Project Management Maturity Models – A Critical Review: A Case Study within Swedish Engineering and Construction Organizations

Abstract

Different kinds of project management maturity models (PM3s) exist today, most of them inspired by the capability maturity model (CMM) developed in the beginning of the 90ies, originally intended to measure capability in software development projects. Research indicates that organizations with higher project management (PM) maturity levels are expected to be successful in terms of project effectiveness and efficiency, and thus have a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Though, despite several PM3s developed during a time period of over 20 years, knowledge about how PM3s are a*pplied in organizations is sparse within the PM literature. This paper explores how major engineering and construction companies view PM maturity and PM3s in order to develop and improve their PM practices. These kinds of organizations are mainly project-intensive, objective oriented,and have the capabilities to perform overall business development initiatives, i.e. suitable for applying PM3s.The contribution of PM3s to organizational improvement and development is somewhat unclear. Therefore, a literature review highlights different aspects regarding PM3s, specifically their purpose, strengths, and weaknesses. To what extent PM3s are used, interviews have been conducted with seven respondents within different project intensive organizations, in their roles as project managers or in charge of PM development. How a PM3 can beintroduced and applied is explored via an in-depth case study at the major mining company in Sweden, LKAB. However, tentative results show that the application of PM3s in Swedish engineering and construction organizations are limited, indicating that further research is needed.