Building Pragmatist Theories of PM Practice: Theorizing the Act of Project Management

Pierre-Luc Lalonde, Mario Bourgault and Alain Findeli ()
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Pierre-Luc Lalonde: EPM - École Polytechnique de Montréal
Mario Bourgault: EPM - École Polytechnique de Montréal
Alain Findeli: UNIMES - Université de Nîmes

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Abstract: This article examines project management through the lens of practice. Drawing on the literature, we develop a typological model that brings together four distinct theoretical types of project management practice. Adopting a deliberately critical perspective, we show that the first three types propose a weak conception of the logical relationship between the theory and practice of project management. In contrast, the fourth type, anchored in a pragmatist conception of the theory-practice link, provides the potential to build strong theories of project management practice. A specific objective is to elucidate the distinct features of the fourth type of theory.

Keywords: project management as a practice; weak and strong theories of project management practice; epistemology of practice; pragmatist theories; act of project management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-12
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Published in Project Management Journal, 2010, 41 (5), pp.21-36. ⟨10.1002/pmj.20163⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04721146

DOI: 10.1002/pmj.20163

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