This is the first book to establish a theoretical framework for commercial management. It argues that managing the contractual and commercial issues of projects – from project inception to completion – is vital in linking operations at the project level and the multiple projects (portfolios/ programmes) level to the corporate core of a company.

The book focuses on commercial management within the context of project oriented organisations, for example: aerospace, construction, IT, pharmaceutical and telecommunications – in the private and public sectors. By bringing together contributions from leading researchers and practitioners in commercial management, it presents the state-of-the-art in commercial management covering both current research and best practice.

Commercial Management of Projects: defining the discipline covers the external milieu (competition, culture, procurement systems); the corporate milieu (corporate governance, strategy, marketing, trust, outsourcing); the projects milieu (management of uncertainty, conflict management and dispute resolution, performance measurement, value management); and the project milieu (project governance, contract management, bidding, purchasing, logistics and supply, cost value reconciliation).

Collectively the chapters constitute a step towards the creation of a body of knowledge and a research agenda for commercial management.