Purchasing strategies and value creation in industrial turnkey projects

Circular Public Procurement through Integrated Contracts in the Infrastructure Sector

Public clients’ procurement strategies are central in facilitating innovation towards sustainability. In the infrastructure sector, the three main project activities—design, production, and maintenance—are traditionally not procured in an integrated way, which results in sub-optimizations and a lack of life cycle perspective. As project actors are accustomed to traditional, non-integrated forms of contract, implementing integrated contracts imposes fundamental changes to the interdependencies among actors, resources, and activities. This study analyzes the interfaces among key project actors and the related interdependencies across design, production, and maintenance in Design–Build–Maintain contracts, and initiates a discussion on how to manage these interdependencies when implementing integrated contracts. This study of circular public procurement (CPP) focused on three infrastructure projects using integrated contracting and applied the industrial network approach (INA) to analyze interdependencies in how they may influence innovation and sustainable development. The study found significant obstacles to clients obtaining the benefits of integrated contracting and concludes that understanding interdependencies is necessary to implement integrated contracts successfully. The study contributes to the construction management literature by adapting the INA to contracting, and to the CPP literature by providing empirical evidence of sustainability and circularity in infrastructure projects.

The Management of Values in Project Business: Adjusting Beliefs to Transform Project Practices and Outcomes

Project value is an important topic of debate in project studies, and previous research has identified challenges in value management. This article reveals the challenges of subjectivity, dynamics, and tensions stemming from multistakeholder involvement and competing values over the project life cycle. This research seeks solutions to the management of values by exploring values as beliefs to supplement their treatment as worth. Management of values is portrayed as an exercise in sensemaking, negotiation, and co-creation when adjusting beliefs to transform project practices and outcomes. A research agenda is proposed to cover the social and behavioral aspects of values in project studies.

Integrated algal biorefineries from process systems engineering aspects: A review

In the light of microalgae rich in proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, development of multi-product biorefinery from microalgae has become a promising approach towards commercialization of microalgae-based products. This review discusses an integrated algal biorefinery (IABR) based on a combination of four microalgae-to-products chains for the production of biofuels, biopower, and byproducts. Two systematic analytical approaches by life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic assessment (TEA) are used to quantify the economic and environmental benefits. From process systems engineering (PSE) aspects, the approach procedures include that (i) the engineering process model serves as the foundation for assessment, (ii) an IABR is generated via process design, simulation, and integration, and (iii) the multi-objective optimization of an IABR with respect to economic and environmental issues is addressed.

Strategic Value at the Front End of a Radical Innovation Program

Firms implement radical innovation programs to create strategic value. Ensuring the success of these programs may require involving the business network. This article pursues increased knowledge on strategic value in a radical innovation program and the means to promote readiness for value creation in the business network. A case study was implemented at the front end of a radical innovation program introducing intelligent technologies. The multilevel nature of strategic value is revealed, thereby offering a novel perspective on value-related research. Business, technical, solution, customer, and change readiness are introduced as requirements for implementing strategic value in the business network.

Impact of the PMOs' Roles on Project Performance

Organizations increasingly often set up project management offices (PMOs) in order to overcome the challenges of increased complexity and importance of projects, and thereby create value, but evidence for value creation, such as improved project performance, has remained scarce. This paper uses a sample of Finnish firms in order to evaluate the impact of PMO roles and processes on project performance. Using factor analysis and regressions, the authors show that the PMO's coordinator and trainer processes have a positive association with project performance. However, a PMO in the role of a strategy manager has a negative impact on project performance.

Implications of Network Relations for the Governance of Complex Projects

Our article aims to answer the call for studies on new perspectives of complex projects and their governance. We adopt the social network approach to investigate the implications of network relations for the governance of project networks. We analyze quantitative and qualitative data following two theoretical models: flow and coordination. Our results show how the supply, contractual, and information networks influence the governance of project networks. We contribute to the literature explaining the dependence of the project network governance to network relations. It is necessary to use different theoretical models to analyze the coordination and control of complex project networks.

Key dimensions of value creation ability of supply management

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensions of supply management that may contribute to its ability to create value. Based on previous literature, this study proposes that key supplier management (KSM), the strategic level of supply management and supplier relationship management (SRM) capabilities can be supply management factors that significantly influence its ability to create value.

Design/methodology/approach

The issue is examined using survey data collected in Finland, and the concepts are tested using regression analysis.

Findings

The results show that KSM, the strategic level of supply management and SRM capabilities are significant dimensions of value creation in supply management. The findings support the contemporary understanding of value in which firms endeavour to create value for the company, its customers and its suppliers.

Originality/value

Previously, value creation has received minor attention in supply chain management research. Although previous research clearly shows that strategic supply management plays a significant role in firms’ competitiveness and performance, its role and potential in value creation have been less studied. Thus, this study contributes by empirically examining the factors affecting the ability of a firm’s supply management to create value.

Selecting Success Criteria for Customer Solution Projects

Project firms are increasingly integrating tangible products and intangible services when building customer solutions aiming to increase firms' competitiveness. On the other hand, the efficient customer solutions increase firms' competitiveness only when the solution projects can utilize all of its performance potential. Efficient integration requires both the product and service oriented multi-dimensional success criteria and the context-specific performance measures. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the project professional's ability to create and prioritize the multidimensional success criteria for the customer solution projects. The results indicate that the project professionals are capable of prioritizing the success criteria for the customer solution projects. Conversely, the critical customer specific success criteria are not effectively used in the customer solution projects.

The Successful Delivery of Megaprojects: A Novel Research Method

Megaprojects are often associated with poor delivery performance and poor benefits realization. This article provides a method of identifying, in a quantitative and rigorous manner, the characteristics related to project management success in megaprojects. It provides an investigation of how stakeholders can use this knowledge to ensure more effective design and delivery for megaprojects. The research is grounded in 44 mega-projects and a systematic, empirically based methodology that employs the Fisher's exact test and machine learning techniques to identify the correlation between megaprojects’ characteristics and performance, paving the way to an understanding of their causation.

PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES FOR SUPPLIER INTEGRATION AND OPEN INNOVATION IN MATURE INDUSTRIES

The development and installation of new process equipment in production plants typically require strong collaborative efforts by a process firm and its equipment suppliers. However, existing knowledge about how such supplier integration and open innovation practices should be organized and managed is scarce. The purpose of this investigation is therefore to explore how process firms can organize and manage supplier integration and open innovation practices when developing and installing new process technology. By means of a literature review and a case study of two process firms, a lifecycle perspective on procurement is adopted. Our results show that the process firms utilize different interconnected cooperative procurement procedures in different stages of the equipment's lifecycle, in order to enhance integration both in buyer-supplier dyads and among the suppliers in the project network. The contributions of the paper are summarized and illustrated in a developed lifecycle-based procurement model that guides practitioners in organizing and managing supplier integration and open innovation practices.