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Introduction

We have organized this Special Issue to honor the memory of our dear colleague, Professor Yvonne Schoper. She served as a Professor for International Project Management at HTW University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, Associate Professor at Tongji University in Shanghai, Reykjavik University in Iceland, and Technologico de Monterrey in Mexico. Throughout her career, Professor Schoper focused on projectification, the projectification process, and its impact on society (Schoper, 2018). Through this Special Issue, we aim to pay tribute to her profound commitment to the well-being of those around her, her colleagues, and society as a whole, by promoting a more socially responsible approach to project management.

 

Conceptual Background

Projects play an instrumental role in achieving sustainable development goals and generating value for society (Drouin & Turner, 2022; Kujala et al., 2022; The World Economic Forum, 2020). At the same time, project research has increasingly highlighted the importance of stakeholders beyond the core project organization boundary, emphasizing their interests, inputs, and resources in generating social value through projects (Di Maddaloni & Sabini, 2022; Vuorinen & Martinsuo, 2019). This shift in focus has led to criticism of the conventional view on project stakeholders, which primarily aligns stakeholders with organizational goals as defined by managerial authority (Bondy & Charles, 2018; Miles, 2017). Consequently, there is a growing scrutiny of the relationship between project management and the creation of social value. In this context, 'social value' refers to the process through which projects generate positive outcomes for a broader array of stakeholders beyond the core project organization and the key actors involved in project realization (Schoper, 2018).

Defining project social value isn't straightforward and lacks a universal definition. This ambiguity partly arises from the concept of project value, which manifests differently across domains (Zerjav, 2021), levels (individual, organizational, or societal), and among various stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle (e.g., Martinsuo & Killen, 2014; Eskerod & Ang, 2017; Flyvbjerg, 2017; Kivilä et al., 2017). Another crucial distinction lies in perceiving value either as the 'worth' of the project and its deliverables or as 'ideals and beliefs' regarding what constitutes what is good and right in a project (Martinsuo et al., 2019). As a result, a project's social value evolves dynamically throughout its lifecycle (Mulholland et al., 2019), exhibiting multiple dimensions and forms, particularly concerning stakeholders and their needs (Doloi, 2018). Hence, the creation of social value in a project is often intricate and emergent due to interactions among multiple stakeholders (Gil, 2023).

The collaborative creation of social value with stakeholders, involving cooperation (Di Domenico et al., 2009), value co-creation (Barraket and Loosemore, 2018), and participatory design (Robertson, & Simonsen, 2012), requires extending the scope of value creation and distribution beyond the conventional understanding of project outputs and outcomes. However, achieving joint creation of social value poses a challenge, as projects often encounter difficulties in delivering promised benefits and gaining necessary support and approval from the communities in which they operate (Babaei et al., 2023; Derakshan, 2020). Furthermore, the social value perspective emphasizes a comprehensive view across social strata, encompassing vulnerable and disempowered stakeholders who often go unnoticed within conventional stakeholder analytical frameworks and governance structures. Consequently, projects frequently struggle to contribute to inclusive processes of joint value creation, where multiple stakeholders collaborate for the mutual benefit of all involved parties (Gil & Fu, 2022).

The challenge of joint value creation among diverse stakeholders with disparate needs and expectations goes beyond simply motivating cooperation; it involves addressing problems of collective action (Birdoux & Stoelhorst, 2016). These issues often arise due to a tension between short-term self-interests of individual actors and the long-term collective interest, embodied in the stance of 'I won't act until others do' (Birdoux & Stoelhorst, 2022; Van Lange et al., 2013). Within the intricate social system of a project, a landscape emerges rife with conflicting opinions, divergent interests, and contention among stakeholders (Smyth et al., 2018). Furthermore, power disparities exist among stakeholders, with some wielding considerably more influence than others, while certain stakeholders remain unnoticed until exceptional circumstances bring them to prominence. These dynamics and power imbalances can lead to social deprivation, injustice, and inequality, thereby hindering the equitable creation and distribution of social value across all social strata, often resulting in the concentration of value among the most influential actors (Aaltonen & Kujala, 2010; van Stekelenburg & Klandermans, 2013; Vuorinen & Martinsuo, 2019). Numerous instances exemplify these challenges: the disruption and displacement of communities due to large-scale infrastructure projects; privacy infringements and mass surveillance resulting from digital transformation developments; pollution, health risks, and environmental degradation caused by industrial facilities and extractive industries; the financial burdens associated with mega-events; or the disturbance of local culture and identity due to urbanization and tourism developments. In cases like these, numerous projects have encountered vehement resistance from disempowered stakeholder groups, including local communities, authorities, NGOs, advocacy groups, and special interest groups (Lehtinen et al., 2023).

It is however project clients and owners who are in the unique position of influence to derive and communicate ideas of value for the project (Winch & Leiringer, 2016). Although they increasingly demonstrate commitment to creating social value for a wider spectrum of stakeholders, there should be no one single voice that can argue for the social value but a multiplicity of different voices- loud and quiet, major and minor. Yet, a managerialist bias persists by implicitly foregrounding organizational elites as decision-makers who act in the best interest of all stakeholders (Scherer & Palazzo, 2007). 

Despite the growing recognition of the significance of social value, it remains underrepresented and inadequately defined in project management studies, especially if compared to the economic and environmental dimensions of value (Doloi, 2018). This disparity underscores the need for a more nuanced understanding of the nature of social value and the processes and mechanisms involved in creating, capturing, and retaining social value in projects. A more profound analysis is essential to elucidate how projects of various sizes and types generate and sustain social value, or conversely, they fail to do so. This involves empowering a broader range of stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle to integrate social value into established project management practices and outcomes. By doing so, understanding the creation of social value becomes and core aspect of projects and their management, rather than a mere performative feature.

 

 

Aim & Scope

This Special Issue Call for Papers seeks multidisciplinary approaches to enriching our understanding of social value in projects.  We are especially interested in finding new theoretical and methodological avenues to understand the processes and mechanisms in which social value is created, captured, and retained in projects. We are also interested in contributions that enhance our understanding of how projects address broader societal needs and their different stakeholders. We invite submissions across a diversity of theoretical and methodological traditions captured by research on project and their management We invite submissions that investigate research questions such as, but not limited to:

Social purpose

• How can the notion of social value reconcile different and often competing public, private, and not-for-profit interests?
• How are ‘disempowered’ or ‘marginalized’ stakeholders, such as local communities, NGOs, or the general public, engaged (or disengaged) in value creation activities in projects?
• How can projects achieve social value through enhanced inclusivity and equity that are sustained over time?

Governance and policy considerations

• Through what kinds of mechanisms, practices, tactics, strategies, and forms of governance are stakeholder engagement and inclusion practiced in and around project organizations, to create and distribute value?
•  Considerations around legal and ethical frameworks, their role, similarities and differences. Which individual, organizational, or societal factors and conditions enable, constrain, or disable effective social value creation in projects as temporary organisational settings? 
• How does social value differ across different types of project organizations (project-based or project-supported organizations)?
• What is the role of technologies or transition policies in creating and governing social value?

This special issue aspires to shed light on three key aspects of social value in projects: value creation, value capturing and value retention. This requires a strategic approach to social value planning and delivery, considering long-term impacts on specific project actors and the broader society. We aspire to learn what it takes for projects to truly create social value in the sense of ‘not leaving anyone behind’. 

We especially welcome novel perspectives and theories that bridge different disciplines and discourses through collaboration with, and learning from, research fields outside project studies, such as political science, public administration, policy studies, and evaluation research. Therefore, interdisciplinary submissions are particularly encouraged. However, contributions should primarily focus on issues related to stakeholders and social value of projects. The level of analysis can range from macro to micro, or address the links between different levels, as well as the relationships between stakeholders and/or the focal project organization. All kinds of rigorous methodological choices are welcome, and we particularly encourage authors to consider utilizing underutilized approaches in project management (e.g., ethnographic research) or novel sources of data such as digital social media and other exchanges. Lastly, we also invite studies that particularly give voice to ‘disempowered’ stakeholders (e.g., as units of analysis and source of collected data).

 

Guest Editors

Francesco Di Maddaloni, 
University College London, UK, 
[email protected]

Ata Babaei, 
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, 
[email protected]

Lauri Vuorinen, 
Tampere University, Finland, 
[email protected]

Vedran Zerjav, 
NTNU, Norway,
[email protected]

Nathalie Drouin,
ESG UQAM, Canada,
[email protected]

 

Submission Process

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available by clicking the button below.

Submit your paper here!

Author guidelines must be strictly followed.
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”. 
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

 

Key Deadlines

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 31 July 2024 
Paper Development Workshop (PDW): 30 May 2024
Closing date for PDW manuscripts submission: 20 May 2024
Prospect authors are invited to attend an online Paper Development Workshop (PDW) with the Editors. The full-day workshop will be held Thursday, the 30th of May 2024, and will serve to prepare authors for their final submission before the deadline on the 31st of July 2024. Please develop your paper as much as possible and forward it to Dr Francesco Di Maddaloni ([email protected]) by Monday 20th of May 2024.
Attendance is not compulsory but recommended. Authors with an already accepted proposal (submitted by the 31-03-2024), will be prioritized in the registration process. The PDW will play an important role in developing your work in accordance with Editors' expectations. Details and registration link for the PDW will be provided after the PDW manuscript submission on the 20th of May 2024.

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