A Success Model for Project Management during National Crises

In project management, success is the ultimate goal. Success requires appropriate tools and techniques. Given the multi-dimensions of uniqueness in projects, success tools and techniques should be customized to suit a particular project or a set of closely related projects. In this paper the national crisis was selected as the context in which project success is sought. After reviewing the notion of project context, success factors and project strategy, the authors provided a theoretical explanation and a generic model of the relationship between project strategy, success factors and project success. Following this explanation, the authors analyzed a set of 24 cases from the British aviation industry that occurred during the crisis of World War 2. Based on the results of such analysis, the authors created a success model containing the strategies and success factors needed for successful project management in such a context. The authors then analyzed another case that is different from the first set of 24 cases. The model was validated and refined based on the second case. The authors then showed the application of the model on other cases unrelated to the previous ones. The authors concluded with remarks about the importance, contribution, implication and limitations of this study.