First introduced by Christophe Midler in 1995, the term “projectification” was intended to describing the evolution of Renault in regards to project-related activities and organizing. Nowadays, the term is used more widely to describe the diffusion of projects as one form of organizing in organizations, specific sectors of the economy and the society at large. The notion of projectification refers to the share of project work being performed by an entity (organization, sector or the society). An increasing rate of “projectification” indicates that the project-related work is rising against the share of “other” work which typically takes place in the permanent structures of the entity.

In recent years there has been a multitude of surveys performed to analyse the degree of which organizations or specific sectors have been affected by project-related work. For example, Siemens claims to perform more than 50% of its turnover through projects and programmes. In the Automotive Sector, manufacturers and their suppliers on average perform between 40 and 50% of their activities in form of projects, especially the R&D activities, engineering and planning of products and production equipment and akin are typically done through projects and programmes. In 2015, the German Project Management Association published a survey in which the share of time spent for performing projects was analysed for the whole economy. On average, the share increased for the German economy from 29.3% in 2009 to 34.7 in 2013 and is predicted to raise to 41.3% in 2019. A comparison of the results in Germany with Norway and Iceland revealed that the share of projectification is comparable but differs in regards to industries and dynamics.

During a national convent of IPMA Italy last week in Milan, several speakers addressed the need to better understand the impact of projectification on Italy. Professor Antonio Calabrese (Politecnico Di Milano) and Professor Guido Capaldo (University of Naples Federico III) presented the results of a projectification survey performed 2018 in Italy with the support of IPMA International. The “projectification” of business organizations and public administration in Italy is an opportunity for the success in innovation and transformation. In industry, for example, smart technologies are spreading (advanced manufacturing, collaborative robotics, 3D printing, virtual & augmented reality) and often this is performed through projects. It requires organizations to increasingly invest in and continuously develop their capabilities for managing projects. What is important to consider when looking at Italy is that 95% of the companies are smaller than 10 employees. The survey aimed to describe, analyse and evaluate the level of dissemination and relevance of projects and project management in Italy with the coverage extended to most sectors of production and public administration. It was also performed to understand, for the first time in Italy, the current state and the areas for development in the so-called “project economy”.

Based on insights into 500 companies in Italy, it can be stated that more than 80% of the projects performed are for internal purposes, only 17% are dedicated to external clients. In the Construction sector, infrastructure projects prevailed (17.4%), in the Manufacturing sector, R&D and new product development projects prevailed (18.4%), in the Financial Services sector, marketing/sales projects prevailed (19.4%), in the Public Sector, organisational innovation projects prevailed (20%), in the Information and Communication sector, IT projects prevailed (21.9%). Project volumes and durations depend on the sector they are performed in, for example, in the construction sector projects – on average – have an average budget of 4 Mio. Euro and a duration of 15 months.

Overall, the level of “projectification” is expected to increase almost linearly by a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4 %, from 27.5% in 2012 to 33.7% in 2017, up to a forecast of 41.2% in 2022. The sectors in the sample with the highest growth rates are IT, Financial and Insurance Services, Transport, Hospitality and Tourism. With reference to the period from 2012 to 2017, there was also a significant increase in the Public Sector. It was also confirmed that organizations having a project-based business model (with which they generate revenue) actually tend to give themselves an organisational and operational structure based on projects (correlation coefficient = 0.783). The average share of project business in relation to the total amount of turnover is 34,2 %. However, in organisations with up to 50 employees this share amounts to 37,8%, which is 6% higher than in organizations with 250+ employees. Smaller organizations seem to be less capable of successfully managing their projects. The worst performances are in terms of schedule (only 58,6% of the projects meet set dates), the best ones are in terms of quality (approximately 70% of the projects meet the quality targets). In general, these data are pretty much in line with those reported in other surveys on “projectification” in Europe, e.g. in Germany, Norway and Iceland.

The authors of the survey in Italy conclude: “The importance of the phenomenon of “projectification” and the trend towards growth in all sectors, including the Public Sector, entails a significant implication: the diffusion, in the various sectors, of the organisational culture of project management and of the knowledge and skills of PM. If the growth of projectification is not accompanied by a parallel growth of project management culture and practices, there is a risk that both, macroeconomic results of the different countries as well as the productivity and effectiveness of companies and public organisations will be negatively affected.”