Senior management perceptions of project management competence

Abstract

As more organisations adopt project management approaches and the demand for project managers grows, there is increasing interest in the competence of project managers and in standards for development and assessment of project management competence. Project management standards are being used extensively throughout the world in training and development, professional certification programmes and corporate project management methodologies on the assumption that there is a positive relationship between standards and effective workplace performance. However, there has been no empirical research reported that supports or indeed questions this assumption. This paper reports on research that explores the relationship between performance against standards and the effectiveness of project management performance in the workplace, as perceived by senior managers. Results suggest that there is no statistically significant relationship between performance against the widely used standards in their entirety, and senior management perceptions of effectiveness of workplace performance. Results suggest different perceptions and expectations of project management competence between project managers and their supervisors, senior management.