Identification and Comparison of the Essential Characteristics of Human Resource Management in the Project Oriented Organizations

Human Resource Management (HRM) is affected by continuous change in products and processes, which transform operation oriented organizations to project oriented organizations, and by the differences between the nature of the projects as well as the executed managerial methods in public and private sectors. In this paper, by using Delphi qualitative method, HRM characteristics on projects in the processes such as selection, assignment, employment on projects, conducted practices, and release from the project or organization were investigated in the projects executed in both of the public and the private sectors in Iran. The identified characteristics were compared by implementing two sided statistical hypothesis test. Findings indicate that the identified characteristics have some differences. Some of these differences include: capability to absorb more competent project managers and project team members due to better payment in private sector; nepotism and undefined system to employment in selection in both parts; assignment to project based on past acquaintance and cronyism and in gregarious form; idle personnel; performance appraisal based on formal procedures and attention to training in public sectors’ projects; overload work and direct correlation between payment and performance in private sectors projects in employment on project; poor succession planning in both sectors and personnel anxiety about future in private sectors on project release; and finally no attention to establish a foothold for knowledge in both sectors and long term relationship between personnel and organization in public sector.