RESEARCH INTERESTS
Design and Organizations, Collective Action, New Infrastructure Development, Megaproject leadership and governance
TEACHING AREAS
Organization Design and Value Creation (Graduate-standing/MSc.)
Megaproject Leadership and Governance (Graduate-standing/MSc.)
Infrastructure and Business Ecosystems (Graduate-standing/MBA)
MBA Project Supervision
BIOGRAPHY
Completing my book for MIT Press, Megaprojects: A Theory of Purpose, is my priority as a Professor of New Infrastructure Development. How come, I ask, a phenomena so central to economic production and social welfare- the production of capital-intensive systems such as infrastructure - is still so poorly understood? In my theory, I see ‘megaprojects’ as social technologies designed by people with a purpose, which is to create economic & social value. To achieve it, a vast bundle of resources needs to be assembled. Some resources exist in-house or can be purchased on the market. Others are what we call ‘nonmarket resources’
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BIOGRAPHY
Completing my book for MIT Press, Megaprojects: A Theory of Purpose, is my priority as a Professor of New Infrastructure Development. How come, I ask, a phenomena so central to economic production and social welfare- the production of capital-intensive systems such as infrastructure - is still so poorly understood? In my theory, I see ‘megaprojects’ as social technologies designed by people with a purpose, which is to create economic & social value. To achieve it, a vast bundle of resources needs to be assembled. Some resources exist in-house or can be purchased on the market. Others are what we call ‘nonmarket resources’
Nuno's research has been predominantly informed by studying new infrastructure development projects so-called 'megaprojects'.
With his PhD students and collaborators, Nuno has developed theory, conceptual frameworks and methods for communicating how to design and manage these capital-intensive project-based organizations. His research has investigated
development processes, product and organizational architectures, and contracting and procurement strategies. More recently,
Nuno has started to study the role of organizational design in tackling the Grand Challenges of the XXI Century including population growth,
climate change and the development of the Global South. Nuno was the lead editor of
Duality by Design: The Global Race to Build Africa's Infrastructure (Cambridge Press, 2019); and is currently authoring a
book for MIT Press, A Theory of Megaprojects, Value Creation and Value Distribution.
Nuno has designed and teaches three graduate-standing courses - Megaproject Leadership and Governance; Organization Design
and Value Creation; and Infrastructure and Business Ecosystems. Nuno has worked or done research with various organizations
including CH2M HILL, Intel, Rolls Royce, BAA (now Heathrow Ltd), BP, Manchester City Council, Network Rail, London2012, Crossrail,
High speed 2, Thames Water, and the UK Cabinet; Larsen &Toubro and DFCCIL (India), World Bank, UNHabitat (Egypt), JICA (Japan);
Lamata (Nigeria); UNRA and KCCA (Uganda); and OECD.
In 2009, Nuno was the lead editor of the special issue of California Management Review Infrastructure meets Business:
Building New Bridges, Mending Old Ones in 2009. Nuno co-founded and is research director of the MBS Infrastructure
Development Research Group. Nuno is the leading author of two books published with the Project Management Institute - Building
Options at Project Front-end Strategizing (2014, with Guilherme Biesek) and Megaproject Organization and Performance: The Myth
and Political Reality (2017, with Colm Lundrigan, Jeff Pinto, and Phanish Puranam). In 2013, Nuno co-founded the annual workshop
series, Megaprojects Workshop: Theory meets Practice.
Nuno was born in Lisbon, Portugal, where he trained as a civil engineer and worked as a project manager. Nuno joined
The University of Manchester in 2002, after earning a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of California
at Berkeley; he moved to the now Alliance Manchester Business School in 2004.
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FEATURED PRESENTATIONS
2016,
China Africa Research Initiative,
John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, October, Washington, DC, USA
2016,
Mega Projects: Challenges, Performance Targets & Consensus Building, Keynote Speech,
Click here to see my powerpoint presentation
SBE16, Cairo, Egypt
2016, Highways England, Lean Collaborative Research Forum, Salford, 25th November
Click here to see my powerpoint presentation
2015, Strategic Capabilities for Megaproject Architects. Keynote Speech, Development and Investment in Infrastructure/DII-Conference, 16-18 September, Livingstone, Zambia
Click here to see my powerpoint presentation
2015, Megaproject Leadership and Governance: Designing Solutions for a Collective Action Problem, keynote speech, Engineering Project Organizations conference, Edinburgh, June 25
Click here to see my powerpoint presentation
2015, Ditch Optimism Bias and Strategic Misrepresentation for the Pluralistic Organization? Time to Move the Debate Forward, Cabinet Office, Major Projects Leadership Academy, London, 14th April
Click here to see my powerpoint presentation
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IN THE NEWS
October 2020
March 2017
November 2016
December 2015
October 2015
May 2015
March 2015
January 2015
June 2014
March 2014
January 2014
November 2013
