The enterprising manager and project performance

Main Article Content

Rosária de Fatima Segger Macri Russo
Roberto Sbragia

Abstract

Project managers can play a key role in implementing organizational strategy by using entrepreneurial approaches when responding to new needs and opportunities. Nevertheless, the operational responsibilities of a project manager – planning and control – are in stark contrast to the characteristics of an entrepreneur. In light of these contradictory viewpoints, it is important to assess whether managers showing entrepreneurial characteristics are associated with more successful projects. A field survey was conducted, involving 164 project managers most of whom were male and had graduate-level education and broad practical business experience. Non-parametric statistics was used and showed that enterprising tendency on the part of project managers is correlated with more successful projects, and creativity, in particular, was one of the most relevant variables.

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Author Biographies

Rosária de Fatima Segger Macri Russo, University of São Paulo (FEA/USP)

Rosária de Fatima Segger Macri Russo is a PhD candidate of the Management Department of the Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Accountancy of the University of São Paulo (FEA/USP), Brazil. Her research interests focus on project management, decision analysis and risk evaluation. She has an MA Degree with a major in Administration, an MBA with a major in Project Management, and a BA with a major in Data Processing, and holds a PMP Certification. She has worked in Project Management for 25 years, mainly in banks, government organisations and software houses. She teaches Project Management and Organizational Theory in graduate courses and works as a researcher in the Decide Group at FEA/USP, investigating topics related to Decision Theory applied to Project Management.

Email: rmrusso@usp.br

Roberto Sbragia, University of São Paulo (FEA/USP)

Roberto Sbragia is Professor at the Management Department of the Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Accountancy of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. He has Masters and PhD in Business Administration, and has completed Post-Doctoral studies at Northwestern University, Technological Institute, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, with emphasis on R&D Management. He is a coordinator of the Innovation, Technology and Project Management group of Fundação Instituto de Administração, member of the Advisory Committee of the Project Management Global Forum and of the International Association of Management of Technology and Project Management Institute. He is a former President of the Latin America Association for Technology Management (1993-1997), and an author and consultant in the area of Innovation and Project Management.

Email: rsbragia@usp.br