Social value from megaprojects and their governance

Megaprojects reside in complex, pluralistic, multi-stakeholder inter-organizational contexts, each with different aspirations, objectives, and expectations of the value to be created. Any effective governance framework aims to establish a process that steers its project to realize the benefits of the project and deliver value for its key stakeholders. While value creation is expected for all, conflicting objectives and perceptions around what value is to be created, when, and for whom could hinder efforts to create fair and equitable value. Tensions are likely to surface where there are multiple stakeholders involved, and certain stakeholders could be given priority over others in value delivery. Oftentimes, social value could be sidelined, by such preferential selection, if the projects are not governed properly. Thus, this chapter draws upon recent governance, stakeholder value, and megaproject literature to discuss how stakeholders make sense of value, beyond mere economic and financial value. We look into how megaproject governance might support the creation of social value. These multi-stakeholder value perspectives are important in supporting approaches to megaproject governance and decision-making with the intention of creating, negotiating, and delivering value fairly to various stakeholders.