Projects with internal vs. external customers: An empirical investigation of variation in practice

The purpose of this paper and the research programme of which it is part is to empirically investigate variations in project management practice. The research is based on the analysis of an extensive dataset containing information on the extent of use of a large number of practices and contextual variables related to organisational contexts and project characteristics. The paper focusses on the effects of the difference between projects with internal and external customers, which have been shown to be an important characteristic of the project context. A distinction is made between the extent of use of project management practices and the effect of variation in the extent of use on project performance, which are shown to be very different both conceptually and empirically. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. APM and IPMA. All rights reserved.