Purpose – This article discusses the use of consultants in helping set business strategy. Starting with the perspective that many consultants end up not delivering good value for companies seeking help with their strategy, this article considers some of the causes of unfulfilled expectations...

Purpose – The project management literature contains a growing body of research addressing information technology (IT). Currently, the majority of these studies direct attention towards projects completed within private sector organizations. Given the unique characteristics surrounding public...

Purpose – Post‐project reviews (PPRs) are widely recommended as an appropriate mechanism to stimulate project‐to‐project learning in new product development (NPD) teams. However, empirical research on their potential is limited and so this study aims to answer two questions: how do NPD...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline the philosophy of the journal and present a summary of its content and how the various papers link to the journal's philosophy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a limited literature review to establish the journal's philosophy and...

Purpose – The early stages of projects are often characterised by ambiguity arising from differences in stakeholder views regarding project rationale and objectives. The purpose of this paper is to present a viewpoint on how to build a shared understanding of project goals and thus reach a...

Purpose The Rethinking Project Management (RPM) research agenda has been influential in multiple domains. These include industry, education and research. In response to the call for papers for this special issue, the purpose of this paper is to consider RPM with a particular focus on the human...

Purpose – To put forward the, to date, unidentified viewpoint that organisational action research and project management have many shared properties – making it a useful exercise to compare and contrast them in relation to organisational management structures and strategies....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer advice, in the interest of preventing expensive mistakes, about certain aspects of library building projects. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a list of avoidable errors made during real library construction or renovation...

It is common to read in the UK press of a “skills shortage” – a lack of suitably qualified people in certain areas of industry, notably engineering, but also in some trades such as plumbing.

How often have individuals vowed to change their ways, stop, reflect and start over? Large corporations too often face the starker situation of evolve or die – few can do so. Boeing has proved itself one of the global leaders in knowledge management. Given the pressures and increasing strains...