The Triple Constraint (TC) paradigm constitutes the conceptual foundation of project management. But its effectiveness is limited, documented by the high project failure rates, and the strong critique of several authors who point out a lack of a theoretical base. This book reports on a study that suggests an alternative project management paradigm allowing an integrative perspective of the different lines of critiques. From the general critique of the theoretical foundations of the current project management paradigm we derived the Project Value paradigm. It enables a reevaluation and expansion of the widely discussed limitations of the TC paradigm. Derived from the economic theories of entrepreneurship, the Project Value paradigm served as the conceptual base for an empirical study conducted over the last two years. The main research goal of this study is to answer the questions why and how project managers are successful by creating project value during a project's implementation.

Following the traditional TC paradigm, project managers are charged with reducing, if not avoiding, project risks and project uncertainties. In contrast, the economic literature argues that uncertainties are the precondition for entrepreneurial opportunities which is also prevalent in many projects. Therefore, the question to be answered is: Did project managers who sought out and exploited opportunities improve the value proposition of the project? The disposition or attitude of project managers towards these decisions and activities seems to be a central variable. These dispositions are integrated in the construct of a project manager's project value mindset (PVM). The PVM stands in contrast to the basic premise of the traditional project management paradigm. It suggests that those project managers with a PVM, will more likely create more project value. Thus, the central hypothesis investigated in this study proposes a link between a project manager's PVM and the created project value.

Over a period of two years data were collected with a survey instrument developed by the authors. To avoid single informant bias, data for each individual project were collected from the responsible project manager, three project team members and the senior manager (sponsor) responsible for funding the project. The final sample consists of 594 individual responses related to 114 projects. Using structural equation modeling it could be demonstrated that the higher the perceived value of a project manager's PVM the higher the likelihood that value opportunities are exploited and the higher the achieved project value. The results support the hypothesis of a relationship between a project manager's PVM and project value.

The research presented here has implications in both theory and practice. It supports the theoretical discussion of the entrepreneurship research field accessible to develop a comprehensive theory of project management. The research stimulates the discussion of the paradigm limitations as well as it supports the call for changing the paradigm in order to explain common project management issues. The empirical results clearly demonstrate that it pays off for project managers to act entrepreneurial. In contrast, the practice of strict adherence to traditional TC project objectives under conditions of uncertainty is more likely to lead to failure. The results clearly demonstrate that the search for and act on opportunities has to be undertaken by project managers to be able to create high levels of project value.

We hope that our findings stimulate further discussions in theory and practice and provoke innovative ways in managing projects.

—Thomas G. Lechler (Ph.D.) and John C. Byrne (Ph.D.)