How client-side project control influences the project outcome – An empirical study across industries

This study in the area of project management as an executive task examines the influence of the customer´s project manager on the project’s outcome in the context of project specific requirements and resources.

Increasingly, projects make the headlines because of budget overruns and non-compliance with deadlines or quality deficits (current examples include Stuttgart 21, the Elbe Philharmonic Hall, Berlin-Brandenburg airport, Cologne underground). Poor management is often cited as a reason for failure. But the project manager is in the end also responsible for the majority of the other reasons for a project’s failure.

The demands on management in project business are particularly high, due to its high degree of complexity and constantly having to deal with unforeseen factors. The customer´s project manager must frequently take decisions with multiple objectives and at considerable risk on the basis of third-party services and information. He manages a project team with limited access to and high dependence on organizational support. This can be a high strain situation for the project leader.

While leadership research is primarily concerned with how managers influence their employees, this paper will examine the project manager’s dependence on available resources. It is assumed that the project manager’s assessment of the project situation (project requirements and resources) is of central importance with regard to his or her actions and the outcome of the project.

This study will therefore investigate how (perceived) project control by the project manager influences the outcome of the project and which available resources could positively affect his feeling of control, his engagement and, lastly, the project outcome.

The resulting hypotheses will be tested in a cross-company, quantitative study in the construction industry, in order to gain insights for enhancing project performance through the targeted use of resources.