The Frontiers of Project Management Research

Once the need was recognized and heightened awareness of project management achieved, it usually led to acceptance of project management as a potential solution. Then, executives took action by either buying project management externally from consultants or growing it internally by training their staff, hiring project managers, and augmenting this strategy with some consulting services. These two choices differ in that buying project management services reflects an organizational culture that views it as a commodity. On the other hand, those companies that grow it internally are more likely to support it as a core competency. These companies indicated that it took years to grow project management internally and that the progress was incremental.

In the cases where the need for project management continued to be denied at this stage, the practitioners believed that there would be no change. In these organizations, project management was simply something anyone could do when the need arose. In such companies, project managers were often promoted up the technical ranks and awarded the title "project manager" although they did not necessarily have the experience or training to fill the role effectively. One interviewee used the term "accidental project manager" to describe these individuals.

Based on the participant information and literature, we developed a model that describes the way project management is sold/bought in organizations (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Selling and Buying Relationships in Organizations

Traditionally, project management sales relationships follow the trend shown in Q1, where the tactical relationships focus on selling features of a business solution. Buying occurs at a reflexive level or involuntarily such that no real learning takes place. If the seller does not "elicit" the desired response, then no relationship can be maintained (Q2). If the seller does elicit the desired response, a dysfunctional relationship can be established such that no new behaviors are learned; instead, associations are developed through pairing previous experiences with associations that are made in response to the belief that one has control over the external trigger events.

Currently, practitioners are selling tactically and demanding strategic respect. This puts us into a situation whereby actions and behaviors contradict and change feels chaotic, like the whirl of a tornado (Q3). Ultimately, to thread into the eye of the chaos to the level of true learning, sellers must sell strategically with the purchaser buying strategically. In terms of affecting change that resonates at a personal and organizational level, strategic selling must occur (Q4). As an intermediary step, sellers may initially reach buyers at a tactical level (Q3). The responsibility for where the relationship goes from here rests with the seller and buyer being honest about the benefits of the relationship rather than pushing the features of the project management solution. The seller as a strategist moves the buyer into an area of trust that nurtures a mutual proactive response to making a personal change. The seller can begin to identify how the business solution relates to internal issues (things that keep the executive up at night) as trigger events. Buyers can begin to see the futility of reacting reflexively and trying to control external trigger events such as market stability and politics as a way to affect change that resonates through an organizational system.

Q4 shows a healthy, sustainable relationship whereby new behaviors are learned. Sellers and buyers do not act out of past associations from failed or successful experience. Rather they jointly tell a story that makes sense because it resonates with each party. Both parties learn the desired behaviors instead of reflecting on what they perceive each other to want. This becomes more than a process of generalization and discrimination of the features that each perceives to be of value in sustaining and growing the relationship. Rather, the benefits of a mutual relationship emerge and grow stronger because each focuses only on what they can guide internally for themselves—what is true from them instead of exercising perceived control over external trigger events.

To summarize, our Phase I research indicates that:

• Project management continues to be sold from a foundation values perspective and has not evolved to the innovation values end of the continuum.

• There are a number of disconnects that relate to the understanding of project management and its perceived value in business terms. There is a lot of work to be done to improve how it is understood and valued by executives.

• Sellers of project management (including project managers) need to use effective marketing strategies and communication skills in presenting it to executives in a business, not project, context.

• Sellers need to be mindful of the dynamics around change management and ensure that they adjust their sales strategies accordingly. Company cultures are ingrained and change can be painfully slow. Recommending small-scale project management initiatives and "quick-win" strategies will go farther than more dramatic changes.

• Organizations are evolving in terms of their project management maturity. This relates to the 2 2 matrices presented and sellers need to be aware of this as they develop their strategies of selling project management.

• Effective relationships between buyers and sellers built on trust and past experiences with each other are critical to future working relationships and potential sales. These relationships cannot be built over the course of a few meetings. Sellers need to ensure that they cultivate these relationships and develop their credibility with executives.

The preliminary findings from Phase I reveal common trends or relationships that bear further research and elaboration. Positioning and branding of project management appear to be central issues in establishing project management as a strategic capability. Both areas warrant further research with respect to the complex topic of selling project management. We will be researching aspects of these two topics in Phase II.