Strategic organizational euthanasia: the cost of dying strategically in project management

Purpose This paper aims to explore the complex experience of “deadlines” in project management, highlighting how they signify both project completion and the initiation of new ones, creating repetitive cycles of dying and living. It examines emotional responses to this strategic euthanasia, aiming to clarify the paradox of living and dying in project work. The paper addresses two key questions: What does “deadline” mean beyond its conventional use, and how do participants interpret its arrival during project execution? By situating the discussion within strategic management frameworks, it reconceptualizes deadlines as intricate temporal-spatial constructs that embody simultaneous experiences of life and death. Design/methodology/approach This paper is grounded in a qualitative research design, employing two years of intermittent fieldwork (2009-2010) and subsequent ethnographic observations within a complex project aimed at master-planning a major university campus expansion. The research involved in-depth, semistructured interviews with eight key participants from the project team, including the project manager and a representative from the client university. Findings The findings indicate that project members view deadlines as paradoxical symbols of life and death, signifying the conclusion of one project while prompting the pursuit of another. Shaped by client expectations and project management language, deadlines are seen as nonnegotiable boundaries that lead to passive compliance and strategic euthanasia. This creates existential tension, as meeting deadlines equates to professional survival but often compromises quality and integrity. Ultimately, the research highlights that deadlines are not just temporal markers; they reflect a lived experience of sacrifice and compromise that impacts individual well-being and the ethical dimensions of project work. Originality/value The paper offers an original perspective on the concept of deadlines within project management by framing them as existential phenomena that evoke emotional responses tied to the notion of death. By analyzing the duality inherent in the term “deadline” – symbolizing both the conclusion of a project and the vital precondition for future endeavors – the authors delve into the implications of managing temporal events in project-based settings. Through this lens, the paper contributes novel insights to strategic management literature, emphasizing the need to consider emotional experiences in the study of organizational processes.