The importance of project governance as a critical success factor in delivering major projects has been widely acknowledged. The UK Office of Government Commerce86 and the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance have both noted a lack of project governance as one of the major contributors to project failure. The Queensland Auditor General has also referred to 'incorrect procurement decisions because of ineffective project governance'.8
While the importance of project governance is widely accepted, what is less clear is what the term project governance means in an alliance project and what constitutes best governance practice to optimise VfM.
These questions are discussed through the following perspectives:
• Definition of project governance.
• Alliance governance arrangements and Study findings.
• Corporate governance concepts applied to an alliance and associated conceptual difficulties.