Connecting changes to projects using a historical perspective: Towards some new canvases for researchers

Abstract

Connecting changes to projects requires more than a statement. Conceptually, the management of changes as projects is a real challenge. A huge gap exists between conceptualizations in change management and in project management. The topic of communication represents a good example of this situation. Researchers who study organizational change all agree that communication is a key factor for success. But for some of them communication is a tool while for others communication creates changes. In project management, nearly the same situation occurs. Thus, to build up a relevant guide to manage changes as projects requires finding theoretical linkages and meaningful bridges between both fields. Using a historical perspective, this text attempts to structure the fields of project management and change management. This leads to a first canvas, revealing mineral and organic universes of projects and changes. Further interpretations allow us to establish a second canvas: a guide is then proposed as a new conceptual frame for investigating the management of changes as projects and conducting new researches on change and project management.