ARTICLE IN PRESS JID: JPMA [m5GeSdc; May 27, 2021;8:20 ] International Journal of Project Management xxx (xxxx) xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Project Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman Enabling projects for strategic implementation: Role of designated project manager in CEO-TMT interface during project front-end investment decisions Xiaotian Yang a, Bei He a, Linzhuo Wang b, Miao Yu b,∗, Fangwei Zhu b a Graduate School of Commerce, Waseda University, 1-104 Totsukamachi, Tokyo, Shinjuku-ku, Japan b School of Economics and Management, Dalian University of Technology, No. 2 Linggong Road, Dalian, Ganjingzi District, China a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Keywords: This study explores how the designated project manager (DPM) deals with the CEO-top management team (TMT) Project manager interface to enable projects for strategic implementation. During the project front-end investment decision, their CEO-TMT interface respective key capabilities in Awareness-Motivation-Capability phases are analyzed through a case study. The Project front-end investment decision evidence showed that the DPM indeed plays a key role in the CEO-TMT interface in the process. He/she plays the Capability role of a communicator in the interface in the motivation phase by the observing, networking, and information- Project governance searching capabilities, and plays the role of an integrator in the interface in the capability phase by the coordi- nating and reconfiguring capabilities. Beside, he/she helps the project owner play the role in developing project business cases aligned with strategic development. It enriches project governance theory, identifies the DPM’s role in the project front-end decision-making process before project commencement, and enriches the upper echelons theory into project management fields. 1. Introduction and knowledge, which might result in knowledge fault lines and inef- fective communication in the CEO-TMT interface ( Georgakakis, Greve Although projects have been well managed as a result of re- & Ruigrok, 2017 ; Simsek, Heavey & Fox, 2018 ). During project front- search on project management, their support for organizational strat- end investment decisions, the CEO concerns with project target benefits egy implementation is still challenging ( Meredith & Zwikael, 2020 ; that contribute to the strategic implementation and long-term organiza- Musawir, Serra, Zwikael & Ali, 2017 ). It has been reported that most tional performance improvement ( Zwikael et al., 2018 ). The other TMT project-based organizations still could not achieve strategic benefits members are primarily responsible for providing effective organiza- from their projects ( PMI, 2016 ). Recent studies indicate that failing tional support practices for developing business cases ( Zwikael & Mered- to achieve strategic benefits predominantly stems from the project ith, 2019b ). The different concerns between the CEO and TMT mem- front end stage ( Musawir et al., 2017 ; Zwikael & Meredith, 2019a , bers call for a liaison role in the CEO-TMT interface during the project 2019b ; Zwikael, Chih & Meredith, 2018 ). Although aligning projects investment decision ( Georgakakis, Heyden, Oehmichen & Ekanayake, with organizational strategy has been always the focus of project gover- 2019 ; Lin & Rababah, 2014 ), given that their interaction can affect the nance research, further research is needed to clarify how the project decision-making process and output concerning the project’s contribu- is represented at the strategic level from the project front-end stage tion to strategic implementation. ( Musawir, Abd-Karim & Mohd-Danuri, 2020 ). Not only CEO and TMT members are involved in the project front- To enable projects to promote the strategic implementation, the top end decision-making process, but also project stakeholders are usu- management team (TMT) must translate organizational strategy down in ally involved due to different interests’ requirements ( Meredith & the project business case during project front-end investment decisions Zwikael, 2020 ; Wang, Xu & Li, 2009 ). Some practices in project-based ( Zwikael & Meredith, 2019b ). Considering with the key role of TMT, firms indicated that the designated project manager (DPM), as one of we noticed that typical upper echelons studies that treat the CEO as the most important stakeholders, is more or less called on to involve in being part of the TMT ( Peterson, Smith, Martorana & Owens, 2003 ) ig- the project front-end work such as information gathering, consulting re- nore that the CEO and TMT members have essentially different concerns lated project experience and feasibility analysis, although the DPM has ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (X. Yang), [email protected] (B. He), [email protected] (L. Wang), [email protected] (M. Yu), [email protected] (F. Zhu). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2021.05.001 Received 20 May 2020; Received in revised form 6 May 2021; Accepted 7 May 2021 Available online xxx 0263-7863/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd, APM and IPMA. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: X. Yang, B. He, L. Wang et al., Enabling projects for strategic implementation: Role of designated project manager in CEO-TMT interface during project front-end investment decisions, International Journal of Project Management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j. ijproman.2021.05.001 ARTICLE IN PRESS JID: JPMA [m5GeSdc; May 27, 2021;8:20 ] X. Yang, B. He, L. Wang et al. International Journal of Project Management xxx (xxxx) xxx not been formally appointed as the project manager ( Aldaghlas, Hui & 2.1. Project governance and project front-end investment decisions Duffield, 2020 ; Andalib, Tavakolan & Gatmiri, 2018 ; Söderberg, 2020 ). However, the role and capability of the DPM during the project front- Projects have been increasingly recognized as vehicles for strat- end decision are rarely explained and even denied in extant academic egy implementation in project-based firms ( Musawir et al., 2020 ; literature. It is generally believed that the project manager plays a role PMI, 2016 ). Aligning projects with organizational strategy has been after the project is formally established and his/her capability and role always considered as an important function of project governance are inadequacy to be involved in the TMT’s decision-making ( Meredith ( Musawir et al., 2020 ). Extending from corporate governance, project & Zwikael, 2020 ; Zwikael, Meredith & Smyrk, 2019 ). This deviation be- governance literature widely uses agency theory to explain the rela- tween practices and academic literature motivates a further investiga- tionship between the project owner and manager and how to control tion on the unique role of the DPM in the project investment decision- the project manager to act in the interests of the project owner (orga- making process, which will refer to a series of issues, such as how the nizational strategic goals) ( Biesenthal & Wilden, 2014 ; Müller, Drouin CEO, TMT and DPM interact with each other, whether the DPM plays a & Sankaran, 2019 ). Project governance is to develop functions that role in the CEO-TMT interface, and what capabilities they need to en- guide the project manager’s behaviors and project management activ- sure that a project business case promotes the strategic implementation ities for ensuring that projects achieve the business case and strate- through their interaction. Hence, research questions are generated in gic benefits, in turn supporting the organizational strategy implemen- this study. tation ( Musawir et al., 2017 ; PMI, 2016 ; Zwikael & Smyrk, 2015 ). Prior literature has attempted to provide some guidelines regarding RQ1. How do the CEO, TMT, and DPM, with their diversified ca- how project governance is set up to enable the strategy implemen- pabilities, achieve effective interaction during the project front-end tation through projects, such as selecting the right projects ( Too & process to enable projects to be a way to strategic implementation? Weaver, 2014 ), translating organizational strategy to project strategy ( Morris & Jamieson, 2005 ) and ensuring that expected benefits are re- RQ2. How does the DPM’s capability impact the CEO-TMT interface alized ( Musawir et al., 2017 ; Zwikael & Smyrk, 2015 ). However, the in- in the project front-end investment decision-making process? herent challenges including the difference in perspectives between the top management level and the project level and the difficulty of accu- To further understand this interaction, the project investment rately measuring a project’s final contribution to organizational strategy decision-making process should first be analyzed. This process should are not fully resolved ( Musawir et al., 2020 ). This calls for a new guide- emphasize the awareness of opportunities and the balance of ex- line on project governance including advancing the governance focus to ternal competition and internal capability, especially competitive the project front-end stage and allowing project managers to understand analysis in bidding ( Wang et al., 2009 ). Thus, in this study, the the strategic goals in top management level as early as possible. Awareness-Motivation-Capability (AMC) competitive dynamic frame- Project front-end investment decisions has been suggested to be put work ( Chen, Su & Tsai, 2007 ) was tentatively considered a theoretical emphasis ( Zwikael et al., 2018 ). As realizing a new business opportu- lens to analyze