Project Managers and HRM

A new cadre of managers has begun to play an increasingly important role in recent years: project managers. This chapter focuses on this category of managers.1 In the introduction of the book, we discussed the importance of the integration capability of the firm, systems integration, and project management. Project managers undoubtedly play an important part in delivering and developing that capability, and, as more and more companies realize the importance of this capability, they also realize the important role project managers play. This is probably one of the prime reasons behind the professionalization of project management and the boom of certification programs launched by institutions such as the Project Management Institute (PMI) and International Project Management Association (IPMA). The importance of the efforts of the project manager are further acknowledged by a wide array of management scholars (see, e.g., Clark and Fujimoto, 1991; Eisenhardt and Tabrizi, 1995; Meredith and Mantel, 1995; Pinto and Slevin, 1987). Studies have, for instance, pointed to the importance of management skills in delivering successful projects and have particularly singled out the significance of the skills of the project manager (e.g., Badaway, 1982).