Effective stakeholder management is seen as a critical element of project management, and yet, despite the growing body of literature projects still experience stakeholder challenges. Why is this the case? In seeking to answer this question, this chapter commences with an exploration of three key questions – a) who the project stakeholders are, b) how to effectively manage them within the contest of their social networks, and c) when to manage them. Based on the exploration, the chapter then considers complexities associated with stakeholder management processes (that is the socio-political considerations), content (the myriad views on interconnected and potentially competing values and issues) and the inherent dynamic nature of the stakeholder landscape (reflecting relationships, churn, and norms). The chapter concludes by reflecting on four emergent and interconnected paradoxes using the three complexity lenses to provide recommendations for management.

Before submitting a journal article for publication, it is important to decide the target submission date first. After presenting nine intuitive thoughts and three cases (Xiaofang, Lisa, and Seema), the chapter discusses how two core concepts, project management and project complexity, can be applied to determine a thoughtful target submission date. It ends with a few practical suggestions: developing our project management skills deliberately. Project management is strongly related to project success, especially for novice writers; choosing our target submission dates in a timely manner. We should consider from the perspectives of authors, journals, and readers how to choose a target submission date in a timely manner; choosing our target submission dates thoughtfully. We can determine the project complexity based on the research cycle, the publication cycle, and the impact cycle; choosing our target submission dates using some methods (e.g., backward planning and forward planning).