Project Management under Uncertainty: The Impact of Heuristics and Biases

Abstract

Formal project management often is critical to the effective and efficient application of scarce organizational resources to competing demands within and across projects. Effective project management, however, is predicated upon valid and accurate project specifications. The introduction of biases into the formulation of these specifications can lead to compromised or failed projects and foregone opportunities of strategic relevance to a firm. Several such biases arise often from the unwitting application of heuristics by project personnel. By recognizing the presence of these heuristics and their potential effects and then applying appropriate tactics to offset them, project personnel can effectively mitigate their deleterious impacts.