ABSTRACT
This chapter looks more closely at the connection between the performance of projects and the creation of value. The project must be conceived in terms of its delivery of value, and its execution must engage with the social world it serves. The critical question for managers concerns the definition of a project: whether it is delivering goods, creating new facilities or seeking social ends. Desired value–as outcome or impact–cannot be delivered unless the customer is present, since it is value in the eyes of the customer that is driving the direction of the project. The traditional project specification, limited to tangible outputs, is attractive because it creates a clearly defined zone of responsibility for the project team. The value chain is an important rhetorical tool for making the case for a project. To get political backing, public sector projects are co-opted to support a wide range of government aims which leads to value overload.
