What Great Project Have in Common

A brief discussion of research which identifies seven common characteristics of highly successful projects and also analyzes their implications for the future of project management, by Dov Dvir and Aaron J. Shenhar.

From time to time we witness a project that stands out - surpassing expectations, creating exceptional value for the sponsoring company and for customers and eventually having an impact on its entire industry. We call such projects "great projects." Consider the introduction of IBM's AS/400 in the 1980s. In 1986, IBM's market share in the growing, important mid-range computer business had shrunk to a single digit. However, 28 months later, a relatively small development lab in Rochester, Minnesota, was the talk of IBM. Engaging thousands of engineers around the world, the $1 billion Silverlake project created the AS/400 computer, which was launched in 27 languages and soon became one of IBM's most successful products ever.

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