[PROJECT MANAGEMENT ]

What Great Projects Have in Common

Research identifies seven common characteristics of highly successful projects.
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 im-
pact on its entire industry. We call such projects
“great projects.” Consider the introduction of NASA’s Kepler project,
which launched an
IBM’s AS/400 in the 1980s. In 1986, IBM’s mar- extraterrestrial spacecraft
ket share in the growing, important mid-range in 2009 to search for
Earth-like planets, had
computer business had shrunk to a single digit.
a team spirit that was
However, 28 months later, a relatively small de- energizing and exciting.
velopment 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.
In retrospect, the AS/400 development ef-
fort could be considered a great project. It was
a game changer in the computer industry and
gave IBM a competitive edge. Apple Inc.’s suc-
cess in creating the iPod portable media player
and iTunes online store is another more recent
example of a great project — one that changed
the way people listen to and buy music. Why
are such projects so rare — and why can’t more
projects be like them?
As part of a decade of research, we col-
lected quantitative and qualitative data on
more than 400 projects that were undertaken
in various industries since the late 1950s. We of its organization and the well-being of cus- found that seven managerial characteristics
looked at projects in their wider sense, that is, tomers and users. were common in our sample; each of the seven
as temporary organizational efforts to introduce 3. It was highly innovative from a scientific, tech- characteristics below were shared by at least
change. In addition to new product develop- nological, design or operational perspective. 12 of the 15 great projects we identified.
ment, the projects we studied included product 4. The project’s outcome had a major impact on

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and process improvement, construction, IT and its industry and stimulated others to follow in A great project involves creating a
other organizational infrastructure, organiza- its footsteps. unique competitive advantage and/or
tional change, reengineering efforts and We first identified 46 candidate projects that an exceptional value for its stakeholders.
marketing campaigns. Data sources included to some extent met all four selection criteria, ac- For example, IBM AS/400’s advantage was
interviews with major players along with project cording to our own judgment. We then turned to a creating a new modular standard in the minicom-
document archives and reports and other pub- group of five experienced executives, who had puter segment. The value of building the Sydney
lished material when available. not participated in any previous phase of our stud- Opera House in Sydney, Australia, was construct-
From this collection, we searched for proj- ies. For each of the 46 projects, we asked them to ing a unique architectural wonder that draws
ects that stood out, resulting in unusual success assess to what extent they agreed that the proj- millions of visitors every year. And the value of
and long-term impact. We designated a project ect fit each criterion, on a seven-point scale. We the Mall of America, an indoor mall/entertain-
as “great” only if: then summarized the scores for each project and ment complex in Bloomington, Minnesota, that
1. It was a major undertaking of strategic impor- calculated averages across all respondents to de- attracted more than 40 million visitors in its first
tance to the initiating organization. velop a final list of 15 great projects. year of operation, was its unprecedented size
2. Its outcome contributed substantially and for Although the 15 projects in our study dif- combined with an exciting theme park in a cold
an extended period of time to the performance fered in goals, industries and technologies, we Midwestern state. (Continued on page 20)

COURTESY OF BALL AEROSPACE & TECHNOLOGIES CORP. SPRING 2011 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW 19
INTELLIGENCE

What Great Projects Have in Common (Continued from page 19)

2
These projects began with a long RELATED RESEARCH
period of project definition that was
A.J. Shenhar, “One Size Does Not Fit All Projects: Exploring Classical Contin-

dedicated to defining a powerful gency Domains,” Management Science 47, no. 3 (March 2001): 394-414.
vision and clear need and selecting the A.J. Shenhar, “Strategic Project Leadership®: Toward a Strategic Approach to

best execution approach. The extended time R&D Management,” R&D Management 34, no. 5 (November 2004): 569-578.
was also needed to obtain buy-in from all stake- A.J. Shenhar and D. Dvir, “Reinventing Project Management: The Diamond Ap-

holders. For example, the Atlantic Crossing proach to Successful Growth and Innovation” (Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard
Business School Press, 2007).
project, a transatlantic optical cable laid by
Tyco Submarine Systems Ltd. between the
U.S., Germany and the U.K, had to fill in an Tom Furey, the director of IBM’s Rochester De- ogies that had been developed by Fuse and
immediate gap in circuit demand to Europe; velopment Laboratory, served also as the PortalPlayer Inc.
nonetheless, its definition and planning phase Silverlake project manager.

6
consisted of 17 distinct steps, some performed These projects have integrated
long before the contract was awarded. Another However, having a great leader is not enough. development teams with fast prob-
example was the strategic alliance that the Almost all projects are often plagued by prob- lem-solving capability and the ability
Boeing Co. created with eight leading cus- lems, conflicts and crises. Yet in the great to adapt to business, market and technol-
tomer airlines for shaping the configuration of projects we studied, top management’s sup- ogy changes. Although previous research has
and defining the requirements for the Boeing port reflected a strategic decision to continue identified the importance of open communica-
777, a twin-engine wide-body aircraft that was with the project until its successful end. A typi- tion within a project team, we found that what
developed in the 1990s and became one of the cal example was the U.S. Army’s Mobile really made the difference was the multidisci-
best-selling planes in Boeing’s history. And Subscriber Equipment project (MSE), which in plinary structure of the teams and their ability
NASA’s Kepler project, which launched an ex- the 1980s built an area-switched integrated to solve problems as they developed. The
traterrestrial spacecraft in 2009 into the Milky communication system designed to replace teams were also able to quickly adapt to
Way to search for Earth-like planets, was con- legacy systems in the U.S. Army division and changes in the business and technological en-
ceived during a decade-long period that corps levels. The then Secretary of Defense vironments, often refocusing the project in a
involved defining its vision and mission and se- made MSE part of his high-priority Defense En- different direction. Almost all the great projects
lecting the best way to carry out the project. terprise Program. This imbued the project team in our study had truly diverse teams with repre-
with a sense of importance and allowed the sentatives from around the company and

3
Great projects create a revolutionary Army to implement new streamlined acquisi- beyond. Apple, for example, is well known for
project culture. The execution of great tion processes. The resulting MSE system built engaging people from design, manufacturing,
projects often requires a different project by GTE proved far superior to previous genera- software and packaging in an ongoing process
culture, which can later spread to an entire orga- tions and provided the base for modernizing of product and technology development that
nization. Working with its partner carriers and a army communications at the time. facilitates quick adaptation and changes.
network of suppliers for the 777, Boeing created Similarly, Microsoft’s Bill Gates strongly

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the most user-friendly development environ- supported the Word for Windows project until Great project teams have a strong
ment the company had ever used. That, along its successful end in spite of significant prob- sense of partnership and pride. A
with a new CAD/CAM system, changed the way lems, frequent redesigns and painful delays. dedicated team working long hours to
Boeing designed and manufactured commercial After its launch in 1989, Word for Windows overcome obstacles often distinguishes a great
aircraft. Similarly, the Z3, a stylish roadster devel- soon become the new market standard for project from a more ordinary one. Today, more
oped by the BMW Group in the early 1990s, word processing. than 25 years later, the story of the spirited
changed the way BMW builds cars. The Z3 proj- Apple team that in the 1980s developed the

5
ect’s culture was focused on design simplicity Great projects maximize use of exist- first Macintosh, a new category of easy-to-use
and extensive prototype testing, which enabled ing knowledge, often in cooperation computers, still generates interest. More re-
the company to start manufacturing outside of with outside organizations. All suc- cently, NASA’s Kepler project team spirit was
Germany. Z3 was the first BMW produced in the cessful projects in our sample adopted informal, energizing and exciting. Team mem-
U.S., and when launched, it surpassed the com- everything they could, rather than trying to re- bers were inspired, proud and committed to
pany’s sales expectation by more than 50%. invent what was already known. Existing the project’s vision. They took ownership of
technology components were either adopted the project, without too much direction from

4
A great project needs a highly qualified from previous projects or brought in from the higher-level management.
project leader who is unconditionally outside. For example, Word for Windows used
supported by top management. Not sur- the existing Word for Macintosh design; Boe- What is new here? Some of these factors ap-
prising, highly qualified leaders make a ing 777 used CAD/CAM software purchased peared in previous studies, so what can we learn
difference. More specifically, a successful proj- from Dassault Systems. And when the World from this research? What makes the findings of
ect leader should have high personal skills, Trade Center project was built in New York City in this study useful is the specific focus and com-
excellent communication qualifications and con- in the 1960s, it adopted an Italian technology bination of factors. For example, managers of
nections to upper management. In some of our to cope with reaching bedrock water levels great projects understand that their project’s
cases, the project manager was even a mem- in the Hudson River. Finally, for its iPod and mission is not just to deliver a product; rather, it is
ber of the top management team. For example, iTunes design, Apple adopted existing technol- to make a difference and create a unique com-

20 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW SPRING 2011 SLOANREVIEW.MIT.EDU

petitive advantage and exceptional value for
customers. Similarly, having a good project
leader is not enough; he or she must have un-
conditional top management support. And just
building a cross-functional team is not sufficient;
such teams must learn to work together, com-
municate well, have a sense of pride and above
all develop the ability to quickly solve problems
and adapt to changes in a fast-moving business
environment.
One of the benefits of this study may be its
contribution to the ongoing debate about the
right approach to project management. Tradi-
tionally, project management was perceived as
an operational undertaking, where most proj-
ects could be managed in a similar way — with
project activity focused on creating a good plan
and then making every effort to stick to the plan
throughout the project. A project’s goal was to
meet time, budget and requirement goals, and
success was measured by how well the team
could achieve that goal.
The classical approach to project manage-
ment has been challenged in recent years by
suggestions to adopt a more adaptive and
strategic approach. According to this view,
projects are major drivers of change and vehi-
cles for creating future businesses. A project’s
goal (and its team’s responsibility) is to achieve
business results by exploiting new market and
technological opportunities and by creating
competitive advantage and added value. In ad-
dition, this strategic approach suggests that
“one size does not fit all,” and planning and
execution must adapt to the specific project
context and the dynamic changes in the envi-
ronment during the project’s execution. The
great projects in this study clearly used an
adaptive and strategic approach. If top execu-
tives will realize the importance of projects for
their organizations, while learning the ingredi-
ents of outstanding projects, perhaps there
will be more great projects.

Dov Dvir is a professor of management at

Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and
Management at Ben Gurion University of
the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel. Aaron J.
Shenhar is a professor of supply chain and
project management at Rutgers Business
School, Rutgers University in Newark,
New Jersey. Comment on this article at
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/x/52316, or con-
tact the authors at [email protected].

Reprint 52316.
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2011. All rights reserved.

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