fear, anger, and shame. This was evident in the majority of the cases, as our findings confirm

that individuals focus on negative emotions rather than exploration and acceptance of the

failure. Yet, a new emotion that emerged was the feeling of emptiness, as one participant stated:

“the negative emotion that stood out for me the most (except sadness), was emptiness (...) we

worked for so long, so intensely, and then when the project was abruptly terminated, you are

left with nothing”. This emotion had a dual-effect as it provided the participants with a pause

for reflection and as a grim reminder of what had occurred. Therefore, we claim this to be

another influential factor in the grief period.

Literature mainly focuses on the aspect of losing time, effort, and invested funds within projects

but little is researched about the loss of human interactions. The sole mention of the people-

orientation is described by Archer (1999) when comparing the concept of grief in the business

climate to the loss of a loved one, yet this is a rather abstract and superficial approach.

Participants regarded the project failure as a loss of relationships to particular people within the

project. This was not covered in the revised theory, but still had a major impact, as one

participant stated: “my negative emotions revolved more around the people (…) I would mourn

the fact that I would lose contact with certain individuals”. Initially, we regarded people solely

as a triggering factor that would set off memories and connected negative emotions, we did not

consider the fact that colleagues could be actively grieved for. Therefore, we claim this to be

another influential factor in the grief period.

Cardon and Shepherd (2009), state that a failed project’s intensity differs between individuals,

and so does the identified emotions. One such example was the emergence of disguised

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emotions, meaning that initial feelings were affiliated to a particular emotion that later changed

its meaning as one respondent claimed: " I also believe that some part of that emotion was

anger and frustration which disguised itself in the beginning as fear. I now believe that anger

is a better emotion to have in terms of energy or rather a motivation”. Emotions can initiate

positive or negative counter-reactions, however, identifying and defining the emotions becomes

increasingly difficult in the setting of project failure. This insight aligns with the literature on

psychological ownership (PO), which states that an individual can exude both promotive and

preventative PO, this could explain why some individuals shifted towards focusing on the

failure as a loss of possession or as a new opportunity, resulting in either hindering or actively

pushing the individual out of the grieving period (Avey et al. 2009; Hsu et al., 2017). Therefore,

we stress the importance of the regulatory focus theory when assessing the impact of negative

emotions, as they can determine an individual’s action whether it is negative or positive.

5.3.2 Low degree of negative emotions

As aforementioned, existing theory argues that failures are experienced differently based on the

following three dimensions: volume, velocity, and volatility (Morris et al., 2012). In this

section, we focus on volume and velocity. Only a minority of our participants had not

experienced an intensive or prolonged negative emotional period after the failure. One

respondent said: “When I left, I felt a bit relieved, to be honest” whilst another explained: “the

grieving phase which I completely agree with and have experienced myself (multiple times),

was not present here”. We claim that the low level of negative emotional impact was due to

the previously mentioned metrics, as these respondents were accustomed to the project failures’

volume and its velocity. Yet, this does not include the accustoming to high volatility events as

we assume there is no effective preparation for these. A third respondent further strengthens

this claim “I think it comes back to your experience and level of seniority... your first project

failure hits you really hard”. Therefore, the literature and empirical data align within the claim

that the seniority level of a manager has an influence on the experienced negative emotional

affect. However, one could argue that current theory is lacking in viewing the projects as

turbulent and traumatic periods, hence their termination can be regarded as salvation from those

emotions, however, there was neither substantial data to prove this nor did a pattern emerge.

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5.3.3 Optimism

The revised literature presents a multifaceted construct of utilizing an individual's mindset to

identify and exploit beneficial opportunities after failure. Hsu et al., (2017) calls it promotive

psychological ownership, meaning that one focus on benefits and opportunities. Failure is seen

as an opportunity to fulfill achievement needs apart from completing the project successfully.

Chen et al. (2019) further introduce “positive” and “negative” grieving. Positive grieving

emphasizes exploration and acceptance rather than burying oneself in negative emotions. When

asked about the perception of their opportunity-seeking mindset and reactions to emotionally

turbulent periods, the majority of our participants considered themselves as optimists, as one

stated: “you never gain anything on being pessimistic, that tends to make things worse”. Hence,

we argue that they inherited a healthy and optimistic perception of themselves as individuals.

However, this did not make them immune to the influence of grief as a positive mindset might

not be sufficient to uncover all opportunities hidden under the veil of grief. We perceive the

emotional and opportunity-seeking mindset to be two vastly different factions that require

different regulatory strategies before an individual can efficiently detect and exploit

opportunities.

5.3.4 Triggers

Within the presented theory, researchers often metaphorically connect grief to someone passing

away, in this remark it is natural that there might be triggering factors making memories of the

event resurface and cause emotional distress (Davis & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2001). Literature

does present the notion of triggers but fails to specifically identify them and define their

influence on the individual. Since a majority of the participants thought about the failure

afterward, understanding the triggers might further enlighten the scope of grieving in this

context, as one participant explained: “there was a time when I would meet members of my past

team quite often and that would instantly remind me”. This finding indicates that triggers were

mostly connected to project members, which is yet another dimension in the grieving process

connected to the people aspect. The absence of triggers was mainly due to new projects being

initiated shortly after the failure, leaving no room for pondering. Therefore, we argue that

distractive measures may be the first steps towards healing, however, if these new endeavors

are initiated too quickly vital information can be left behind.

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5.4 Emotional recovery

5.4.1 Emotional processing

Emotional processing is described as a vital step for recovering from failure, facing one’s

negative emotions head-on, and processing them. According to Shepherd (2003), this process

is called loss orientation stage. The individual revisits the failure as part of a sense-making

process, and re-experiences the emotions, however, this should not be done for an extended

time period as this can obstruct recovery. Song et al. (2018), claim that one should not restrain

negative emotions as effectively managing them can limit their potential harm. This was evident

in the empirical data, as one participant said: “I think that negative emotions are part of life and

they also hold a certain value, (...) a level of action hidden in negative emotions, they feel

terrible, but they push you”. Only one participant vigorously tried to suppress emotions as they

were deemed too painful, which could possibly mean that the loss orientation stage had been

held for too long without initiating any distractive measures. Therefore, processing one's

emotions is a vital process for any healing to take place, however, the difficulty lies in

recognizing when to interrupt the process and step away from it to assess the situation and the

impact of the experienced emotions. Lastly, literature stresses the importance of emotional

intelligence, as a good indicator of when an emotional coping-orientation has been held for too

long. However, no clear pattern emerged from the collected data that could indicate a person's

level of emotional intelligence. Therefore, we argue that the common denominator amongst our

participants for regulating the emotional coping-orientations was the level of pain they felt post-

failure.

5.4.2 Distractive measures

The existing literature describes recovery from project failure as a complex sense-making

process, which inhibits both avoidance and confrontation (Cope, 2011). This oscillation process

is explained in a step-by-step strategy by Shepherd (2003) in the literature review. This section

addresses Shepherd’s second stage of this process, the restoration orientation which focuses on

removing oneself from the failure to distract from triggering any negative emotions. The

majority of the participants recalled indulging in such behaviors as one stated: “video games

used to be a good way to distract myself, I could log in to a different world and forget about my

problems”, whilst another stressed: “I think that it’s important to take a pause between projects

and invite reflective thoughts, in order to see the bigger picture”. This demonstrates that the

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majority not only (subconsciously) utilized the restoration orientation approach but also

identified its importance. One participant voiced his concerns on why it can be hard to distract

as “the project becomes part of your life nowadays”. Therefore, our finding aligns with existing

theories as utilizing distractive measure was a prerequisite for healing and learning to occur.

We argue that due to today's constant accessibility, distracting oneself has become increasingly

harder for project managers. Work does not always remain in the boundaries of our professional

lives, and this could be true for emotions as well. They are a part of us and therefore it is not

easy to restrict them to a certain location. We conclude that starting new projects (which was

another preferred choice of distraction) shortly after the failed one was seldom a good way to

distract oneself, as the learnings and emotional growth from the previous project rarely

transitioned into the new one, as it had not yet fully been processed. The distractive measures

taken by individuals are meant to make them forget, therefore starting a new project to ‘forget’

the outcomes of the previous one defeats the purpose of learning while it on the other hand

facilitates recovery. When considering the main driving force for this behavior one could

believe it to be the human instinct of evading pain, regardless if its emotional or physical.

5.4.3 Emotional detachment

The reviewed literature has a rather simplistic approach to whether an individual is recovered

or not. The most common definition argues that a person is then fully recovered when thoughts

connected to the failure no longer cause any negative emotions (Covin et al., 2009). According

to this definition, the majority of our respondents were recovered, as one stated: “I see it really

neutrally now, more clearly, no intense emotions whatsoever”. This strengthens the reliability

of this study as the participants can provide insights that otherwise could have been prone to

obstruction due to an active grieving process. Therefore, we argue that the feeling of

indifference towards the failure was a valuable indication for whether recovery had occurred.

Yet, a complete detachment of emotions was not always the case, as minor negative emotions

still lingered in the wake of the failure. However, these did not cause substantial impact but

materialized into a minor reminder of the past rather than active grief. Therefore, we conclude

that project managers - even though being fully recovered - possess the ability to fully reflect

on failure experiences without letting the minor emotional reminder of the past interference

with these reflective thoughts.

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5.4.4 Opportunity-seeking orientation

According to the literature, negative emotions can hinder or decrease an individual's cognitive

attention perspective and disrupt information processing during tumultuous times (Byrne &

Shepherd, 2013; Shepherd, 2009). The majority of our participants explained that their ability

to recognize and exploit opportunities right after the failure was obstructed by the emotional

distress as one participant stated: “Well, if you asked me right at the time of the failure, I would

have probably been quite dismissive and not too keen on any reflective analysis”. This

contradicts the finding that participants perceived themselves to be optimist and opportunity-

seeking, holding a promotive PO mindset. Therefore, the negative emotional impact of failure

most likely disrupts their process to root out beneficial opportunities within the bounds of that

failure, even if the project manager is optimistic. This is due to the fact that the ability to asses

a situation is difficult since the emotions intervene, which means that the current normality in

many organizations as they initiate new projects with too little time in between are

counterproductive, as project managers tend to start the next project with disruptive emotions

in their ‘backpack’. We believe that a reflective pause is essential for project managers to

identify benefits and further transfer them into the next project or their personal development.

5.5 Individual learning

5.5.1 Learning origin

The existing literature has shifted its focus from analyzing project success to analyzing project

failure. McGrath, (1999) argues that there are more learning benefits within failure. Pinpointing

the cause of failure is easier than pinpointing the cause of success, which makes it an essential

tool for assessing and dealing with uncertainty as the learnings from one uncertain project could

be applicable to another one. Fang He et al. (2018) strengthen that project failure offers a wide

spread of valuable opportunities to learn, not only about the project itself but about one's

strengths and weaknesses. The majority of the participants agreed that failure is a key factor for

learning, as one participant stated: “when something works out it’s generally a straight line with

no detours, but when you encounter failures (...) you have to follow different pathways, and

along those, you learn new skills and obtain new knowledge”. Hence, we identified an

alignment between research and our empirical findings as the majority of our participants

identified failure as a learning source. An additional interesting insight that has emerged in this

context is that project managers are aware of the increased value of failure. Even though

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research does not neglect the value of learning from success, project managers tend to perceive

success as a rather sparsely valuable learning source. The reason for this might be to consciously

or subconsciously limit reflective thinking after successes.

5.5.2 Emotional interference

Past research has indicated that negative emotions impact the sense-making procedure, as they

can initiate the process but also obstruct learning (Christianson, 1992; Kumar, 1997). Cardon

and Shepherd (2009), argue that self-compassion affects the level of interference emotions can

have on learning. The greater an individual's self-compassion, the less learning interference

there is. Byrne and Shepherd (2013), claim that self-compassionate individuals distribute the

cause of the failure to themselves, the people involved in the project, and to external

circumstances meaning that failure is rarely attributed to solely one faction and thus they

achieve an emotional balance that encourages learning. If executed properly the failed project

is separated from one’s self-worth and therefore actively safeguards the individual's self-esteem

and directly counters the negative effects of ego-protective mechanisms, which prevents

learning (Shepherd & Kuratko, 2009). Our participants agreed that negative emotions disrupt

learning as one stated: “after such a project you don’t ever want to think about the events that

transpired, which in turn could steer you clear from any negative emotions but also the valuable

learning points they hold”. Therefore, we conclude that the level of self-compassion was low

and consequently interfered with the sense-making process. This process is hindered when

emotions are too strong, but the result for this could be that the project managers put themselves

in direct relation to the failure and could not balance it out. Hence it challenged their self-esteem

(ego) and caused them to accumulate the emotions to a point where it was easier to let go and

neglect the sense-making, thus leaving valuable learnings behind.

5.5.3 Learning transferability

Byrne and Shepherd (2013) state that some individuals possess cognitive capacities to make

sense of and learn from emotionally distressing situations. They argue that learning stems from

three cognitive activities: metacognitive abilities, analogical thinking, and cognitive

complexity. Analogical thinking facilitates the process of separating relational knowledge and

transferring it from one project to the next. Cognitive complexity enables the capability of

utilizing numerous constructs to perceive and evaluate multiple spectrums of an environment

(Byrne and Shepherd, 2013). The majority of the participants agreed that the failure had

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developed their abilities to handle future projects as well as the connected emotions. One

participant illustrated: “the learnings I took away from the failed Norwegian market entry I

adopted into the Finnish market entry project and that endeavor has been very successful”.

However, even with new insights, the majority assumed that the outcomes would have been the

same for the project in the past, as participant stated: “I think it would probably have resulted

in the same way, but I would at least have saved us all the time and effort”. Based on the latter

quote, we argue that the level of cognitive complexity was high, as many project managers were

able to identify multiple constructs of their project and avoid rigid assessment of the situation

which would have limited the post-failure sense-making. We conclude that the transferability

of learnings largely depends on project managers’ ability to assess their previous project out of

a multifaceted construct. This enables them to capture the whole spectrum of links connected

to the failure and from them derive additional learning points, which would then be transferred

into the subsequent project.

5.6 Organizational learning

5.6.1 Internal culture

Reviewed literature emphasizes the importance of an established internal culture that

encourages failure acceptance. Emotional wounds due to project failure are shallower for

individuals who perceive the organization to normalize failure. An approach that can ease the

intensity of grief is to normalize the concept of failure (Kuratko et al., 2005; Patzeld et al. 2011).

This translates into transforming project failure from something extraordinary into something

ordinary. Yet, our findings suggest that the minority of organizations has a culture that accepts

or encourages failure. Multiple statements by our respondents were assimilable to the

following: “they did not encourage any failures or have a culture for it (…) the culture was not

supportive at all”. We identified a similar pattern when it comes to showing or talking about

emotions at the workplace, as one respondent stated: “feelings are okay to talk about after

losses, but it never felt common doing so (…) during management meetings it's more pragmatic

rather than emotional”. To conclude, we identified a misalignment of what research considers

to be important with respect to the internal culture of organizations and what it looks like within

organizations. Yet, as we hypothesize that for high volatility failure events previous failures

play a subordinate role, we assume post-failure organizational support to be more important

than pre-failure organizational support concerning recovery and learning.

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5.6.2 Failure management

Reviewed literature suggests that learning does not occur instantly after a failure event.

Moreover, it does not occur automatically since individuals differ in their ability to utilize

coping orientations (Patzeld et al., 2011). Failure analysis is so important as researchers claim

that failure offers more benefits than success (McGrath, 1999). Project managers should

therefore not restrain negative emotions after failure as it can be beneficial to manage emotions

effectively. A manager could create a learning-from-failure friendly environment (Song et al.,

2018), for example through proactively clarifying the reasons for the project termination and

providing an outlook for the future. Providing honest and constructive feedback can limit

emotional setbacks and facilitate sense-making and learning (Moenkemeyer et al., 2012).

Moreover, Shepherd and Kuratko (2009) suggest the establishment of support groups where

emotional support and information sharing is encouraged to assist with the grief recovery

process. However, our empirical findings suggest low levels of supportive organizational

behavior when it comes to aiding the failure analysis and learning process. One respondent

claimed that knowledge often times gets lost through this non-supportive organizational

behavior: “we don't have any structured protocol or knowledge bank (…) I guess we could

improve that, I like the idea (…) I think that knowledge gets lost to some extent”. To summarize,

we identified a misalignment of what research considers to be important with respect to post-

failure supportive organizational behavior and what reality often looks like within

organizations. According to several researchers as well as to project managers' individual

judgments, failure management should be a mutually coordinated process between the

organization and its members rather than the result of an individuals’ self-directed measures.

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6. Conclusion ___________________________________________________________________________

This final chapter concludes the study by linking and discussing the insights derived from

analyzing the research findings in relation to the depicted literature. In this context, we

reconnect the generated data with the purpose of the study. Second, we elaborate upon

theoretical, practical, and societal implications our study touches upon in its entirety. Lastly,

we present suggestions for further research. ___________________________________________________________________________

6.1 Discussion

Supportive behavior coordination

The increased frequency of initiated projects in today’s fast-paced business setting demands

involved people to rapidly and effectively recover from project failure. Several of our findings

complement and expand studies that address the topic of individual and organizational

supportive pre- and post-failure behavior. Our findings suggest that managing project failure

should be a mutually coordinated process between the organization and its members rather than

the result of project managers’ self-directed measures. This requires researchers to redirect their

studies of the project failure context towards both people and organizations. The importance of

alignment between determined organizational objectives and project managers' own

expectations is a vital success factor. Mutual understanding and objective setting ahead of

projects are necessitated since diverging project goals lead to diverging definitions of project

failure. Misalignments bear the risk of different investment efforts (resources and emotions)

which decreases the probability of successfully completing projects. Yet the subject of research

in our study were project managers, therefore we mainly focused on the aspect of emotional

investments. We discovered that substantial investments ahead of projects increase the

complexity of recovery, sense-making, and subsequent learning after it has failed. While one

could argue that this correlation is logical in its nature, our study identified the importance of

supporting measures in this context. Similar to aligning organizational objectives and project

managers' expectations, supporting measures subsequent the failure tends to be more effective

as well when mutually coordinated. While we discussed supportive measures pre- and post-

project failure in the analysis part as it can support project managers in dealing with failure, we

hypothesized that for intense failure events the level of previous failures experience plays a

subordinate role. Therefore, when it comes to recovery and learning, we claim post-failure

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supportive measures, especially from the organizational side, to be more effective than pre-

failure supportive measures.

The role of grief

Due to the increased frequency of project failure in business contexts, grief can emerge as a

result of it, especially when substantial commitments were made. In this context, grief emerges

as a force of duality. This means that the negative emotions within the boundaries of grief can

interfere with the recovery process and obstruct learning. Yet, we explored the stimulating

effect of grief as a driving force for action and enhanced abilities, escaping the painful state of

mind by oscillating between processing emotions and deviating from them in distressing times.

The triggering of grief was hypothesized to greatly depend on project members from the failed

project, which we confirmed in our study. In addition to inheriting a triggering function, project

members also caused project managers to grieve, as they perceived the termination of a project

as a loss of relationships to their cherished colleagues. This strengthens the notion that projects

are not solely pragmatic endeavors with measurable metrics but also constructs of emotional

nature. This newly emerged people-factor should be taken into consideration when constructing

individual and organizational strategies to proactively limit the harmful outcomes of grief. The

impact of grief is arguably lessened by the inherited seniority level of project managers,

therefore, organizations should not only value senior managers for their professional experience

but also for their emotional support and guidance abilities. Another dimension showcasing the

force of grief is the influence on project managers who can be considered optimists, as benefits

and opportunities were obscured by the strong emotional impact - an optimistic outlook did not

make them immune to the influence of grief.

Recovery & Learning

When exploring the recovery aspect, we found that emotional processing was vital to initiate

healing, yet this led to project managers being more exposed to the intensity of grief. Therefore,

holding on to the loss-orientation for too long can lead to an accumulation of negative emotions,

disrupting not only the healing but also the realization of learning. Moreover, we identified that

an emotional pain apex dictated whether project managers implement distractive measures

when processing their emotions, to then later either return to process them yet again or abandon

the processing due to the emotional distress. Yet, focusing on only distraction can intervene

with learnings and emotional growth as the learnings cannot be transferred to the new project

due to limited time spent on reflection and sense-making. Carefully monitoring and

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understanding the different coping-orientations can facilitate the oscillation process and limit

the duration of emotional distress. We found that feeling indifferent towards the project (post-

failure) appeared to be a reliable indication for recovery. However, complete emotional

detachment rarely occurred, as utilizing suppressed (minor) negative emotions as a reminder of

the past provided value. It validated the projects’ relevance and the knowledge residing within

it.

The foundation of learning lies within sense-making procedures. However, this study indicates

that sense-making can be obstructed should emotional distress prove too potent. Countering

this can be handled by lessening the connection project managers place themselves to the

project. Hence, they should actively try to reduce their direct affiliation to the outcome of the

project. This might cause implication as doing so might reduce initial input (effort and

commitment) when commencing new projects - a balance between egoistical affiliations and

emotional distancing should be actively pursued. We argue that this can be reached by

combining individual and organizational efforts to understand the interplay of negative

emotions and project failure and actively strive for continent personal growth (seniority).

6.2 Purpose and research question

The purpose of this study was to understand and reflect on individual project managers’

perspectives on how they recover and learn from the negative emotional experience after project

failure and what the role of grieving is within this process. The following research question was

constructed to serve this purpose:

How do project managers recover and learn from the negative emotional experience after

project failure and what is the role of grieving in this process?

Within this question, we identified three key elements: recovery, learning, and the role of grief.

Consequently, the main parts of this study address their theoretical and practical implications.

We claim that our study added significant value as we shed light on the context of project

failure, emotional reactions to it, and subsequent learning as one interdependent process

particularly illuminating the role of grief. In the following we present a compromised overview

of the key aspects elaborated on in this study:

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Table 3

Summarization of key aspects

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6.3. Implications

6.3.1 Theoretical implications

Scholars have touched upon the emergence of negative emotions after failure in managerial

contexts, however, as their studies mainly revolved around business failure rather than project

management, limited research exists exploring the implications of grief after project failure

within organizations (Cope, 2011; Ucbasaran et al., 2012). Studies on business failure received

significant attention as grief often results from losing one’s lifework, yet we assume that grief

in the context project failure received limited scholarly attention as one could consider losses

within this setting too insignificant to trigger intense negative emotions. That research in the

context of project management (within organizations) and grief has so far been limited can,

therefore, be considered reasonable. Our study challenges this as we discovered the relevance

and implications of grief in this context to be highly meaningful. The gathered data suggest that

the influence of grief on project managers is two-fold as it emerges as a force of duality:

negative emotions can interfere with the recovery process and obstruct learning, yet it can serve

as a driving force for action and enhanced abilities. Therefore, we claim that our study added

value to existing theory as we explored the context of project failure, emotional reactions to it,

and subsequent learning as one interdependent process particularly illuminating the role of

grief.

6.3.2 Practical implications

Emotions can alter thoughts and behaviors, therefore, understanding them captures a multitude

of beneficial aspects on an organizational-, project-, and personal level. Organizations can

utilize our findings to implement practical measures both pre- and post-failure, aiding their

employees to recover and learn from project failure more effectively. Furthermore, our findings

can help organizations to foster a culture that normalizes failure and facilitates learning. Project

managers can increase their understanding of the emotional interplay between time-, effort- and

resource investments and resulting negative emotions after project failure, hence they can

nurture their capability to counter negative implications in the workplace.

6.3.3 Societal implications

Success is a preferable outcome from social and professional standpoints, while failure

continues to be stigmatized and portrayed as negative. However, failure can also be widely

70

encouraged within society as it can benefit learning and growth. This has become a societal

contradiction we claim this thesis could reduce. We explored grief as a natural force of duality

that can enhance a project manager's development whilst benefiting the organization. Yet,

should its influence be neglected, the outcomes can be counterproductive. Therefore, it is

crucial to increase the understanding of how failure and grief affect us in everyday life and

thereby dampen the societal judgment attached to it. Finally, our findings can encourage the

societal acceptance of sharing emotions connected to failure in professional settings, decreasing

its social stigmatization impact.

6.4. Limitations and future research suggestions

We acknowledge that our study might not illustrate all angles of incidence concerning grief

after project failure due to the main focus on the perspective of project managers. Furthermore,

this study is limited in its generalization as we utilized insights from various industries,

companies, and project management contexts. However, we advocate making use of our

findings to further build upon the foundation we constructed concerning the interplay among

recovery, learning, and the role of grief in project management contexts. Based on the identified

limitations, we derived several future research suggestions:

Project member perspective

Within this multi-case study project managers’ perspectives is the subject of research. We

understand their experiences and viewpoints to be greatly affected by their hierarchical position

within the project as they are responsible for the outcome. Therefore, capturing project

members’ perspectives on the failure event could complement the gained insights of this study

as recovery, learning, and grieving might be experienced and perceived differently depending

on the position within the project.

Employment termination

An interesting insight that emerged throughout the interviews is that after the failure event no

participants’ employment has been discontinued, indicating a limited influence on their social

and economic well-being. Future research could turn their gaze on project managers whose

employment was ceased due to the deficiencies of a project. This would provide insights on

how the intensity of grief can be experienced (differently) when individuals face a major loss

subsequent to project failure.

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Industry-specific study (single case)

Conducting a multi-case study aligned with our research objectives as we aimed to gain insights

from a variety of project failure contexts. Consequently, we could capture the setting of a

multitude of different companies working within equally many different industries. This rather

general approach to the origin of the projects and the managers supervising them makes space

for more narrowed-down study designs. Therefore, future research could focus on a particular

business sector to root out potential inherited patterns unique to that industry. While we

consider a multi-case study an appropriate approach, researchers could also implement a single

case study to provide multiple perspectives stemming from the same organization and project

group.

Real-time study

The provided insights by our interviewees built the structure of this study. To reflect on their

failure experiences, our respondents had to rely on accurately recollecting the past from their

memory. While we argue for the importance of recovery and reflection time after the failure

event in this study, it is difficult to neglect that people subject to research have an easier time

remembering details directly linked to the failure event. Future research could, therefore,

conduct a study design with a real-time approach in the center, researching negative emotions

shortly after the failure event to observe and gain insights from the viewpoints when the wound

is fresh. However, one has to consider the fact that fresh emotional wounds might lead to

emotionally charged and thus biased reflections.

72

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Appendices

Appendix 1 – Interview guide

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Appendix 2 – Interview consent form

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Appendix 3 – Categories and themes