Value creation in investment projects

Although investment projects are defined as projects designed to achieve a beneficial change, which will have a lasting effect on society, economy or environment, and thus also create a value, investment projects are still most often measured on efficient project output delivery, i.e. completed on time and within budget. However, after scandals concerning public investments and expenditures, as well as the European Debt Crisis, and investment gaps caused by years of under-investments, there is an increased pressure for investment projects to create sustainable value, which emphasises a need for increased local government knowledge on how to put investments to best use, to ensure investments contribute with sustainable value. Additionally, most projects fail to meet their goals, and an increased focus on investment projects to create value, therefore also include a need to focus on measures to improve the success rate of projects. The aim of our research has been to identify how a focus on the value contribution of investmnt projects can have an effect on the governance (how the principal organisations select, steer, monitor and support the management) of investment projects, and through this, also have direct and indirect effects on the management, efficiency and success of the projects. The research is a qualitative and comparative study a total of 34 recent investment projects, whereof 29 Norwegian concept studies which have undergone the quality assurance scheme defined by the Ministry of Finance, and 5 investment projects conducted in different countries, representing both developing and developed economies, and either funded publicly, privately or through some form of public/private partnership, used also as controls to test generalizability. Through this, we have identified that focusing on the value contribution in the early stages and throughout the lifecycle of investment projects, can positively influence the process of how we select which projects to undertake, and how the projects are supported, governed, managed and executed, as well as influencing cultural, motivational and efficiency aspects of the project, and ultimately also project success.