Project Manager and Project Management Practices

Investigations into the desired practices of project managers show that they should have the power to make decisions and have far-reaching organizational authority.⁶⁸ According to Baker,⁶⁹ project management allows organizations to implement strategic changes and thus, enables more rapid decision cycles. In a fast moving environment, time is critical and decisions have to be made quickly. Often, there is only little time to seek for permission among a great number of project stakeholders such as the project sponsor, steering committee etc. Therefore, a project manager has to be given adequate authority to make major decisions that help to accomplish the project objectives.⁷⁰ The project manager’s authority is conferred on him by the next higher level, usually the project sponsor. Authority provides legitimate rights to the project manager, and it is usually delegated by job descriptions or related policies.⁷¹ Apart from this, Eisenhardt and Tabrizi⁷² also observed that powerful managers are crucial for holding processes in place and accelerate the

68 Shona L Brown and Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, “Product Development: Past Research, Present Findings, And Future Directions,” Academy of Management Review 20 (2) (1995): 370.

69 Bud Baker, “Timely Decisions,” PM Network 19 (6) (2005): 20.

70 Sharlett Gillard, “The Competencies of Effective Project Managers: A Conceptual Analysis,”

International Journal of Management 22 (1) (2005): 50.

71 David I. Cleland, “Understanding Project Authority,” Business Horizon 10 (1) (1967): 64-65.

72 Kathleen M. Eisenhardt and Benham N Tabrizi, “Accelerating Adaptive Processes: Product Innovation in the Global Computer Industry,” Administrative Science Quarterly 40 (1) (1995): 94.

progress of project development. Besides their capability in securing a larger budget for their project team, they are also able to attract better members to the team and keep the team motivated.

In their study, Brown and Eisenhardt⁷³ also highlighted that project managers should possess the ability to maintain their focus on the project goals. Besides maintaining a disciplined vision that keeps the project under control, the project manager also has to communicate clear objectives to the project team. The project manager has to provide the team with a unified view of the project, and keep the team members motivated at the same time.

According to Katz and Allen,⁷⁴ team performance is highest when a project manager has accountability for project success. While some organizations reported that they prefer more than one person being responsible for the project’s success or failure, the project manager has the responsibility and accountability for the overall performance of the project.⁷⁵ Research by Gupta and Wilemon⁷⁶ suggested that the lack of accountability in team management and conflict of roles negatively affects the performance of projects. In their study, interviewees also indicated that one of the prominent reasons why projects failed was due to insufficient monitoring caused by unclear ownership or responsibility of the project deliverables.

A project involves significant uncertainties throughout the project life cycle.

However, these uncertainties can be accommodated by project team members if they have the authority to adjust the structure of their work. ⁷⁷ In their book

73 Brown and Eisenhardt, 369-370.

74 Ralph Katz and Thomas J. Allen, “Project Performance and the Locus of Influence in the R&D Matrix,” Academy of Management Research 28 (1) (1985): 83.

75 Toney, 63.

76 Ashok K. Gupta and David L. Wilemon, “Accelerating the Development of Technology Based New Products,” California Management Review 32 (2) (1990): 31.

77 Jeffrey K Pinto, Peg Thomas, Jeffrey Trailer, Todd Palmer and Michele Govekar, Project

Leadership: From Theory to Practice (Newtown Square, Pa: Project Management Institute, c1998), 39.

Superleadership: Leading Others to Lead Themselves, Charles Manz and Henry Sims⁷⁸ argued that delegating authority actually enhances the power of a leader by helping the subordinates become capable of attaining organizational goals. A study by Tampoe and Thurloway⁷⁹ concluded that team empowerment model in the project context enhances competency and increase project performance. Kirkman and Rosen⁸⁰ also found that highly empowered teams are more effective than less empowered teams. As such, Pettersen⁸¹ suggested project manager should allocate appropriate authority to team members to enable them to make significant decisions in their field of competence. In addition, Pinto and Slevin⁸² supported the notion that project managers need to delegate effectively to ensure positive team performance.

Apart from that, Lock,⁸³ in his study defined delegation of authority as being one of the important leadership qualities for project managers.

Toney⁸⁴ states that although the project manager’s background is not linked directly to a project’s success, it can have a significant influence on the ability of the person to achieve goals. Experience with activities related to goal achievement, education, management and working with teams are some elements important to becoming an effective project manager. The project manager’s background affects the team’s performance and ability to perform in the project environment. The members of the Top 500 Project Management Benchmarking Forum conclude that the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the PMI is an indicator that the

78 Charles C. Manz and Henry P. Sims, Jr, Superleadership: Leading Others to Lead Themselves (New York: Prentice Hall Press, c1989), 8-10.

79 M Thampoe and L Thurloway, “Project Management: The Use and Abuse of Techniques and Teams (Reflections from a Motivation and Environment Study),” International Journal of Project

Management 11 (4) (1993): 249.

80 Bradley L Kirkman and Benson Rosen, “Beyond Self-management: Antecedents and Consequences of Team Empowerment,” Academy of Management Journal 42 (1) (1999): 69.

81 Pettersen, 22.

82 Pinto and Slevin (1998), 33.

83 Dennis Lock, Project Management 6^th ed (Aldershot, Hampshire, England; Brookfield, Vt: Gower, c1996), 31.

84 Toney, 35.

project manager has a foundation of knowledge needed successfully to manage projects. In a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers from February to April 2004, one of the key findings is the need for project management certification among staff. With the participation of 200 organizations, the survey respondents revealed that certification does matter in project management as the benefits received from the certification is significantly higher that the risk the organizations face.⁸⁵ The survey results also show that only 27% of the surveyed organizations do not have any type of certification. Organizational internal and PMI’s Project Management Professionals (PMP) certifications are most widely used, with the US and Europe having the highest levels of organizations with certified staff.

As a summary, based on the project manager’ project management practices review above, the following statements can be derived:

A project manager should have responsibility for decision making.

A project manager should be responsible and accountable for project success and failure

A project manager should delegate authority to the lowest level where the task can be performed effectively

A project manager’s tasks should be clearly defined

A project manager should be fully trained and have project management certification