Stakeholder management for value creation in project-based firms

Project-based firms (PBFs) are those for which projects form their main business activity. To meet the particular requirements of every project, they regularly develop new products, processes, and services project-by-project. As global competition gets more fierce, these firms are under increasing pressure to become more efficient, smoothly integrate goods and services, and create value for customers and stakeholders.

I study the value creation process in PBFs. First of all, we need firstly address: What kinds of value exist in project-based firms, and how can we grasp them? This will help us fully understand the process of value creation. Research in the PBFs field has already identified various kinds of value: commercial, long-term, strategic, social and public, ecological and environmental, and learning value. However, project values are nuanced; numerous stakeholders in various situations will view them differently, and they evolve during different phases of a project. Fully mapping and understanding the different types of value in PBFs, while also considering the unique contexts of various projects, requires further investigation.

To create these values successfully and continuously, we need to establish criteria for evaluating the different types of value and have firms implement actions that align with one or more of these values. For example, we have already identified the ”Service-Product Integration” implementation action, which aligns with strategic and long-term value in terms of the contribution to new revenue stream growth, customer loyalty increase, and market uniqueness enablement. Apple is one common case for ”service-product integration.” Steve Jobs built the Apple Store service, which could be integrated into the iPhone, to build new continuous revenue. The adoption of ”Service-Product Integration” will greatly benefit manufacturing industries such as shipbuilding. Stakeholders are at the heart of value creation. We can understand the value creation process in PBFs by organizing different stakeholder groups and their activities to implement actions aligned with values. And stakeholders are at the core of value creation. Looking at how different stakeholder groups and their activities can be organized for the implementation actions that align with values will give an answer to the value creation process in PBFs.

The study aims to look at the shipbuilding sector and the PBFs (project-based firms) research field. Firstly, the PBFs field defines the scientific research question; secondly, the shipbuilding sector reveals insights into how firms manage stakeholders for value creation; and thirdly, we argue the findings and conclusion with a critical consideration of feasibility and practical implications. We will employ the case study qualitative methodology for this research.

Junsong He
The author works as a doctoral researcher within the Faculty of Technology at the University of Turku, concurrently serving as a project researcher for the Smart European Shipbuilding Project. In addition, he is a designer. He focuses on how research and design could empower mapping complexities and driving service innovation.

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