Limits of Traditional Project Management Approaches When Facing Complexity

Marle, Franck; Vidal, Ludovic‐Alexandre

doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-6787-7_2

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…(11) (Experience) -There is a lot of ambiguity for a project manager with little or no formal power and experience. The notion of ambiguity as a project complexity characteristic appeared in third place in a PMI pulse poll and was highlighted in many studies (Cooke-Davies, 2013;Pich et al, 2002;Cicmil and Marshall, 2005;Zolin et al, 2009;Nguyen et al, 2015;Marle and Vidal, 2016). In addition, Park and Lee (2014) explore knowledge-sharing, dependency and trust in IT projects, concluding that project complexity can motivate project participants to exchange knowledge with one another, hence improving overall performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impacts of project complexity, trust in leader, performance readiness and situational leadership on financial sustainability

Princes

Said

2022

IJMPB

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PurposeThis paper aims to examine the factors of financial sustainability of project management when they face complexities using the complexity theory. This research argues that to manage project complexities, the employees’ performance readiness, situational leadership style and trust in leaders increase financial sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a quantitative approach using a questionnaire survey with the Project Management Institute members in Indonesia. From the total population of 190 project managers, 91 questionnaires were valid and used for analysis. PLS-SEM is the statistical tool used to test the eight hypotheses formulated in this research. The survey was designed to analyze the factors influencing financial sustainability and how these variables are related to each other to overcome project complexity issues and deliver financial sustainability.FindingsThe research recommends that to overcome project complexities, the readiness of the employees to perform is important. These variables, which are supported by trust in the leader and situational leadership, have positively significant effects on financial sustainability. The findings strengthen the initial arguments of this research and confirm the existing studies.Research limitations/implicationsThis research, however, comes with several limitations. First, the situational leadership was chosen in this research because of the short project duration that requires the leader to be acting accordingly based on the employee’s abilities. The short project duration made it impossible for the leader to build any relationships with the team members. Therefore, this research might not be appropriate to explain the organizational long-term strategies. Thus, it is suggested that the future research should address this. Second, with the very limited studies regarding the performance readiness and maturity, where in this research are used interchangeably, there should be further research to explain both variables independently as it holds an important role in project management and to overcome project complexities. Hence, this research adds the various studies found on the project complexities and how performance readiness, trust in leaders and situational leadership interact to increase financial sustainability in projects.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the limited research on the financial sustainability of project management in developing countries. Moreover, the research on project complexities has not been related to financial sustainability and, therefore, promotes a high novelty. The findings of this study also provide substantial empirical evidence for future work in the project management area.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impacts of project complexity, trust in leader, performance readiness and situational leadership on financial sustainability

Princes

Said

2022

IJMPB

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“…To illustrate the variation in definitions, four examples are here qouted: (1) "Project complexity is the property of a project which makes it difficult to understand, foresee and keep under control its overall behavior, even when given reasonably complete information about the project system" (Marle and Vidal, 2016); ( 2) "Project complexity is the degree of interrelatedness between project attributes and interfaces, and their consequential impact on predictability and functionality" (Kermanshachi et al, 2016); ( 3) "Define project complexity as an intricate arrangement of the varied interrelated parts in which the elements can change and evolve constantly with effect on the project objectives" (Bakhshi, 2016); and ( 4) "A high level of complexity in a project implies the existence of more dependencies and difficulties in implementing and managing the project" (Zhu and Mostafavi, 2017). Based on these four examples, the disagreement of definition seems somewhat overstated.…”

Section: Perceived Project Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived project complexity: a survey among practitioners of project management

Mikkelsen

2020

IJMPB

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PurposeProject complexity has been comprehensively investigated over the last two decades, resulting in many descriptive frameworks and models. The common layout is a multidimensional construct. While the perception of the complexity of projects is essential for a managerial approach, only scant research has been conducted into how practitioners perceive project complexity. The purpose of the paper is to fill this gap.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a quantitative study based on a large survey among managers of projects with more than 1,000 participants. The questionnaire is designed based on a review of research literature on project complexity.FindingsThe findings indicate that practitioners' mental models are concentrated on only a few dimensions of the many found in descriptive models. Further, the findings indicate that the mental models are much influenced by the project role of the perceiver and less so by the type of project and sector.Originality/valueThis paper discusses the differentiation of concepts of perceived project complexity and provides a framework for a survey of the topic. The contribution of the paper is an increased understanding of practitioners' perceptions of project complexity as a concept very different from the descriptive frameworks that have been the focal point for research in project complexity thus far. The project complexity might be in the eye of the beholder; however, the findings indicate that the eyes are very much influenced by the project role of the beholder.

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“…There is a considerable difference in the meaning behind the terms complicated and complex, where complicated refers to a knowable system consisting of classifiable behaviour which can be hypothetically anticipated. Systems considered to be complex, however, are described as having an inherently contingent nature of outcomes, which commonly appear as synergistic interactions between internal parts of a coherent whole and result in the nature of the whole becoming unpredictable and possibly unknowable (Bawden, 2007;Marle & Vidal, 2016). The increasing level of complexity in modern projects is thought to be an expected foundational parameter of systems adapting to complexity.…”

Section: Complex Systems and Project Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The increasing complexity of modern projects necessitates a focus for a better understanding of increasing risk and uncertainty. The complexity in projects is increasing at the project level (Baccarini, 1996;Marle & Vidal, 2016;Nguyen et al, 2015;Williams, 1999;Zhang, 2011) and many recent project failures can be attributed to underestimating project complexity and the mismanagement of risk and uncertainty . The rate at which projects are likely to fail is proportionate to the rate of increasing complexity, combined with the unsuccessful application of the generally prescribed industry risk standards (Flyvbjerg et al, 2003;Kutsch et al, 2011;Harvett, 2013;Qureshi & Kang, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Risk and Uncertainty Management Practice in Complex Projects

Hasani¹,

Regan²

2017

ELP

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The project management literature extensively documents project failures and observes that increases in project complexity have played a role in such failures. Additionally, the literature expresses concern that prescribed industry risk management standards are not sufficiently robust to assist in the management of risk and uncertainty, especially in complex projects. Yet, the management of risk and uncertainty is the cornerstone of the project manager's role. There is limited evidence in the literature of empirical research focused primarily on the management of risk and uncertainty with complex projects. This paper aims to investigate the practices used by project managers to address risk and uncertainty and to critically analyse the success of these methods in complex projects. The findings of this paper is contribute to addressing practical challenges, issues and concerns facing project managers in relation to the management of risk and uncertainty in complex project environments. Risk and uncertainty are vital elements of projects and this paper will act as a guide for the improvement of risk management and uncertainty practices and further contribute to the collection of empirical research relating to this topic.

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Limits of Traditional Project Management Approaches When Facing Complexity

Cited by 8 publications

References 57 publications

The impacts of project complexity, trust in leader, performance readiness and situational leadership on financial sustainability

The impacts of project complexity, trust in leader, performance readiness and situational leadership on financial sustainability

Perceived project complexity: a survey among practitioners of project management

Understanding Risk and Uncertainty Management Practice in Complex Projects

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