Abstract
This study examined the situational factors influencing the failure of regular employees working in research and development (R&D) departments in Japanese private-sector companies to transition from follower to project manager, while considering their challenges. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 individuals who were tasked with project management duties. Within the hypothetical model of problems in transitioning to project management duties, which was analyzed using the modified grounded theory approach (M-GTA), the failure to transition successfully to the role of project manager was investigated by considering two concepts. Four situational factors, based on the two aforementioned concepts, were identified as problems causing the transition to project manager to falter or fail. These were 1) insufficient preliminary study of the project’s R&D organization; 2) the project manager’s management support was lacking; 3) the project manager and the manager did not understand project members’ technical abilities, and 4) the promotion criteria for project management were unclear. The four situational factors were derived through the analysis, with findings and conclusions regarding the themes obtained.
