Implementing large-scale information and communication technology (IT) projects carries large risks and easily might disrupt operations, waste taxpayers' money, and create negative publicity. Because of the high risks it is important that government leaders manage the attendant risks. We...

This paper explores how theories of the planning fallacy and the outside view may be used to conduct quality control and due diligence in project management. First, a much-neglected issue in project management is identified, namely that the front-end estimates of costs and benefits--used in the...

Our research documents that projects across industries and geographies struggle to meet the most basic targets. Nine out of ten transport projects, six out of ten energy projects, seven out of ten dams, five out of ten technology projects, and ten out of ten Olympics do not meet their cost...

I welcome Richard Bolan’s letter to the editor commenting on my article in Cities, “How Planners Deal with Uncomfortable Knowledge: the Dubious Ethics of the American Planning Association” (Volume 32, June 2013). This is the type of debate I hoped to generate with the article.

Dams in the Amazon river basin have induced confrontations among developers, governmental officials, indigenous populations and environmentalists. Amazonian hydroelectric dams are usually justified on the basis that they supply the energy needed for economic development in a renewable form that...

This paper focuses on problems and their causes and cures in policy and planning for large infrastructure projects. First, it identifies as the main problem in major infrastructure development pervasive misinformation about the costs, benefits, and risks involved. A consequence of misinformation...

Megaproject Planning and Management: Essential Readings contains the seminal articles from the growing body of research on megaproject planning and management along with an original introduction by the editor. Bent Flyvbjerg, the leading and most cited authority in the field, has used...