Work

Knotting Integration Into Project Organization Special Purpose Vehicles

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Special purpose vehicles (SPVs) are a form of project organization created for public–private partnership (PPP) projects. SPVs are complex organizational arrangements, relating actors from different institutionally regulative, normative, and cognitive contexts. We abductively analyze interviews with 36 practitioners experienced in managing SPVs using Gioia analysis. We find that SPV design is focused on systems integration, framed by transactional interpretations of contracts. This undercuts the interorganizational integration necessary for SPV design to work more effectively. We find that social and interorganizational integration remain largely overlooked, which is a key reason for PPP infrastructure project failure.

Source: Project Management Journal

DOI: 10.1177/87569728261415841

Authors: Lucia Xiaoyan Liu, Stewart Clegg, Julien Pollack

Institution: The University of Sydney

Language: English

Topic: Public-Private Partnership Projects

Subfield: Strategy and Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,900