پیشبرد پروژه و پژوهش مدیریت پرتفولیو : استفاده از تئوری های مدیریت استراتژیک

This paper focuses on the application of strategic management theories to Project Management and Project Portfolio Management research, specifically the Resource-Based View, Dynamic Capabilities, and Absorptive Capacity. A literature review and four research experiences illustrate the advances achieved through the use of these three theoretical perspectives, and contribute to the development of this field by providing examples and guidance for theory development and future research. Commonalities between the research examples include a strong strategic focus, recognition of the importance of knowledge and learning, and research questions seeking understanding and explanation. These research experiences outline the successful application of strategic management theories to a wide range of contexts, using diverse methodologies at a variety of levels of analysis. The findings indicate a broad potential for further fruitful research stemming from the relatively recent application of strategic management theories to Project Management and Project Portfolio Management research.

Project Management (PM) research and Project Portfolio Management (PPM) research advance through the use of theories from the strategic management domain and, in turn, the research contributes to the development and strengthening of these theories by providing empirical examples for testing and validation. This paper focuses on a set of theoretical strategic perspectives — the Resource-Based View (RBV), the Dynamic Capability (DC) concept, and the Absorptive Capacity (AC) concept — and their application to PM and PPM research. Through an overview of these strategic management perspectives and their application to PM and PPM research, this paper aims to contribute to the development of this research field by highlighting the challenges and lessons learned, and by providing examples and guidance for future research. One of the goals of strategy research is to determine why some organizations are more successful than others, and to understand the mechanisms that help some organizations achieve and sustain a competitive advantage (Grant, 2010 and Rumelt et al., 1994). Competitive advantage is the ability of an organization to create more value than its rivals, and therefore achieve superior return on investment (Barney and Hesterley, 2006). Sustained competitive advantage requires capabilities that provide enduring benefits and are not easily copied by competitors or rendered obsolete (Barney and Clark, 2007 and Kwak and Anbari, 2009). In fast-changing environments, capabilities that enable organizations to adapt rapidly and repeatedly can lead to strategic advantages (Eisenhardt, 1989 and Teece et al., 1997). Established PM and PPM capabilities that have been developed over time and customized to an organization's environment are not easy to copy. These established capabilities are repeatedly associated with better outcomes (see for example Alvarez and Busenitz, 2001, Cooper et al., 2001, Jugdev et al., 2007 and Killen et al., 2008), prompting PM and PPM to be viewed as strategic organizational capabilities that have the ability to provide competitive advantage. The linkages between strategy, PM, and PPM are well established and have been explored in the literature for more than two decades (see for example Artto and Dietrich, 2004, Artto et al., 2008, Cooper et al., 1999, Meskendahl, 2010, Morris, 1994, Morris and Hough, 1987, Prencipe and Tell, 2001, Shenhar et al., 2001 and Söderlund, 2004). This literature is represented in publications from a wide range of disciplines, including strategic management, innovation management, and project management. Although this paper does not intend to provide a comprehensive review of the literature linking projects and strategy, a few examples are offered to illustrate some themes. A bi-directional relationship between strategy, projects, and PPM is proposed in the literature on the enactment of strategy through projects and the ability of project and portfolio activities to inform strategy development (for example Artto et al., 2004, Morris and Jamieson, 2005 and Poskela et al., 2005). The particular strategic management challenges associated with the evolving role of PM in organizations are generating rich avenues of investigation, such as studies on the emergence of project-based organizations and the types of capabilities required in these ‘P-form’ organizations (DeFillippi and Arthur, 1998, Keegan and Turner, 2002, Söderlund and Tell, 2009 and Whitley, 2006), and related studies into the management of complex product systems (Davies and Brady, 2000 and Hobday, 2000). This paper contributes to this rich and active field of literature linking strategy and projects by focusing on an under-explored theme: the application of established strategic management theories to PM and PPM research. While much has been written about the linkages between strategy and projects, the application of theories from the strategic management domain to PM and PPM research is a relatively new endeavor. Historically, PM has been viewed as an operational rather than a strategic asset (Jugdev and Thomas, 2002) and success has been measured in operational terms such as budget and time metrics. More recently, researchers and practitioners have begun to promote the measurement of the strategic impact of project outcomes (Dinsmore and Cooke-Davies, 2006 and Jugdev and Thomas, 2002). As the PM community has strengthened its focus on the strategic aspects of PM, it has also placed a higher level of importance on PPM and its relationship with strategy. A review of PM-related publications in management journals over the past 50 years reveals that PPM and strategy topics represent the highest proportion, and shows a steady upward trend that is expected to continue (Kwak and Anbari, 2009). Pinto (2007, p. 101) summarizes the links between PM, PPM, and strategy by noting that “profitability often runs through the area of strategic PM. One of the most effective methods for aligning profit objectives and strategic plans is the development of a proactive project portfolio”. PM and PPM are relatively young disciplines, and the research approaches and standards are in transition. Advances in PM and PPM research have resulted in studies with increased methodological rigor, such as those that develop and test conceptual models through sophisticated statistical analysis and others that employ qualitative multiple-case studies involving in-depth interviewing, observation, and analysis (Turner, 2010). However, most PM and PPM research remain largely atheoretical and this highlights an opportunity to further advance PM and PPM research by drawing upon established theories. As PM and PPM maturities have evolved, so has their relevance to the realization of organizational strategy. Therefore, some PM and PPM researchers have turned to theories and frameworks from the strategic management domain, finding the application of these theories both rewarding and challenging. Since the application of strategic management perspectives to PM and PPM is relatively new, the lessons learned from these initial studies are especially illustrative. By consolidating and analyzing some of this research, this paper aims to provide guidance for future research and to contribute to the continued advance of PM and PPM research. Section 2 overviews the literature on three theories from the domain of strategic management: the RBV, DC, and AC. Four research experiences are then outlined in Section 3 to illustrate the application of these three theoretical perspectives to PM or PPM research. Section 4 discusses and analyses the research experiences and Section 5 offers conclusions and suggestions for future research.

The literature review and research experiences reported in this paper highlight the advantages as well as the challenges of adopting theories from strategic management for PM and PPM research. This paper makes four primary contributions to the PM, PPM, and strategic management fields. First, the literature review and the research experiences illustrate how PM and PPM research is strengthened by the explanatory power and solid theoretical foundations provided by the use of three theories from the strategic management domain — the RBV, DC, and AC. The research is strengthened by drawing upon the extensive conceptual and empirical studies and the large volume of literature associated with these well-established theories. In addition to enriching PM and PPM research, the use of these theories integrates the research with research in other disciplines that draw upon these theories. Second, this paper shows how strategic management theories provide well-studied and debated frameworks and methodologies that can be adopted or adapted for use in a PM or PPM context. As outlined in the research experiences and the literature review, these frameworks and methodologies provide an established base that can be built upon and adjusted to suit the particular environment. Third, examples of the practical application of the RBV, DC, and AC to PM and PPM research are provided to return benefits to the field of strategic management. This empirical research helps to develop, validate, or extend the RBV, DC, and AC theories. The compilation of research experiences in this paper also provides a valuable resource to guide future research by highlighting challenges and outlining methodological approaches and adjustments. Finally, wide-ranging future research opportunities are suggested by this paper. Each of the research experiences outlines related future research avenues. In addition, this paper's illustration of a diverse set of PM and PPM research experiences supported by the RBV, DC, and AC theories suggests that a wide range of PM and PPM investigations may benefit from the application of strategic management theory. As these avenues for research evolve, future research is likely to illustrate rich and rewarding developments in this area. In conclusion, these contributions highlight the benefits that can be obtained by the application of strategic management theories such as the RBV, DC, and AC to PM and PPM research. By adopting, adapting, building upon, and contributing to established theories from the strategic management domain, PM and PPM research domains demonstrate their positions as focused subsets among management and strategic management research rather than as separate domains. This positioning stands to further advance PM research and PPM research by integrating these domains with the more theoretically advanced fields within strategic management and providing a broader range of options for research collaboration and dissemination. Monitoring and learning from this research avenue as it unfolds has the potential to continue to advance PM and PPM research through further refinement and sophistication in the application of strategic management theories.