June 27, 2006 Source: Athabasca University:
http://www.mba.athabascau.ca/Titan/aucimwebsite.nsf/AllDoc/A7CD6CE6311AD2E78725719A00559889?OpenDocument SSHRC grant awarded to Athabasca University for PM study St. Albert, AB - Dr. Kam Jugdev, Associate Professor of Project Management and Strategy at Athabasca University’s Centre for Innovative Management, has been awarded a three-year Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant for a study entitled, "Project Management as a Source of Competitive Advantage." The Council supports the advancement of university research in the humanities and social sciences with grants awarded through a rigorous peer-reviewed process. This research project will focus on identifying the strategic assets that can be sources of an organization’s competitive advantage. Using the Resource Based View, Dr. Judgev and her research team will study tangible (e.g., tools, techniques, methodologies) and intangible (e.g., informal knowledge-sharing practices, tacit knowledge, and social capital) project management assets to examine which assets contribute to the strategic nature of project management. Pilot study findings indicate that, although documented project management standards, training/development, and sharing explicit knowledge help companies achieve operational efficiencies, sharing project management know-how is unique and enhances the strategic nature of project management within a company. The team will gather data from organizations in North America, with a specific emphasis on the energy sector. "Companies will be able to use the study’s findings to determine which assets they should develop and/or invest in to improve project management performance," says Dr. Jugdev. "This research is original because few have investigated tangible and intangible assets in project management and how they contribute to project management as a source of competitive advantage. "As Dr. Lindsay Redpath, Executive Director of the Centre for Innovative Management, noted, "This grant is a significant acknowledgement of our Centre’s academic depth in project management—a key management discipline which is central to organizational effectiveness. This research not only contributes to the growing body of knowledge in project management, it also finds direct application in our curriculum in the MBA in Project Management. Dr. Jugdev’s findings will also be welcomed by organizations and companies who want to better understand how project management can be used to implement strategy." Dr. Rory McGreal, Associate Vice President of Research at Athabasca University, commented on the importance of the grant awarded to Dr. Jugdev, "SSHRC grants are highly regarded academically because of the rigorous and highly competitive review process. We are particularly proud of Dr. Jugdev’s achievement, and look forward to the research findings of this important study." Media inquiries: Marilyn Wangler
Director of Marketing and Communications
Centre for Innovative Management
Ph: 780-418-7553 or Cell: 780-965-0457
Email: marilynw@athabascau.ca
| 