This paper explores how theories of the policy process (ToPP) can enhance our understanding of megaproject shaping, particularly in the front-end phase. While project management often treats planning and execution as rational and well-defined, the front-end phase remains more elusive: technical activities intertwine with dimensions that are fundamentally political, ultimately shaping the trajectory that project development follows. Drawing on five ToPP (Multiple Streams Framework, Punctuated Equilibrium Theory, Advocacy Coalition Framework, Narrative Policy Framework, and Institutional Analysis and Development Framework) we show how these approaches help explain how megaprojects gain support, face resistance, or shift course. Each theory highlights distinct aspects of political and institutional complexity, from timing and windows of opportunity to stakeholder coalitions and strategic storytelling. The paper applies this analytical toolbox to the Lyon-Turin high-speed rail megaproject, illustrating the value of a policy-oriented perspective. We argue that integrating ToPP into project management makes visible the political nature of megaproject development and offers tools to better analyse it.
Digitalisation plays an increasingly important role in projects. This insight note introduces how sociotechnical thinking can help with theorising, conceptualising and investigating relevant phenomena. It puts forward a strong sociotechnical perspective whereby the sociotechnical theory is treated through a theoretically pluralistic perspective used as a broad paradigm including other relevant theories that conceptualise the interactions or the entanglement of the social and technical parts. Additionally, this sociotechnical perspective emphasises technological agnosticism as long as the technological affordances are acknowledged to describe people’s action possibilities. Through a mapping of the relevant theories to sociotechnical thinking, this insight note organises their ontological emphasis, potential empirical foci and units of analysis to understand various phenomena. Finally, through a critical view, the insight moves beyond technological determinism and techno-optimism to propose theoretical instruments distinguishing projects as objects (digitalisation of projects) and agents of digitalisation (digitalisation by projects), considering the latter as a long-term evolutionary process of system-level change brought forward by projects.
This paper proposes a right mindfulness (sammā sati) framework, drawn from a canonical account, as an integrative lens for mindfulness research in project management. Based on an integrative review of the extant literature, we argue that right mindfulness addresses recurring conceptual and methodological limitations of the two dominant traditions in the field — mindful attention and mindful conceptualising — and recovers the relational, intentional, and ethical dimensions of mindfulness that have been oscured by a predominantly instrumental framing of this concept. Our framework positions mindful attention as an enabler of mindful conceptualising and situates both within a wider web of path factors. Thus, this paper makes three contributions: it identifies recurring conceptual and methodological limitations in how mindfulness has been applied in project research; it introduces an integrative framework that specifies the relationship between the two dominant traditions and recovers the intentional, relational, and ethical dimensions of the construct; and it reconceptualises mindfulness in projects beyond its prevailing instrumental framing, positioning it as a practice through which the ends and legitimacy of projects remain open to scrutiny.
This insight interview article engages Tim Vogus, Professor at Vanderbilt University and a leading scholar of mindful organizing and high reliability, in a dialogue on how mindfulness research may inform project organizing and project management scholarship. The interview explores five interconnected topics related to project organizing: mindful organizing in temporary, dynamic, and multi-organizational project settings; the strategic importance of attention to weak signals and everyday operational details; the interplay between individual mindfulness and collective mindful organizing in project teams; mindfulness, innovation, flexibility, and adaptation in projects; and promising future research directions at the intersection of mindfulness and project organizing. Vogus argues that project contexts provide a fertile setting for advancing theorizing on mindful organizing, particularly regarding the management of the unexpected, the sequencing of collective mindfulness processes, and the reciprocal dynamics between individual and collective forms of mindfulness. The interview also advances emerging debates raised in prior work by challenging assumptions regarding the limitations of mindful organizing in less regulated project settings and emphasizing the complementarity between individual mindfulness and collective mindful organizing. The interview highlights opportunities for longitudinal, multilevel, and practice-oriented research that can enrich understanding of project organizing under uncertainty.
This paper explores the phenomenon of unofficial projects, temporarily organised project work that operates outside established organisational recognition and is positioned through varying degrees of project formality and organisational viability. Although individually modest, their cumulative presence in organisations can be substantial. Drawing on a narrative and systematic literature review of 46 articles, the study offers conceptual clarity by identifying a set of mandatory characteristics that define unofficial projects, alongside optional characteristics that vary without undermining their unofficial status. The review further identifies organisational conditions, drivers, and practices of unofficial projects. Building on these insights, a typology based on project formality and organisational visibility is developed, offering a momentary, ideal-type overview of: The not knowns, The undercurrents, The Whispers and The borderlines. Positioning unofficial projects within the broader theory of temporary organisations helps explain movement between these positions over time, thereby extending debates on autonomy and embeddedness.
While inter-project learning is important in infrastructure megaproject ecologies, concurrent projects compete for resources. Prior research highlights the benefits of inter-project learning but does not explain how competition for resources affects this learning. Drawing on a qualitative study, we explain how resource competition between projects limits learning in the Sydney megaproject ecology. We identify constraints arising from this competition, including workforce availability, professional expertise, and knowledge ownership. Our study reveals emerging practices to address resource competition through vertical experimentation with project sequencing and horizontal experimentation with ad hoc sharing. We contribute by theorising how shared dependence on scarce resources leads to competition between projects that constrains inter-project learning. Our theorising provides insights into enabling inter-project learning in project ecologies by identifying governance strategies to alleviate resource constraints and embed learning mechanisms. It suggests new directions for research on resource competition and inter-project learning in project ecologies.
The business case is an effective instrument for presenting and justifying proposals for new projects. To support project investment decisions, the business case commonly captures project key information, including its expected benefits, delivered outputs, cost, duration, and risks. However, many project owner organizations neglect the business case following project approval, representing a missed opportunity to enhance project value. Alternatively, this paper shows how project leaders can use a living business case throughout the entire project life to enable dynamic project governance. We discuss the merits of using the living business case following project approval as a governance instrument and analyze the key challenges that prevent managers from doing so. We then develop a business case governance framework that supports the use of the living business case in dynamic project governance. The paper outlines theoretical and practical implications for project governance, assurance, and benefits management. It further supports managers in monitoring, revising, and realizing the business case when making key project decisions, continuously validating initial project assumptions, and enhancing project accountability.
Mindfulness significantly influences the happiness of project managers in the high-pressure environment of the Indian IT industry. Our study explores this relationship using a multi-method approach. In Study 1, interviews with 21 senior project managers with over five years of mindfulness meditation experience, were analyzed through Gioia's methodology. Analysis unveiled four dimensions: mindfulness, self-esteem, engagement, and happiness. Study 2 validated these findings with data from 620 project managers, confirming mindfulness's positive impact on happiness and work engagement's mediating role. Surprisingly, we found that mindfulness-engagement-happiness pathway is stronger for those with controlled self-esteem and humility. Our findings contribute to mindfulness-to-meaning theory, which emphasizes an individual's ability to reframe experiences and sustain positive affect in challenging environments. We demonstrate that project managers with a grounded sense of self-esteem, who practice mindfulness, are better equipped to enhance their work engagement and happiness, thereby, managing their project teams better. Our findings also contribute by highlighting mindfulness as a metacognitive practice that deeply benefits project management contexts. We also offer practical implications for project managers in the Indian IT context towards improving well-being and productivity.
Purpose: The rapid technological evolution, student population diversity and stakeholder expectations are contemporary challenges of universities. Consequently, higher education institutions need to adopt a more flexible, data-oriented, and responsive quality management approach. TQM has been in existence for many years in the higher education industry, but the PDCA design-based quality cycles are typically back looking, not integrated and slow. The PDCA design-based quality cycles happen at the school and administrative unit levels. While learning analytics, predictive modelling, and process automation have been deployed regularly, they are mostly in piecemeal and narrow contexts. Methodology: This review systematically examines 74 peer-reviewed studies published between 2019 and 2025. These studies are indexed by Web of Science and Scopus. Above all, it explores how AI and TQM are increasingly converging. In short, this is happening at the intersection of higher education quality management. The study primarily aims to investigate key implementation issues, delineate AI-enabled quality practices, and identify opportunities of using AI in PDCA cycle. Findings: The lack of real-time feedback and adaptive response systems. Systemic disconnect in the data systems of the academic and administrative departments. Slow intervention due to inflexible PDCA cycles. These are the major perils identified in the review. Such challenges limit the agility of higher education institutions in responding to student needs, quality risks and institutional performance deficits. In response, this review suggests an Adaptive AI-Driven TQM Cycle which proposes to embed Real-time analytics, predictive modelling, automated interventions and continuous stakeholder feedback at every stage of PDCA. Recommendations: According to the proposed model, higher education leaders can make use of an evidence-based framework to develop an agile, transparent, and student-centred quality management system. The future implementation should consist of integrated institutional data systems, ethical governance of AI, building the capacity of staff, and ongoing evaluation of the quality improvement practices supported by AI. Enhanced student retention, satisfaction, responsiveness to institutions, and long-term competitiveness can be supported by this approach.
Purpose: Rapid population growth and urbanization, and the need for improved standards of living of citizens, have pushed governments across the globe to invest heavily in infrastructure projects. Evidence show that real transformation of rural communities and probability for boosting regional competitiveness hinges on the successful implementation of government infrastructure projects. WHY: Infrastructure expenditure impact significantly on job growth and other multiple related economic benefits. This study examined the role of procurement processes management on infrastructure project implementation in Ntoroko District Local Government. Methodology: The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design using quantitative approaches. A sample of 67 respondents was determined from the target population of 80 using the (Krejcie & Morgan, 1970). Data was collected using survey method to collect quantitative data and employed a structured self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions anchored on a five-point Linkert scale. Descriptive and inferential techniques were used for data analysis. Findings: Findings reveal a statistically positive and significant association between procurement process management and infrastructure project implementation (β =0.468, t=5.390, p-value = 0.000). Recommendations: Since the relationship between procurement process management and infrastructure project implementation was confirmed, the study recommends that procurement managers put more efforts on improving procurement process management particularly in project planning, supplier selection, and contract management. Agency theory displayed the power to explain the principal-agent relationships which expresses the imperative for procurement managers to constantly mitigate principal-agent problems through transparent bidding and contractor oversight. The study reminds policymakers to prioritize capacity building, digital procurement systems, and anti-corruption measures to optimize procurement efficiency and infrastructure outcomes in Uganda’s decentralized governance context.
Purpose: The increasing complexity of contemporary projects has intensified the need for a more integrated approach to aligning design, delivery, and oversight functions. However, architecture, project management, and governance are frequently treated as distinct domains, resulting in fragmentation, misalignment with organizational strategy, and diminished project performance. This study aims to develop a conceptual integration of these three domains to address gaps in coordination and strategic alignment within complex project environments. Methodology: This research adopts a conceptual and integrative methodology, grounded in a structured review and synthesis of interdisciplinary literature spanning architecture, project management, and governance. The study critically examines existing theoretical frameworks and professional practices to identify key constructs, interrelationships, and deficiencies, forming the basis for the development of an integrated conceptual model. Findings: The findings indicate that the separation of architecture, project management, and governance contributes to inefficiencies in decision-making, weak alignment between design intent and execution, and limited realization of strategic objectives. The study identifies governance as a central integrating mechanism that connects architectural design processes with project management practices and organizational strategy. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that applying a systems-based perspective enhances coordination across these domains and improves overall project performance. Recommendation: Based on these findings, the study proposes a unified conceptual framework that emphasizes alignment, interdependence, and structured governance across the project lifecycle. It recommends the adoption of integrated governance structures, the incorporation of systems thinking into project and architectural practices, and the alignment of decision-making processes to ensure coherence between design, execution, and strategy. These recommendations offer practical and theoretical contributions to advancing project governance and improving outcomes in complex and multidisciplinary project settings.
Project value is increasingly recognized as a subjective and dynamic phenomenon. However, the role of project actors in interpreting value remains underexplored in project management literature. This paper investigates actors’ subjective interpretation of definitions of value in the uncertain context of circular projects. Through three Dutch case studies and one co-creation workshop, we adopt a micro-level actor sensemaking approach to reveal that value is shaped by individual beliefs and expectations. We identify two aggregate dimensions of value types: value-as-beliefs (personal, moral, symbolic) and value-as-outcomes (instrumental, economic, environmental). Our findings demonstrate that tensions between beliefs- and outcomes-driven logic (e.g. moral versus cost), and between long- and short-term perspectives, influence actors’ engagement and project dynamics. This study contributes to project value literature by showing that actor sensemaking is crucial for understanding value in circular projects. Additionally, it broadens value discourse within circular economy literature, highlighting values beyond the Triple Bottom Line (TBL), offering insights into how project management and actor sensemaking can help address barriers.
Although value co-creation is often considered as achieving planned project outcomes, the impact of conflicting values-as-beliefs on those outcomes remains underexplored. A beliefs-rooted value conflict occurs when project actors hold competing beliefs about what is right or desirable to do, such that realising one constrains or undermines the other. This paper explores how a beliefs-rooted value conflict manifests in project processes and shapes project outcomes using the Fosen Wind project – a contested wind energy project in Norway. Adopting a valuation lens, we trace how actors’ evaluative stances produce divergent engagements and practices, constituting an ongoing conflict process that shapes short- and long-term outcomes. We find a specific temporal dynamic: beliefs-rooted oppositions repeatedly deferred rather than resolved intensify across project stages, producing long-term legitimacy fragility despite achieving short-term delivery robustness. Our study shows that identifying value-conflicts’ true nature and addressing them accordingly is key to creating value for involved actors.
Projectification is increasingly understood as a multilevel phenomenon. Yet there are few contributions that analyze how projectification on different levels intersect over time. This article presents an empirical analysis of firms operating in the project-based field of offshore rig construction in Norway in the period 1970-2000. It combines perspectives from business history, institutional theory and projectification research, and proposes a framework for analyzing the macro-micro dynamics of projectification. The analysis shows (1) how firm-level projectification was contingent on the institutional environment: on regulation, norms of competitiveness, and ideas of project governance; but also (2) that firm-level experiences and projectification fed back into the institutions, provoking macro-level projectification.
The growing reliance on projects as a mode of organizing places employees under increasing pressures. Drawing on an interpretative case study and adopting a multilevel perspective, this paper explores why employees working in a multi-project organization experience work overload. Our findings identify three interdependent drivers of work overload: a lack of human resource slack (permanent organization level), the temporal nature of project work (temporary organization level), and blurred boundaries between work and life (individual level). This study contributes to project management research by 1) offering a multilevel account that explains work overload as the outcome of interconnected mechanisms, 2) extending our understanding of the autonomy paradox by showing how flexibility, when embedded in project-based work, can paradoxically sustain work overload, and 3) revisiting the role of slack in sustaining both performance and employee well-being.
While research shows that projects enable sustainability transitions, a major gap remains in understanding how new technologies, initiated through multiple projects, are integrated into incumbent sociotechnical systems to drive these transitions. This study examines the integration of variable renewable energy (VRE)-based power generation technologies into Bangladesh's electricity grid. We suggest that a lead systems integrator organisation in the owner-operator domain occupies a pivotal role in sustainability transition pathways through two distinct yet interconnected and mutually reinforcing processes of alteration and alignment. Systems integration alteration processes modify the technological, actor, and institutional dimensions of the incumbent electricity system, enabling the organisation and integration of multiple grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects over time across their system lifecycle. Systems integration alignment processes ensure the stable, reliable, and sustained integration of solar PV projects. We propose a Systems Integration for Transitions (SIT) framework to show how a lead organisation must dynamically balance the need for alteration processes that drive change in the existing system with alignment processes that prioritise stability and reliability. Together, these SIT processes support the integration of grid-connected solar PV projects in ways that reconfigure the electricity system towards sustainability transitions whilst maintaining stability and reliability.
Purpose: Design scientists, philosophers of science, and project designers hold mixed views on evaluating participatory design research, projects, processes, and outcomes. We argue that design science research produces varied contributions, including theories, methods, and artefacts. From a critical realist perspective, evaluation emphasizes mechanisms-based explanations. This paper examines the role of mechanisms in design science research and shows how studying them enhances statistical approaches for causal inference. It distinguishes statistical from causal inference; discusses mechanisms and mechanism-based explanations; mechanism quantification; mechanisms in explaining individual actions; and mechanisms in explaining outcomes. Drawing lessons from an empathetic participatory design process, it illustrates how design science studies can be situated within critical realism. Materials and Methods: This study adopts design science research, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. It includes an extensive literature review and uses empirical statistical data from mechanisms observed in participatory design processes involving prototyped citizen incident reporting applications. Data collection employed qualitative repertory grids with potential citizen users; constructs were then incorporated into a quantitative structured questionnaire for empathetic prototype testing with designers. Prototype evaluation follows the Realist Evaluation model of Context-Mechanism-Outcome Configuration (CMOc), which explains how and why interventions work by analyzing Contexts (conditions), Mechanisms (activated forces), and Outcomes (intended or unintended results). Findings: Inferentially, co-designed artifact features show a causal-mechanism relationship to perception (sig.=0.397) and projection (sig.=0.222), but not to understanding (sig.=0.177). Significant causal interrelationships exist among situation awareness constructs. There are also significant relationships between perception and action (sig.=0.382), comprehension and action (sig.=0.312), and projection and action (sig.=0.450). Relationships involving situation awareness constructs, PAL, and e-government artifact adoption were not tested. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: Informed by Personal Constructs Theory (PCT) and Situational Awareness, which view individuals as scientists forming bipolar mental frameworks to interpret and predict the world. The paper advances debates on rigor and relevance in design science research, arguing that a critical realist lens balances rigor (via statistical inference) and relevance (via problem-solving prototypes). Researchers may treat context variables as explicit or implicit ceteris paribus conditions and explore additional causal relationships based on design and evaluation contexts.
This research delves into the evolving landscape of project management (PM), with a specific focus on the perspectives and insights of the next generation of professionals poised to lead the field. The article investigates the competencies deemed essential for future PM professionals, as perceived by Gen Z within the evolving context of the modern workplace. While existing literature highlights generational differences in workplace expectations and values, current research often lacks global scope and comprehensive focus on project competencies. This study employs a large and diverse international sample (N = 755) to examine how Gen Z perceives PM competencies, using contemporary trends as AI, emotional competences, professional mobility and diversity as predictors. The main contribution is a fresh perspective, compared to original theories. Our interdisciplinary approach and global survey created the model-based perspectives and attitudes of the next generation of professionals in the PM field, providing the competence predictors based on today's trends. The main predictors are Emotional intelligence (EI) impact on project work and Artificial intelligence (AI) application on projects. The findings advance the competence-based theoretical framework and provides insights into how organizations can create supportive environments that align with the values and motivations of the emerging workforce of project managers and leaders and suggest how PM education and competency standards should evolve. Further, the findings provide evidence for researchers seeking to develop new theories and models that reflect the changing project environment.
Although public projects carry significant societal stakes, systematic assessments of the value they generate remain limited. Project research has expanded beyond efficiency-based criteria, yet it often emphasizes organizational and stakeholder perspectives, while public administration scholarship focuses on collective societal value, with limited attention to projects. To reconcile project and public value, this essay draws on four schools of public value theory: Public value management, Public value failure, Public sphere domain, and Public service logic. It shows how public projects create, destroy, contest, distribute, and realize value over time, highlighting that success depends not only on project value but also on legitimacy, political authorization, and stakeholder cocreation. The essay contributes by integrating public value into project value theory, reframing performance in societal terms, and articulating an agenda bridging project studies and public administration. It offers researchers and practitioners a lens for evaluating public projects amid growing societal expectations.
