Triangles, tradeoffs and success: A critical examination of some traditional project management paradigms

The concept of the `project triangle`, together with the related issues of project tradeoffs and project success factors are frequently discussed together in project management (PM) literature. However, these discussions rarely examine their interconnection critically. As a consequence, the models that are developed from and for these concepts are not properly connected; essentially, the tradeoff and triangle models can only deal with a limited range of project success elements. This paper is a conceptual study to highlight the significance of this `triple connection` through a comprehensive review of PM literature. It then compares the traditional approach with suggested alternative ways of dealing with the concepts separately and jointly. Finally, the features of an improved framework for making tradeoff decisions are identified and discussed.