Title: Examining corresponding project management and change management roles in practice

Authors: Katalin Pádár; Zoltán Sebestyén; Béla Pataki

Addresses: Eötvös Loránd University, H-1053 Budapest, Egyetem tér 1-3., Hungary ' Budapest University of Technology and Economics, H-1117 Budapest, Magyar Tudósok körútja 2, Bld. Q. A309, Hungary ' Budapest University of Technology and Economics, H-1117 Budapest, Magyar Tudósok körútja 2, Bld. Q. A309, Hungary

Abstract: Project sponsors and change sponsors, as well as project managers and change agents are corresponding roles of project management (PM) and change management (CM) on the domain of projects that are also second-order changes (i.e., change projects). However, the number of sources putting this theoretical notion to test is close to none. We examined the knowledge and understanding of practitioners from different fields regarding CM and PM (role) concepts - based on an international online survey. Our findings point to an observable asymmetry regarding CM-related and PM-related knowledge. Respondents' answers varied a lot more when it came to defining changes compared to having to define projects. PM is the better known scientific field and has a more prevalent methodology. Survey results support previous theoretical findings regarding the correspondence of the roles of the: 1) change sponsor and project sponsor; 2) change agent and project manager.

Keywords: project sponsor; change sponsor; change agent; project manager; project management; corresponding roles; project management roles; change management roles.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2019.097394

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2019 Vol.22 No.1, pp.127 - 142

Received: 14 Jan 2017
Accepted: 05 Aug 2017
Published online: 21 Jan 2019 *

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