Management of Extreme Situations

1An Exemplary Exploration Story: Nansen’s Expedition to the North Pole

1.1. Introduction

The purpose of this contribution is to discuss an emblematic project in the field of polar expeditions. The project falls within the category of “extreme exploration situations” in order to document the profound nature of the organizational performance of this type of collective action. On a theoretical level, we are in the wake of radical innovation project management that conditions the development of this type of project to a process of knowledge expansion (Nonaka 1994; Midler 1996; Hatchuel et al. 2005; Lenfle 2008; Cohendet and Simon 2007). We approach this question of knowledge expansion from the perspective of a cognitive dynamic of learning (Wenger 1998; Nooteboom 2008), which is a necessary condition for any development of this type of project. From an empirical investigation of about 10 polar expeditions, we were able to identify three registers that must be the subject of vigilance for a project manager in responsibility: the construction of meaning, the capacity for organizational ambidexterity and the expansion of experiential and scientific knowledge (Lièvre 2016). Different combinations are possible between these three registers that build different organizational agencies, in the sense of Girin’s work (1995), that affect the performance of collective action.

We chose one of the greatest achievements in polar history, the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen’s expedition to the North ...