The Organizational Design of the Project-Based Organization

Abstract

This article investigates organizational design choices and their antecedents for the design of project-based organizations. Extant literature acknowledges the diversity of project-based organizational forms, but neither the particular configurations of organizational design dimensions nor the reasons behind their differences are widely addressed. Based on interviews in 12 project-based organizations in various sectors, this study identifies three common organizational design configurations of project-based organizations. It further discusses a range of internal and external factors, which can influence the choice of configuration. The findings are summarized in five overriding conclusions.