Recognizing Project Management as an Abstract Science

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https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2100369

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http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2100369
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/20171

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UMBC Engineering Management

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2012-05-12

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research papers
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Ray, Jeffrey, Recognizing Project Management as an Abstract Science (May 12, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2100369 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2100369

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Abstract

Researchers indicate a shift in scholarly focus from a systems perspective, to one of leadership and organizational behavior. To address increasing project failure rates, leadership theories are being implemented to improve project performance by improving organizational cultures. The practice of Project Management, however, does not offer a framework for developing theories to improve project success rates, and then tracking them to prove their validity. This paper suggests that project management is really an abstract science and practitioners should act like scientists and develop project success theories. It concludes by assessing central research paradigms tailored for project management.