During the APM Conference 2024, entitled “Navigating Tomorrow: Future Skills for Project Professionals” on 5-6 June 2024, the winners of the Education and Research Awards were announced.

The Association for Project Management (APM) is an organisation dedicated to advancing the science, theory and practice of project and program management, and to benefiting the public through education, credentialing and research in the field of project management.

APM’s annual conference, “Navigating Tomorrow”, provided an important opportunity for delegates to explore the theme of the skills gap, discuss the continuing evolution of the profession and understand the profound impact it is having globally.

During the event, outstanding academic contributions in the field of project management were celebrated, with Tristano Sainati and Giorgio Locatelli from the School of Management at the Politecnico di Milano being announced as the winners of the “Research Paper of the Year” award.

Their research paper, entitled “Digging in the megaproject’s graveyard: Why do megaprojects die, and how to check their health?”, was selected for its in-depth examination of the termination of infrastructure megaprojects during the delivery phase.

The study analysed 30 megaprojects that ended during the delivery phase and introduced a new theory, “The Reverse Escalation of Commitment”, which clarifies the reasons why megaprojects are abandoned and the circumstances that lead to such decisions, and provides a practical checklist for assessing the health of infrastructure megaprojects.

This recognition underlines the importance of Sainati and Locatelli’s work in contributing to the understanding and improvement of megaproject management, providing valuable tools for the future of the profession.

Read more about the article: https://www.apm.org.uk/apm-conference/er-awards/research-paper-of-the-year/