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The concept of project strategy -referring to the strategy of a single project -has remained ambiguous in existing studies. In this research, we review literature from multiple viewpoints to develop a novel definition and interpretation about the project strategy concept. Our definition is used to derive different alternative project strategies from literature, characterized by two important dimensions in a project's environment: project's independence and number of strong project stakeholder organizations. We introduce four types of strategies for a project along these two dimensions: obedient servant, independent innovator, flexible mediator, and strong leader. Existing research using the project strategy concept mostly assumes that there is one strong parent organization for a project; indeed, the parent is assumed to dictate an image of its strategy to the project, and the project is assumed to take an obedient servant's role, to serve as a tactical vehicle that becomes a mere part of its parent organization and the parent's strategic scheme. Our project strategy definition and the four project strategy types allow a more open interpretation about the content of alternative environment-dependent project strategies as well as the processes of strategy formulation and implementation. The wider concept of project strategy introduced in this paper recognizes more widely the various positions that a single project may take in its environment. This way, our paper contributes even to development of new and context-specific project management bodies of knowledge in the future. The paper suggests empirical research and further conceptual research on detailed contents of different project strategies.

Purpose: This paper introduces project business as a research field. The project business view in this paper puts focus on the management of firms and their businesses, and this way the paper complements the existing project-centric view of the role of projects and their management in various business contexts. Design/methodology/approach: We propose a conceptual framework for project business and identify relevant research areas and themes. These research areas and themes are derived by using the knowledge and experience obtained from scientific project business research conducted in Finland since the early 1990s. Findings: This paper describes project business as a research field by introducing a project business framework and the four major research areas inherent in the framework: 1. management of a project, 2. management of a project-based firm, 3. management of a project network, and 4. management of a business network. We also suggest specific research areas and themes within the framework that are relevant and contribute to new knowledge in the project business field. Practical/research implications: The project business framework described in this paper, including the suggested research areas and themes, is important in focusing research and for development of practical application of project-based business activities in firms and in public organizations. Originality/value: The paper reveals avenues that lead towards the development of a new body of knowledge for project business that focuses on managing both firms and projects effectively in their networked business environments.

Understanding stakeholder dynamics and their impact on project management is crucial, especially for large and complex projects such as nuclear waste repositories. This study examines the stakeholder dynamics during the project front‐end stage of two pioneering nuclear waste repository projects. To analyze changes in stakeholders' importance and position on a project, we propose and apply a new conceptual framework: a stakeholder salience‐position matrix. The study explicates how stakeholder dynamics are influenced by the interaction of stakeholders' influence behavior, stakeholder management activities, and the project's contextual conditions. Prior stakeholder literature has rarely conceptualized the elements of stakeholder dynamics in a systematic manner.

Dr. Jaakko Kujala is professor of project and quality management at the University of Oulu, Finland, and adjunct professor at the Aalto University. His current research interests include contextual variables in project business, business models of project-based firms, and project stakeholder management. He has published over 100 reviewed research papers, books or book chapters for example in International Journal of Project Management, Scandinavian Journal of Management and Industrial Marketing Management. Dr. Karlos Artto is a professor of project business at the Aalto University, Finland and the leader of the Project Business research group (PB). His current research interests include project business, business models of global project-based firms, governance of large and networked projects, project strategy and risk management, and new paradigms in project risk management. He has published more than 100 academic papers, book chapters and books on project business and management of project-based firms. Research highlights:-We address integration of the sales and operations interface in global project-based firms.-We elaborate the information processing model for this integration in the context of global project based firm.-We provide empirical illustrations for this integration by presenting data from three case projects.-We conclude that integration of these functions in the firm's organization is managed differently depending on the project phase.-We conclude that the differing use of integration mechanisms across project phases is associated with contextual variables. AbstractIn this paper we study the cross-functional integration of project sales and project operationstwo crucial functions when conducting business in global project-based firms. In particular we address contextual factors that are associated with integration needs among project sales and operations functions across project phases and report on how integration is managed across phases in three global projects with different contextual conditions. Using Galbraith's (1973) and Tushman & Nadler's (1978) model of the organization as an information processing system as our theoretical lens, we develop a set of propositions drawn from the general arguments of the theory and illustrated by these observations. The proposed theory underlying these propositions begins to explain how the contextual variables drive the use of different cross-functional integration mechanisms for sales and operations across project phases in global project-based firms.Subsequent research focusing on these and other key functions that require integration in different project phases can begin to validate and further elaborate this contingent framework for crossfunctional integration in global project-based firms.