University of Pittsburgh

Faculty

Dennis Patrick Slevin

Professor of Business Administration

Office: 306 Mervis Hall
Phone: 412-648-1553
E-mail: dpslevin@katz.pitt.edu

Degrees

PhD, Business Administration (Organizational Behavior), Stanford University (1969)
MSIA, Carnegie Mellon University (1967)
BS, Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1965)
BA, Math, St. Vincent College (1964)

Courses Recently Taught

BUSORG1020 Organizational Behavior
IEMBA Project Management Workshop
BQOM 2502 Project Management
IEMBA Learning Community Workshop

Interest Groups

Strategy, Environment, and Organizations

Profile

Currently, my research is focused primarily in two programmatic areas.

Project Implementation

Successful organizations in the future will manage strategic change through the implementation of successful projects. As the environment becomes more complex and technologically sophisticated, project management and the implementation of change will cut across all levels of organization. We have mounted a program of research, grounded in previous implementation research, to better understand the project management process.

Our research has resulted in the development of the Project Implementation Profile which is available for use as a research /consulting instrument. It has been used by thousands of project managers to track their project success.

We have focused the attention of key researchers in the field on important project management research questions. I have been the co-chair for three Project Management Research Conferences: 2000, Paris France, 2002 Seattle, Washington, 2004, London, England. The other co-chairs of these conferences were Professor David I. Cleland, Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering, Professor Jeffrey K. Pinto, Penn State Behrend. These conferences have resulted in two books and one proceedings reporting the latest international research in project management.

Entrepreneurship

The topic of entrepreneurship/intrapreneurship has become more and more salient for business firm success. With shrinking product life cycles, firms must be poised to be more risk taking, proactive and innovative. We are conducting a program of research to better understand the key relationships between strategy, competitive tactics, entrepreneurship, management style, organizational structure and the environment.

In collaboration with Professor Jeffrey G. Covin, Indiana University and graduate students, a research program is being conducted looking at a large number of variables impacting upon entrepreneurial firm behavior and organizational transitions. We feel that a contribution can be made by measuring entrepreneurial behavior of firms, and relating this to the success of alternative strategies, competitive tactics, and organizational structures. This represents a logical synergy between the entrepreneurship, strategic management, and organization studies literatures.

Recent Publications

"Frontiers of Project Management Research", Slevin, Dennis P., Cleland, David I, Pinto, Jeffrey K., (Eds.) Project Management Institute, Newtown Square, PA, 2002. (28 chapters consisting of the best recent papers in new Project Management research).

"Innovations: Project Management Research 2004", Dennis P. Slevin, David I. Cleland and Jeffrey K. Pinto (editors), Project Management Institute, Newtown Square, PA 2004. (30 chapters consisting of the best recent papers in new Project Management research).

"Exploring the Relationship Between Strategic Reactiveness and Entreprenerial Orientation: the Role of Structure-Style Fit", with Kimberly M. Green and Jeffrey G. Covin, Journal of Business Venturing, 2007

"Strategic Decision Making in an Intuitive vs. Technocratic Mode: Structural and Environmental Considerations", with Jeffrey G. Covin and Michael B. Heeley, Journal of Business Research, 52(1), April, 2001.

"Strategic Process Effects on the Entrepreneurial Orientation-Sales Growth Rate Relationship", with Jeffrey G. Covin and Kimberly M. Green, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, January, 2006, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 57-82.

"The Entrepreneurial Imperatives of Strategic Leadership", with Jeffrey G. Covin. Chapter 14 (pp. 309 - 327 in Strategic Entrepreneurship: Creating a New Mindset, Hitt, Michael A., Ireland, R. Duane, Camp, S. Michael, and Sexton, Donald L., (Eds.), Blackwell Publishers Ltd., Oxford, UK, 2002.

"An Overview of Behavioral Issues in Project Management" with Jeffrey K. Pinto, in Morris, P.W.G. and J.K. Pinto (Eds.), The Handbook of Managing Projects, John Wiley and Sons, New Jersey, 2004.

"The Concept of Entrepreneurial Leadership" with Jeffrey G. Covin chapter in M. A. Hitt and R. D. Ireland, Entrepreneurship Encyclopedia, Blackwell Publishing, 2004.

"The Concept of Emergent Strategy", with Jeffrey G. Covin chapter in M. A. Hitt and R. D. Ireland, Entrepreneurship Encyclopedia, Blackwell Publishing, 2004.

"Rigidity - Flexibility - Rigidity: Incorporating CFCS into Project Management", with William J. Lekse, chapter in. Dennis P. Slevin, David I. Cleland and Jeffrey K. Pinto (editors), Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research 2004, Project Management Institute, 2004.

"Corporate Entrepreneurship Challenge: Making Opportunities from Innovations and Marketing’s Common Thread-Information", with William J. Lekse, chapter in Reinhold Würth, Wolfgang Gaul, and Viktor Jung, (editors), The Entrepreneurship - Innovation - Marketing Interface, Swiridoff Verlag, Künzelsau, Germany, 2005.

"Project Critical Success Factors: The Project Implementation Profile", with Jeffrey K. Pinto, in Cleland, David I. and Gareis, Roland, Global Project Management, Second Addition, McGraw-Hill Companies, 2006.

"Exploring The Relationship Between Strategic Adaptability And Entrepreneurial Orientation: The Role Of Structure-Style Fit" with Kimberly M. Green and Jeffrey G. Covin, Forthcoming in Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 2007.

"Market Responsiveness, Risk Taking, and Strategic Learning as Determinants of Market Pioneering", with Robert P. Garrett and Jeffrey G. Covin, abstract accepted by Academy of Management, for August, 2007 Conference.

Awards and Honors

"Pioneers and Followers: Competitive Tactics, Environment, and Firm Growth", with Jeffrey G. Covin, Journal of Business Venturing, March, 2000, 15(2), pp. 175-210. This paper received "Paper of the Year Award in Corporate Entrepreneurship", awarded by USASBE (United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship) and presented at their national conference held in Orlando, FL., February 7-10, 2001.

H.J. Zoffer Award for Meritorious Service, Business School Alumni Association, May 2002.

External Service and Assignments

Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence—Board of Directors

Entrepreneurial Fellows Center—Academic Director

MIT Enterprise Forum—Board Member (2000-03).

Air University Board of Visitors (1997-2005).

Building Committee, Katz School

Member of Academy of Management, United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society, and Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity.

Consulting Activities

Design and implement highly targeted management development programs.

Personal Interests

Travel.