The Oxford Handbook of Project Management

The Oxford Handbook of Project Management presents and discusses leading ideas in the management of projects. Positioning project management as a domain much broader and more strategic than simply 'execution management', this Handbook draws on the insights of over 40 scholars to chart the development of the subject over the last 50 years or more as an area of increasing practical and academic interest. It suggests we could be entering an emerging 'third wave' of analysis and interpretation following its early technical and operational beginnings and the subsequent shift to a focus on projects and their management. Topics dealt with include: the historical evolution of the subject; its theoretical base; professionalism; business and societal context; strategy; organization; governance; innovation; overruns; risk; information management; procurement; relationships and trust; knowledge management; practice and teams. This handbook is of particular relevance to those interested in the research issues underlying project management.Introduction: Towards the Third Wave of Project Management ; PART I: HISTORY AND FOUNDATIONS ; 1. A Brief History of Project Management ; 2. Theoretical Foundations of Project Management: Suggestions for a Pluralistic Understanding ; 3. The Evolution of Project Management Research: the Evidence from the Journals ; 4. Prospects for Professionalism in Project Management ; PART II: INDUSTRY AND CONTEXT ; 5. The Project Business: Analytical Framework and Research Opportunities ; 6. Projects and Partnerships: Institutional Processes and Emergent Practices ; 7. Project Ecologies: A Contextual View on Temporary Organizations ; PART III: STRATEGY AND DECISION-MAKING ; 8. The P-form Corporation: Contingencies, Characteristics, and Challenges ; 9. Implementing Strategy through Projects ; 10. Program Management: an Emerging Opportunity for Research and Scholarship ; 11. Projects and Innovation: Innovation and Projects ; PART IV: GOVERNANCE AND CONTROL ; 12. Project Governance ; 13. Over Budget, Over Time, Over and Over Again: Managing Major Projects ; 14. Managing Risk and Uncertainty on Projects: a Cognitive Approach ; 15. Information Management and the Management of Projects ; PART V: CONTRACTING AND RELATIONSHIPS ; 16. Shaping Projects, Building Networks ; 17. Innovating the Practice of Normative Control in Project Management Contractual Relations ; 18. Trust in Relational Contracting and as a Critical Organizational Attribute ; PART VI: ORGANIZING AND LEARNING ; 19. Knowledge Integration in Product Development Projects: a Contingency Framework ; 20. Leadership and Teamwork in Dispersed Projects ; 21. Projects-As-Practice: New Approach, New Insights