Towards the Development of a Holistic Framework of Project Complexity: A Literature Based Review

Project complexity proves to be a difficult concept to grasp, especially for those new to the topic. This article provides a rapid yet thorough review of the concepts of complexity for those research students, researchers, or project professionals who may be interested in working with or studying complex projects. This article is developed using a traditional literature review process and uses a funneled or top-down approach to present the ontological view point of complexity. The article first discusses complexity in general and then moves on differentiate between simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic systems. The discussion then focuses on complexity in projects, from where the perspective of ‘complexity of' projects and ‘complexity in' projects. The article concludes by presenting an extended and deeper framework of complexity that amalgamates previously known thoughts on project complexity, uncertainty, and schema theory.