Successful management of highly innovative and urgent projects: Analyzing project management practices to reveal strategic directions

This study addresses managerial differences and similarities between highly urgent and innovative projects versus routine projects with low urgency. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) does not differentiate between distinct contextual dependent project management approaches and leaves the appropriate adaptation open to its users. For this reason, we are drawn to this area of research to gain new understanding. Using data from 192 diverse projects collected in the US, we analyze the question of whether the management approach for managing successfully urgent and innovative projects differs from routine projects. Several empirical and well confirmed key success factors are analyzed for perspective on intra and inter group differences. By identifying the differences between extreme groups of projects, we can provide results which lead to recommendations about how highly urgent, highly innovative and regular projects should be managed differently.