Scope, Objective, and Method

This chapter reports selected parts of ongoing field research into best-in-class project management practices, investigating the way project leaders work with their teams in complex, mostly technology-intensive project situations. The objective of these studies was to examine team leadership methods and organizational criteria that are effective in complex project settings. This chapter draws on research from five field studies conducted over the last twelve years, which include surveys of over 900 project professionals in twenty-four companies. Specifically, these studies include data from 655 engineers, scientists, and technicians, 31 managers from functional support groups, 138 project team leaders, 69 project managers, 14 directors of research and development, 9 directors of marketing, and 10 general management executives. Together, the data covered over 180 projects in the area of product/service development with budgets averaging $1,200,000 (US) each. The host companies were large technology-based multinational companies of the "Fortune-1000" category. Specifically, data were collected between 1987 and 1999 by questionnaires and two qualitative methods: participant observation and in-depth retrospective interviewing. The purpose of this combined data collection method was to cast the broadest possible information-gathering net to identify the tools, techniques, and practices used for managing technical projects today, and to gain insight into applications, methods, and effectiveness.