A Socio-Cognitive Perspective of Project Failure

Project Failure is a major topic of discussion amongst management practitioners, policymakers and academics. The significance of this topic stems from the severe economic loss associated with many failed projects. In addition to this, high profile public sector project failures attract a great deal of press interest and public debate which can negatively effect an organisations reputation. Previous investigations of project failure project have focused on reflective studies of specific industries or projects and related sub-discipline themes. There is then a need to examine project failure from a wider cross discipline perspective in an effort to identify causes and generate solutions. This paper reports on a research project which set out to understand the mechanisms through which projects fail from a socio-cognitive perspective. In doing so it aims to assist practitioners and academics in better understanding the “early warning signs” of project failure as and develop appropriate responses