Overcoming Project Inertia And Gaining Project Momentum: Strategic Adaptation In Cultural Facilities Planning

Nonprofit arts and culture organizations face unique challenges as they conceive, develop and finance the facilities that house their programs, artists and audiences. While research on the project management of traditional facilities focuses on procurement, briefing, design and construction of public and commercial structures, the cultural facilities literature delves into the determinants of pre-construction economic investment, value engineering during construction, and the perceived post-opening value of public and nonprofit facilities. There is limited empirical research on how project champions and followers advance cultural facilities from dormant project ideas to the start of construction in nonprofit arts and culture organizations. The authors use a comparative case study approach to examine the activities and practices of five organizations in the planning of their cultural facilities. They augment the theoretical and managerial literature by demonstrating how these projects overcome inertia through project champion practices and gain momentum through activities with project followers to engender project sensemaking and strategic adaptation in cultural facilities planning.