Managing project-to-project interfaces for large-scale programmes: A network study in world expo 2020

Effective interface management plays a critical role in project-to-project coordination for large-scale programme success. Given the substantial number and complexity of interfaces in a programme, identifying key project-to-project interfaces is essential to develop and implement the best management strategy. Utilising the case of project-to-project coordination in the World Expo 2020 programme, this research constructs a social network-based approach to manage project-to-project interfaces, with the unit of analysis being interface activities. Two dimensions (namely, interface interdependence and strategic influence) are used to create an interface management map that classifies the project-to-project interfaces into key, strategic, interdependent, and marginal interfaces. The results show that key interfaces are the most important interfaces given their high strategic influence on the programme and high interdependence with other activities. Interdependent interfaces are the most prevalent interfaces, which have high interdependence with other activities but limited strategic influence. Strategic interfaces accounted for the fewest but can greatly affect the programme’s cost and schedule. Marginal interfaces have the lowest importance and influence on other events and the programme alike. Management strategies for each category are also provided in the proposed map, which helps to improve resource efficiency in interface management. This research extends the literature on both multi-project and interface management.