Multi-level governance

Existing governance theories for projects struggle to explain inter-organizational settings. They either address hierarchical or networked structures, but not both simultaneously. This chapter presents the multilevel governance (MLG) theory as a framework for theorizing project governance in complex inter-organizational settings. MLG, originally developed in political science, addresses governance theories’ heterogeneity and provides a theoretical perspective to integrate hierarchical, non-hierarchical, and network governance under one theoretical framework. MLG simultaneously applies two distinct governance perspectives: Type I governance, a vertical perspective, encompassing the hierarchical part of the project’s governance structure; and Type II governance, a horizontal perspective, encompassing the task-level governance in the project. This chapter defines the interface between Type I and II, which results in three organizational entities: clubs, agencies, and boards. A contingency framework for these entities is developed, explaining how they relate and under what circumstances each of these entities may occur. It allows practitioners to fine-tune their governance settings and academics to develop comprehensive project governance theories.