PurposeIn search for new ideas outside the firm's boundaries most companies choose to implement cooperation in the form of discrete projects, increasing the importance of project management. As research in this area so far mainly dealt with formalized instruments of process control, the purpose of this paper is to focus on personal aspects, particularly on the role of project leadership.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 84 biotechnological projects were analyzed. A standardized questionnaire was developed and sent out to research and development managers from the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry. The level of analysis for the survey were single cooperative projects and basically regression statistics were employed.FindingsIt was found that the requirement for a stronger project leader is highly dependent on the degree of trust among team members and the administrative activity. In contrast, other factors, like the risk associated with a cooperative project, or the extent of upper management support are not significantly related to a stronger leader.Research limitations/implicationsAs only biotechnological projects were analyzed, other studies investigating the required project leadership style in other industries would be necessary to be able to generalize. Furthermore, there are several factors with a potential influence that could not be examined in this study.Practical implicationsThe findings would suggest to companies involved in cooperative projects that more emphasis should be put on the human factors of project management and not only on efficient instruments.Originality/valueThis paper focuses on the required strength of a project leader and should thus be of interest to managers trying to set up effective cooperative projects.

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Chemiker mit betriebswirtschaftlichen Kenntnissen sind gefragt, vor allem an den Schnittstellen von Naturwissenschaft und Wirtschaft. Daher bieten einige Universitäten eigene Studiengänge der Wirtschaftschemie an‐zum Beispiel die Universität Münster.