The project manager-project accountant cross-functional working relationship: Testing a contingency model of dyad effectiveness

Organizations are increasingly using cross-functional teams to accomplish their objectives in a faster and less costly manner. However, few empirical investigations of cross-functional working relationships have been reported in the literature. Moreover, cross-functional working relationships between project managers and project accountants have not been studied. This dissertation explored critical aspects of project manager and project accountant working relationships.;A national sample of project manager - project accountant dyads was used to test a contingency model of project manager - project accountant working relationships. A model of cross-functional working relationships was developed which included the following input, process and outcome factors. The two individual input factors were project manager expertise and project accountant expertise. The four situational input factors included (a) the quality of routinely received accounting reports; (b) project uncertainty; (c) the physical proximity of the project manager and the project accountant; and (d) project size. The two process factors were the frequency of face-to-face project manager - project accountant task interactions and the quality of special accounting reports resulting from project manager - project accountant task interactions. The two outcome factors were project performance and project manager satisfaction with project manager - project accountant task interactions.;Correlational analyses indicated that project manager or project accountant expertise, along with most of the situational or process factors, were related to project manager satisfaction with project manager - project accountant task interactions. Results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses suggested that the relationship between expertise and the process and outcome factors depended on the level of three moderating factors (a) the quality of routinely received accounting reports, (b) project uncertainty, and (c) project size.;The most striking finding in the study was that both project manager satisfaction and project performance were influenced by the quality of special accounting reports. The practical implications of these results include colocating PMs and PAs to increase opportunities for interactions between these organizational functions. Results from the dissertation also indicate that a combination of situational and process factors are operating within cross-functional teams to impact project performance.