Successful Brazilian project-leader characteristics

The characteristics of successful Brazilian industrial research institute project leaders are examined. Three performance measures are used: the number of project-related reports, the evaluation of the division director, and the rating of a panel of judges. An investigation is made of the association between these measures and the following characteristics: the project-leader orientation, his primary influence base, his level of autonomy, the number of decision-making sources which participate in project goal setting, and the highest degree earned. The results indicate that two alternative sets of characteristics are associated with high performance. First, professionally oriented individuals with high autonomy who rely on a combination of expertise and legitimacy as a primary influence base are rated as high performers. Second, individuals with a dual organizational and professional orientation who have a large number of sources participating in project goal setting, and who also rely on a balanced influence base, are rated as high performers. It is concluded that the effectiveness of the professionally oriented, highly autonomous research leader will diminish over time. The research leader will be replaced by the engineering manager as the Brazilian institutes move further in the transition from government sponsored institutes to contract research organizations.