From the front end of projects to the back end of operations: Managing projects for value creation throughout the system lifecycle

Morris (2013) calls for value creation for project stakeholders using project outcomes. This is an attempt to link the front end of the system lifecycle - the project phase - to the back end, i.e. the operations phase. Little is however known about how value creation occurs through developing project outcomes which have the capacity to continue value-creating activities even decades after a project is completed. We establish that projects are multi-organizational systems which transit from the project phase to the operations phase in system lifecycles, and we use the systems view to analyze value creation mechanisms within the system lifecycle. We carry out empirical research into the lifecycle of a shopping center. Four distinct value-enhancing integration mechanisms in the operations of this multi-organizational system are identified, and propositions for four new project management approaches that create value during the project and have long-term value-enhancing impacts in the operations phase are derived.