The changing paradigms of project management

This paper examines the academic literature on Project Management in relation to the hard and soft paradigms, two broad tendencies for thought and action that have had considerable impact on the development of a variety of comparable fields. A critical reading of the literature confirms strong links between the hard paradigm and Project Management. However, it is also demonstrated that undercurrents exist in the literature, which suggest a growing acceptance of the soft paradigm. Models of the field are presented through which the influence of these paradigms on the field can be understood, and a way is suggested in which further developments in the use of the soft paradigm in Project Management could be progressed.