Project management standardization and R&D project performance: A cross-national comparison

Abstract

R&D project management is a very complex and difficult work. Many companies attempt to implement standardized project management (SPM) defined as a standardized set of project management (PM) practices. Previous empirical studies of US researchers show that SPM tools, leadership skills, and process may impact project success. Using data collected from R&D project in the China high-velocity industry, we conduct a comparative study to test the impact of PM standardization on R&D project success. The results of the testing indicate that standardized PM process, tools, culture, and leadership are of higher interest, and that standardized metrics, the information management system, and project organization may be of lower interest. © 2006 International Federation for Information Processing.