There exists little research into how value is effectively generated by temporary projects from the wider perspective of a permanent organisation. This paper investigates empirically how ‘Governance of Projects’ – the way in which a single, permanent organisation identifies, creates, and subsequently harvests value through multiple projects – occurs in four private-sector case companies. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with a wide range of employees and from internal operational documents. These data were codified and analysed as evidence of the types and intensity of links between organisational elements. The results illuminate the complex interplay of links that are imperative if the permanent organisation is to derive value from its projects, and shows that these links are context-dependent and vary between organisations. It is that the links exist, and not what the type of link is, that matters most. That these links extend beyond the project’s execution is critical for maximising value. The paper demonstrates the advantages of adopting an organisational perspective in order to properly understand how Governance of Projects generates value within a permanent organisation.

Introduction

The role played by projects in reaching corporate goals continues to expand and intensify (Lewis et al., 2002; Schoper et al., 2018). Accordingly, enterprises are developing new structures and processes for ensuring that projects and programmes generate a discernible value for the base organisation; in short, they are instituting what has been termed “Governance of Projects” (Müller and Lecoeuvre, 2014; Riis, 2013). However, little research has so far been carried out into the value generated by projects as seen from the wider perspective of a permanent organisation (Maniak et al., 2014). Almost without exception research has concerned itself with phenomena occurring during the operational lifespan of projects (Klakegg and Artto, 2008; Müller, 2011). Structures and processes are not studied as parts of a whole, but in ‘balkanised’ (Morris, 2011) isolation from one another.