Juarez Cornelio, J.R. orcid.org/0000-0002-3200-7122, Sainati, T. and Locatelli, G. (2023) Digging in the megaproject's graveyard: Why do megaprojects die, and how to check their health? International Journal of Project Management, 41 (6). 102501. ISSN 0263-7863
Abstract
The pressure to complete Infrastructure Megaprojects (IMs) is enormous; once started, IMs are commonly considered too costly to be stopped. Still, despite this widespread belief, several IMs are terminated during delivery/construction. Notwithstanding its empirical and theoretical relevance, few studies investigate IMs termination during delivery/construction. This paper aims to develop further the “reverse escalation of commitment” theory which sense-makes the termination of IMs. We take a critical confrontation of the existing literature addressing two questions: (1) Why are IMs terminated during delivery/construction? and (2) How does the project termination process occur in IMs? By analysing 30 unfinished IMs, we identified the six determinants for IMs termination, contributing to the development of reverse-escalation of commitment theory by providing a processual perspective of the four most common patterns leading to IMs termination. Finally, we provide a checklist for identifying key elements leading to IMs termination.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Complex projects; Decision-making; Theory building; Critical confrontation; Cancellation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 13 Sep 2023 13:51 |
Last Modified: | 13 Sep 2023 13:51 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.ijproman.2023.102501 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:203294 |