It has been generally recognized that project management approach to getting things done is increasing lately. This article, however, focuses on the organizational implications of the same. We assert first that an organizational form associated with the main project tasks be replicated in firms whose businesses tend to be seriously affected by individual projects of a type where innovation and/or creativity are involved. Second, we relate two examples of projects, changing organizational approaches—one at the firm level and another at the industry level.

It has been suggested that organizations, indeed societies as a whole, are becoming more and more projectified. In other words, the so-called permanent, routine-based organizations of yesterday are evolving into ones now engaged in a variety of projects. There are four trends (at least) that have tended to drive the growth of projects and project management in the global economy. At some point in time, economic historians may determine the relative importance of each of these trends. At present, however, each may be considered major, but of course affecting different segments of the economy to varying degrees:

1. The Re-industrialization of the World Economy: Twenty-five or thirty years ago, it was fashionable to talk about Kondratieff waves. That is, the economies of industrialized nations were winding down a `long wave' of development that would bring about a significant change from stagnation at that time to unlimited opportunity. Without making a judgment on the use of these waves in economic forecasting, it seems to us that those predictions have materialized. New industries have been formed, e.g., software and biogenetics, and old ones have reinvented themselves to accommodate new technologies. The nature of any start-up tends to be batch-oriented and thus projects have found heavy use in these start-ups on a massive scale.

2. Globalization: As firms decide to enter markets outside of their domestic areas, they enter into activities that are project-oriented—evaluation, selection, and adoption. Thus, growth of international trade has carried with it growth in project utilization.

3. Growth of the Business Service Segment: The production and distribution of business services has been one of the fastest growing segments in the service sector. Many services are project-oriented because of their individual nature, but the business service segment in particular tends to be customer-oriented from start to finish. Those businesses are almost exclusively project-oriented.

4. Mass Customization: Kotler compares the development of mass customization in the 21^st century with the mass production that characterized the last century. Each of those customization steps is associated with a project that brings customer wishes into production. The archetype of this business form may be Dell Computer and its approach to operations.

HRM Review Magazine, Project Management, Organizational Implications, Global Economy, Globalization, Business Service Segment, Mass Customization, Organizational Groups, Temporary Organizations, Entrepreneurial Firms, Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, Computer Assisted Design, Architectural Industry, Decision Making Process, Technological Applications, Social Consequences.