The fit between project managers' personality and management style and the types of projects they manage is crucial for projects' success. This exploratory interdisciplinary study focuses on the relationships among three aspects: projects' types (profiles), project managers' personality, and projects' success. Based on the person-organization fit theory it was hypothesized that a project with a particular profile needs a manager with fitting personality traits in order to achieve optimal performance and success. A questionnaire, consisting of three parts was used: (1) classifying projects along the four dimensions (novelty, complexity, technology, and pace [NCTP]); (2) focusing on project managers' personality traits relevant to these project dimensions; and (3) assessing the projects' success from several perspectives. Preliminary results lend tentative support to the study's hypothesis.

In project management, high levels of risk are considered to be a significant obstacle for project success. This paper investigates whether improving the project plan can lead to improved success for high-risk projects. A quality of planning index was designed to explore how the presence of high risk affects the quality of planning and project success. The index includes managerial aspects such as costs, human resources, procurement and quality, as well as organizational support aspects based on organization maturity models. In a field study based on data collected from 202 project managers regarding their most recent projects, it was found that the levels of risk at the beginning of projects has no effect on their final success. Drilling down to find an explanation for this surprising phenomenon, we found that in the presence of high risk, project managers significantly improve their project plans. Hence, in highrisk projects, better project plans improve all four dimensions of project success: schedule overrun, cost overrun, technical performance and customer satisfaction. However, in low-risk projects, better project plans did not contribute to reducing schedule or cost overruns. In other words, while endless risk management tools are developed, we found that improving the project plan is a more effective managerial tool in dealing with high-risk projects. Finally, the paper presents the most common planning tools currently being used in high-risk projects. #

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of a fit between project managers' (PMs) personalities and the “personalities” of their projects, for project success; taking a psychological rather than a project management perspective.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 289 Israeli PMs responded to a specially designed questionnaire that classified projects along three dimensions: Novelty, Complexity and Technological Uncertainty, analyses PM's personality traits that were identified as relevant to these dimensions and assessed the projects' success. It was hypothesized that the greater the PM‐P fit, the greater the projects' success.FindingsResults supported the hypothesis: PMs whose personality profile was close to the ideal PM profile for a particular project type were more successful in impact on the customers, benefit to the organization and overall success.Research limitations/implicationsA cross‐sectional design and a self report measure.Practical implicationsThe findings can be translated into recommendations for improving the fit between PMs and the projects assigned to them to increase project success.Originality/valueThe study extends Person‐Organization (P‐O) fit theory to the case of projects, viewing projects as temporary organizations. It also introduces to project management the psychological perspective on PM‐P fit and demonstrates its relevance.

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