Lost roots: How project management came to emphasize control over flexibility and novelty

California Management Review

Volumn 53, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 32-55

  Lenfle, Sylvain ^a,b   Loch, Christoph ^c  

^a UMR 8184   (France)

^b UMR 7176   (France)

^c Technology and Operations Management   (France)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 78651289977     PISSN: 00081256     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/cmr.2010.53.1.32     Document Type: Article

References (113)

1. PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 3rd edition (Philadelphia, PA: Project Management Institute: 2004), pp. 8, 23.
2. See H. Kerzner. Project Management: A-Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling, 9th edition (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2005);
3. J.R. Meredith and S.J. Mantel, Project Management: A Managerial Approach (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2003).
4. P.W.G. Morris, The Management of Projects (London: Thomas Telford, 1994), p. 18.
5. A. Shenhar and D. Dvir, Reinventing Project Management (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2007), p. 8.
6. C. Loch, A. DeMeyer, and M. Pich, Managing the Unknown: A New Approach to Managing High Uncertainty and Risks in Projects (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006);
7. S. Lenfle, "Exploration and Project Management," International Journal of Project Management, 26/5 (July 2008): 469-478;
8. Shenhar and Dvir, op. cit.;
9. C. O'Reilly III and M. Tushman, "The Ambidextrous Organization," Harvard Business Review, 82/4 (April 2004): 74-82.
10. S. Lenfle, "Proceeding in the Dark: Innovation, Project Management and the Making of the Atomic Bomb," CRG Working Paper 08-001, 2008;
11. S. Lenfle, "Managing Parallel Strategy in Projects with Unforeseeable Uncertainty: The Manhattan Case in Retrospect," paper presented at the European Academy of Management conference, Rome, 2010.
12. H. Smyth, Atomic Energy for Military Purposes (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1945).
13. L. Groves, Now It Can Be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, 1962), p. 15.
14. Ibid., p. 40.
15. For more details, see Lenfle (2010), op. cit.
16. A third group led by Edward Teller, with much smaller resources, began work on the "super," that is, a thermonuclear weapon, which was fully developed after the war ended.
17. This was no accident: Schriever discussed strategy with Groves and Oppenheimer.
18. See T. Hughes, Rescuing Prometheus (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1998).
19. E. Beard, Developing the ICBM. A Study in Bureaucratic Politics (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1976).
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21. and Hughes (1998), op. cit.
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23. G. Spinardi, From Polaris to Trident: The Development of the U.S. Fleet Ballistic Missile Technology (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 25.
24. Spinardi G., 1994,p. 26.
25. Spinardi G., 1994,p. 34.
26. Spinardi G,1994, p. 35-36.
27. The development of nuclear submarines in the 1950s constitutes another illustration of the use of the parallel approach in innovative military projects. There were two competing technologies (sodium-cooled and water-cooled reactors) proposed by different contractors. Since nobody was able to foresee which would work best, two different reactors were built and tested in submarines, and the best chosen ex post (the Navy opted for water-cooled reactors in 1958).
28. See R. Hewlett and F. Duncan, Nuclear Navy, 1946-1962 (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1974).
29. A.A. Alchian and R.A. Kessel, "A Proper Role of Systems Analysis," Rand Corporation Doc. D-2057, 1954, p. 16.
30. R.R. Nelson, "The Economics of Parallel R&D Efforts: A Sequential Decision Analysis," U.S. Air Force Project Rand Research Memorandum RM-2482, The Rand Corporation, 1959.
31. See also W. Abernathy and R.S. Rosenbloom, "Parallel and Sequential R&D Strategies: Application of a Simple Model," IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, EM-15/1 (1968): 2-10.
32. K. Arrow, "Economic Aspects of Military Research and Development," Rand Corporation Document D-3142, 1955.
33. B. Klein and W. Meckling, Application of Operations Research to Development Decisions," Operations Research, 6/3 (1958): 352-363.
34. C. Hitch and R. McKean, The Economia of Defense in the Nuclear Age (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960).
35. S. Johnson, "From Concurrency to Phased Planning: An Episode in the History of Systems Management," in A. Hughes and T. Hughes, eds., Systems, Experts and Computers. The Systems Approach to Management and Engineering, World War II and After (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000), pp. 93-112, at 98-99.
36. See Sapolsky (1972), op. cit.
37. Ibid., p. 203.
38. On this move to incentive-type contracts and the ensuing debates, see Morris (1994), op. cit., p. 58-59.
39. D. Cleland and W. King, Systems Analysis and Project Management (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1968).
40. E. Mansfield, Research and Innovation in the Modern Corporation (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1972).
41. See also A. Albala, "Stage Approach for the Evaluation and Selection of R&D Projects," IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, EM-22/4 (November 1975): 153-164.
42. R.G. Cooper, "A Process Model for Industrial New Product Development," IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, EM-30/1 (February 1983): 2-11.
43. Also see R.G. Cooper, "Stage-Gate Systems for Managing New Products," Business Horizons, 33/3 (January 1990): 44-54.
44. See Mansfield (1972), op. cit.
45. M. Brown, Flying Blind: The Politics of the U.S. Strategic Bomber Program (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992).
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47. R.D. Archibald, "Interview with Russ Archibald," PM World Today, 10 (2008): 9-11.
48. J. Snyder, "Modern Project Management: How Did We Get There-Where Do We Go?" Project Management Journal, 18/1 (1987): 28-29.
49. See Morris (1994), op. cit.
50. In the Apollo case, the phased approach was used but quite late in the project (August 1965) and after the main design choices had been frozen. At this date, the problem was mainly to control of an extremely complex development process.
51. Morris (1994), op. cit., p. 78 (emphasis added). Morris does mention a "multiple approach" in the Manhattan Project, but without explaining the rationale for parallel trials, nor mentioning the term "parallel."
52. C.H. Loch and C. Terwiesch, "The Circored Project," INSEAD Case Study, 2002.
53. See also Loch et al. (2006), op. cit.
54. H.W.J. Rittel and M.M. Webber, "Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning," Policy Sciences, 4 (1973): 155-169.
55. R. Miller and D.R. Lessard, The Strategic Management of Large Scale Engineering Projects (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000).
56. See also Loch et al. (2006), op. cit.
57. Johnson (2000), op. cit.
58. K. Imai, I. Nonaka, and H. Takeuchi, "Managing the New Product Development Process: How the Japanese Companies Learn and Unlearn," in K.B. Clark, R.H. Hayes, and C. Lorenz, eds., The Uneasy Alliance (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1985).
59. See also H. Takeuchi and I. Nonaka, "The New Product Development Game," Harvard Business Review, 64/1 (January/February 1986): 137-146.
60. The second article is K. Clark, B. Chew, and T. Fujimoto, "Product Development in the World Auto Industry," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 3 (1987): 729-771.
61. K.B. Clark and T. Fujimoto, Product Development Performance: Strategy, Organization, and Management in the World Automotive Industry (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1991).
62. Empirical evidence for this can be found in C. Terwiesch and C.H. Loch, "Measuring the Effectiveness of Overlapping Development Activities," Management Science, 45 (April 1999): 455-465.
63. B. Boehm, "A Spiral Model of Software Development and Enhancement," Computer, 21/5 (1988): 61-72;
64. F. Brooks, The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, 20th Anniversary Edition (Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1995);
65. F. Brooks, The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist (Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2010).
66. K. van Oorschot, K. Sengupta, H. Akkermans, and L. Van Wassenhove, "Get Fat Fast: How to Survive Stage Gates in NPD," Working Paper, Eindhoven Technical University, INSEAD, and University of Tilburg, 2010.
67. D. Leonard-Barton, Wellsprings of Knowledge (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1995);
68. G.S. Lynn, J.G. Morone, and A.S. Paulson, "Marketing and Discontinuous Innovation: The Probe and Learn Process," California Management Review, 38/3 (Spring 1996) 8-37;
69. S.H. Thomke, "The Role of Flexibility in the Development of New Products: An Empirical Study," Research Policy, 26/1 (March 1997): 105-119.
70. R. Angelmar, "Capital France," INSEAD Case Study, 1991.
71. See also M. Iansiti and A. McCormack, "Living on Internet Time: Product Development at Netscape, Yahoo, NetDynamics, and Microsoft," Harvard Business School Case Study, 1996.
72. See also Shenhar and Dvir (2007), op. cit
73. E.D. Beinhocker, "Robust Adaptive Strategies," Sloan Management Review, 40/3 (Spring 1999): 95-106;
74. D.K. Sobek, A.C. Ward, and J.K. Liker, "Toyota's Principles of Set-Based Concurrent Engineering," Sloan Management Review, 40/2 (Winter 1999): 67-83;
75. G. Stalk, Jr., and A.M. Webber, "Japan's Dark Side of Time," Harvard Business Review, 71/4 (July/August 1993): 93-102.
76. S.C. Sommer and C.H. Loch, "Selectionism and Learning in Projects with Complexity and Unforeseeable Uncertainty," Management Science, 50/10 (October 2004): 1334-1347;
77. S.C. Sommer, C.H. Loch, and J. Dong, "Mastering Complexity and Unforeseeable Uncertainty in Startup Companies: An Empirical Study," Organization Science, 20/1 (January/February 2009): 118-133.
78. Department of Defense, Directive Number 5000.01, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2003;
79. Defense Acquisition University, Interim Defense Acquisition Guidebook, 〈https://acc.dau.mil/dag〉. Fort Belvoir, VA, June 15, 2009.
80. U.S. Government Accountability Office, Best Practices: Capturing Design and Manufacturing Knowledge Early Improves Acquisition Outcomes, Washington, D.C., GAO-02-701, July 15, 2002.
81. U.S. Government Accountability Office, Best Practices: Better Matching of Needs and Resources Will Lead to Better Weapon System Outcomes, GAO-01-288, Washington, D.C., March 8, 2001.
82. C.H. Loch, C. Zott, P. Jokela, and D. Nahmias, "FriCSo," INSEAD Case Study, 2008.
83. P.W.G. Morris, "Initiation Strategies for Managing Major Projects," in P.C. Dinsmore and J. Cabanis-Brewin, eds., The AMA Handbook of Project Management (New York, NY: AMACOM, 2006);
84. K.A. Artto and P.H. Dietrich, "Strategic Business Management through Multiple Projects," in P.W.G. Morris and J.K. Pinto, eds., The Wiley Guide to Managing Projects (London: John Wiley, 2004), pp. 144-176;
85. C.H. Loch and S. Kavadias, "Implementing Strategy through Projects," in P. Morris, J. Pinto, and J. Söderlund, eds., The Oxford Handbook on the Management of Projects (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).
86. R.D. Archibald, "Five Decades of Modern Project Management: Where It Came From-Where It's Going," Guest Editorial, PM World Today, 11/10 (October 2009): 1-9.
87. J.W. Rivkin, "Imitation of Complex Strategies," Management Science 46/6 (June 2000): 824-844;
88. S.G. Winter, G. Cattani, and A. Dorsch, "The Value of Moderate Obsession: Insights from a New Model of Organizational Search," Organization Science, 18/3 (May/June 2007): 403-419;
89. A. De Meyer and C.H. Loch, "Technology Strategy," in C.H. Loch and S. Kavadias, eds., Handbook of New Product Development Management (New York, NY: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2007).
90. R.A. Burgelman, "Intraorganizational Ecology of Strategy Making and Organizational Adaptation: Theory and Field Research," Organization Science, 2/3 (August 1991): 239-262;
91. F. Sting and C.H. Loch, "How Top-Down and Bottom-Up Strategy Processes are Combined in Manufacturing Organizations," INSEAD Working Paper, November 2009.
92. P.W.G. Morris and J.K. Pinto, The Wiley Guide to Managing Projects (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2004), p. xix.
93. A. Jamieson and P.W.G. Morris, "Moving from Corporate Strategy to Project Strategy," in P.W.G. Morris and J.K. Pinto, The Wiley Guide to Managing Projects (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2004).
94. P.W.G. Morris, "A Brief History of Project Management," in P.W.G. Morris, J. Pinto, J. Söderlund, eds., Oxford Handbook on the Management of Projects (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).
95. C.H. Loch, F. Sting, N. Bauer, and H. Mauermann, "How BMW Is Diffusing the Demographic Time Bomb," Harvard Business Review, 88/3 (March 2010): 99-102.
96. See Sting and Loch (2009), op. cit.
97. T. Brady and A. Davies, "Building Project Capabilities: From Exploratory to Exploitative Learning," Organization Studies, 25/9 (2004): 1601-1621.
98. I. Nonaka, R. Toyama, and T. Hirata, Managing Flow: A Process Theory of the Knowledge-Based Firm (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). Particularly relevant to our topic is their middle-up-down concept to describe the role of middle management in the knowledge creation process.
99. R.A. Lundin and C. Midler, Projects as Arenas for Renewal and Learning Processes (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998);
100. S. Lenfle (July 2008), op. cit.;
101. Loch et al. (2006), op. cit.
102. R. Austin and L. Devin, Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know about How Artists Work (Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT-Prentice Hall, 2003).
103. S. Thomke, Experimentation Matters (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2003).
104. See also A.J. Shenhar and D. Dvir. "How Projects Differ and What To Do about It," in P.W.G. Morris, and J.K. Pinto, eds., The Wiley Guide on Managing Projects (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2004), pp. 1265-1286.
105. See, for example, Shenhar and Dvir's Diamond framework [Shenhar and Dvir (2007), op. cit.], which classifies project according to four criteria (novelty, complexity, technology, and pace);
106. Loch et al. (2006), op. cit.
107. A. De Meyer, C.H. Loch, and M.T. Pich, "Managing Project Uncertainty: From Variation to Chaos," Sloan Management Review, 43/2 (Winter 2002): 60-67;
108. C.H. Loch, M.E. Solt, and E. Bailey, "Diagnosing Unforeseeable Uncertainty in a New Venture," Journal of Product Innovation Management, 25/1 (January 2008): 28-46;
109. R.G. McGrath and I.C. MacMillan, The Entrepreneurial Mindset (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2000).
110. See Loch et al. (2006), op. cit.;
111. Angelmar, 1991, op. cit.; Iansiti and McCormack, 1996, op. cit.;
112. Shenhar and Dvir (2007), op. cit.;
113. J. Runde, and A. Feduzi, "Foreseeing the Unforeseeable in Project Management? On the Baconian Method of Eliminative and Variative Induction," Cambridge University Working Paper, 2010.