What you should know about megaprojects and why

an overview

Article 28 April 2014

Project Management Journal

Flyvbjerg, Bent

How to cite this article:

Flyvbjerg, B. (2014). What you should know about megaprojects and why: an overview. Project Management Journal, 45(2), 6–19.
This paper takes stock of megaproject management, an emerging and hugely costly field of study, by first answering the question of how large megaprojects are by measuring them in the units of mega, giga, and tera, and concluding with how we are presently entering a new "tera era" of trillion-dollar projects. Second, total global megaproject spending is assessed, at US$6 to US$9 trillion annually, or 8% of the total global gross domestic product (GDP), which denotes the biggest investment boom in human history. Third, four "sublimes"--political, technological, economic, and aesthetic--are identified and used to explain the increased size and frequency of megaprojects. Fourth, the "iron law of megaprojects" is laid out and documented: over budget, over time, over and over again. Moreover, the "break-fix model" of megaproject management is introduced as an explanation of the iron law. Fifth, Albert O. Hirschman's theory of the "hiding hand" is revisited and critiqued as unfounded and corrupting for megaproject thinking in both the academy and policy. Sixth, it is shown how megaprojects are systematically subject to "survival of the unfittest," which explains why the worst projects get built rather than the best. Finally, it is argued that the conventional way of managing megaprojects has reached a "tension point," in which tradition is being challenged and reform is emerging.
member content locked

Become a PMI member to gain access

or Join

Advertisement

Advertisement

Related Content

  • Article Change Management, PM in Academia 1 December 2022

    Project Management Journal

    Navigating Tensions to Create Value member content locked

    By Farid, Parinaz | Waldorff, Susanne Boche This article employs institutional logics to explore the change program–organizational context interface, and investigates how program management actors navigate the interface to create value.

  • Article PM in Academia 1 December 2022

    Project Management Journal

    Getting Past the Editor's Desk member content locked

    By Klein, Gary | Müller, Ralf To reach acceptance, every research paper submitted to Project Management Journal® (PMJ) must pass several hurdles. This editorial aims to declare the editorial process and reveal major reasons for…

  • Article Complexity, PM in Academia 1 December 2022

    Project Management Journal

    Investigating the Dynamics of Engineering Design Rework for a Complex Aircraft Development Project member content locked

    By Souza de Melo, Érika | Vieira, Darli | Bredillet, Christophe The purpose of this research is to evaluate the dynamics of EDR that negatively impacts the performance of complex PDPs and to suggest actions to overcome those problems.

  • Article PM in Academia 1 December 2022

    Project Management Journal

    Coordinating Lifesaving Product Development Projects with no Preestablished Organizational Governance Structure member content locked

    By Leme Barbosa, Ana Paula Paes | Figueiredo Facin, Ana Lucia | Sergio Salerno, Mario | Simões Freitas, Jonathan | Carelli Reis, Marina | Paz Lasmar, Tiago We employed a longitudinal, grounded theory approach to investigate the management of an innovative product developed in the context of a life-or-death global emergency.

  • Article Risk Management, PM in Academia 1 December 2022

    Project Management Journal

    Narratives of Project Risk Management member content locked

    By Green, Stuart D. | Dikmen, Irem The dominant narrative of project risk management pays homage to scientific rationality while conceptualizing risk as objective fact.

Advertisement