ABSTRACT
The conventional explanation for the proliferation of projects as a mode of working is simple: projects are considered to be the optimum working mode for the delivery of non-routine work. As organizations seek to become more competitive, the expansion of the project domain – the projectification of work – is both inevitable and desirable. Project management, like any science or theory, has its range of convenience – the zone in which its application is pragmatic and beneficial. The chapter provides an example of strong projectification: a case in which systematic project management has been imposed on a difficult situation. A report on the Central Artery Project in Boston, USA relates the mishaps on a project to construct a super-highway through tunnels under the centre of the city (the 'Big Dig'). Many of the problems of the Big Dig can be attributed to inadequate planning and project management.
