Project management can assist many different types of companies to improve their productivity and effectiveness. In companies where there are a large number of projects underway at any one point in time, project management can be especially critical to the company's long-term success. In his article, "Top Management's Role in Project Management," Dr. Harold Kerzner addresses the role of top management in the project management process, with a particular emphasis on the importance of the project sponsor to the success of any particular project.
According to Kerzner, the project sponsor plays a critical role in the success of a project and is ideally a member of senior management. Kerzner assumes that there are two different organizations involved in the project, the customer and the contracting organization, and the project sponsor serves as the contact point between senior management and the client organization. The project sponsor ensures that broad issues (such as overall cost and deliverables) are communicated with the customer, but the project manager is responsible for day to day communications, such as schedules and performance status updates (Kerzner, 1999, p. 1).
The role of the project sponsor varies depending on the phase of the project lifecycle. During the earlier phases of the project (planning and initiation), the project sponsor should take an active role assisting the project manager with priority setting, environmental information and developing policies and procedures for the project. As the project progresses, the sponsor's role diminishes to a more passive role. During later phases, the sponsor serves more as a mentor to the project manager, offering tips for how to keep the project on track and resolving conflicts as they arise (Kerzner, 1999, p. 2). This active-then-passive role enables project sponsors to take on sponsorship of more than one project at a time.
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