Several studies have investigated projectification and its effects at the firm level, but the macroeconomic implications of project work have scarcely been considered. This paper analyzes the macroeconomic effects of firm-level projectification. We study the interlinkages between different sectors by extending standard input-output modeling and analyze the static and dynamic effects of projectification. The results indicate that projectification can have positive macroeconomic implications for production/innovativeness, employment and income that differ across economic sectors, but projectification can also have negative impacts. As a major implication, the use of temporary forms of organizing cannot be recommended without reproach but depends on the economic sector and sectoral interdependencies.

Introduction

۲۰ years ago, the term ‘projectification’ was introduced to describe an important change in organizational structures and processes. Using the case of the car manufacturer Renault, Midler (1995) portrayed how a quantitative increase in project work accompanied by qualitative changes in the functioning of new product development resulted in increased primacy of project work throughout the company. Ekstedt et al. (1999) and Powell (2001) placed projectification in a larger context to describe the more general transformation of firms from industrial to post- (or neo-) industrial organizations. This context includes related developments such as globalization, servitization, knowledgeization, and digitization (Lundin et al., 2015). Despite some criticism of the actual extent of projectification and its degree of novelty (Hodgson, 2004; Cicmil et al., 2009), the literature generally agrees on the positive aspects and the increasing prevalence of project work. Projects as temporary organizations contribute to making firms more flexible, innovative and capable of dealing with unique, risky and complex tasks (Hobday, 2000; Keegan and Turner, 2002; Whitley, 2006; Bakker, 2010; Hanisch and Wald, 2014; Lundin et al., 2015; Spanuth and Wald, 2017; Manning, 2017).