Expanding the paradigm of project success: A review of diversity as a critical success condition in project management

Abstract

This paper explores the evolving conditions for project success by presenting diversity as a critical but previously overlooked factor within established project management frameworks. Revisiting the 2015 Conditions for Project Success report by the Association for Project Management (APM), this research employs a qualitative methodology, drawing on interviews with project management professionals across diverse sectors to analyse the impact of diversity on project outcomes. Findings suggest that diversity, encompassing gender, ethnicity, disciplinary backgrounds, and cognitive perspectives, plays a pivotal role in fostering innovation, resilience, and adaptability within project teams. Leveraging aspects of the Communities of Practice (CoP) model, this study examines how diverse teams employ boundary-spanning roles and practices, integrating varied perspectives that reduce groupthink and enhance complex decision-making processes. The proposed Diversity-Driven Success Framework (DDSF) conceptual model further suggests that diversity drives adaptive capacities through a continuous feedback loop of knowledge exchange, positioning it as an essential success condition alongside established factors like effective governance and team competency. These insights underscore the need for an expanded project management framework that formally recognises diversity as integral to sustained project success. This paper invites further scholarly inquiry and empirical research to bridge the gap between traditional project success criteria and the adaptive requirements of contemporary project environments.

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ORCID for Nicholas Dacre: orcid.org/0000-0002-9667-9331

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