Affiliation: BI Norwegian Business School, Norway
Email: ralf.mueller@pm-concepts.com

Biography

Dr. Ralf Müller is Professor of Project Management at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, and adjunct and visiting professor at several other Universities worldwide. In parallel he is the Managing Director of PM Concepts AB, a Sweden based management consultancy which advices larger enterprises in management, leadership and governance.

Ralf Müller’s studies emotional intelligence in temporary organizations, especially in projects, programs and portfolios of projects within larger organizations. In his early studies, he investigated the psychological profiles of successful project managers and functional managers, and the relationship between emotional intelligence and success in projects and programs of different types and complexity. Then he investigated the role of emotional intelligence in organizational resilience. Recently he developed the theory of balanced leadership in projects, which describes the specific leadership approaches in temporary organziations. Currently he investigates the personalities of successful megaproject managers.

His research appeared in approximately 300 scientific publications, including 18 books, of which an excerpt is shown below. Professional and academic institutions acknowledged his work with a large number of awards, including several fellow and lifetime achievement awards. Stanford University identified him as among of the top 2% of the most influential scientists worldwide. Before joining academia, he spent 30 years in the industry, including a time as Worldwide Director of Project Management at NCR Corporation.

Articles
Wang, L., Müller, R., Zhu, F., & Yang, X. (2021). Collective mindfulness: The key to organizational resilience in megaprojects. Project Management Journal, 52(6), pp. 592-606. https://doi.org/10.1177/87569728211044908

Drouin, N., Müller, R., Sankaran, S., & Vaagaasar, A. L. (2021). Balancing leadership in projects: role of the socio-cognitive space. Project Leadership & Society.

Li, L., Müller, R., Liu, B., Wang, Q., Wu, G., & Zhou, S. (2021). Horizontal-leader identification in construction project teams in China: How Guanxi impacts coworkers’ perceived justice and turnover intentions. Project Management Journal. 52(6), pp. 566-591.

Liu, B., Wu, G., Müller, R., Chen, H., & Li, L. (2021). Exploring the Effects of Horizontal Leaders’ Presence on Team Members’ Job Burnout: A Moderated Mediation Model. Journal of Management in Engineering, 37(6), pp. 1-12. DoI: 10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000975.

Alonderienė, R., Müller, R., Pilkienė, M., Šimkonis, S., & Chmieliauskas, A. (2020). Transitions in Balanced Leadership in Projects: The case of horizontal leaders. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, (early cite). https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2020.3041609

Vaagaasar, A., & Müller, R. (2020). Balansert lederskap. Magma, 2020(07), 54–61.
Li, H., Zhao, Z., Müller, R., & Shao, J. (2020). Exploring the Relationship between Leadership and Followership of Chinese Project Managers. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 13(3), 616-647.

Vaagaasar, A. L., Müller, R., & De Paoli, D. (2020). Project managers adjust their leadership: to workspace and project type. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 13(2), 256-276.
Zhu, F., Wang, L., Yu, M., Müller, R., & Sun, X. (2019). Transformational leadership and project team members’ silence: The mediating role of feeling trusted. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 12(4), 845–868.

Zhu, F., Wang, L., Sun, M., Sun, X., & Müller, R. 2019. Influencing factors of horizontal leaders’ role identity in projects: A sequential mixed method approach. International Journal of Project Management, 37(4), 582–598.

Dwivedula, R., Bredillet, C., & Müller, R. 2018. Work Motivation in Temporary Organizations: Establishing Theoretical Corpus. Management and Organizational Studies, 5(3), 29–42. https://doi.org/10.5430/mos.v5n3p29.

Drouin, N., Müller, R. & Sankaran, S. 2018. Balancing vertical and horizontal leadership in projects: Empirical studies from Australia, Canada, Norway and Sweden. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 11(4), 986-1006. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-01-2018-0002

Pilkiene, M., Alonderienė, R., Chmieliauskas, A., Šimkonis, S. & Müller, R. 2018. The governance of horizontal leadership in projects. International Journal of Project Management, 36(7), 913-924.

Yu, M., Vaagaasar, A.L., Müller, R., Wang, L., & Zhu, F. 2018. Empowerment: the key to horizontal leadership in project teams. International Journal of Project Management, 36(7), 992-1006. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j. ijproman.2018.04.003

Müller, R., Zhu, F., Sun, X., Wang, L., & Yu, M. 2018. The identification of temporary horizontal leaders in projects: International Journal of Project Management 36(1), 95-107.

Müller, R., Sankaran, S., Drouin, N., Vaagaasar, A., Bekker, M. C., & Jain, K. 2018. A theory framework for balancing vertical and horizontal leadership in projects. International Journal of Project Management, 36(1), 83-94.

Book chapters
Sankaran, S., van Marrewijk, A., Drouin, N., & Müller, R. (2021). Conclusions and reflections: What have we learnt about megaproject leaders? In N. Drouin, S. Sankaran, A. van Marrewijk, & R. Müller (Eds.), Megaproject Leaders: Reflections on personal life stories (pp. 288–297). Cheltenham, UK.: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

Müller, R., van Marrewijk, A., Drouin, N., & Sankaran, S. (2021). Insights from personal perspectives. In N. Drouin, S. Sankaran, A. van Marrewijk, & R. Müller (Eds.), Megaproject Leaders: Reflections on personal life stories (pp. 270–287). Cheltenham, UK.: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781789902976

Drouin, N., & Müller, R. (2021). The Gotthard Base Tunnel: The work of a century. In N. Drouin, S. Sankaran, A. van Marrewijk, & R. Müller (Eds.), Megaproject Leaders: Reflections on personal life stories (pp. 101–118). Cheltenham, UK.: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781789902976

van Marrewijk, A., Sankaran, S., Müller, R., & Drouin, N. (2021). A biographical research approach. In N. Drouin, S. Sankaran, A. van Marrewijk, & R. Müller (Eds.), Megaproject Leaders: Reflection on personal life stories (pp. 12–20). Cheltenham, UK.: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781789902976

Drouin, N., van Marrewijk, A., Sankaran, S., & Müller, R. (2021). What is done through the lens of megaproject leaders’ life stories. In N. Drouin, S. Sankaran, A. van Marrewijk, & R. Müller (Eds.), Megaproject Leaders: Reflection on personal life stories (pp. 2–11). Cheltenham, UK.: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

Müller, R., Packendorff, J., & Sankaran, S. 2017. Balanced Leadership: A New Perspective for Leadership in Organizational Project Management. In S. Sankaran, R. Müller, & N. Drouin (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Organizational Project Management (180-193). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Sankaran, S., Müller, R., & Drouin, N. 2017. Introduction. In S. Sankaran, R. Müller, & N. Drouin (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Organizational Project Management (pp. 1–4). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Müller, R., Sankaran, S., & Drouin, N. 2017. Conclusions. In S. Sankaran, R. Müller, & N. Drouin (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Organizational Project Management (pp. 375–377). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Dwivedula, R., Bredillet, C., & Müller, R. 2016. Work Motivation in Temporary Organizations: A Review of Literature Grounded in Job Design Perspective. In R. Benlamri & M. Sparer (Eds.), Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship as Driving Forces of the Global Economy (pp. 609–618). Switzerland: SpringerNature.

Conference Proceedings
van Marrewijk, A., Sankaran, S., Drouin, N., & Müller, R. (2021). Leading in space and place: A narrative inquiry into personal life stories of megaproject leaders. In Proceedings of the 37th EGOS Colloquium, July 8 - 10, 2021, Vrije Universitet, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Bucero, A., & Müller, R. (2020). Sensemaking by project managers: Previous research, present findings, and future directions. In Proceedings of the IPMA Research Conference, online, September 9-11, 2020. International Project Management Association.

Müller, R., Sankaran, S., & Drouin, N. 2018. Horizontal Leadership’s Influence on Project Success and the Role of the Cognitive Space. In Proceedings of the EURAM Conference, June 20-22, 2018, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Müller, R., Sankaran, S., Drouin, N., Vaagaasar, A. L., Bekker, M. C., & Jain, K. 2017. A theory framework for balancing vertical and horizontal leadership in projects. In Proceedings of the IRNOP 2017 Conference. June 12-14, 2017, Boston, MA, USA.

Drouin, N., Müller, R., Sankaran, S., Vaagaasar, A. L., Nikolova, N. & Jain, K..  2017. Balanced Leadership in Projects: Building a socio-cognitive-space as an Organizational Capability. The “Project Hat.” In Proceedings of the IRNOP 2017 Conference. June 12-14, 2017, Boston, MA, USA.

Müller, R., Zhu, F., Sun, X., Wang, L., & Yu, M. 2017. The identification of temporary horizontal leaders in projects: The case of China. In Proceedings of the IRNOP 2017 Conference. June 12-14, 2017, Boston, MA, USA.

Agarwal, U. A., Dixit, V., Jain, K., Sankaran, S., Nikolova, N., Müller, R., & Drouin, N. 2017. Exploring Vertical and Horizontal Leadership in Projects: A comparison of Indian and Australian contexts. In Proceedings of the PMI India Project Management Research and Academic Conference. March 2 -4, 2017, Delhi, India.

Müller, R., Nikolova, N., Sankaran, S., Zhu, F., Xu, X., Vaagaasar, A. L., & Drouin, N. 2016. Leading Projects by Balancing Vertical and Horizontal Leadership –International Case Studies. In Proceedings of EURAM 2016 (European Academy of Management Conference). June 1 - 4, 2016, Paris, France.

Dwivedula, R., Bredillet, C., & Müller, R. 2016. Work Motivation in Temporary Organizations: A Review of Literature grounded in Job Design Perspective. In Proceedings of ICLIE (International Conference on Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship). April 20-22, 2016, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Müller, R., Vaagaasar, A. L., Nikolova, N., Sankaran, S., & Drouin, N. 2015. “The socio-cognitive space for linking horizontal and vertical leadership”. In Proceedings of the APROS/EGOS Conference 2015, December 9-11, 2015, Sydney, Australia

Haghshenas, A. & Müller, R. 2015. “Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Resilience”, in Proceedings of the 2015 EURAM (European Academy of Management Conference), June 17-20, 2015, Warsaw, Poland.

Dwivedula, R., Bredillet, C. & Müller, R. 2015. “Towards an Understanding of Work Motivation in Temporary Organizations”, in Proceedings of the 2015 Project Management Symposium, June 8-9, 2015, Center for Excellence in Project Management, College Park, University of Maryland, USA

Dwivedula, R., Bredillet, C., & Müller, R. 2014. Personality and Work Motivation as Determinants of Project Success: The Mediating Role of Organizational and Professional Commitment. In Proceedings of Third Abu Dhabi University Annual Research Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE, April 23-24, 2014.

De Paoli, D., Vaagaasar, A. L. & Müller, R. 2013. Project leadership and work space. In Proceedings of the 11th IRNOP Conference, June 17-18, 2013, Oslo, Norway.

Books
Müller, R., Drouin, N., & Sankaran, S. (2022). Balanced Leadership: Making the Best Use of Personal and Team Leadership in Projects. Oxford University Press, New York.

Drouin, N., Sankaran, S., van Marrewijk, A. & Müller, R. (2021). Megaproject Leaders: Reflections on Personal Life Stories, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.