Cambridge Handbook of Project Behavior
Published on 28. August 2025
Book
Hardback
344 pages
978-1-009-32276-8 (ISBN)
Description
Despite careful planning, projects often deviate from their assigned paths. Delays, cost overruns, benefit underruns, stakeholder disappointments, and sustainability shortfalls are common challenges during project initiation and execution. The Cambridge Handbook of Project Behavior addresses the underlying causes of project behavior and misbehavior, while offering evidence-based strategies for remediation. Featuring guidance for anticipating project outcomes and practical advice for dealing with projects when they branch off assigned paths and veer off track, this Handbook is a valuable resource for practitioners, policymakers, and project professionals responsible for delivering high-profile and complex projects. It includes contributions from leading experts in the field of project management, providing a unique international perspective. As mega-projects become increasingly prevalent on the global stage, understanding the dynamics of project behavior and misbehavior has never been more critical. The Cambridge Handbook of Project Behavior offers essential insights and solutions for successfully navigating the challenges of project management.
Reviews / Votes
'Lavagnon A. Ika and Jeffrey K. Pinto offer a timely theory of project behavior to explain (under and over) performance of projects. This rich and well-argued book with carefully selected practice examples is a must read for scholars and practitioners alike. Nothing is more practical than a good theory.' Martina Huemann, The Project Hub, University College London and WU Vienna 'Explanations of project behaviour have been increasingly (sometimes vociferously) discussed recently. Here is a welcome, thorough and coherent assembly of the issues in one handbook. Many well-known names are here - including major figures outside the sometimes limited 'project management' world. In his afterword, Professor Clegg summarises the whole in reflections which are thoroughly well-grounded theoretically, but also practical.' Terry Williams, Professor of Management Science and Director of the Risk Institute, University of HullMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 250 mm
Width: 175 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
774 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-009-32276-8 (9781009322768)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Lavagnon A. Ika is Professor of Project Management in the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Professor Ika is at the forefront of the project behavior debate as protagonist of the Planning Fallacy versus Hiding Hand debate and proponent of Fifth Hand theory. He is the author of the PMI award-winning book Managing Fuzzy Projects (2023) and his work on project behavior has won two International Project Management Association (IPMA) research awards. Jeffrey K. Pinto is Andrew Morrow and Elizabeth Lee Black Chair in Management Technology in the Black School of Business at Penn State-Erie, The Behrend College. Professor Pinto has been considered one of the top scholars in his field for nearly three decades. He has written and edited 27 books and several hundred scientific papers, and has received numerous awards for his research in project management.
Content
Introduction to the Handbook of Project Behavior Lavagnon A. Ika and Jeffrey K. Pinto; Part I. Guiding Principles: What is Project Behavior and Why it Matters: 1. The rise and fall of the planning fallacy: from the impulsion to the compulsion to theorize Lavagnon A. Ika; 2. Unveiling the hiding hand Graham Room; 3. Voyages of discovery: balancing leadership, control and capabilities in megaproject delivery Rebecca Vine, Dicle Kortantamer and Andrew Davies; 4. Temporal structuring and project behavior Ann Langley and Gerry McGivern; 5. Managing project complexity and uncertainty through dynamic and systemic stakeholder modelling Fran Ackerman; Part II. Deviating from Plans: How Complexity and Uncertainty Affect Project Behavior: 6. Averaging out divergent project behavior: an unintended consequence of project structures Kim van Oorschot, Therese F. Dille and Jonas Soederlund; 7. Intra and inter-organizational governance and the behavior of projects Ralf Mueller; 8. Strategic alignment, uncertainties, and realignment of project portfolios Miia Martinsuo and Siiri Tuominen; 9. Stakeholder perceptions and project performance Kate Davis, Liz Machtynger and Francesco Di Maddaloni; 10. Governance shifts and short-term performance Maude Brunet; 11. Maximum feasible project failure: the German reform of money laundering prevention Wolfgang Seibel and Katharina Essmeyer; 12. Project misbehaviour in infrastructure projects: mega-projects for mega-corruption Regis Signor and Peter E. D. Love; Part III. Practical Tips: How to Shape Project Behavior and Curb Project Misbehavior: 13. Setting realistic project goals Ofer Zwikael, Alicia Gilchrist and Jack Meredith; 14. At the brink of a project: heuristics to block potential project disasters at the early project opportunity screening Joana Geraldi, Verena Stingl and Maximilian Schriewersmann; 15. The roles of governance mechanisms to manage misbehaviours in the project front-end Joseph W. Harrisson, Jens K. Roehrich and Michael A. Lewis; 16. Coping with changes to the plan: dealing with twists and turns in projects Ashwin Mahalingam; 17. Project behavior, disruptions and the antifragility spectrum Jeffrey K. Pinto and Greg Usher; 18. Curbing cost increases and benefit shortfalls Morten Welde and Gro Holst Volden; Afterword: a fundamental problem with projects or project management? Stewart Clegg.