PMI Announces Academic Research Grantees

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Project Management Institute (PMI), the world's leading professional membership organization for project managers, announced that it will fund eight academic research projects in 2010.  Selected from a pool of nearly 190 proposals submitted from around the world , the research projects will focus on a range of subjects that are critical to today's organizations, including cultural perspectives, procurement and supply, sustainability, and others. PMI's sponsored research program, which has invested more than US $14 million in academic research since its inception in 1997, supports studies in project management  that help businesses, governments, and academic institutions execute strategy and drive innovation.

"PMI's commitment to research is a unique and vital element of our contribution toward the expansion of the body of knowledge for project, program, and portfolio managers," said Dr. Edwin Andrews, director of academic and educational programs and services for PMI.  "PMI's sponsored research program enables academic researchers – many of whom lack other resources – to begin exploratory studies and secure additional funding for work that advances the profession and helps practitioners advance their careers."

The following projects have received PMI's academic funding.

• Udechukwu Ojiako, PhD, University of Southampton: "The effect of cultural perspectives in perceptions of IS/IT project success and failure"

While globalization of projects and project teams represents an exciting development in project management, cultural differences within projects can create a platform for uncertainty, which, if not addressed, can lead to negative consequences or project failure. This research will explore the influences of culture on individuals' perspectives on failure in IS/IT projects.  A multi-cultural team will use a mixed methods approach with a large international sample of respondents.

• Douglas MacBeth, University of Southampton: "Procurement and supply in projects: misunderstood and under-researched"

This project will investigate the current levels of understanding of procurement management in major projects and the impact procurement performance has on successful project completion. A two-phase, mixed method approach, yielding both qualitative and quantitative data will be used.

• Francois Chiocchio, PhD, PMP, CHRP, University of Montreal: "Can collaborative skills help health care project teams attenuate the impact of stress?"

A multidisciplinary research team will focus on collaboration as a determinant of team performance, expertise in project management and implementing change in professional practices through learning projects.  

• Professor Roland Gareis (HUEMANN), PhD, WU Vienna: "Sustainable Development & Project Management"

This research will explore whether sustainable development is implicitly considered in project management, conceptualize how sustainable development can be explicitly considered and analyze the challenges and potentials that may arise when sustainable developed is considered. The research will also draft instruments for explicitly attending to sustainable development in project management.

• Nuno Gil, PhD, University of Manchester: "Building Options in the Project Front-End: Integrating Strategy, Execution and Option Fees"

This project aims to develop, test, and validate a method that can guide project teams to integrate front-end strategizing, execution, and option fees in asset acquisition projects, large-scale infrastructure and defense systems.  

• Peerasit Patanakul, PhD, Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management, Stevens Institute of Technology: "Key Determinants of Effectiveness in Project Portfolio Management: A Context-Specific Perspective"

This research seeks to discover the key determinants of PPM effectiveness and measures of effectiveness in a variety of business contexts.  The study will go beyond traditional PPM research by focusing on executive level activities, especially the decision making process. Other organizational factors that may influence PPM effectiveness will also be considered.  Studying PPM in different contexts, the research will suggest a contingency theory in portfolio management.

• Thomas G. Lechler, PhD PI, John C. Byrne, PhD Co-PI, Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management, Stevens Institute of Technology: "The Gestalt of Project Opportunities Recognized and Exploited During Implementation"

This research will analyze the Gestalt of project opportunities, including the specific classes of opportunities and contextual situations under which they occur.  It will also contribute to the development of a new project management paradigm that allows for a better explanation of specific phenomena and the achievement of better project results.

• Peter  Storm, PhD, Kennis&Co, the Hague, the Netherlands, Open University of the Netherlands/Kennis & Co: "Improving project team performance through team learning"

This project is a follow-up to the PMI-sponsored investigation, "Coping with stress in organizational roles through team learning."  The earlier descriptive study showed that role stress, team learning, and team performance are significantly related to one another.  The current study is aimed at testing the assumption that the positive effects of team learning can be enhanced to carefully design interventions within a project team.  

About The PMI^® Research Program

The PMI^® Research Program is an essential part of PMI's mission to make project management indispensable for business results.  Formed in 1997, the Research Program at PMI works to advance the science and profession of project management. The request for proposals for 2011 funding is now open.  Preliminary proposals will be accepted until April 25. To view current RFP and the list of completed and active projects, and to find out more about PMI's academic research program, please visit www.pmi.org.

About Project Management Institute (PMI)

The world's leading professional membership organization for project managers, PMI shares knowledge with more than 500,000 members and credential holders in over 185 countries. Since 1969, PMI has impacted more than one million practitioners, businesses, governments, students and training organizations. Today, PMI's products and services range from world-class standards for project, program and portfolio management to five professional credentials, including the gold standard Project Management Professional (PMP)^®. PMI's exclusive Global Corporate Council and European Corporate Networking Group engage large multinationals and government organizations in endorsing the value of project management. The only project management association with an established academic research program, PMI has invested more than US $14 million in support of dozens of research projects since 1997. Learn more at www.pmi.org.

SOURCE Project Management Institute