PurposeThe growing presence of projectification is affecting more than its cradle, the industry, characterizing it as a broader phenomenon than initially envisioned. This study aims to provide a literature review on the concept.Design/methodology/approachThe sampling process includes articles from two databases, Web of Science and Scopus, and a backward snowballing sampling through the references, entailing the analysis of 103 documents. The publications were analyzed applying bibliometric, content and semantic analyses both manually and with the assistance of VOSViewer, Bibliometrix, NVivo11 and Tropes v.8.FindingsThe results identified 55 definitions of projectification. The study synthesizes them in five levels of analysis to capture their main distinctive aspects, as follows: (1) Private Organizations; (2) Public Sector; (3) Academy; (4) Individuals (work and private life); and (5) Society. The paper concludes by depicting factors as general effects, negative effects, tensions, funding and knowledge, embedded within each level of analysis.Originality/valueThis work sheds light on the evolution of projectification concept, presents a multilevel analysis of its consequences and brings forward the related topics, which still require further investigation.

The authors conducted a systematic literature review of articles that described projects focused on resolving social issues, frequently associated with the terms base/bottom of the pyramid (BoP), social entrepreneurship and social innovation. Projects are classified accordingly to the source of the idea (top down or bottom up) and the project type (commercial, creative, assistance, collaboration, entrepreneurial or cooperative). They are also compared considering target population, socio-economic context, geography, motivation, critical success factors (CSF), enablers and barriers. The results indicate that most projects are top down, creative or commercial, connected to social innovation or social entrepreneurship approaches, implemented on European countries, aiming at solving local issues related to the management of rural and urban territories, healthcare, education or energy. The themes mostly associated with social projects are territory management and transition to renewable energies. BoP-related projects are almost inexistent, and so are projects aiming at povertyrelated issues. Nonetheless, the CSF encountered in these projects are very similar to the ones reported in BoP literature, mainly including legitimacy with local communities, network building, strategic partnerships, development of local capabilities, and access to resourcesfinancial, technological, human and material.