Evaluation of Target Value Delivery and Opportunity Management as Complementary Practices

Abstract

Opportunity management and Target Value Delivery (TVD) have both been studied extensively but separately. The two approaches have been presented as solutions for increasing value in a project for the owner and users. However, it seems there has not been much research that addresses the link between the two approaches. The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge of how TVD can facilitate opportunity management. The results from a literature review are compared with the practice in two cases: TVD in a large infrastructure project and opportunity management in a large building project. The results from the building project showed a lack of inherent motivation for change and innovation in the project organization. The identified opportunities were aimed mainly at maximizing the project’s operational value and keeping costs within the approved budget. TVD seems to handle this with extensive attention to maintain value for the end-users. Besides, the target cost element of TVD seems to complement opportunity management by creating incentives to be flexible about change and innovation. This paper’s originality is to combine two well-established approaches that have many similarities but have yet to be explored in relation to each other.