ABSTRACT
Effective project execution is becoming critical to organizational success, yet many projects today are only achieving moderate results and most of them are not completed on time and budget, and are not fulfilling their business objectives. From time to time, however, we see a ‘great project’ that stands out, one that surpasses all expectations and has a transforming impact on industry and markets. Out of hundreds of projects we studied, we identified 15 such projects designated as ‘great projects’. In this study we identified seven common managerial elements that seem to have contributed to their outstanding success. While some of these elements have been mentioned before, it appears that the right combination of these elements distinguishes between a regular project and a great one. What seems encouraging is that these factors are under management’s control. Our conclusion suggests that organizations may be able to nurture a culture that promotes these elements as part of the company’s way of doing business for better customer satisfaction and project effectiveness.
