Project management canvas: a systems thinking framework to address project complexity

Abstract

PurposeFactors such as stakeholder requirements, emergence of exponential technologies, global business operations and pressures for sustainability increase the complexity of modern projects. This article aims to contribute by developing a systems view of project elements and relations among the same.Design/methodology/approachThe article is based on a design science process and uses business management, project management and the system dynamics literature to support the construction of a conceptual framework, which is preliminary validated using practitioner feedback.FindingsThe project management model includes: (a) a systems view of a project in terms of 5 subsystems, 9 components and 27 dimensions; (b) a flow diagram showing 11 key relations among project attributes and (c) a discussion of ten system archetypes which can be identified in the management of a project.Research limitations/implicationsWhereas the application of systems thinking in project management has been mostly addressed to build system dynamics tools, this article advances the discussion by providing a framework useful to support theory development and contextual knowledge construction in project management activities.Practical implicationsThe article provides (project) managers with an articulated project management model and insights to address the complexity of modern project activities.Originality/valueThe main value of the research stays in the integrative nature of the presented framework, along with its twofold focus on components and flows (dynamic view).

Strategic decision making in project management: a knowledge visualization framework

“…4.1 A systems view of project management A previous systematization effort (Elia et al, 2020) has presented a Project Management Canvas, i.e. a system view of project elements and flows.…”

“…The essential organizational levels within project decisions consist of a project board, project managers, steering committees and the individual team members themselves (Kerzner, 2017). Using a system archetype approach (Senge, 1990;Elia et al, 2020), we identified eight categories of strategic decisions, which may arise in the management of a project at different organizational levels. In the understanding of the present study, the characteristic of being "strategic" is not related to the fact that the decision is crucial or particularly relevant but rather that the decision represents a more highlevel judgment point that implies a number of other strategic and operative consequences.…”

An early-stage project complexity assessment tool for the AEC industry

“…They adopted a product, organisation, process (POP) factor framework for assessing complexity on six case study projects. The advantages of this combination is reinforced by Elia et al (2020) who propose an integrated framework, using a systems-thinking-based approach, called "project management canvas" to support contextual management of project complexity.…”

Toward an integrated project complexity narrative – A case study of academic organizations

“…conclude that PM research is changing from project control to project adaptability when dealing with complex projects. This is aligned with the call to complement mechanistic and modernist views with their false promises of prediction, certainty and control, 51 with a worldview that is made up of interconnected technical and social entities that more often produce behaviors that cannot be predicted by analyzing the behavior of a single part in isolation or by simply aggregating the behavior of the parts 54,62 . Addressing complexity organically rather than mechanistically represents such a shifting view 55 …”