Project Management Competencies Research Articles

Identifying client project manager competency in Indonesian construction project

The influence of active client involvement towards project construction success is gaining recognition in the last few decades. The growing concern on the client involvement has drifted the perception towards client away from the passive role into contributor of project success. During client involvement in the construction project, a representative from client or client project manager (CPM) should be complemented with certain competencies in order to succeed in commissioning construction projects. Evidence shows that some public construction projects in Indonesia failed due to the lack of competency of client project managers. Whilst most of the previous studies concern on the competency of general project managers, this paper specifically investigates competency of project manager from client side who works as a civil servant, and commissioning public construction sectors. This paper aims to identify the important competencies required by CPM in construction projects in Indonesia and examine current Indonesian CPM competency standard. Relative Importance Index (RII) was employed to assess the important level of competencies. The findings will enrich understanding on client project manager competency and become a basis to undergird further empirical research in client project manager development areas.

The Relationship between the Competency Level and the Efficiency of a Project Manager: Self-perspective vs. subordinates Perspective

This research investigated the relationship between the competency level of project managers and the efficiency of executing projects. The research surveyed project managers and engineers in Jordanian consultation companies for project management registered in Amman Chamber of Commerce. A scale based on Dulewicz and Higgs's Leadership Dimensions Questionnaire was used to evaluate the competencies of managers leading construction projects of different sizes. The results revealed that the relationship is positive. Furthermore, the competency of project managers is significant to the efficiency of execution, an emotional competency is the most important dimension to achieving efficiency, and the managerial dimension is the weakest among project managers. The emotional part of project managers' competencies must be developed to improve efficiencies. Hence, more studies should be implemented in specific areas of managerial competencies. This paper offers an original view of the concept of competency as it relates to the efficiency of the project manager relying on literature review and empirical evidence.

Improvement of Project Activities in University by Applying the Method of Project Management and Fundamental Competencies

Improvement of Project Activities in University by Applying the Method of Project Management and Fundamental Competencies

Lessons learned from developing and applying self-assessment instruments for evaluating project management competences in two large organizations

The paper reports on lessons learned from developing and applying self-assessments instruments in two cases from Norway and Germany. The purpose of the self-assessment instruments has been to obtain an overall understanding of the competence level on both individual and organizational level. The most important lessons learned from developing the self-instrument suggest that following a systematic top-down process as well as involving respondents from various position are key factors to create an acceptance in the organization to the self-assessment instrument. Furthermore, the most important lessons learned from applying the instrument suggest that the properly designed self-assessment tool essentially contributes to the competence management and further resource planning of the organization. Both case studies presented in the paper provide the reader with several suggestions which can be implemented during the development or improvement of human resource management tools.

ІНФОРМАЦІЙНІ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ РОЗВИТКУ КОМПЕТЕНЦІЙ МЕНЕДЖЕРІВ З УПРАВЛІННЯ ПРОЕКТАМИ НА ОСНОВІ ГЛОБАЛЬНИХ ТРЕНДІВ

Global processes and their trends taking place in various fields of knowledge with a significant acceleration affect the development of information and communication technologies and project management competences, programs and project portfolios. The purpose of the article is to develop and investigate the mechanisms for assessing the project managers’ competences for their development based on global trends and Agile's flexible methodology in project management in creating modern information and communication technologies in the field of project management. Global trends that create challenges in developing project management competences and programs are related to global acceleration, digitalization of society, development of block chains, cloud and fog technologies, active introduction of intelligent systems, transition from "rational economy" to "behavioural economy". The convergence of these trends creates a new platform for the effectiveness of applying existing methodologies, knowledge systems and methods for evaluating the competence of project managers. On the basis of convergence, integration and harmonization of methodologies for project and program management, a step-by-step approach to research has been identified. The formation of an updated system of competences based on global trends lies in the replacement of paradigms from traditional life cycle project models to flexible models such as Agile. Decision-making in the conditions of uncertainty on the basis of datamining become more justified. The article deals with modern information models of projects and programs, changing system of project managers’ competences, bringing together decision-making models and methods. At the same time, the change of competences, as actions or functions that project managers must perform, affects the model of competency and the assessment system, including key indicators of competency. The informative model of diagnostics application of competency models and methods of project management in digital and "behavioural economics" is based on the use of flexible methodologies. Some key indicators of competency are defined that are applied in the assessment of the project manager competency based on his competences in the project team. Patterns of project managers' behaviour when designing product and project management have been studied. The patterns allowed authors to identify bottlenecks in applying Agile project management methodologies in the convergence of trend information models and technologies. An example of information technology for managing the competency assessment of project managers by the IPMA ICB4 model is given.

New Rethinking on Managers’ Competency Criteria and Success Factors in Airport Construction Projects

The present research was conducted with the aim of rethinking the criteria competency of airport construction project managers. The research methodology was applied in terms of purpose, and a combination of descriptive survey methods and content analysis in terms of implementation. The statistical population consisted of 550 experienced managers of construction industry in public and private sectors, including contractors, consulting engineers and their employers in Iran in the late decade to 2017. The sample size was 230 according to Morgan sampling table. The subjects were collected by stratified purposeful sampling method. The data gathering tools were the managers' desirability questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.916, a project success rate with a reliability coefficient of 0.863 and an interview with the managers with an agreement coefficient of 0.899. The data were analyzed by SPSS and TOPSIS software using descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and inferential statistics of exploitation, Factor analysis, Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test, and one-way ANOVA. The results of the research indicated that the airport construction is of great importance due to the necessity of developing the infrastructure and the territorial location. The criteria of competencies for managers in the airport construction industry are different from the past and attention to local and environmental criteria is among the recognized management criteria. The priority of localized thirteen competencies of the project managers was leadership, project financing, project cost management, problem solving, project governance, time management, strategic management, quality management, controlling and integrated management, managing legislation and regulations, networking and professional ethics. Moreover, the local factors of the project success in priority order were timely allocation of funds, appropriate financial support, integration, upstream project management, appropriate financing of financial needs, management integration, strategic stability, stakeholder commitment and accountability, review cost mismatch, completion of the project in due time, increase of knowledge level in the organization.

PLS Path Modeling for Causal Detection of Project Management Skills: a research field in National Research Council in Italy

Framework of this paper is the causal detection of Project Management (PM) competencies in the world of science and research. Activation of hard and soft skills of Principal Investigators in public research organizations becomes crucial to improve the management of research projects toward efficiency and effectiveness. How important is the awareness of project goals? What is the impact of leadership competencies with respect to other soft skills in PM? A conceptual model with theoretical constructs and latent variables is introduced to analyze the causal detection among different types of variables, including the activation of hard and soft PM skills of Principal Investigators in public organizations. Partial Least Squares Path Modeling is suitably defined and applied in a research field in the largest public research organization in Italy, namely the National Research Council (CNR)

Critical success factors for subway construction projects – main contractors’ perspectives

Successful subway construction projects involve many socio-economic, cultural and environmental challenges. These projects enhance public convenience, and are complex and uncertain, involving multiple governmental organizations. The critical success factors (CSFs) of these projects have been identified and prioritized from a main contractors’ perspective, to enable project managers to prioritize their efforts and concerns. This study sheds light on CSFs in subway construction projects and contributes to the project delivery success literature with an overarching focus on the contractors' perspectives. Our investigation revealed that, for subway construction projects in Iran, goal setting through clear and realistic project goals, project management competency, competent project team, good cultural fit, top management support and adequate funding throughout the project are the top-ranking CSFs. An extensive body of literature is reviewed, and 140 potential success factors are identified. Then, a focus group has been conducted in which the potential CSFs reduced to 39 success factors. The priorities and ranking of the success factors were evaluated according to the views of 63 project managers of subway projects. The correlation coefficients analysis was used to analyze the results, and it revealed that 23 success factors such as goal setting, top management support and PM competency were perceived to be critical by the respondents. No other research has, until now, found the critical factors leading to success in subway construction industry in Iran. The results have been verified against other research done in other countries.

Effects of Project Manager Competency on Green Construction Performance: The Chinese Context

Project manager competency is a key factor determining the success of a project. With the deterioration of the environment, green buildings have come into being. Compared to traditional buildings, green buildings encounter more complex problems during the construction process, and project managers are faced with greater challenges. Existing research on the evaluation of project manager competency based on green building construction (GBC) is scarce. Thus, the aim of this paper is to evaluate project manager competency for green construction. By means of a literature review and a focus group meeting, the key success factors of green buildings and project manager competency were determined. Thereafter, a questionnaire survey was used to investigate people’s understanding of the importance of project manager skills. Structural equation modeling was selected to test the hypotheses. The results demonstrate that China is in the infancy of GBC development. Leadership and organization, target management, and emotional intelligence of project managers are considered to be important factors that affect green construction performance. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for the selection of excellent project managers for GBC.

Delay factors of the schedule of strategic industrial projects

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report the results of a survey undertaken to identify and rank factors that are responsible for delay in the schedule of strategic industrial projects in Iran.Design/methodology/approachThe survey covered 40 factors identified by previous literature and modified by 20 project professionals to fit the Iranian industrial culture. These factors were grouped into six major categories. For each category, the Shannon entropy weighting technique was applied.FindingsThe analysis of the 64 returned out of 87 randomly distributed questionnaires revealed that “sanctions” from political group, “cash flow problems” from financial group, “equipment availability and failure” from technical group, “project manager competence” from managerial group, “material procurement” from procurement group and “unqualified workforce” from human resource group were ranked as the highest contributing factors.Originality/valueThe findings of this study are of practical use for project professionals and experts seeking to improve the schedule performance of industrial projects.

THE NEED FOR A COMPETENCIES' ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR THE MALAYSIAN CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGERS

For decades, as a developing country, construction industry remains as one of the largest and most important industries in Malaysia especially in terms of job creation. However, project failures in terms of project delay and cost overrun are observed more severe than the global average. While there are many reasons that may contribute to these problems, but recent studies carried out globally by the well-known researchers in project management have found that the competency of project manager, being one of the most important persons from initiating, to closing of the project, is one of the most crucial factor affecting project success. Many developed nations have come out with their project management assessment and certification standards, in order to train, assess, and certify the qualified project managers that are equipped with the necessary and required competencies and skills, but there is an absence of project manager’s competencies assessment and certification standards in Malaysia until to date. This paper presents the literature review that have been carried out on the need for a competencies assessment framework for the Malaysian construction project managers.

Tackling Project Management Competence Research

The vast amount of previous research on project management competence does not provide a basis for educational needs. Analyzing previous research poses two challenges: the lack of a uniform list of competences, necessitating a taxonomy, and the use of importance as a criterion, favoring general important competences. Criticality is introduced as the competence a project manager adds to the team. Validation research using criticality and the taxonomy among experienced Dutch project managers is more comprehensive and provides a lesser focus on general important competences than previous research. Criticality focuses more on the essence of the profession.

The Influence of Behavioral Competencies on Project Performance

To raise awareness of the value of behavioral competencies of project managers, we carried out a quantitative survey to identify the importance and influence of competencies on efficient project performance. We were also interested to learn whether or not managers are aware of the importance of competencies and which competence they consider to be the most crucial of all. Data were collected via a web-based questionnaire in which respondents evaluated levels of behavioral competencies, reported on the performance of projects in their enterprises, and provided opinions on the competencies’ importance. Regression analysis identified the most influential competencies and verified the overall impact of behavioral competencies on project performance. As shown by the research, the most important competence was project manager assertiveness.

Managing IBS Project: The evolving roles and competencies of project manager

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the initial information related to the roles and competencies required for a project manager who managed IBS construction projects in the Malaysian construction industry. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the project managers who have experience in managing an IBS construction project. The finding reveals unanimously agreed that the project managers who managed IBS construction projects have to undertake extra roles which required additional competency as compared to the generic construction projects. It is hoped that the findings from this research will assist the project managers in their career development. Keywords: Competence; Construction; Project manager; Industrialized building systemeISSN 2398-4295 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. http://dx.doi.org/10.21834/ajbes.v3i11.107

IT Project Manager Competencies and Team Commitment: A New Scale Proposal

Project managers are required to develop competencies that will help them to lead their teams in stressful, challenging and dynamic environments such as in many Information Technology (IT) project settings. Project managers should also develop team commitment in order to improve team performance. Therefore, this study addresses the question: Which IT project manager competencies influence team commitment? The main objective is to develop and validate a new instrument to measure project manager competencies and team commitment in IT projects. To accomplish this objective, we, firstly, did an exploratory and qualitative research. Then, we did a quantitative research in which we collected 484 responses. Besides providing a new scale, this research also presents pertinent implications to the practice of project management in IT settings. For instance, organizations can use the measuring instrument to evaluate project managers, to evaluate the work environment as well as to structure training programs for their employees.

Development of a competency model for real-estate project managers: case study of China

ABSTRACTCurrently, the enterprises have been paying more attention to talent and high quality has increasingly become a valuable resource for them. For the real-estate industry, excellent project managers are an important guarantee for project success. Their competencies affect project schedules to a large extent. Through data collection, analysis, and verification, and using the behavioural event interview method, this study determines the competencies of real-estate project managers and preliminarily establishes a competency model for real-estate project managers. The model includes both diagnostic competency and basic competency in which the former includes professional spirit, structured thinking, control ability, holistic view, and communication management, while the latter includes team spirit and experience. Our research results have application prospects in identifying the competencies of real-estate project managers and can help the enterprises quickly identify excellent talent, define the talent cultivation focus and direction, and establish a talent pool, so as to provide human resources and guarantee smooth implementation of projects.

A Method to Solve PBL Issues and to Improve Project Management Competencies of Students

A Method to Solve PBL Issues and to Improve Project Management Competencies of Students

Evaluation of Project Critical Success Factors for Key Construction Players and Objectives

Critical Success Factors (CSFs) are used to support and evaluate the success of a strategic and tactical approach in project implementation in order to increase the probability of success. This system is used by executors in project delivery to achieve improved performance capabilities with limited resources. The present paper aims to identify the impact of CSFs amongst the main elements involved in construction industry of projects in Iran (Owner, Contractor, and Consultant). Therefore, 41 CSFs-related indices based on present research conditions in Iran were selected and classified into five major categories: (1) Financial, (2) Interactive Processes, (3) Human Resources, (4) Contractual Arrangements, and (5) Project Characteristics. To analyze the CSFs of project, the required data were collected by questionnaire based on randomized sampling method by project managers, chief executive officers, and experts of construction industry of Owners, Contractors, and Consultant who have working experience in major projects in Iran. The results indicated that indices related to human resources group from the point of view of Owners and Contractors as well as the indices related to financial and project participants from the point of view of Consultant are the main success priorities in projects. Moreover, the indices of “adequacy of plans and specifications” and “Project manager competency” were elected indices common in previous and present studies. The results of this study will provide the project managers with practical solutions in order to benefit the findings as guidelines for CSFs formation according to Construction projects in Iran.

Project Managers’ Competencies and Leadership Styles from the Perspective of Organizations Functioning in Poland

The aim of the artcle is to present the issue of project manager competencies and project leadership styles which occur in different types of project-oriented organizatons, i.e., the strictly project-oriented organizatons (implementng projects for external clients) and organizatons that manage projects for internal purposes. The subject literature studies and empirical research results conducted in 100 enterprises were used to accomplish the above-defned goal. The authors discussed the specifc nature of project-oriented work and the specifcity of project team management. A literature review on project manager competencies and project leadership styles was conducted. Three important competencies were identfed that differentate project managers between those working in strictly project-oriented organizatons and those working in organizatons which perform project-based management for internal purposes, i.e., achievement orientaton, sensitvity teamwork and cooperaton. The analysis of applied and desired leadership styles indicated a preference by project team members for a democratc leadership style, in partcular during the project implementaton phase, in both types of project-oriented organizatons.

A data-driven approach for identifying project manager competency weights

Competent project managers (PMs) are the backbone of any construction project. It is extremely important to constantly develop and enhance their competencies. However, to establish effective training and development plans for PMs, the relative importance of the key competencies that define a PM’s performance should be first understood. Instead of subjectively weighting the relative importance of differing competencies, this paper aims at developing an automated model that uses real-life data to compute the PM competency weights. The rationale behind the model is to maximize the distance in a higher dimensional space between average and exceptional PM performances. The model solves an eigenvalue problem, and identifies a single data-based weight for each competency. The model is generic and can be applied to various research settings to alleviate the problems associated with opinion-based assessment and reduce individuals’ subjectivity. Findings within this paper reveal the most critical competencies that enable PMs to perform their roles in construction projects exceptionally.