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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.

States that Japanese factories and service organizations are well known for their cleanliness and orderliness. Suggests that this results from their ability to instil a sense of responsibility and discipline into their workers, particularly at plant level. Describes the Japanese 5‐S practice, the logic behind which is that organization, neatness, cleanliness, standardization and discipline at the workplace are basic requirements for producing high‐quality products and services, with little or no waste, while maintaining high levels of productivity. Aims to promote the 5‐S technique and explore the reasons why it has been widely used in Japan as the first step towards TQM in both the manufacturing and services industries. Also discusses the implementation of the 5‐S with the use of two case examples.

This article offers a “project” perspective on managing change, a view that starts by recognising the aspect of organisational change implementation, and develops to embrace a focused range of gaps and behavioural issues which determine the success or failure of change programmes. There are indications that the effort invested in closing those implementation gaps could concurrently remove the behavioural concepts on implementing organisational change projects. It is supported by findings based on the empirical evidence from the author’s own research and consultancy experiences, and on data collected from investigation of a sample of UK‐based organisations during 1996‐98. Some suggestions for further research are offered.