The low success rate of projects in a scenario where they are increasingly important for the companies' strategies raises questions about the effectiveness of project management approaches. A literature review on this topic suggests that there is a predominant approach to project management, which makes use of planning and control tools and techniques to encourage a rational and normative perspective to project management. As a counterpoint to this predominant traditional approach, the adaptive approach has emerged arguing that the management of each project should be adapted to its specificities. In this context, this paper presents the result of a preliminary exploratory study about project management approaches on six companies in Brazil. The empirical data collected allow concluding that the approaches focused on a rational and normative view of project management are predominant. On the other hand, the data also indicated the presence of adaptive approach practices in the management of strategic projects suggesting that there is no "one size fits all" approach to manage projects in the companies studied.
Project management; Management approaches
