Through the Looking Glass: Examining Theory Development in Project Management with the Resource-Based View Lens

Project management is a young discipline and young disciplines tend to lack well-developed theories. This paper examines several topics that help with theory development – the use of a common terminology and holistic frameworks, the importance of avoiding tautologies, and the merits of analogies. To guide the process, the paper draws from a recent empirical study that used the Resource-Based View to study project management as a strategic asset. The paper discusses how these four topics that contribute to theory development were managed in the study. Applying theory construction practices enables us to be more aware of the challenges related to research and improves our understanding of variables as used in conceptual and empirical papers. By applying the Resource-Based View to project management, the paper also shows how we can improve our understanding of project management as a source of competitive advantage.

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