"Megaprojects"-defined as projects with budgets exceeding $1 billion -are important contributors to numerous sectors, including health care, defense, mining, telecommunications, transport, energy and water infrastructure, sporting events, science, and manufacturing. They represent a significant proportion of many nations'economic activity and profoundly affect productivity, social cohesion, and the environment. Yet megaprojects have proved notoriously difficult to deliver on time and on budget; one estimate suggests that 90% of them end up over budget. Based on more than 10 years of research into a number of megaprojects in London, including the infrastructure for the London 2012 Olympics and the construction of two new terminals at Heathrow Airport, the authors conclude that one way to manage the uncertainties inherent in megaprojects is to innovate throughout the course of the project. What's more, they argue that their suggestions are applicable to all large-scale, long-term projects -not just projects with billon-dollar budgets.

Megaprojects require investment of $1bn or more to build infrastructure, usually involving a complex system of production consisting of discrete, routine, and high-volume repetitive processes. Many of these processes can be progressively standardized and replicated to improve overall productive performance. This article presents the findings of research on design and production of London's Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 (T5). The findings were used to develop a conceptual framework-which we call the systems integration model-to identify the project and operational processes that contribute to success in delivering megaprojects. The systems integrator is the lead organization in a megaproject, responsible for establishing a governance structure, managing risk, and coordinating processes performed by a large network of external suppliers. Innovations based on the "recombination" and "replication" of processes can be introduced to improve megaproject performance.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. For both manufacturing companies and service firms, the basis of competition is shifting fast. Manufacturers are finding they must compete by selling services; service firms now have to provide products as well as services. The emerging battleground is known as "integrated solutions," and it is where leading companies such as IBM, General Electric, Rolls Royce, and EDS already compete aggressively. However, the integrated solutions approach is not simply a matter of blending products and services. Customers are buying guaranteed solutions for trouble-free operations. So the key is to develop and deploy the right capabilities--and to structure the organization so these capabilities match customer needs. This article offers a blueprint for implementing integrated solutions, drawing on extensive research on such companies as Alstom Transport, Cable & Wireless, Thales, Ericsson, and Atkins. The article highlights the importance of four prerequisite capabilities and shows the organization structures necessary for success--structures that are no longer bounded by product, service, or geographic lines. The article then lays out three levels of organizational capability to chart the journey that integrated solutions providers must take.