Project Management Profession Research Articles

Trust building strategies for virtual leaders in the post pandemic era

The coronavirus pandemic has sent an important message that future project teams need to be trained to work under virtual conditions, which has already become the new norm in organizations across the world. As organizations increasingly rely on virtual teams to achieve project objectives, it is essential to comprehend how leadership functions in virtual project teams. The purpose of this research is to analyze the leadership strategies used by project managers for building trust in virtual project teams. This convergent parallel mixed method research was conducted by surveying 185 virtual leaders and conducting a semi-structured interview with 13 senior virtual leaders involved in managing projects across the industry sectors. The research findings indicate that establishing trust was ranked as significant challenges in leading virtual project teams in the post-pandemic era. Additionally, the research findings recommend that virtual leaders need to strive to build a high-trust environment to improve the effectiveness of virtual project teams. As the project management profession struggles with low project success rates, mixed-method research aims to contribute to the knowledge in the growing research area of virtual project leadership. This research contributes to the knowledge by offering first-person accounts from senior virtual leaders on the innovative strategies they had implemented for building trust in the virtual project when there were limited opportunities for face-to-face interaction on account of the pandemic.

Project managers: old, grumpy and suspicious or just “once bitten, twice shy?”

PurposeThis research aspires to contribute in the area of exploration of the psychological traits evolving by practitioners within the project management profession. Specifically, it investigates whether there is any difference in optimism levels among experienced project management practitioners and newcomers in the profession.Design/methodology/approachThe research used the life orientation test-revised (LOTR) (Scheier et al., 1994) to calculate respondents’ optimism scores. With these scores at hand, the researchers could then apply inferential statistics in order to deduce any differences observed among optimism score and the respondents’ characteristics (age, years of experience etc.).FindingsBased on the results of this research, several demographic variables were shown to be statistically significant with optimism. These were (1) the number of years of experience the respondent had in managing projects, (2) working in a government organisation and (3) possessing specific project management certifications, all of which were found to adversely affect the respondent’s optimism score.Originality/valueThis research was unique in applying a well-known psychological test instrument (LOTR) to provide insight into the psychological impacts of a career as an information technology (IT) project manager. It is also highly likely that this correlation between the length of time working as a project manager and the adverse impact on their optimism would also apply to not just IT project managers but all experienced project managers.

A Qualitative Study on Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on the Project Schedule, Cost and Risk Management Knowledge Areas as Presented in PMBOK®

The aim of this paper is to study the main areas in which artificial intelligence (AI) will impact the field of project management in relation to cost, risk and scheduling. The research model was based on a previous study of the ten project management knowledge areas presented in PMI’s PMBOK 6th edition, where project schedule, cost and risk management knowledge areas were identified as being the ones most likely to be affected by the development of AI. A group of graduates from a Master of Project Management program were assessed in an online questionnaire, reflecting the PMBOK’s elements of best practices and how AI will affect the project management profession in the future. Different elements of the three knowledge areas were considered to be affected more by AI than others. The schedule baseline is the element believed to be affected the most out of the project schedule management elements. For project cost management, the estimation of resource costs is believed to be affected the most. In the case of project risk management, the application of AI will have the strongest impact on the probability and impact formats.

A Qualitative Study on Artificial Intelligence and its Impact on the Project Schedule Cost and Risk Management Knowledge Areas as Presented in PMBOK®

The aim of this paper is to study the main areas in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) will impact the field of project management that relates to cost, risk and scheduling. The research model was based on a previous study of the ten project management knowledge areas presented in the PMI’s PMBOK 6th edition where project schedule-, cost- and risk management knowledge areas were identified as being the ones most likely to be affected by the development of AI. A group of experts that participated in the study agreed that AI will affect the project management profession in the future. Different elements of the three knowledge areas were considered to be affected more by AI than others. The schedule baseline is the element believed to be affected the most out of the project schedule management elements. For project cost management, the estimation of resource cost is believed to be affected the most. In the case of project risk management, the application of AI will have the strongest impact on the probability and impact format.

Towards a New Paradigm of Project Management: A Bibliometric Review

The advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has triggered a digital transformation across several industries, including the project management (PM) profession. To achieve competitive advantages, construction industry employers must now utilise technology and data for strategy development, project execution, and delivery. This study reviews the concept of PM through research published on the Elsevier Scopus database from 2010 to date using a sequence of bibliometric analyses. Keywords such as “project management” AND “project management tools” AND “project management techniques” AND “construction industry” AND “built environment” were used for article extraction. VOSviewer, a text-mining tool, was used to analyse the bibliometric connection in PM research within the built environment discipline. Through the sequencing of cluster analysis, the findings revealed that research focus is placed on sustainable development (SD), construction safety (CS), engineering education (EE), project management stakeholders (PMS), risk management (RM), and building information modelling (BIM). More so, the current research focus in PM studies is tending towards knowledge management (KM) and construction innovation (CI). Based on a critical review of extant literature, very few studies have bibliometrically analysed and visualised PM studies. This study sets out to fill this gap by examining the key areas of concentration in published works on the PM concept from 2010 to date. Despite the valuable contribution of this study to the PM body of knowledge, generalisations of the results must be made cautiously due to the use of a single database, which in this case is Elsevier Scopus.

Leadership on Project Implementation in Mining Industry of Rwanda: A Case of Exploration of Gemstones Project in Rwanda

Despite advancements in the project management profession, research studies have revealed that many projects fail, emphasizing the significance of the project manager's role as manager. This study looked at the role of leadership in project implementation in Rwanda's mining industry, using the exploration of gemstones project as an example. The study specifically looked at the effects of leadership skills, leadership experience, and leadership style on the implementation of a gemstone exploration project in Rwanda. The study was founded on leadership trait theory, change theory, and stakeholder theory. To collect data from the sample population, the researcher used both quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as a descriptive design. The study's population of interest was 52 employees from the Exploration of Gemstones project in Rwanda, so a census sampling technique was used. Data was gathered using a questionnaire and the drop-and-pick-later technique. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS, followed by descriptive and inferential statistics. The correlation coefficient was also used by the researcher to determine the relationship between variables while The multiple regression equation demonstrates that regardless of the presence of other factors, project implementation in Rwanda will always be dependent on a constant factor of.088. The other variables explain that every unit increase in leadership style increases project implementation by a factor of.665, unit change by a factor of.665, and leadership experience by a factor of.340. This indicates that proper leadership style practice in the project will improve the most during project implementation. According to the survey results, there is a very strong correlation between leadership experience and project implementation in the Exploration of Gemstones Project. This means that, when other factors influencing project implementation in Rwanda are taken into account, only leadership experience has a statistically significant effect on project implementation in the Exploration of Gemstones Project. Keywords: Leadership, Leadership Skills, Leadership Experience, Leadership Style Project Implementation &nbsp

Progressing and Discipline and Profession of Projects

This essay reflects on Peter Morris’s concerns about the the way that project management has been articulated through the advocacy of those institutions and associations that were formed to recognise project management as a distinct area of activity. The essay considers how project management has wrestled with the challenge of being recoginised as both a discipline and a profession and how there has been both progress and concern at how our understanding and practice of project management has evolved. The essay concludes with a recognition that the developments in both the understanding of the discipline of project management and the profession of project management have been in directions that Peter Morris was recommending for many years but, as he also made clear, we cannot rest on our laurels as there is still more to be done.

Sustainable Leadership in Project Management. The Need for a New Kind of Leadership

Adopting a long-term perspective has helped companies survive in difficult times and overcome economic crises, recessions, and pandemics such as the current COVID-19. At present, the project management approach is changing from more authoritarian management models to frameworks that are based on the management of people and society. This article researches the concept of sustainable leadership in the project management profession. It evaluates the level of sustainable leadership among project managers in Spain using the Avery and Bergsteiner’s (2011) model of bees and locusts as a reference framework (Bee and Locust Sustainable Leadership Model). A qualitative study was carried out based on the analysis of the responses given by sixty-eight project managers in Spain who answered a 52-point ques-tionnaire. The findings yielded interesting results. It was found that in projects considered as temporal organizations, companies tended to employ a mixture of bee and locust’s leadership elements. Respondents recognized the importance of employee training and development, and most considered that it was essential to consider the environment when determining the organization’s commercial objectives. However, based on this study’s findings, the project management profession still has a long way to go as regards the practical implementation of sustainable leadership.

The project management profession: Current state of U.S. Graduate programs

Project Management (PM) tools and concepts are being adopted by a growing number of organizations. Consequently, numerous U.S. universities/colleges offer a wide variety of graduate degrees designed to complement existing certifications through organizations such as the Project Management Institute (PMI). This paper explores current graduate PM curricula within the U.S., with a specific focus on how business education is supporting the continued evolution of PM into a more widely recognized status as a profession.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODS, GUIDES AND STANDARDS: A CRITICAL OVERVIEW

The project management discipline has been developed worldwide through the practice and theories implemented in various types of projects. Prominent organizational bodies have outlined ways to practice project management. This study aims to highlight the differences between standards, guides and methods developed by these bodies and to evaluate their contribution to the project management profession. The differences were discussed through four aspects: approach, life cycle, procurement and stakeholders. Interpretation of the goals and objectives, transparency, accountability and ethics require further deliberation.

Towards Sustainable I4.0: Key Skill Areas for Project Managers in GCC Construction Industry

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) grew from and is guided by smart manufacturing. The fourth industrial revolution’s I4.0 would induce radical changes and transformations in the everyday operations of businesses and people’s life. Due to these major changes impacting all sectors and industries worldwide, the sustainability of the new future systems and operations is pertinent. The current research literature points out that the social (human factor) aspect is relatively underrepresented in the I4.0 sustainability-related studies. The few studies related to the social aspect usually investigate the so-called ‘techno-centric’ approach to the subject. This study aimed to investigate the I4.0 construction project management (PM) profession from the socially sustainable ‘worker-centric’ approach. Five key assets of the new I4.0 project managers role, specifically in the construction industry, were explored to achieve this goal. This was conducted through a survey questionnaire aimed at 100 construction project managers based in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The overall research results showed that academic and professional qualifications were found to be key factors in the process of adapting to the new I4.0 methodologies.

Assessing the influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on project performance in developing countries: the case of Ghana

Emotional Intelligence (EI) in conjunction with other assessment tools could be used by construction organizations to significantly improve the performance of construction projects. However, studies assessing the relationship between EI and the performance of construction projects are scarce. The study presents a case study assessing the influence of EI on the performance of construction projects in developing countries. Simple random sampling technique was used to select certified project managers affiliated to PMI-Ghana Chapter. Data was collected with well-structured close-ended questionnaires and mean score ranking, exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis were used to provide an in-depth explanation to the data collected. The study revealed that effective management of EI would significantly increase project performance by 50.7% if they are employed by project managers in performing their roles. This research is confined to Ghana, limiting the study in that regard. A study to examine the relationship between leadership styles and the level of awareness of project managers on EI is proposed for further studies. The findings would provide practitioners, government agencies and industry players with the required information about the influence of EI on the success of construction projects while demonstrating the importance of EI to the project management profession.

The Paradoxical Profession: Project Management and the Contradictory Nature of Sustainable Project Objectives

Professions are undergoing a significant change in how they integrate environmental and social objectives into their core values. This article examines the situation in which those working in the project management profession are expected to work under contradictory sustainability constraints. In this article, we investigate the tensions project managers experience when addressing sustainable objectives. Results show that when tensions arise over sustainable objectives (temporality of objectives, organizational barriers, and lack of control), they are addressed only when anchored to an economic one in the form of a business case for sustainability. We also find that when matching traditional project objectives with sustainable ones is not possible, practitioners enact a set of reactions characterized as greenwashing, it can’t be one person, no space for sustainability in my job, other actors involved, or pushing back, depending on the specific project context. Adopting the paradox theory lens, we provide an alternative approach to the business case for sustainability. The practical contribution of this article lies in suggesting the need to find strategies to embrace paradoxical situations and we provide some suggestions to illustrate this.

An Authoritative Study on the Near Future Effect of Artificial Intelligence on Project Management Knowledge Areas

The purpose of this study is to explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) might augment the project management profession in each of the 10 categories of project management knowledge areas, as defined in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) of the Project Management Institute (PMI). In a survey, a group of project management experts were asked to state their insights into AI’s likely effect on project management in the next 10 years. Results clearly illustrated that AI will be an integrated part of future project management practice and will affect project management knowledge areas in the near future. According to these findings, the management of cost, schedule, and risk, in particular, will be highly affected by AI. The research indicates that AI is very useful for processes where historical data is available and can be used for estimation and planning. In addition, it is clear that AI can monitor schedules, adjust forecasts, and maintain baselines. According to the findings, AI will have less impact in knowledge areas and processes that require human leadership skills, such as developing and managing teams and the management of stakeholders. The results indicate proprietarily the project management knowledge areas as defined by PMI that AI is likely to augment and sustain.

Inspiring the Next Generation of Project Managers: Embedding Sustainability in Engineering Projects through Project Management Teaching and Learning

Sustainability is focussed on avoiding the long-term depletion of natural resources. Under the terms of a government plan to tackle climate change, a driver for improved sustainability is reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the UK to almost zero by 2050. With this type of change, new themes are continuously being developed that drive engineering projects, such as developing new cars and new power generation methods, which encompass challenging lead times and demanding requirements. The implementation of strategies and key concepts, which may engender sustainability within engineering and engineering projects, presents an opportunity for further critical debate, review, and application through a project management lens. Sustainability incorporation in project management has been documented in academic literature (Okland, 2015), with this emerging field providing new challenges. For example, project management education can provide a holistic base for the inculcation of sustainability factors to a range of industries, including engineering project management. Likewise practitioner interest and approaches to sustainability in project management are being driven by the recently Chartered profession of Project Management. Whilst this body makes a significant contribution to the UK economy across many sectors, it also addresses ongoing sustainability challenges. Therefore, by drawing on research and practitioner developments, the authors argue that an improved focus on sustainability in engineering project management may be achieved by connecting with the next generation through solution-based approaches and embedding sustainability issues within project management tools and methods.

Exploring the gender wage gap among project managers: A multi-national analysis of human capital and national policies

The purpose of this study was to apply human capital theory to the project management profession and associated gender wage gaps across the globe. We used salary survey data from the Project Management Institute and multi-national pay data to investigate the relationships among human capital variables, national policy, salaries, and gender wage gaps. The results showed the project management profession consistently has a narrower gender wage gap than the national gender wage gaps. Using ANOVA and mediation models, we showed that the project management gender wage gap can be reduced in the presence of national anti-discriminatory laws and national human capital development – both of which raise women's salaries to reduce the gender wage gap among project managers in Westernized countries. However, the human capital theory did not apply to the gender wage gap among project managers in Non-western contexts. Other recommendations to reduce gender wage gaps include national and organizational policies such as prohibiting discrimination against women in hiring practices, skills training, career development, and educational opportunities. We concluded there is still more work to be done to achieve equal pay between men and women, even in the project management profession and especially in Non-western contexts.

Lean and agile project management concepts in the project management profession

Lean and agile concepts have been the focus of researchers and practitioners since 1990. The lean concept started in the Japanese manufacturing sector to eliminate waste and enhance customer satisfaction. Whereas agile was introduced into the 20th-century manufacturing enterprise strategy report.The agile concept concentrates on quick response to variations in the market environment. The lean and agile concepts have emerged becoming managerial paradigms applicable to different industrial sectors and processes. However, the plethora of lean and agile implementations and settings makes the recent literature diverse and fragmented, and comprehensive analysis of the latest contributions on this space is deemed essential. Therefore, this research uses a systematic literature review of 160 related articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals between 2012 and 2018. The study applies descriptive and thematic analyses to the recent trends in this area and provides a framework that organises lean and agile researched issues into developed, intermediate and emerging based on their position in the researchlifecycle.

Project Management in Iceland and Beyond: Expected Future Trends for Project Management and the Project Management Profession - Paper 3 of 3

In this third paper under the heading Project management in Iceland, future trends in the project management and within the project management profession are investigated and benchmarked against recent research in Germany on the same topic. Fourteen interrelated future trends were identified but neither prioritized nor relatively weighted. To detect the most important future trends of project management in Iceland, a two-round Delphi survey was arranged to rank them according to significance. The four most important future trends are: (1) Project-oriented organizations; (2) Project management being acknowledged and discussed in corporate boardrooms; (3) Increased complexity and how this affects projects, and (4) Professionalization of project management. An expert focus group was established to elaborate on these future trends.

Project Management in Iceland: Current and Future Importance of Project Management within the Icelandic Economy - Paper 2 of 3

The project management profession has evolved from being a simple technical approach to planning to becoming a full-fledged profession that plays an essential role within the global economy. This paper, which is the second of three under the general heading Project management in Iceland, looks at the importance of project management within Icelandic organizations and the Icelandic economy. The paper explores the developmental path of the project management profession, looks at the current state of affairs, and identifies possible future trends though two surveys conducted Iceland. This study reveals the importance of project management in Iceland, a developed Nordic country, as a proportion of its economy. The study indicates that close to one third of the Gross Value Added (GVA) in the Icelandic economy is based on project-related work. The study, furthermore, indicates that the importance and application of project management will increase in the near future. This sends a clear message to both industry and the public sector on what kind of strategic and tactical alignments and what kind of professional competences are needed for future economy and society. Furthermore, the study describes - and deploys - two methods that can be used to measure the importance and trends within the project management profession and as indicators of what has been named “projectification" of society.

THE PROJECT BOUNDARY AND OCCUPATIONAL STRESS

Despite advances in project management practices and profession, projects continue to have an unacceptably high failure rate, which may be influenced by project manager being highly stressed and their decision-making capabilities becoming narrowed. The project manager's role necessitates that they occupy the boundary between sponsoring organisation, clients, and other actors involved in the project environment, where they are often subjected to time pressures, project uncertainties, conflicting demands, complex and often dynamic social structure involved in the project environment. In this social constructionist study thirty six senior executives participants were interviewed. It was observed that when discussing the person-environment fit and competencies of a project manager, occupational stress and stress management were overlooked by executive project sponsors as a possible contributing factor for poor project manager performance and poor project outcomes. Despite the growing body of research evidence that has identified occupational stress across many different professions as having an adverse impact on an individual's performance and health, there has been little recognition within project management literature of the impacts of stress or coping strategies for managing stressors within the project environment. This strongly suggests that additional research on stress focused on the project environment is warranted, and that both project sponsors and project managers need to be made aware of the antecedents to stress and consequences of stress both in the personal and business sense.