Key Project Management Practices in Collaborative R&D&I Projects Across Activity Sectors

Abstract

Collaborative Research and Development and Innovation (R&D&I) projects provide special challenges in understanding and expressing the value of project management (PM) practices to deliver stakeholders’ expected benefits. This study aimed to contribute to understanding the relevance of PM practices on collaborative R&D&I projects’ success from the perspective of firms, higher education institutions, and other research-performing organizations. It used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to categorize the surveyed key PM practices initially grouped according to the typical project lifecycle (initiation, planning, execution, monitoring/controlling & replanning, and closure). EFA resulted in the identification of four underlying factors, designated by ‘must have’ practices that cover the whole PM lifecycle: ‘initiation’ practices; ‘planning’ practices; and ‘execution, monitoring/controlling & replanning’ practices. Significant variance in using key PM practices by respondents from different activity sectors is observed. For example, respondents from Interface Centers use more ‘must have’ practices than those from firms and use more ‘planning’ practices than those from firms and higher education institutions. This might be influenced by the reported existence of project management offices, beyond their administrative roles, in the vast majority of Interface Centers, as opposed to other activity sectors. The results suggest that this specific type of project would benefit from team capacity-building programs in PM practices tailored to the identified sector-specific needs of firms and research-performing organizations.