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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between adult attention deficit (AAD) and the operational effectiveness of project managers (OEPM).

In total, 160 actively employed business graduate students participated in a business course where they were assigned to four person project teams responsible for completing a major business project. The project contained four sub-projects each of which was managed by a different team member. At the end of the semester each team member rated the others on their operational effectiveness as a project manager. Each subject identified a close associate who completed an observer version of the Brown Attention Deficit Scale. Product moment correlations were used to test the hypotheses that AAD and each of the symptom clusters are negatively associated with OEPM. Simultaneous linear regression was used to test the hypothesis that difficulties activating and organizing to work (DAOW) is uniquely associated with OEPM after controlling for the influence of all the other symptom clusters.

AAD and each of the symptom clusters is negatively associated with OEPM, and DAOW is uniquely associated with OEPM.

Research study is limited by use of an indirect work sample (working graduate students) and future research requires direct workplace samples of project managers. The influence of creativity within the relationship between AAD and project management effectiveness requires further investigation and may reveal beneficial aspects of the disorder.

Individuals and organizations wanting to ensure timely and successful completion of key tasks and projects need to be aware of the influence of AAD on OEPM. The provision of intensive project management training/coaching, regular performance feedback, project management tools and an organized work space free of distractions is suggested for disordered project managers. Disordered project managers are especially vulnerable during the task activation and organization phase which may be addressed through the use of peer coaching and constructive team support. The effective design and management of project teams represents a significant opportunity for distributing the potential creative benefits of the disorder while managing the deficits. Pairing disordered employees with coworkers who are less creative but have better administrative skills may be mutually beneficial. Employee assistance programs that raise awareness and provide access to assessment are an important part of multimodal management of the disorder.

Increasing social, economic and legal pressures to provide reasonable accommodation for functional but disordered employees, be more inclusive and take appropriate advantage of employee diversity underscores the general social value of this research.

This research study is the first examination of the influence of AAD within the nomological network that determines project manager effectiveness. The results are of value to researchers, organizational development specialists, human resource management specialists, managers and employees who are seeking effective multimodal management of the disorder in the workplace.

This paper aims to unpack the relationship between the interactive use of project control systems (PCS) and project performance by examining the role of stakeholder analysis effectiveness in enacting this relationship. A conceptual framework was developed based on the stakeholder theory and the levers of control framework.

Partial least square-structural equation modelling analysis was conducted on the cross-sectional questionnaire data collected from 109 information technology (IT) projects.

The interactive use of PCS enables project managers to effectively deal with the stakeholders-related uncertainty, and stakeholder analysis effectiveness partially mediates the positive relationship between the interactive use of PCS and IT project performance.

This study extends the project control literature by explaining the positive relationship between the interactive use of PCS and project performance. The findings contribute to the stakeholder analysis literature by operationalizing the stakeholder analysis effectiveness construct and identifying it as a new mediator between the interactive use of PCS and project performance.

Project management has become a common organisational approach to manage complex projects. Despite its popularity, few studies have used a human resource perspective to understand the behavioural dimensions of the project manager. This study reports an empirical investigation on some of the causes and consequences of role stress among project managers. The sample consisted of 101 project managers in both projectised and matrix organisations. The study investigates the relationships between role stress and communication aspects such as boundary spanning, perceived effectiveness, satisfaction and job tension. It also examines the effect of role autonomy, need for achievement, age and experience on effectiveness, satisfaction and performance. Implications of the study, in terms of project management effectiveness are discussed. The study concludes with a summary of critical behavioural issues which impinge on project management effectiveness.

A large portion of the extant literature on leadership focuses only on the positive traits of leaders. However, the so‐called “dark side of leadership”, or negative personal traits of leaders, has received relatively less attention. Also, in practice, leadership is mostly evaluated in terms of the positive traits and strengths of leaders, even though certain organizational factors and followers' characteristics significantly contribute to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of leaders. This paper aims to examine the negative personal attributes and organizational factors – termed “organizational neutralizers” – that impede the leadership effectiveness of project managers on construction projects.

To achieve the research objectives, questionnaire surveys and interviews are conducted on a large construction project in Thailand. In total, 78 questionnaires and 35 interviews are conducted with project managers, deputy project managers, and other senior managers working for various stakeholders involved in the construction of the Second Bangkok International Airport (SBIA).

Findings reveal that wrongful use of power, poor communication, and low experience are the leading negative personal factors which make project leaders appear incompetent and ineffective in the workplace. Also, organizational factors that hinder the leadership performance of project managers include: lack of resources, lack of planning and control, lack of synergy between performance and goals, and lack of higher management support.

Practical implications are discussed for the selection and development of project managers and project staff, personnel performance management, and improvements in organizational culture, strategy, and approach towards project management.

The research findings presented here show that certain negative attributes of leaders and organizational factors can impede leadership effectiveness and performance. A number of possible directions are proposed in which future research can be directed to explore what hinders project managers from performing their leadership roles more effectively in construction projects.

This study investigates the link between servant leadership and project management effectiveness in developmental projects in non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Further, this study examined the mediating role of conflict resolution and moderating role of organisational culture.

A three-wave survey of 288 non-governmental organisation (NGO) employees was used to evaluate the hypotheses. Hierarchical regression analysis and Hayes' PROCESS macro technique were used for data analysis.

In this study, servant leadership positively affects employee project management effectiveness in developmental projects in NGOs, and conflict resolution mediates the relationship. Furthermore, the results show that organisational culture moderates the positive relationship between servant leadership and employee project management effectiveness. Moreover, the authors investigated the hypotheses via a moderation mediation model. The strength of the mediated link between servant leadership and project management effectiveness (via conflict resolution) depends on organisational culture strength.

Leaders that practice servant leadership care for their employees genuinely and serve them by allowing them to make their own decisions. Every organisation may benefit from this leadership style since it encourages project effectiveness

New empirical data from this study suggests that servant leadership positively and substantially affects employee project management effectiveness in developmental projects in NGOs.

Contemporary management thinking is paying a great deal of attention to stakeholder theory which posits that sustainable success rests, to a great extent, with a systematic consideration of the needs and goals of all key stakeholders. This paper examines managerial effectiveness under the light of stakeholder theory. Using multivariate analysis, it investigates perceptions of importance of the dimensions of their effectiveness held by the site managers running 61 high‐rise residential construction projects and 268 key project stakeholders. The views were collected through a non‐results‐based performance measurement tool. The findings of the research show that perceptions of the importance of each one of the performance elements vary significantly across professional groups. Opinions of high performing managers also differ form those of low‐performing ones. The application of the method presented in this paper can provide a framework for improvement of both managerial performance and stakeholder relationships.

This study examined the differences among 76 American project managers and 36 of their Arab counterparts with regard to their perceptions of factors contributing to effective project management. After reviewing the relevant literature, a conceptual framework was derived. Seven research hypotheses were formulated and tested. The results of this study tended to underscore the significance of cultural differences among these two groups of project managers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between adult attention deficit (AAD) and the operational effectiveness of project managers (OEPM) as mediated by time management (TM).

In total, 104 actively employed business graduate students each had the opportunity to be a project manager within a project team. Each team member rated the others on their operational effectiveness, completed a self-report measure of TM and identified a close associate who completed an observer version of the Brown Adult Attention Deficit Scale. The Sobel and Hayes tests were used to test the hypothesis that TM mediates the relationship between AAD and OEPM.

AAD is negatively associated with TM and OEPM, and TM is positively associated with OEPM. TM partially mediates the relationship between AAD and OPME.

Future research requires a sample of project managers drawn directly from the workplace, and needs to examine the association of AAD with a wider set of project conditions and associated competencies to identify potential benefits and challenges. An updated and validated measure of both TM and the OEPM is required in future research.

Individuals and organizations wanting to ensure timely and successful completion of key tasks and projects need to be aware of the potentially constraining influence of AAD on TM and OPME. Relatively more intensive time and project management training is suggested for disordered project managers and team members. The use of organizational coaches and peer coaching within project teams represents a potential opportunity for distributing the potential benefits of the disorder while managing the challenges. Employee assistance programs that raise awareness and provide access to assessment are an important part of multi-modal management of the disorder in the workplace.

Employers are facing increasing social, legal and economic pressures to support functional but disordered employees, be more inclusive and take appropriate advantage of employee diversity. This research provides constructive suggestions for how to support disordered employees with project management responsibilities.

This research study is the first examination of the relationships between AAD, TM and OEPM, and is of value to researchers, organizational development specialists, human resource management specialists, managers and employees who are seeking effective multi-modal management of the disorder in the workplace.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which user liaison behavior and outcome control influence the process performance of information technology (IT) projects and how the IT experience, behavior observability, and outcome measurability of user liaisons affect behavior and outcome control.

A research model that integrates the IT experience, behavior observability, outcome measurability, behavior and outcome control, and performance from the perspective of user liaisons is developed. Quantitative data are obtained from 63 completed IT projects. Partial least squares technique is used to evaluate the measurement model. Hypotheses are tested through hierarchical regression analysis.

User liaisons with high IT experience exhibit decreased behavior control but increased outcome control. The outcome control of user liaisons is effective in the process performance of IT projects, whereas their behavior control insignificantly affects performance. However, the behavior observability and outcome measurability of user liaisons strengthen the effectiveness of behavior and outcome control. The behavior and outcome control of user liaisons also vary across different industries and project types.

The results of this study highlight the joint effects of the IT experience, abilities, and control decisions of user liaisons. Although the outcome control of user liaisons is an appropriate control mechanism in IT projects in consideration of the strengths of these liaisons in business knowledge and their control expenditures, the behavior control of user liaisons may also be effective in process performance if these liaisons possess high levels of behavior observability and outcome measurability.

This paper studies how the concepts of efficiency, effectiveness and efficacy are used in project management literature. The concepts relate to the degree of success or failure of projects and the degree to which the results are achieved. The purpose of this paper is to review the use of the concepts of efficiency, efficacy and effectiveness in project management literature and among practitioners.

The study is based on an extensive literature review, initially from the International Journal of Managing Projects in Business. The first phase involved searching the words “efficiency”, “effectiveness” and “efficacy” in all articles of the journal, and then quantifying the results. This was followed by a qualitative search of the same articles with the aim of understanding how the terms “project efficiency”, “project efficacy” and “project effectiveness” are used. A further intensive literature review was then conducted in other literatures in the field of project management, including, but not limited to, International Journal of Project Management and Project Management Journal. Finally, the authors complemented the review by including theories from deep searches of Google Scholar and Google Books using the parameters “project efficiency”, “project effectiveness” and “project efficacy” and checked how the three concepts are used in other fields.

This research reveals there is wide diversity in interpretations of the three concepts among research scholars and practitioners, which makes it challenging to apply these three concepts appropriately and clearly. As a consequence, the authors propose a model for describing these concepts.

This research is based on an academic and non-academic literature review. It identifies a number of inconsistencies in existing literature regarding the three concepts.

This review enriches understanding of project management. Clarifying the understanding of project efficiency, project effectiveness and project efficacy will help and support organisational improvement. A clear and aligned view of these concepts can also be a basis for measurements based on possible developed indicators.

This paper highlights the gap in the literature concerning the practical use and interpretation of the concepts “project efficiency”, “project effectiveness” and “project efficacy”.