Academic Writing - Dissertation Complexity Project Management - Abstract, Contents & Intro

1 Abstract: The paper considers the existing and possible contributions of the theory of Complexity Science to Project Management. Structured around a large literature review with a case study application, the paper has been presented in two parts. The first part has analysed the framework of Complexity Science through comparison with the Scientific Framework and the Postmodernist Framework. The second part looked at Complexity in Project Management as applied today. Finally, the author presented her recommendations in regards to a Complexity Project Management approach, including a Complexity Theory of Communication. This has been applied to a literature case study, with suggestion of further testing.

2 Content List Chapter 1: Introduction: The Doom of Project Management?...............................3

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Chapter 1: Introduction: The Doom of Project Management? Complexity Science has revolutionized the way we perceive the world. It has introduced ideas as indeterminism, ambiguity, time irreversibility, selforganization, contextual interpretations, non-linear processes and fundamental uncertainty. The result is a vision of a fluid, unpredictable world where perpetual novelty occurs and where planning and modeling have a limited applicability. In this new science, the future is under perpetual construction and our ability to see into it over long periods of time is doomed to fail. How can we adjust this new perspective with a classical framework as such of project management? Projects are about thinking about the future and taking an action in the hope that our investment of effort and time will yield some desirable results. If we cannot really predict the future, if we encounter uncertainty each step we take, if we cannot measure project outcomes and control project direction, is this not the end of project management? Is then acceptance of complexity science equal to the end of project management? This paper is written from the assumption that a dialogue between complexity science and project management can be established and is indeed desirable. Certainly, project management research can ‘bury its head in the sand’ and refuse to accept complexity science, but that indeed would end up hurting it much more than an open discussion. As the author will ultimately seek to show, refusal to dialogue is much more dooming than dialogue itself. However, the discussion between project management (PM) and complexity science is bound to unsettle many of PM’s assumptions. Since it is based on a classical science – systems theory paradigm, project management needs to adjust to the new framework if it is to survive. It will also probably need to change in ways that cannot be foreseen right now. The paper has been organized in two main parts. The first one sought to clarify some of the main themes and problems raised by Complexity Science. The main research method used in this case has been literature review and analysis. The second part used literature review and case study to analyse the existing and possible relationship between Complexity Science and Project Management, including the author’s recommendations for the creation of a Complexity Project Management approach. This has culminated with the formulation of a Complexity Theory of Communication that can be applied in projects. Furthermore, the theory was tested in relation with a published case study from Morris and Hough (1987) in an attempt to verify the main tenets of the proposed theory. The paper does not give definitions of typical complexity-related terms (i.e. self-organized criticality, edge of chaos, cellular automaton), nor does it analyse the works of complexity writers individually and sequentially. An introduction to complexity science is already assumed, as is familiarity with the main theories and discoveries of the field. For more general information on these essential books like popular science writings by Lewin (1992) and Waldrop (1992), seminal works like Kauffman (1995), Prigogine (1997), Holland (1998) can be consulted.