Exploring the role of steering committees in realizing value from project management

A project steering committee (PSC) often plays a significant role in a project's realization. But, surprisingly, the field lacks much literature on the role PSC's play. This article examines four organizations to determine how PSC's have influenced their project performance and how a PSC's role creates project value. In doing so, it looks at how PSCs influence projects; it defines the authors' four research questions and research approach, proposing eight ways that PSCs positively influence a project's implementation. It identifies five components for describing PSCs and overviews the nature of the four case organizations. It also reports the study's findings, explaining the organizational level and the project level influences of PSCs in relation to executive committees, business-unit committees, and a PSC's components: configurations, authority, responsibilities, decision processes, and organization.