Why does your reading refer to project integration as the ultimate change management challenge?

PROJECT INTEGRATION AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Project management was developed over many centuries as a means for organizations to manage change. Change management has been written about extensively in the literature as a result of technological advances and the focus on project sustainability and complexity over the last several decades. How and when we see the need for change is a critical component of project success. Change impacts all aspects of a project’s organization including procurement, design, construction, cost, schedule, risk, quality, sustainability, human resources, and technology.

Megaprojects, by their very nature, are creatures of change. The environment of megaprojects—the pace, the pressure, the tension and uncertainty, the widespread fears and skepticism—combined with the sheer volume of difficult decisions create a herculean task that can quickly overwhelm even the most capable project managers and the most sophisticated organization. As if the challenges of the long up-front formation and planning phase are not difficult enough, projects are then faced with the difficult work of the execution phase. Either phase, if poorly led and managed, can prevent the progression of an otherwise successful project.

As a result, project integration is, without a doubt, the ultimate change management challenge. For a project organization to successfully integrate multiple polices, processes, and procedures, leadership in change management is a key requirement. On megaprojects, the need for change is driven by internal factors such as technological challenges, uncertainty, and risk complexity, and external challenges such as the regulatory environment, stakeholder expectations, and unpredictable markets. Integration management is concerned with facilitating the process of change through strategies, structures, and processes and can serve as a road map for understanding and managing change.