To read this content please select one of the options below:

Increasing project benefits by project opportunity exploitation

Pernille Eskerod (Department of Business and Management, Webster University – Vienna Campus, Wien, Austria)
Karyne Ang (Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, School of Systems, Management and Leadership, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia)
Erling S. Andersen (Department of Leadership and Organizational Management, BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway)

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business

ISSN: 1753-8378

Article publication date: 5 March 2018

1260

Abstract

Purpose

Exploitation of project opportunities may bring more benefits than stipulated in the initial business case, and even stakeholder benefits that nobody thought of at the project initiation. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a new research area for megaprojects, i.e. the phenomenon of project opportunity exploitation as a means to increase the project benefits.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a single case study of an infrastructure megaproject, i.e. the construction and operation of a 50+ years old American bridge. Data cover information regarding 60+ years old historical documents, newspaper articles, interviews and video-recordings.

Findings

The findings of this paper are as follows: exploiting all opportunities created by the project and increasing project benefits require involvement from many categories of stakeholders; stakeholders get more involved in exploiting the opportunities created by the project when they are proud of the project; for some of the project-related opportunities, it might take a long time before they can be exploited (and related benefits achieved); and celebrating achievements of the project stimulate stakeholders to exploit opportunities created by the project and contribute to further project benefits.

Research limitations/implications

Only few interviews were conducted. Interviewees were biased as all were very proud of the bridge. This is a single case study of a “rare species”, not representing most megaprojects.

Practical implications

To enhance project opportunity exploitation and increased benefits, the project owner (team) must continuously communicate about the project, also after project execution.

Originality/value

This study contributes to a gap within the literature on the phenomenon “project opportunity exploitation”. This is a very rich case study and of a “rare species”.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

A previous version of this paper was accepted and presented within the Strategic Interest Group: Project Organizing, Special Topic: Managing Major and Mega Projects: Opening up for new Research Eras at the EURAM Conference, Glasgow, 2017.

Citation

Eskerod, P., Ang, K. and Andersen, E.S. (2018), "Increasing project benefits by project opportunity exploitation", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 35-52. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-07-2017-0089

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles