Promotors : necessary drivers of viable, project-oriented organizations

Lehner, Patrick; Martignoni, Jens; Gemünden, Hans Georg

Publication type:	Conference paper
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Promotors : necessary drivers of viable, project-oriented organizations
Authors:	Lehner, Patrick Martignoni, Jens Gemünden, Hans Georg
et. al:	No
Conference details:	20th EURAM Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 4-6 December 2020
Issue Date:	2020
Language:	English
Subjects:	Barrier; Learning; Project-oriented organization; Promotor; Structure; Value
Subject (DDC):	658.404: Project management
Abstract:	This article shows how promotors work together in the fundamental organizational transformation towards a project-oriented organization, what contributions they make, and how several promotors complement each other. The theoretical base is the promotor theory developed by Witte, Hauschildt and Gemünden. This theory explains how the three key roles of expert, power and process promotor jointly overcome the barriers of not knowing an innovation, not wanting an innovation, and not being allowed to innovate. The empirical base is a longitudinal study of eight companies over the different stages of their transformation process. 42 semi-structured interviews were conducted with top managers, middle managers with line functions, and project managers, transcribed and systematically evaluated. The analysis of the key persons comprises three aspects: the promotors, their opponents, and the cooperation of the promotors in a promotor structure. The results show that the three different types of promotors drive the transformation process of creating a truly project-oriented organization. Thus, the promotor theory does not only apply to new product innovations ventures that realize higher benefits through new technologies and better fulfillment of customer needs, but also for management innovations that transform the management system of an organization. Contrary to the expectations raised in the literature, the organizational transformation was not only a matter of senior management commitment, and good process management. Rather, the role of the expert promotor was very important, because the competences of the project-oriented organization comprises a wide range of different capabilities that are practiced not only in many temporary projects, but also in many different organizational units of the permanent organization that plan, control, staff, guide, and support projects to generate corporate success. Project management understanding and skills are therefore not only required from project managers that are assigned to lead a project, but also from responsible senior managers, project owners, project staffing units, project steering committees, project management offices, project portfolios boards, human resource managers, and knowledge managers.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/21479
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	School of Management and Law
Organisational Unit:	Institute for Organizational Viability (IOV)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen School of Management and Law

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Lehner, P., Martignoni, J., & Gemünden, H. G. (2020). Promotors : necessary drivers of viable, project-oriented organizations. 20th EURAM Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 4-6 December 2020.

Lehner, P., Martignoni, J. and Gemünden, H.G. (2020) ‘Promotors : necessary drivers of viable, project-oriented organizations’, in 20th EURAM Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 4-6 December 2020.

P. Lehner, J. Martignoni, and H. G. Gemünden, “Promotors : necessary drivers of viable, project-oriented organizations,” in 20th EURAM Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 4-6 December 2020, 2020.

LEHNER, Patrick, Jens MARTIGNONI und Hans Georg GEMÜNDEN, 2020. Promotors : necessary drivers of viable, project-oriented organizations. In: 20th EURAM Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 4-6 December 2020. Conference paper. 2020

Lehner, Patrick, Jens Martignoni, and Hans Georg Gemünden. 2020. “Promotors : Necessary Drivers of Viable, Project-Oriented Organizations.” Conference paper. In 20th EURAM Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 4-6 December 2020.

Lehner, Patrick, et al. “Promotors : Necessary Drivers of Viable, Project-Oriented Organizations.” 20th EURAM Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 4-6 December 2020, 2020.