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The purpose of this paper is to assess how we implement new ways of managing relational risk at the operational level of outsourced projects and to provide guidance to project management (PM) policy makers and practitioners seeking to ensure project operations consistently deliver project relational risk management (PRRM) strategies.

Through exploratory study data were obtained from a panel of six experts in PM and from a pilot survey of PM practitioners. The data reveal future directions and vectors for scholarship and research activity in terms of the impact of PRMM-related mechanisms and deliverables on project success and the implementation process to enhance PRRM as a key PM capability.

Deliverables for PRRM need to part of a multidimensional framework that includes mechanisms besides the contract. Such a framework enables the codification of PM knowledge so that PRRM contributes to project success. With knowledge codified, PRRM strategies can be consistently delivered at the operational level. The framework is novel in that it integrates hereto disparate elements that are encompassed under the broad umbrella of relational governance mechanisms.

PM policy makers and practitioners recognise the importance of effective relationships to deliver projects successfully, yet they lack practical solutions to address the negative effects of dysfunctional relationships. The authors provide a list of PM deliverables for effective PRRM, including deliverables besides those related to the contract, which can be used in practice to bring the gap between PRRM strategy development and implementation. This will enable client organisations that outsource their projects to an external contractor to enhance their PRRM capability and increase the likelihood of project success.

The authors provide insights into how PRRM is practised at the project operations’ level where PM is outsourced. These insights lead to three pathways of impactful Operations Management (OM)/PM scholarship and research, namely, the following: 1) How PM deliverables act as a key success factor for effective PRRM? 2) How the duality of roles carried out by PM actors influences PRMM practices? 3) How companies innovate to enhance their PRMM capability? These pathways will enable PM research and scholarship to address disconnects between PRMM strategy and operations and hence go beyond answering “what” PRMM is to encompass “how” it is implemented.

The purpose of the paper is to outline a method for reporting project performance that can be used to provide incentives to both clients and contractors to share risks and opportunities.

The conceptual foundation of the paper is two‐fold: firstly, a review of the literature highlights the limitations of fixed price, fixed unit price and variable (fee for service) type contracts and hence the need for contracts that incentivise project clients and contractors to act in mutually beneficial ways; secondly, the earned‐value method (EVM) is discussed as a means of reporting project progress via a single value‐based metric that is applicable to both client and contractor. The integrating of these two elements provides the basis for the method for reporting project performance described in this paper.

The paper presents the co‐operative incentivised negotiation budget (COIN). The COIN budget uses the concept of the variable (fee for service) type contract. In addition, it utilises the EVM to report project progress in a simple, easy‐to‐understand manner that enables both parties to share in the beneficial outcomes of better than planned performance and to share in the negative results of under‐performance.

This paper is conceptual and, although reporting elements of best practice, further research is needed in the following areas: firstly, the benefits, costs and limitations of, and the barriers to, using EVM‐based approaches in projects in general, and facilities projects in particular; secondly, the effectiveness of incentivising contracts in terms of addressing issues that lead to poor performance, such as poor communication and lack of trust between the parties.

The COIN budget is a means by which the client and contractor can easily monitor performance in terms of the value earned in providing the agreed project deliverables. Whilst enabling the contractor to earn a cost plus margin, it enables both parties to have a common goal through the sharing of the positive and negative consequences associated with project opportunities and risks.

The paper makes an original contribution by integrating elements of best practice in the areas of contract selection and monitoring of project performance.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the development and progression of the International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing and include comments on its future direction.

The paper takes the approach of an essay format.

The journal has published key papers in pharmaceutical and healthcare research and continues to develop an interdisciplinary character with contributions from scholarly and practice‐oriented sources.

The paper provides a contemporary appraisal of the status and positioning of the journal.