The front-end of projects: a systematic literature review and structuring

A cross-national comparison of public project benefits management practices – the effectiveness of benefits management frameworks in application

“…A common measure of project 'success' is the set of 'iron triangle' components of cost, time and quality rather than the impacts or long-run benefits that are obtained from the resulting change (Serra and Kunc 2015). Although sometimes recognising that key project actors should be measured on long-term strategic objectives instead of short-term tactical performance (Hughes et al 2017;Williams et al 2019), the burgeoning literature in Production Planning & Control on programme and project management (e.g., see, Cano and Sáenz 2003;Ollus et al 2011;Ojiako et al 2015 etc), and conversation in the journal is generally as focused on achieving short-term project targets as long-term benefits management (BM).…”

Executives’ Decision Processes at the Front End of Major Projects: The Role of Context and Experience in Value Creation

“…The dominant focus of project management research has been the evaluation of potential projects and the management of the project portfolio (Williams et al, 2019). Such a focus is justified, as companies implement their strategies and create financial value through projects (Serra & Kunc, 2015).…”

“…Such a focus is justified, as companies implement their strategies and create financial value through projects (Serra & Kunc, 2015). This research has yielded well-defined normative project management principles and best practices, recommended across different types of projects and contexts (Williams et al, 2019).…”

“…This assumption about new project selection processes may hold well in the context of the public sector and industries where outcomes are highly certain. However, recent literature reviews suggest that the assumption is not valid across all types of projects and contexts (Williams et al, 2019). For example, in contexts where exploration of the unknown and highly uncertain (March, 1991) is required to identify high-risk, high-reward project opportunities, the processes of opportunity identification and evaluation may look quite different from the normative project management guidelines.…”

“…In high-risk, high-reward contexts, executive decision makers are not the project approvers at the end of the search process but play a central role as the opportunity identifiers and evaluators much earlier in the pre-project front end. Research on the role of executives at the front end is scant (Eling & Herstatt, 2017; Sergi, 2012; Takey & Carvalho, 2016; Williams et al, 2019); yet, their role at this stage is recognized as central because the project opportunities they identify and evaluate have such a significant value-creating impact (Morris, 2009; Samset & Volden, 2016).…”