Towards Improved Project Management Practice: Uncovering the Evidence for Effective Practices Through Empirical Research

by Terence J. Cooke-Davies

Projects are important to industry, but project performance continually disappoints stakeholder expectations. Organizations react to this performance problem in many ways, and purchase consultancy, training, methods and tools as possible solutions. There is no published evidence that any of these solutions are consistently successful in improving project performance. This thesis answers the question, "What can be done to improve project management practices, and thus project performance?" by demonstrating that a novel form of continuous action research can contribute such evidence.

328 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2001