Organizing inter-firm project governance – a contextual model for empirical investigation

Abstract

Purpose

The management of major inter-firm projects requires a coherent, holistic governance framework to be effective. However, most existing models of project governance are limited to a narrow selection of contractual, structural or procedural aspects, and further neglect contextual factors, such as key characteristics of a project and its partners. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper proposes an integrative analytical model of inter-firm project governance, building upon contingency theory and drawing from established constructs rooted in organization theory.

Findings

The paper aims to integrate two largely distinct streams of research and synthesize the respective constitutive dimensions of project governance into a coherent conceptual model. Further, interrelationships with contextual factors, such as project-related and partner-related characteristics, and project performance are discussed.

Originality/value

The proposed model purposefully merges two complementary streams of project governance research. As the model further provides clear contextual factors, it strengthens an emerging stream of project research by systematically examining external influences of project organizing. Future research may utilize this model and the suggested operationalization for each of the constructs as a basis to empirically investigate the design and effectiveness of governance regimes of major projects.

Citation

von Danwitz, S. (2018), "Organizing inter-firm project governance – a contextual model for empirical investigation", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 144-157. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-07-2017-0072