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April 13, 2026International Journal of Project ManagementOpen Access

Future-Making in the Front-End of Projects

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Authors

JHJoseph HarrisonJWJennifer Whyte

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Overview

This essay proposes strategies for inquiry-led planning in projects, enhancing future-making practices.

Key Points

  • The research aims to enrich the understanding of future-making within the project front-end context.
  • Theorizes the project front-end as a negotiation space between future representations and commitment demands.
  • Proposes five strategies: strategic timing, staged sequencing, potential abandonment, design flexibility, and participatory inclusion.
  • Employs practice-based perspectives and pragmatist inquiry to support the proposed strategies.
  • Highlights the need for inquiry-led planning to better accommodate future-making practices in projects.
  • Establishes a research agenda aimed at integrating future-making insights into project management.
  • Demonstrates how the project front-end can challenge traditional rationalist assumptions.

Cite This Study

Harrison et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69dc87ea3afacbeac03ea086https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2026.102854
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Also Consider

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  5. 5Foresight prototyping: developing an evaluation framework and strategy for future-oriented design2026