Effective Factors on the Complexity of Projects and Effective Management of Complex Projects, Case Study: Mobile Communication Industry in Iran

Abstract:In the past decade, projects have grown in complexity. Simple project management standards and methodologies can no longer help manage such complex projects. New models and techniques are needed to be used in complex projects. In this research, we first, identified critical factors affecting complex projects, and the basic steps needed to manage such projects. We further reviewed several research work related to managing complex projects. Second, we studied several projects in mobile communication industry in Iran. Initially, we used in-depth interviews with top managers who were active in this industry to identify issues and factors affecting the complexity of mobile communication projects . We compared the findings from the interviews with the results obtained in the previous part of literature studies. Third, we developed a questionnaire based on the findings from the literature and in-depth interviews and distributed it to some professionals and team members in several finished and on-going projects in Iran Mobile Communication industry. As a result of the study, we were able to identify the most effective factors and corresponding required basic steps related to the complexity of projects in this industry. In particular, we found that, the ranking and importance of project complexity factors are related to the level of experience of managers and professionals. In addition, the factors related to the project complexity are not identical in various types of projects. Thus, the ranking of factors depend on the type of projects.