• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.70-80
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• 2020

This study examined the effects of the R&D project managers' leadership on the product development performance. A survey was carried out empirically on a group of 175 experts associated with project management R&D operations in the field of manufacturing, construction engineering, shipbuilding, plant, and IT. The survey results showed that the effects of the R&D project managers' leadership on the product development performance were not significant, and the mediating effects of the project sponsor roles were significant. This means that the leadership of leaders, which requires efficient control and management based on complicated intergroup relationships and roles, is important in a project involving experts from the professional field. This suggests that the efficient leadership of leaders can improve the performance through the cooperation of members in the organization and aggregation of their core competencies in a limited time. Overall, the key results of this study mean that project leaders should play an active mediating role to maximize their leadership and enhance the role of project sponsors. In addition, the mediating role of project sponsors has an effect on the leadership of project managers, affecting the project performance quality.