Management of a complex research project in the context of implementing the university’s overall strategy

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to discuss the central issues associated with the implementation of a multidimensional research project in a university from a strategic management point of view. In the paper, it is argued that project management plays an important role in executing institutional strategy aimed at achieving research and academic excellence. The analysis provided in this paper is based on the academic literature review on some important strategic and project management concerns; it is also based on the author’s experience as the leader of an international research project executed in Transport and Telecommunication Institute (Latvia) under the ERASMUS+ programme. The analysis performed in this paper allows the author to conclude that the challenges of managing a cross-disciplinary research project increase when the context is related to the complicated environment of a contemporary university. Within complex university settings, different inter-related strategies come into play for accomplishing competitive advantage of an educational organization, multidimensional research projects making their valuable contribution to achieving the university’s strategic goals.