EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Project: How power influences behaviour in projects
 

Chief Investigator	Student
Prof. Liam Smith	Conor Wynn
liam.smith@monash.edu	conor.wynn@monash.edu
(03) 9904 7107	(0412) 383838

The purpose of this research is to better understand how power influences behaviour in projects. To help you decide whether to take part in this survey we’ve prepared this explanatory statement. And having read this statement if you need any more information, please contact the researchers using the phone numbers or email addresses listed above.

What does the research involve?

 

While projects have sub-optimal outcomes for many reasons, we’re interested in the role that power might have in affecting the behaviour of project professionals, contributing to those sub-optimal outcomes. In particular, we’re interested in how you coped when you were uncomfortable about what was expected of you by those in authority. This survey is the final part of research for a PhD at BehaviourWorks, Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI), and follows on from a review of the latest literature, a case-study and pilot interviews.

 

This survey is in six sections. The first asks basic questions about you such as age and gender, the second section asks you to recall a situation where you were subject to power, the third explores your decision-making when you were subject to power, the fourth captures information about how you actually behaved, the fifth asks about team climate at the time, and the sixth asks about your personality. Data will be captured using an on-line form, responses will be de-identified for privacy protection and the information will be stored on a secure server, accessible only by those directly involved in the research.

Should you wish, at the end of the survey you can get feedback on your personality based on the data you have supplied.

 

How would I consent to participate in or withdraw from the research?

The consent process involves reading this explanatory statement and approving the consent form below. Because responses will be de-identified, once you have completed the survey we won’t be able to isolate and delete your data should you want to withdraw.

 

How will my data be stored?

Once captured in an on-line form, responses will be stored electronically on secure servers in the “cloud”.  Access will be by secure password only and because this study is governed by Monash Ethics, access to the data held in Qualtrics will be restricted to the student and two supervisors. When the data is no longer required it will be destroyed.

 

What are the possible benefits and risks to participating in this research?

By completing the survey, you would be giving back to the project community by sharing your experience and so helping to improve project management knowledge. Dealing with power can be difficult, so providing a greater understanding of how power influences behaviour, could allow the projects community to cope better with such situations in the future.

 

There are some risks though. Because the survey is being collected largely through the completion of an on-line form and so held “in the cloud”, someone might gain unauthorised access. But there are four mitigating factors to deal with this risk.

 

First, as data will be de-identified on entry to the form, it will not be possible for anyone to associate responses with an identity. Second, the information provided will not identify any third parties as we are gathering just individual opinions, so there should be no risk to anyone else. Third, access to the data is by secure password, known only to the student and chief investigator. And fourth, there is a comprehensive set of security arrangements in place to mitigate the risk of the survey data being “hacked”. For these reasons, and as is commonplace in industry and academia, data in the cloud is no less at risk than if it were physically stored at the University.

 

How will the results be reported, and confidentiality maintained?

Your data will be de-identified and held securely as described above. Should the findings of this research be accepted for publication in a thesis, paper, or conference, the results will be reported on in aggregate only and at a group, e.g. gender, not an individual level. A high-level report on the findings of this initial research will be made available through participating professional organisations.

Is there a complaints process?

Should you have any concerns or complaints about the conduct of the project, please contact: 

 

Executive Officer

Monash University Human Research Ethics (MUHREC)

Monash Research Office

26 Sports Walk
Monash University
Wellington Road
Clayton VIC 3800

Phone: (03) 9905 3012

Thank you

Conor Wynn