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The general purpose of this paper is to give Sapolsky's classical study of the Polaris Project, written in 1972, the credits it actually earns. In addition, there are two more specific aims: to discuss the role and usage of project management techniques, such as PERT (programme evaluation and review technique), in the practices of project execution; and to display the power of thorough empirical case studies in order to deepen our understanding of the realities of project execution.

The paper constitutes a detailed review of the content and contributions of the book The Polaris Systems Development written by Harvey M. Sapolsky in 1972. The paper presents the main ideas of the book and discusses its implications for contemporary project management research.

Sapolsky's work, The Polaris Systems Development, is an important account of some of the most significant courses of events in the birth and formation of project management, especially the creation of PERT as a technique for project coordination. However, by going beyond the rhetorical surface of the project management, Sapolsky shows that PERT never played the role in Polaris that it is generally claimed to have had. The paper puts these findings in context and discusses why this has been ignored in project management research so far.

Scholars focusing on project management research need to distance themselves from its historical tight bounds to project management textbooks and administrative project management techniques. There is a strong need for a broader empirical basis and pluralism in theoretical perspectives in the study of the realities of project execution.

The paper recapitulates a classic account of the formative period of project management, which so far has generally been ignored in project management research. In addition, it discusses three functions of project planning techniques: boundary objects for coordination, political features for legitimacy and trust building, and cognitive means for the social construction of a predicable future.

The purpose of this paper is to review the formation and evolution of the “Making Projects Critical” movement in project management research.

Retrospective and discursive paper.

Reflections on tensions and challenges faced by the MPC movement.

The paper establishes the historical trajectory of this movement and clarifies the tensions and challenges faced by MPC.

ICT projects, especially in the public sector, can have a substantial impact on society but are challenging due to organizational and technological complexities and uncertainties. Collaborative and cooperative project delivery models, namely, the project alliance method, can mitigate such challenges, but, thus far, have not been utilized in information and communication technology (ICT) projects. The purpose of this paper is to explore and understand the cross-field transfer process through which the project alliance model was applied to the ICT field from the construction sector.

An inductive case study of the ICT project alliance early stages was performed. Data were collected from the first known ICT alliance project, conducted in the context of the Finnish public sector digitalization.

The findings show how the activities of institutional entrepreneurs impact the cross-field transfer process during the ICT project alliance’s early stages. Furthermore, the results illustrate the characteristics of an ICT project alliance and compare those with more traditional project alliances.

The topic and results of the study are original and contribute to institutional research by identifying and studying the micro-level processes associated with the cross-field transfer process. The study also builds an initial understanding of a new method of organizing ICT projects and contributes to the project alliance literature. The managerial implications of the findings allow project practitioners to understand the emerging characteristics of an ICT project alliance, and enable managers in the ICT field to adjust and prepare their own organizations and processes for the application of the project alliance model.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

Attempts to address how organizations are responding to the growing complexities of global business, technology, and virtual organizations. Argues that organizations can co‐operate and compete at the same time in order to be more effective in the marketplace utilizing a relationship perspective. This is why we have integrated the concepts cooperation and effectiveness, to create the new “co‐opetive” terminology. An ecological collaborative value system (CVS) has been developed. The behaviour of the system is affected by the condition of its components, and the system components are affected by environmental conditions. CVS suggests that customers, suppliers, distributors, competitors, and other organizations are equal partners in the system. Argues that it is imperative for a successful alliance and relationship between the collaborators to communicate and cooperate in an atmosphere of frank debate, trust, interdependence, and mutual positive expectation so that the mutual benefits and interests may be achieved. This mechanism may enable each component of the system to monitor its performance and to adjust its operation to ensure uniform quality of its input‐output. In short, it may allow the system to learn, adapt and evolve.

This study aims to investigate how manufacturing firms in the creative industries harness digital technologies to undertake business model innovation.

This study used in-depth case studies to examine the complex interplay between digital technologies and business model innovation. A longitudinal approach was selected to capture major events both within the firm and in the business environment. Building on the firm’s archival data, interviews and secondary data that was available to the public, the authors carefully analyzed impactful digital technology events and the firm’s responses to the technological changes that occurred over the period of 2004–2020.

The findings suggest that digital technologies alone are not sufficient for business model innovation to be successful; support from sociotechnical factors is also required. Additionally, firms should reinvent a new business model when the existing ones seem to start to diminish.

In this study one firm was examined as the subject, using a qualitative method. This method allowed us to observe complex interplays among the resources required in business models. Future research can combine qualitative methods with computational case studies, which utilize a large volume of quantitative big data.

The results of this study suggest that managers must ensure that the resources within and outside organizations are loosely connected and are readily available to be mobilized for supporting business model innovation. To enable this, managers must prepare the required resources in advance.

The current findings add to a growing body of literature on business model innovation and digital technologies. In particular, this study describes the process of how a traditional firm from a least developed country pursues business model innovation with the support of digital technologies.