PMJ_Call_Exploratory_Projects_long_FINAL
DEADLINE FOR PAPER SUBMISSIONS: FEBRUARY 2018
The strategic roles of innovation and exploration in today’s competitive environment have triggered an important evolution in the field of project studies. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that the dominant, rational view of project management as the accomplishment of a clearly defined goal in a specified period of time, and in conformity with certain budget and quality requirements, does not fit with the logic of innovation that is first and foremost characterized by discovery (Van de Ven, Polley, Garud, & Venkataraman, 1999), unforeseeable uncertainty (Loch, DeMeyer, & Pich, 2006), and expansion (Hatchuel, 2002). It also does not fit with the logic of entrepreneurial orientation, which is characterized by proactively seeking, (co-)creating, and seizing new and innovative business opportunities and by a risk-taking attitude, leading to a sustained proclivity of shareholders and senior managers to pursue projects with uncertain outcomes (Anderson, Kreiser, Kuratko, Hornsby, & Eshima, 2105; Covin & Slevin, 1991; Miller, 1983; Rauch, Wiklund, Lumpkin, & Frese, 2009; Rosenbusch, Rausch, & Bausch, 2013).