Understanding the Phoenix Phenomenon: Can a Project Be Both a Failure and a Success?

Christophe Midler () and Marc Alochet
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Christophe Midler: CRG I3 - Centre de recherche en gestion I3 - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Marc Alochet: CRG I3 - Centre de recherche en gestion I3 - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: While the concept of project success remains largely open nowadays, we introduce here the Phoenix phenomenon, namely a project being both a success and a failure. Our analysis of an automotive vanguard project exhibits key characteristics of a Phoenix phenomenon: the very innovative and ambitious nature of the project; a project management approach that hybridizes causal innovative project development and effectual approaches; the strategic and operational capacity of the company to recover and valorize after the initial failure; and the learnings from and the achievements of the project in renewed scenarios. We conclude that project evaluation must now combine retrospective and prospective assessments methods to evaluate both achieved outcomes and potentialities of a project.

Keywords: project evaluation; success and failure; innovative development; effectual approach; causal approach; Phoenix phenomenon; serendipity; exaptation process; prospective assessment; retrospective assessment; évaluation prospective; évaluation rétrospective; évaluation de projet; succès et échec; développement innovant; approche effective; approche causale; phénomène Phoenix; sérendipité; processus d'exaptation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Published in Project Management Journal, inPress, pp.875697282311718. ⟨10.1177/87569728231171825⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04104211

DOI: 10.1177/87569728231171825

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