Project recovery: Project failures and how to get rid of them

Abstract

Since the 1960s, project success has been receiving much interest from both academics and practitioners. Despite these efforts, project failure is still a recurring and prevalent phenomenon. In both peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed project management literature, a great deal of studies generates lists of success factors and failure causes. Few studies, however, investigate concrete recovery strategies to bring failing projects back on track. The present article, therefore, draws upon the literature on critical success factors and project recovery frameworks to construct an eight-step action plan that helps in recovering from project failure. The recovery action plan was awarded the University Contest by PMI Belgium in 2019.