Mapping practices of project management – merging top-down and bottom-up perspectives

This paper presents a new methodology for studying different accounts of project management practices based on network mapping and analysis. Drawing upon network mapping and visualization as an analytical strategy top-down and bottom-up accounts of project management practice are analysed and compared. The analysis initially reveals a substantial difference between the top-down and bottom-up accounts of practice. Furthermore it identifies a soft side of project management that is central in the bottom-up account but absent from the top-down. Finally, the study shows that network mapping is a promising strategy for visualizing and analysing different accounts of project management practices.