The PMI® Research Department supports projects all over the world. Each year, the group welcomes new proposals for research projects. PMI Research actively seeks projects to support on a regular basis.
The next RFP period begins with the call for pre-proposals, which is open from 1 April 2009 through 25 May 2009.
| RFP Schedule for 2009 |
| Official Start Date: |
1 April 2009 |
| Three-Page Proposal Due: |
25 May 2009 |
| Notification of pre-proposal acceptance: |
10 July 2009 |
| 10-Page full proposal due: |
31 August 2009 |
| Notification of awardees: |
19 October 2009 |
Current PMI-Sponsored Projects:
Project Managers as Senior Executives?
Jean-Pierre Debourse and J. Rodney Turner, ESC Lille, Euralille, France; Russell D. Archibald, Independent Consultant; Guru P. Prabhakar, University of the West of England, Bristol, England.
Does project management prepare its practitioners for the C-suite? How many project managers actually get there? What, if any, difference is there between the path of project managers and that of others to the top? This project will examine these and other important career path-related questions.
Estimated Completion: Q2 2009
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The Value Mindset of Project Managers and its Influence on Project Success
Thomas Lechler, Ph.D., Howe School of Technology, Stevens Institute of Technology
Personality traits are an important variable to describe a specific mindset of a person. However, the mindset to maximize a project’s value is not explained just by the personality traits of project managers. A thorough description of this mindset needs to include behaviors such as the search for opportunities and the taking of definitive action in their implementation. This research will investigate the contribution of a project manager’s mindset to the achievement of project value and will answer the question: To what degree does the mindset of the Project Manager affect the achieved project value?
Estimated Completion: Q2 2009
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A Global and Cross Industry Perspective on Earned Value Management Practice and Future Trends
Funded by the College of Performance Management
Lingguang Song, Ph.D., University of Houston
In recent years, the ever increasing level of globalization and cross-industry collaboration in a project environment generates a great need for a clear understanding of Earned Value Management practice and standards across geographic and industry boundaries. Currently, there is very little synthetic work to improve the understanding of the current EVM practice and future directions to further enhance the level of EVM acceptance. The goal of the research is to characterize industry needs and identify best practices and standards of EVM to improve overall project planning and control practice.
Estimated Completion: Q3 2009
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The Use and Development of Emotional Intelligence (Abilities in Projects)
Nicholas Clarke, Ph.D., School of Management, University of Southampton
This study is the first of its kind; investigating the impact of a training program designed specifically to improve the emotional intelligence (abilities) of those working in projects and whether any subsequent changes in EI influence other key outcomes. The research aims to achieve a greater understanding of the processes by which emotional intelligence may be developed through training, and the impact of EI on pm behaviors and outcomes and how training in EI for projects should be designed and implemented to maximize its impact. The findings from the project will provide recommendations as to how organizations and projects can best support the learning needs of group team workers in relation to improving their emotional intelligence.
Estimated Completion: Q1 2009
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Understanding the Antecedents of Project Management Best Practices; Lessons to be Learned from Aid Relief Projects
Paul Steinfort and Derek H.T. Walker, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.
At the end of 2004, a series of natural disasters that struck and killed hundreds of thousands of Southeast Asians raised research interest in improving disaster prediction and relief. This project will explore project management's potential contribution to this important need by uncovering the tacit assumptions regarding project performance, and applying them to relief and recovery projects to decrease the waste and inefficiency that accompanies such efforts.
Estimated Completion: Q4 2009
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Increasing Project Flexibility: Preparing for the Unknown in the Concept Stage
Serghei Floricel, Ph.D., University of Quebec at Montreal Business School (ESG-UQAM)
Many projects fail because the very structure put in place for dealing with anticipated uncertainties and risks contrains participants’ response to unexpected events. This research aims to develop a framework for understanding how the concept stage of the project can be used to increase the chances that a project will achieve its goals in spite of unexpected occurrences.
Estimated Completion: Q4 2009
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Identifying the Forces Driving the Frequent Changes in PMOs
Brian Hobbs, Ph.D. and Monique Aubry, Ph.D. University of Quebec at Montreal Business School (ESG-UQAM)
Many organizations have implemented one or more Project Management Offices as part of organizational project management attributing a variety of both operational and strategic roles to their PMOs. While now a prominent feature of organizational project management, the underlying logic that leads to succeed in PMO implementation or renewal is still not understood. The goal of this research is to develop an empirically sound model of the processes of organizational change that shape PMOs and to provide guidance to project management practitioners and senior management in the implementation, remodeling and management of PMOs.
Estimated Completion: Q4 2009
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Refining the Knowledge Production Plan
Serghei Floricel, Ph.D., University of Quebec at Montreal Business School (ESG-UQAM)
The performance of large established companies and the emergence of start-ups are increasingly conditioned by the success of their innovation projects, yet the managers of such projects face a major dilemma; they can either use formal project management, relying on tools that have proven their effectiveness in less innovative projects but not in highly innovative ones, or let projects be guided informally, relying on individual leadership. At the core of this dilemma is an understanding of the fact that innovation projects, with their much higher uncertainty and serendipity, cannot be treated in the same way as less innovative projects. The goal of the research is to improve the planning practices for high innovation projects by contributing to the understanding of how knowledge production affects the interdependencies between project activities.
Estimated Completion: Q4 2009
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Coping with Stress in Organizational Roles Through Team Learning
Peter Storm, Ph.D.and Chantal Savelsbergh, MSc, Open University of the Netherlands
Stress is a universal phenomenon in projects. Tension between the interests of owner and contractor is the most documented type of stress. There is less known about role stress particularly with regard to the course of its development during the lifetime of the project. This research seeks to discover the major causes of role stress and whether role stress within the team is related to role stress caused at other levels. The research investigates what the direct and indirect, short and long-term effects of role stress are, and how it develops over the course of a project, and how both individuals and teams react to it.
Estimated Completion: Q4 2009
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Governance and Communities of PMOs
Monique Aubry, PhD (University of Quebec at Montreal), Ralf Müeller, MBA, DBA, PMP (Norwegian School of Management, BI, Umea University) and Johannes Glücker, PhD (University of Heidelberg)
This research project seeks to provide an integrated model of PMO networks within large organizations. The model will help practitioners and senior managers to pursue existing approaches, and to articulate new strategies and structures for the delivery of optimal project management value.
Estimated Completion: Q4 2010
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Early Warning Signs in Complex Projects
Ole Jonny Klakegg, MSc (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), Bjørn Andersen, PhD (Sintef Technology and Society), Terry Williams, PhD, PMP (University of Southampton) and Derek Walker, PhD (RMIT University)
This project will investigate the practice of project assessments. It will identify how and to what degree the early warning signs of project problems, project failure, underperformance or cost overrun can be identified.
Estimated Completion: Q4 2009
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Project Management and Organizational Change
Lynn Crawford, FAIPM, MAPM, Anat Hassner Nahmias and Alicia Aitken (Bond University)
This research study will identify the nature of organizational and behavioral change in project management, and the extent to which it varies by type of project, and by the context and degree of organizational and behavioral change that is involved.
The study will also explore patterns of involvement of those with backgrounds in organizational development and project management in the management of organizational change projects.
Potential outcomes include guidance for decision-making and the development of role descriptions that recognize change management requirements
Estimated Completion Q3 2010.
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The Project Portfolio Change Management Process in Dynamic Environments
Brian Hobbs, MBA, PhD, PMP, and Yvan Petit, M.Eng, MBA, PhD (University of Quebec at Montreal)
The study will explore how managers in dynamic environments regulate changes that affect their project portfolios. In-depth understanding of their decision-making process will help project professionals manage similar situations in their individual practices.
Estimated Completion: Q3 2010
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The Contextualization of Project Management Outcomes and Practices
Brian Hobbs, MBA, PhD, PMP and Claude Besner, MBA, PhD, PMP (University of Quebec at Montreal)
The objectives of this study are to provide guidance to:
- Define the specific challenges and best practices of project management by industry;
- Identify contextual factors that may increase or displace the effects of industry type in defining best project management practices
- Articulate regional differences in project management best practices
Estimated Completion: Q4 2010
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Best Industry Outcomes
Terry Cooke-Davies, PhD, and Lynn Crawford, FAIPM, MAPM (Bond University, Cranfield University and ESC-Lille)
This project seeks to identify strategic drivers that characterize specific industries, application areas and/or project types, as well as outcomes that are typically most valued by organizations.
The project also aims to research the characteristics or patterns of project management practices and systems that are associated with particular types of outcomes and/or strategic drivers.
Estimated completion: Q4 2010
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