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Introduction
Both project investments and entrepreneurial ventures are considered to be powerful catalysts of economic prosperity and social progress both at micro and macro levels. However, these ventures and investments come with their inherent challenges and risks. Indeed, they both “involve ‘projection in the future’ and therefore possibility of deliberation (and decision making) about the future (plan), choice of means towards ends” (Bredillet, 2013, p. 64); and “because action takes place over time, and because the future is unknowable, action is inherently uncertain” (Von Mises, 1949; Bredillet, 2013, p. 68).
Considering project investments, more than 25 percent of global economic activity appears in the form of projects, and in some emerging economies, this exceeds 35 percent. For instance, World Development Indicators data from 2015[1] show that 24 percent of the world’s $75 trillion gross domestic product is gross capital formation[2], which is almost entirely project based. In the meantime, only 62 percent of projects meet original goals/business intent, 53 percent are completed within original budgets, 49 percent are completed on time, 45 percent experience scope creep, 32 percent encounter budget loss and 16 percent are deemed failures (Project Management Institute, 2016, p. 5). As stated by the Project Management Institute (2017, p. 2) report “Organizations are wasting an average of $97 million for every $1 billion invested, due to poor project performance.”
A recent report from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate (2016) stated that “[a]bout US$90 trillion in infrastructure investment is needed globally by 2030 to achieve global growth expectations, particularly in developing countries. To achieve this, infrastructure investment needs to be both scaled up, and, due to climate risk, integrate climate objectives[3],” while the G20-backed Global Infrastructure Hub (GIH) (2015) expressed the following concerns: “Nearly a fifth of the $94 trillion in global infrastructure investment needed by 2040 risks being unfunded if current spending trends continue[4].” Likewise, a Global Infrastructure Hub report reads: “To close the spending gap, annual infrastructure spending needs to rise to 3.5 percent from 3 percent of global gross domestic product[5].” Project management (PM) researchers address the challenges associated with projects through various lenses and schools of thought (Turner et al., 2013; Flyvbjerg, 2017), thereby ultimately seeking to increase their chances of success. This ultimate ambition...