Project Management Journal

This research presents the findings from an experiment that investigated to what extent decision makers suffer from optimism bias when escalating a commitment to failing projects; 345 individuals, involved in project decision making, participated in the experiment. A new form of optimism bias, namely post-project optimism bias, is defined. Post-project optimism bias is an overly optimistic belief that a project will deliver better business benefits than what was planned or that can be proven. It is further confirmed that both post-project and in-project optimism biases have significant effects on the escalation of commitment to failing projects.

Previous research suggests complexity may be a significant factor in a project's failure to achieve cost, time, and quality objectives. In this paper, we examine the project complexity literature to develop a simple framework consisting of structural and dynamic complexity. We use this to compare the complexity of two successful construction megaprojects–-Heathrow Terminal 5 and the London 2012 Olympic Park–-to consider how the complexity in the two projects was managed. Our analysis reveals differences in the approach to managing structural and dynamic complexity, but identifies common factors that may help project managers achieve positive outcomes for their complex projects.

We investigate the influence of governance structures of temporary organizations on the ethical issues faced by its managers, how they respond to these issues, and how that influences trust among stakeholders. A global, web-based survey confirmed earlier research that project managers encounter transparency, optimization, and relationship issues, and identified four additional ethical issue types. Managers' behavior in responding to ethical issues varies by governance structure, their willingness to resolve ethical issues themselves, and the trust between stakeholders. Higher levels of trust are found in stakeholder-oriented governance, which can reduce transaction costs. Implications for practitioners and academics are discussed.

Whereas exploration projects stand as important drivers in renewing the assets of the firm and creating new business opportunities, it is well recognized that project evaluation and value management methodologies are likely to kill them. This paper provides elements to solving this paradox. We rely on a longitudinal study of three exploration projects and the projects conducted afterward in the automotive and space industries. The analysis suggests that the value creation process can be regarded and managed as a dual process of potential value creation and value realization. This paper discusses the linkages with existing practices and theories.

Project risk management aims at reducing the likelihood of project failure. To manage risk in project portfolios, research suggests adopting a perspective that is wider than the individual project risk. The results from a hierarchical multiple regression analysis on a sample of 177 project portfolios suggest that formal risk management at the project level and integration of risk information at the portfolio level are positively associated with overall project portfolio success. Simultaneous risk management at both levels increases this positive effect. Furthermore, risk management at the project level is more important for R&D-dominated project portfolios, whereas the integration of risk information is more important with high levels of turbulence and portfolio dynamics.

This paper describes the quantitative analysis phase of an exploratory study to identify useful project management improvement initiatives and factors contributing to their successful embedment in organizations. A preliminary framework, based on a literature review and a series of interviews with practitioners, was tested via a questionnaire, which elicited 793 responses from project management practitioners worldwide. The paper focuses on factor analyses of the questionnaire responses, addressing issues of construct validity and reliability. The resulting final framework highlights 15 key project management improvement initiatives and 26 embedding factors grouped by the factor analyses into three project management improvement initiative themes and six embedding themes.