A Critical Analysis of Management Methodologies: The Case of Project Management

Successful project implementation is essential for organizational change. Although most studies agree that most investments in projects fail, proposals for new projects continue to attract funds. This paper questions the methodology used in the literature to judge project failure and describes a model that both expands and extends traditional approaches. Implications of the proposed model for the management environment in organizations are also discussed. The model, which is anchored in existing theories of regret and contingency (amongst others), was tested using a field study, and controlled experiment. We conclude that, despite the apparently small proportions of initiatives completed on time, within budget and to specifications, organizations keep funding projects because an acceptable number of them still represent satisfactory investments to the funding organization.