CoPS Projects Complexity: The 5P Model (Purpose, Product, Process, People, Peripheral)

The concept of "complexity" is familiar to many of project's managers; however, it is not comprehended by all in the same way. Researches conducted on this field have shown that the authors have difference understanding of "complexity" and their understanding mainly depends on their points of view. In fact, many identified aspects of the complexity in the literature are related to the aims of the research. This paper is an attempt to describe the complexity of project using three approaches; research literature(manufacturing and project complexity), interviews (deep interview with 20 experts) and questionnaire. The research was conducted on the Complex product and system (CoPS) projects. In addition, WH question technique was used. In conclusion, a 5p model (Purpose, Product, Process, People, and Peripheral) was introduced.