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Equifinality in Project Management Exploring Causal Complexity in Projects

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  • Maria Kapsali

Abstract

Surveys reveal that the majority of innovation projects do not achieve their goals and waste resources. Notorious examples are the National Health Service's National Programme for IT project and many multibillion European Union funded projects. Academics and practitioners suggest that this failure is because conventional project management methods fail to capture the serendipitous, evolutionary and experimental nature of complex innovation projects. Results from previous research based on European Union healthcare innovation projects revealed that we need to develop a robust method based on the systems thinking construct of equifinality to understand and manage complex causality in projects. This paper critically evaluates how equifinality has been used in management research, the reasons for the discontinuous application of systems thinking and equifinality and examines the ways to embed equifinality in project management, arguing how holism, control, boundary management and causal complexity are critical to the application of system thinking in project management. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Maria Kapsali, 2013. "Equifinality in Project Management Exploring Causal Complexity in Projects," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 2-14, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:30:y:2013:i:1:p:2-14
    DOI: 10.1002/sres.2128
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    2. Marco Aurélio de Oliveira & Antonio Schalata Pacheco & André Hideto Futami & Luiz Veriano Oliveira Dalla Valentina & Carlos Alberto Flesch, 2023. "Self‐organizing maps and Bayesian networks in organizational modelling: A case study in innovation projects management," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 61-87, January.
    3. Amrik Sohal & Tharaka Vass & Tristan Vasquez & Greg J. Bamber & Timothy Bartram & Pauline Stanton, 2022. "Success factors for lean six sigma projects in healthcare," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 215-240, June.
    4. Seyed Ashkan Zarghami, 2023. "Deviation from a state of perfect uniformity: An indicator of structural complexity in projects," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 488-500, May.
    5. Marko M. Mihić & Zorica A. Dodevska & Marija Lj. Todorović & Vladimir Lj. Obradović & Dejan Č. Petrović, 2018. "Reducing Risks in Energy Innovation Projects: Complexity Theory Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-24, August.
    6. Anna Kwiotkowska & Bożena Gajdzik & Radosław Wolniak & Jolita Vveinhardt & Magdalena Gębczyńska, 2021. "Leadership Competencies in Making Industry 4.0 Effective: The Case of Polish Heat and Power Industry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-21, July.

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