Finding the roots: experimentation in innovation project management
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business
ISSN: 1753-8378
Article publication date: 11 February 2021
Issue publication date: 6 July 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Project management practices have been losing its central place in innovation processes within the companies due to its excessive control-oriented phased approach. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to propose and examine the project management practitioners' experiences on the systematic use of an experimentation framework to manage innovation projects.
Design/methodology/approach
Three case studies were carried out in three different Brazilian companies for a ten month period. The authors have chosen these companies for the following reasons: they were all in an innovation context; they have never carried out a project based on experimentation and they had previous experience with project management traditional tools.
Findings
The findings have shown that our framework can contribute to the project management available toolkit; once the rigid experimentation process, the authors’ proposed made it easier for project management practitioners to adapt to more flexible approaches. Nonetheless, stakeholders' involvement has shown to be a key success factor on the deployment of the framework.
Practical implications
Managers still need to add expertise in flexible methods into their managerial skills, so they are able to deal with innovation just as they deal with traditional processes they were trained to. This suggestion can also be extended to the business schools.
Originality/value
The case studies have shown that traditional project management practices can also be applied in innovation projects. So despite of generally being the opposite of an experimentation process, those practices are relevant in project management discipline, which means that formal project management training is still a good ally to project management practitioners.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for their support.
Citation
Dutra de Abreu Mancini de Azevedo, P.H. and Passos Silva, L. (2021), "Finding the roots: experimentation in innovation project management", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 1116-1134. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-08-2020-0260
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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