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Achieving strategic benefits from project investments: Appoint a project owner

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  • Meredith, Jack R.
  • Zwikael, Ofer

Abstract

Even though we have gotten better at meeting the iron triangle of cost, time, and scope, many projects still do not achieve the strategic benefits—especially those that are nonmonetary—desired in most contemporary projects. Given that no one is specifically accountable for delivering these benefits, it should be no surprise that these projects are largely unsuccessful. We consider multiple possible candidates for this role of accountability—the CEO, the project manager, the sponsor, and the program manager—and find none of them acceptable, thereby necessitating the formalization of a new role: a project owner. The project owner would be accountable for delivering the strategic benefits desired from each project. In this article, we describe the responsibilities of the project owner at each phase of the project, the sources for candidates to fulfill this role, and the training needed for project owners to find success. We conclude with a case study of an organization that has taken this route and discuss the advantages and challenges that resulted from its strategic organizational change initiative.

Suggested Citation

  • Meredith, Jack R. & Zwikael, Ofer, 2020. "Achieving strategic benefits from project investments: Appoint a project owner," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 61-71.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:63:y:2020:i:1:p:61-71
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2019.09.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kaplan, Andreas & Haenlein, Michael, 2014. "Collaborative projects (social media application): About Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 57(5), pages 617-626.
    2. Krotov, Vlad, 2015. "Bridging the CIO-CEO gap: It takes two to tango," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 275-283.
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    Cited by:

    1. Avinash Kumar Singh & Devendra Kumar Pathak & Sabyasachi Patra, 2023. "An integrated systems thinking approach for achieving sustainability in project‐based organizations," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 501-535, May.
    2. Soltani, Elham, 2020. "Business and project strategy alignment: ICT project success in Iran," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    3. González-Varona, José M. & Martín-Cruz, Natalia & Acebes, Fernando & Pajares, Javier, 2023. "How public funding affects complexity in R&D projects. An analysis of team project perceptions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

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