Beyond the Island: The Rise of Project Ecosystems

Editors

• Samuel MacAulay, University of Queensland
• Llewellyn D. W. Thomas, University of Sydney
• Andrew Davies, University of Sussex

Description

Projects operate within complex ecosystems of interdependent actors, institutions, and relationships that shape value creation and capture far beyond traditional project boundaries. Rather than treating projects as isolated endeavors, this special issue examines how projects are shaped by and shape their broader contexts, addressing gaps in understanding contextual influences on project outcomes. Emerging challenges such as digital transformation, sustainability transitions, and global interconnectedness create new contextual complexities requiring both theoretical and practical attention.

The special issue seeks research that conceptualizes project ecosystems, explores governance and orchestration mechanisms, and investigates temporal and evolutionary dynamics. Contributions should examine how contextual embeddedness affects project ecosystem outcomes, how governance mechanisms evolve throughout project life cycles, how historical contexts shape current ecosystems, and what long-term impacts project contexts have on subsequent projects and relationships.

Potential topics

• Conceptualizing Project Ecosystems: Theoretical refinement and boundary clarification of project ecosystems and related constructs such as project ecologies and networks
• Empirical investigations of project ecosystems in various industries examining value creation opportunities and complementarities between ecosystem participants
• Comparative analyses exploring relationships, dependencies, and interactions between different project ecosystems and their contextual influences
• Measurement and assessment tools and frameworks for identifying and analyzing value creation and capture in project ecosystems
• Multilevel governance: Coordination mechanisms across different types of project ecosystems and organizational levels
• Network orchestration and activity integration: Leadership, participant cooperation, coordination, and balancing diversity and integration in project ecosystems
• Formal and informal governance: Contractual arrangements, relational governance, and how governance configurations shape value creation or destruction
• Dynamic governance: Evolution of ecosystem governance mechanisms throughout project ecosystem life cycles and the role of leaders and dynamic capabilities
• Context evolution: How project ecosystems evolve over time, project phases, and drivers of evolutionary processes
• Path dependencies: Historical contexts shaping current project ecosystems and antecedents and consequences of different contextual configurations
• Life cycle dynamics: How contextual influences shape different stages of project ecosystem development and interaction with temporal factors
• Legacy effects: Long-term impacts of project contexts on subsequent projects and relationships within ecosystems