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.
•Governance of Projects link projects with their permanent organisation to generate value.•Governance of Projects (GoP) spans the entire value process.•Five elements of GoP have been identified as central for value generation.•The network of links between the elements of GoP is a driver of value generation.•Types of links between elements and between domains are context-dependent.
To succeed business around renewables and sustainability often need new types of business models. Business models are typically considered from the viewpoint of a focal firm, whereas renewables and ...sustainability often require a broader, system perspective. We explore how firms together in the energy business ecosystems develop their business models to facilitate change in the logic of the industry. Earlier studies on ecosystems have looked at the role of technical interdependencies in ecosystems, whereas we use a business model lens to study collaboration between companies. We use three cases from the distributed energy ecosystems to illustrate how different kinds of mechanisms trigger closer collaboration, sustainability and increased overall value creation. Our findings pinpoint the importance of identifying the factors driving the business models of the collaborating firms to facilitate system transitions and change in the logic of an industry.
Private investors can help governments overcome budget constraints in infrastructure procurement and to increase the quality of infrastructure assets. However, private investors' engagement can ...result in inflexibility and high costs for both taxpayers and the users of the infrastructure service. Australia and Canada are forerunners in building successful collaborations with private investors in the infrastructure space. In a three-year project, the authors attempted to get public infrastructure owners still relying on traditional infrastructure procurement to collaborate with institutional investors for the long term. This paper documents the insights received during this journey, providing lessons for countries considering brokering direct investment deals.
ABSTRACT
Infrastructure projects where many partners and technologies must work together to produce a functioning and sustainable outcome are often challenging. Australia, Canada and UK are among the few countries that have actively been rethinking infrastructure procurement. In these countries, the private sector has been given a bigger share in infrastructure projects, and this trend is spreading to other countries. The authors contribute to the literature by investigating infrastructure owners' and investors' motives and challenges to engage in closer collaboration in a country using traditional procurement methods. They identify problems in building successful collaboration and suggest ways to overcome these challenges.
Sustainability involves multiple environmental, technical, social and economic factors, and such complex analysis requires systemic solutions. Delivery models are key to achieving system benefits and ...enhancing sustainable development in infrastructure investments. They define the phases of a project, incentive structures, risk sharing and the relationships among the actors in it. They are usually developed early in the project and determine the project dynamics and outcomes. We compared traditional delivery models with systemic ones. We identified and illustrated elements that differ between them through two cases. The contribution is an increased understanding of how systemic infrastructure delivery models can adapt to changes in their environment. We also found that sustainability is vastly under-researched in systemic infrastructure delivery, but that its potential to deliver benefits to PPP infrastructures is substantial.
Private sector engagement in infrastructure procurement and ownership can have benefits for both investors and society. However, a significant challenge for authorities is determining when private ...sector participation provides value for money. Private investors may demand high returns on their investments even in projects with seemingly low risks. Governments with good credit ratings and access to lower cost capital may view private investors overprice in comparison to the level of risk they take. This paper examines whether the financing premiums (in addition to the cost of state financing) of four public-private partnership road projects in Finland are reasonable relative to the risks borne by private partners, using long time series of actual data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to mostly use actual ex-post data on project costs over an extended period to evaluate whether the government overpays private investors. Our analysis indicates that the financing cost of the four projects is on average 201 basis points higher than the financing cost the government pays on its debt. We conclude that this premium is reasonable compensation for the risk the private investors bear in the projects. This finding has implications for selecting the most effective procurement policy for road projects.
•We use long time series of actual financial data from PPPs to calculate the financing cost of PPPs.•We conclude that the extra financing cost of the PPPs is a justified compensation for the risk transfer.
•Communication, treatment, education, and training in medicine can use virtual and augmented reality to increase efficiency.•Identified 4 unique design elements, 12 design positions, and 3 common ...design themes of business models for start-ups.•Virtual and augmented developers can use medicine to expand business.
New technologies are at the heart of industry transformation. Virtual and augmented reality companies provide fundamentally new ways of communication, treatment, education, and specialist training within the medical industry. However, business models for new ventures that target the medical industry have received scant attention within academic research. Using a multiple case study approach, we analyze how virtual and augmented reality firms create value for their customers in the medical industry. In all, we have studied eight companies that offer different types of solutions for their target segments. The results of the analysis are four design elements consisting of twelve positions and three design themes that define the similarities and differences between the business models for the companies. We contribute to existing research within the field by analyzing business models of the investigated companies using a design approach, classifying the virtual and augmented reality companies, and analyzing the role of new technology in the development of the medical industry.
PurposeBusiness accelerators have recently received increasing attention as important cogs in business ecosystem development. However, their exact role in the ecosystem is not yet well known, ...especially outside the IT sector. The purpose of this study is, therefore, twofold: to determine the position of life science accelerators in the business ecosystem and the attributes of support for companies and to identify key features of the life science accelerators that contribute to the change in business ecosystems.Design/methodology/approachThe authors offer an exploratory case study of five life science business accelerators and analyze the main factors affecting the companies and the whole business ecosystem. The authors build upon the scarce literature on business accelerators and consider a new type of accelerator that specializes in life science projects and study its role in the transformation and evolution of the life science industry.FindingsThe authors have defined the role and key parameters of life science accelerators that influence the existing business ecosystems: (1) cooperation with other regions and countries, (2) development of entrepreneurial skills among participants of the business accelerators program and (3) a project on demand-based approach.Originality/valueThe key parameters of the life science accelerators allow to concentrate these efforts on the activities that are most demanded by the market. Business accelerators can increase the created value for other program participants.
Business models in project business Wikström, Kim; Artto, Karlos; Kujala, Jaakko ...
International journal of project management,
12/2010, Volume:
28, Issue:
8
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Recent management and business research has demonstrated the importance of business models for value creation and company performance. So far, extant research on business models has not investigated ...the particular requirements, characteristics and combinations of business models in project business. This paper seeks to fill this void. The paper reports on findings from an exploratory multiple case study comprising six project-based firms operating in such industries as shipbuilding, telecom, and power systems. 19 business models were identified and compared through a framework utilizing elements of business models. The identified business models are further grouped into three categories based on the organizational entity. The paper points out the diversity of business models in project business and their inclination to span organizational levels. The results demonstrate the importance of addressing the combination of business models across organizational boundaries.
Purpose
This study aims to identify how the personal social capital of opinion leaders contributes to the market adoption of start-up innovations.
Design/methodology/approach
A design-oriented case ...study is undertaken with a start-up company focusing on the development and commercialization of innovations in the veterinary market. Based on a literature review, the authors examine the social capital in value creation and the role of opinion leaders and use qualitative methodology and semi-structured in-depth interviews to collect data.
Findings
The adoption of innovations could start with opinion leaders that will later share their experience with other members of the professional community. In turn, social capital allows for creating a collaboration between start-ups and leaders based on a number of specific parameters.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to marketing literature by providing new insights regarding collaboration between start-ups and opinion leaders. The collaboration between opinion leaders and start-ups could be implemented not only in the veterinary industry but also in other industries with minor adaptations. Authors demonstrate how the social capital of external stakeholders may be used as a resource of the company for business development. The main contribution of this study is to demonstrate that social capital could be used as a parameter for the adoption of innovations. The key parameters that allow creating cooperation between start-up and opinion leader have been identified.
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