Megaprojects, also referred to in the literature as Large Engineering Projects or Major Projects, are generally defined as large-scale investment initiatives worth 1bEURO/$ or more and, facing similar problems independent of the country where they are implemented and the industry they belong to. The common feature of most megaprojects is that they are difficult to design and manage so that their realization and completion is always extremely expensive, often over budget and delivery deadlines also are not met. In the worst-case scenario, they remain unfinished. This book, through its multidisciplinary approach, offers food for thought and alternative interpretations for the complex world of megaprojects. While much research has been conducted and differing approaches have been developed over the last 20 years, there is still a lot of debate surrounding the topic, and a holistic approach for effectively managing these initiatives is still missing. What is clear to all researchers and experts in the field is that a traditional-linear management approach is simply not sufficient, as at many stages of a megaproject, iterative and feedback effect occurs due to stakeholder involvement and increasing and continuous interaction between them. The book promotes the debate among all categories of stakeholders involved in the megaproject's supply chain, in order to increase the awareness of complex phenomena relating to the critical issues and common problems they face, all over the world, and to seek performance improvement across the whole life cycle of a megaproject, including the selection, design, construction, operation and de- commissioning. The multidisciplinary approach cultivated in the book conveys an innovative way to study megaprojects and their inherent complexities.

This book represents an excellent opportunity for understanding project management in its new form for professionals, undergraduate and post-graduate students, and people willing to prepare the Project Management Professional (PMI-PMP (R)) exam. The distinctive feature of this book consists in the approach, very pragmatic and rich in practical examples. In particular, there are several "myth" and "bad idea" boxes where common problematic scenarios that a project manager can find in its everyday working life are discussed and solved according to the book's contents. In addition, the book includes several original explanations of some business phenomena, such as the "Leadership of the nun", "The gardener project manager", "The hamster", "the change-order dragon" and others. Last but not least, it explores several concepts that aren't included into most of project management books, such as Sustainability in triple bottom line, Management for Stakeholders and social network analysis, and an extensive part on complexity. The last part of the book is dedicated to concepts that are not properly part of project management, but are relevant for a project manager to be aware of in order to be able to interface with colleagues and partners belonging to these contiguous business worlds.

The book investigates the various aspects characterizing Megaprojects from numerous perspectives and by integrating different disciplines: engineering, economics, business organization, human resource management, law, etc. It represents the first output of MeRIT (the Megaproject Research Interdisciplinary Team), and focuses on the intrinsic and unavoidable complexity of Megaprojects. The chapters have intentionally not been standardized, and humanistic topics are not separated from technical ones: this way of reading and interpreting Megaprojects through the cross-pollination of various disciplines reflects the MeRIT approach. Addressing the complexity involved in Megaprojects requires the use of a hermeneutic circle of sorts: understanding the project as a whole is achieved by referring to the specific parts, while each part can only be understood in relation to the whole. This circular approach appears to be the only one applicable to Megaprojects: no final destination, no final synthesis can be achieved. This volume consists of eight chapters written by researchers in law, economics, sociology, business organization, engineering, architecture and landscaping. The topics covered will be relevant to researchers, practitioners involved in the development of Megaprojects, and policymakers at the EU level.