Search results

The purpose of this paper is to review Cleland and King's Systems Analysis and Project Management, first published in 1968.

The paper takes the form of a review of the book in its historical context and with relevance to its role in establishing project management as a discipline.

The book is a classic but in retrospect it has some short‐comings. These vary from lack of critique of the material to ignoring several of the issues that research shows (and showed at the time) that managers of projects and programs need to address. Had these been covered, the discipline might have been better articulated academically and professionally (which would have been useful given that the PMBOK Guide^® was being formulated in the early 1980s).

The systems approach that informed the book, and the whole defence‐aerospace program and project world of the second half of the twentieth century, should be critically re‐examined (for example jointly with Geels' transition theory) in terms of its relevancy to the short, medium and long‐terms challenges now confronting society and the contribution that project, program and portfolio management can make to addressing these issues.

The paper shows that Cleland and King's book is immensely important as an early exposition on project management and is quite original.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview and analysis of the legacy of Christensen and Kreiner's (1991) literally classic Projektledning: att leda och lära i en ofullständig värld (Project Management: to manage and learn in an incomplete world).

The paper is based on a three‐step theoretical analysis deduced from the mentioned classic. The first step provides an overview of the content where the core ideas of the book are derived. This is followed by an analysis of the legacy and impact on theory, empirical approaches, and education. Finally, three main takeaways from the book are discussed.

In tracking the legacy, the paper analyses, discusses, and illustrates how the Scandinavian approach to projects has evolved. It pinpoints the two core insights of the book; the importance of understanding the impact of the institutional environment on operations, and embracing uncertainty as a natural part of everyday organizational reality. Based on these insights it is shown how the book has expanded the theoretical contributions towards a focus on temporary organisations and everyday practice, how it has helped to make situated empirical research matter, and how it has influenced education to deal with real‐life project challenges.

This paper investigates a book available only in the Scandinavian language and thus only available for a Scandinavian research community. As such the review is written from a Scandinavian perspective, with the limitations in terms of objectivity to the book that follow from that.

The main lessons discussed in relation to the heritage from the book are: an increased focus on the details of organizing, situated multi‐level case‐studies, and situation‐sensitive teaching methodologies. The paper argues that an increased understanding of projects should start with a detailed multi‐level analysis of temporary organizing to provide a sound foundation on which to base future research and teaching.

The paper provides an understanding of the origins and diffusion of underpinning ideas of the Scandinavian approach to project management.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the interdependence of project complexity factors (PCFs) in metro rail projects using the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL). The study provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of project complexities factors and their relationships. The results of the study facilitate effective project planning, proactive risk management and informed decision-making by stakeholders.

This study employs a case-based method for identifying PCFs and a DEMATEL method for analyzing the interdependence of complexity factors in metro rail projects. Initially, PCFs were identified through an extensive literature review. To validate and refine these factors, semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirty experienced professionals, each having 5–20 years of experience in roles such as project management, engineering, and planning. Further, elevated and underground metro rail projects were purposefully selected as cases, for identifying the similarities and differences in PCFs. A questionnaire survey was conducted with various technical experts in metro rail projects. These experts rated the impact of PCFs on a five-point Likert scale, for the evaluation of the interdependence of PCFs. The DEMATEL technique was used to analyze the interdependencies of the PCFs.

Metro rail projects are influenced by project complexity, which significantly impacts their performance. The analysis reveals that “design problems with existing structures,” “change in design or construction” and “land acquisition” are the key factors contributing to project complexity.

The study of project complexity in metro rail projects is limited because most of the studies have studies on examining complexity in mega projects. The existing literature lacks adequate attention in identifying project complexity and its effects on metro rail project performance. This research aims to bridge this gap by examining project complexity and interdependencies in metro rail projects.