A Study on Highly Effective Human Resource Development Methods for Project Managers in National R&D Projects in Japan

As one of Japan's largest public R&D management organizations, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) plans, designs and manages numerous national R&D projects. NEDO covers a wide range of fields, such as storage batteries, hydrogen, robotics, AI, electronics, and materials. A typical NEDO project has an implementation period of about 5 years, a total budget of about 3 billion yen, and about 7 participating companies. Project managers (PMs) formulate basic project plans, establish implementation systems, manage progress, and allocate budgets in NEDO projects. NEDO has developed two tools for enhancing PM's leadership capabilities: 1) “R&D Management Guideline” to foster PM mindsets and 2) a “Training Course” that teaches the basic knowledge and skills needed to serve as a PM. This “Training Course” consists of 5 management skills classes and 5 planning skills classes. This study analyzes the PM “Training Course” by applying quantitative and text analysis on questionnaire results in order to improve PM human resource development. Results show that management skills classes were more satisfactory and useful than planning skill classes. This result suggests that emphasizing the acquisition and advancement of management skills is an effective strategy for PMs human resource development.