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Introduction
In recent decades, “projectification” has transformed organizations, economies, and societies, embedding project logic not only in business but also across the public, civic, and non-profit sectors (Voros Fregolente et al., 2022; Wald et al., 2025; Moreno Escobar et al., 2023). Wald et al. (2025) describe projectification as a response to external challenges that are resolved through projects, which ultimately leads to an increasing shift in thinking and acting towards projects. Projectification is therefore about the underlying changes caused by a growing emphasis on projects, rather than about managing the projects. As project-based organizing becomes increasingly ubiquitous, the importance of understanding the human dimension – including, but not limited to, agency, identity, and value creation – grows ever more urgent (Jensen et al., 2016; Jacobsson & Jalocha, 2021). Yet, despite acknowledgement that “there’s people in there!” (Maylor & Budzier, 2025), existing scholarship has often prioritized systemic, organizational, or institutional perspectives at the expense of the individual and the diverse social contexts in which projectification unfolds.
This special issue aims to address this imbalance by highlighting the experiences, subjectivities, and contributions of people in the process of projectification. The aim is to address all those who directly or indirectly shape, contribute to, participate in, or are affected by this process, thereby promoting an interdisciplinary and multidimensional dialogue on the role of the individual within projectification.
List of Topic Areas
- How do individuals implement and negotiate their agency in the context of increasing projectification by navigating between structure, temporality, and autonomy?
- How do individuals build and maintain their identities amid the fluidity and temporality of projectified work in a complex social environment?
- How do people co-create and redefine value through their participation in - and contribution to - the ongoing projectification in our society?
- What role do projects play in the development of people, from childhood to old age? Is there any difference between personal and occupational development?
- How do different levels of education and educational opportunities affect people's participation in projects and projectification?
- What expectations, aspirations, and objectives do individuals pursue through their involvement in projects, project management, and projectification?
- What impact (positive and/or negative) does engagement in projects - as temporary endeavors - have on the people involved?
- Which prerequisites have to be created by organizations, government, or society so that people engage in projects and turn them into success stories?
- How much projectification can people tolerate, or is there a point at which over-projectification is reached and de-projectification starts?
- How do cultural factors affect people's involvement in projects and projectification?
- What are the main differences in projectification across the globe, and how does it influence individuals involved or eager to enter the project world?
- To what extent is the use of professional project management beneficial or detrimental to the implementation of projects in the different areas of society?
Submission Information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here:
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see:
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Key Dates
Opening date for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2026
Closing date for manuscript submissions: 15 November 2026
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