Timothy J. Kloppenborg

The Current State of Project Management Research: Trends, Interpretations, and Predictions:

This paper describes the methodology and results of a research effort that identified the project management research published in English since 1960. An annotated bibliography was created of 3,554 articles, papers, dissertations, and government research reports. Trends were identified in each of the nine A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) knowledge areas. A workshop was conducted with experienced practitioners to help interpret the identified trends and to predict future directions for project management research.

It Project Risk Factors: The Project Management Professionals Perspective

The failure of systems development projects has plagued the IT industry for years. In fact, the 2004 Standish group report indicates that only 28 percent of software development projects are successful, down from previous estimates of 34%. This paper identifies IT project risk factors that pose threats to successful project implementation and describes project management professionals (PMPs) assessment of these risk factors. It concludes with suggested strategies for avoiding and/or mitigating these risks and associated implications.

Leadership in Project Life Cycle and Team Character Development

Project Management Journal June 1999 Successful project leaders are becoming aware of associated links between project life-cycle stage completions and the necessary group virtues that facilitate each project stage. The aggregate set of these virtues shapes the group character of the project team, i.e., their collective readiness to act ethically. At the same time that project leaders are shepherding a project through the life-cycle stages to completion, their professional responsibilities are implicitly expanding to include the identification and reinforcement of the associated sets of team virtues necessary for the success of each stage along the way. The lack of development of team virtues at one stage may well preclude the satisfactory advancement or completion of future project life-cycle stages because the team is not predisposed to complete the prior stage(s) with integrity (Kloppenborg & Petrick, in press; Petrick & Quinn, 1997). In this paper, we identify specific team virtues that are appropriate for the typical activities and closure documents of each project life-cycle stage. After clarifying the theoretical need for team character development, we identify team character development competencies needed by project leaders at each of the project life-cycle stages. We conclude by advocating the simultaneous development of both life-cycle technical competency and team character “behavioral” competency to improve successful project leadership.

An Empirical Investigation of the Sponsor's Role in Project Initiation

Although most organizational projects have many interested parties or stakeholders, the executive with the fiscal authority, political clout, and personal commitment to see a project through is the project sponsor. Certainly, there are project sponsor tasks associated with the successful completion of a project. Yet, very little research exists that attempts to identify and validate a set of executive sponsor behaviors necessary for successful project implementation. Using a previously established database of project risk avoidance and mitigation strategies that was supplemented by an updated literature search, we examine and classify behaviors associated with the role of a project sponsor. The scope of this exploratory research includes: (1) identifying project sponsor-related behaviors; (2) validating and prioritizing the sponsor behaviors utilizing an established procedure; (3) empirically validating the behaviors; and (4) empirically testing the association of the project sponsor behaviors with various dimensions of project success (project outcomes).

Project Success and Executive Sponsor Behaviors: Empirical Life Cycle Stage Investigations

The role of the executive sponsor in achieving project success is important, yet rarely addressed. Recent research identifies behaviors that constitute the role of the executive project sponsor and evaluates how such behavior affects project success during different project stages. This study answers two research questions: (1) Does the relative importance of executive sponsor behavior vary significantly at different project stages? And (2) Does the relative importance of project success dimensions vary significantly within and across the different stages of completion? Results provide knowledge that will help executive sponsors decide how to invest their limited time and resources.

Project Management Learning: What the Literature Has to Say

This paper describes the methodology and results of research designed to extract useful professional project management information from recent research literature in the information systems and information technology (IS/IT) fields. The resulting database of 784 journal, thesis, and conference proceedings abstracts represents research from 1999 through 2001 in the IS/IT field related to project management. A lessons learned executive seminar was conducted to allow experienced, active project managers to examine selected findings for lessons learned and research opportunities that might benefit project managers.

Project manager vs. executive perceptions of sponsor behaviors

Purpose – To identify differences in perceptions between executive sponsors (ESs) and project managers (PM) regarding sponsor involvement on projects, for the purposes of contributing to project management practice and encouraging further sponsor‐related research.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 365 executives and managers interested in project management investigated differences between ESs and PMs in perceived importance on eight dimensions of ES behavior and three dimensions of project success during the initiation stage of a project. This study followed a previous exploratory analysis study that identified sponsor behaviors. Factor analysis and t‐tests were used to develop variables and test for differences, respectively.Findings – Results indicated significant differences between ESs and PMs on the perceived importance of ES involvement on the critical dimension of mentoring and assisting PMs with executives indicating higher importance.Research limitations/implications – Three specific sugg...

Investigation of the sponsor's role in project planning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and validate executive sponsor behaviors necessary for successful project implementation during project planning.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 145 executives and managers interested in project management was conducted. Data were analyzed using principal components analyses with varimax rotation for both behavioral‐ and outcome‐based items. Relationships between variables were analyzed via path analysis.Findings – In total, five sponsor behavior factors were identified including: ensure planning, clarify outputs, stakeholder relationships, support project, and appoint project manager. Additionally, three outcome factors were found: firms future, meeting agreements (e.g. budgets, scheduling expectations), and customer success. An estimated path model testing the effects of sponsor behaviors on project outcomes indicated six significant paths.Research limitations/implications – This paper empirically identifies behaviors sponsors may use during ...