Exploring Project Collaboration Through the MOHO Framework
The success of a project is often examined through the principles of established project management theories such as PMBOK. This thesis explored stakeholder collaboration in an international ERP implementation project through a single case study approach, using the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) as the analytical framework.
What is MOHO and Why Was it Used?
Occupational therapy examines and supports a person’s ability to participate in occupations meaningful to them, and seeks to understand the impact of the environment, roles, motivation, and ability on engagement in activities. MOHO, developed by Doctor Gary Kielhofner, is one of the most well-known occupational therapy theories in the world. It is seen as a dynamic model that interprets human occupation through the interaction between individuals, their occupations, and their environments that change and evolve over time. MOHO views occupation through volition, habituation, performance capacity, and environment (Taylor, 2017).
As project work is based on collaboration and human occupation, these same elements can also be examined in a project context. Though Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) describes the overall key areas of project management such as stakeholder relationships, communications, leadership and teamwork thoroughly, MOHO allows for a more in-depth analysis of relationships and collaboration between different stakeholders (Project Management Institute, 2025; Taylor, 2017).
The aim of this study was to investigate how motivation and environment affect the stakeholder collaboration in a complex international ERP project and based on the results, give recommendations to the commissioning company, on how project management practices could be further developed.
What Did This Study Reveal?
The environment emerged as the most significant MOHO element in terms of project work and stakeholder collaboration. Communication, meeting practices, role clarity, and stakeholder involvement affected the way collaboration was experienced. Engagement was strongest when participants understood why the project matters, what their role was, what was expected of them, and how they could contribute to its success.
Face-to-face meetings and workshops, strong management support and sponsorship, positive company culture and helping others, opportunities to learn and contribute were perceived as factors that increased motivation. Participants’ motivation and sense of meaningful involvement decreased, especially in situations where project meeting governance and agenda management were weak, workload was underestimated, and participation, or role assignment were lacking.
What Did MOHO Contribute to the Understanding of Project Work?
MOHO helped in recognizing the human factors that affect collaboration in project work. Challenges identified were not only related to project structures and technology. In addition, motivation, the perception of one’s own expertise, different roles, and project environment affect collaboration and the way project work practices are experienced. MOHO made visible the connection between the project environment, motivation and habituation and perceived experiences of collaboration. Although PMBOK provides important guidelines for stakeholder engagement, communication, and resource management, MOHO helps to explain how these project management practices are experienced by the individuals involved.
The case study conducted for this thesis showed that MOHO can be utilized outside the occupational therapy environments with which it is typically associated. MOHO can offer novel ways of exploring collaboration, workplace well-being, and project success. This thesis suggests that with MOHO it is possible to analyse experiences related to project work, and for example identify how the environment affects and what things reduce and increase motivation towards collaboration and the project at hand. The findings also suggest that in addition to resources, financial and technical factors, project success should also be measured through the experiences of the stakeholders involved in the project. Furthermore, the results of this thesis made it possible to identify areas for improvement and provide practical recommendations for enhancing the case organisation’s future project management practices.
References:
Project Management Institute [PMI]. (2025). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® guide) (8th ed.). Project Management Institute.
Taylor, R. R. (Ed.). (2017). Kielhofner’s model of human occupation: Theory and application (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
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