Importance of Integrating Sustainability Principles into Project Management Competency Standards

Author(s):  
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Tatyana Ponomareva ◽  
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Dmitriy Gergert ◽  
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The balance between economic growth and social wellbeing has been around as a political and managerial challenge for many years, and the concept of sustainability has grown in recognition and importance. The pressure on companies to broaden its economic and sustainability performance reporting and accountability to shareholders has increased. The integration of the concepts of sustainability in projects and project management became very significant. Today modern companies have to implement the principles of sustainability in their operational activities, and this process requires changers including: finance, marketing, manufacturing, communications. Project managers are regarded in organizations as �change agents� who have a strong influence on the sustainability of organizations. Translating the principles of sustainability into strategic and operational reality project managers need to obtain some competencies that provide them with the necessary tools and abilities to manage such important changes and to integrate sustainability standards and ideas into company�s day-to-day operations. However, the standards of project management fail to address the role that project managers play in realizing sustainable development, and project managers are lacking competencies to consider the sustainability aspects of their projects. This �competency gap� of the project manager has appeared in the standards of project management competencies. Many scientific scholars and practitioners are aware of strong importance of engaging sustainability into the modern models of project managers� competencies, to prepare project managers for their pivotal role in realizing sustainability of organizations. The central question of this paper is: Which new competencies should be added to the standards of project management competencies? This paper also reports a literature-based analysis of the coverage of the competencies required for considering sustainability aspects, in the standards of project management competencies. In this article the authors present a review of different scientific approaches to the sustainability competencies of project managers and make an attempt to establish the significance of closing the gap between the set of project managers� competences and the required competencies from the point of sustainability.

Author(s):  
Hazel Taylor ◽  
Jill Palzkill Woelfer

What behavioral competencies do experienced IT project managers apply when facing critical situations in their projects, and how have they developed those competencies? In this paper, the authors answer these questions. The authors interviewed 23 experienced IT project managers from 11 organizations, focusing on critical situations that they now managed differently from their earlier, novice, practices, and on how they had learned to develop these different approaches. The authors discuss a variety of management development and training interventions. They use a thematic analysis to identify the key competencies being applied and learning methods experienced by this set of managers. Results suggest that IT project managers are drawing on a different set of competencies from those required for project management in other industries. Additionally, this paper reveals the importance of informal learning channels, often involving project experiences, for the development of IT project management competencies.


2018 ◽  
pp. 1606-1632
Author(s):  
Radu-Ioan Mogos ◽  
Constanta-Nicoleta Bodea ◽  
Stelian Stancu ◽  
Augustin Purnus ◽  
Maria-Iuliana Dascalu

During the last years, the development of the project risk management competencies became a ubiquitous objective for education and training in project management due to the increasing constraints which companies face on the implementation of their projects. Alignment to the professional standards and usage of innovative methods in designing and delivery of instruction represent common requirements that education and training providers should consider and fulfill. The authors examine the main challenges in addressing project risk management subject in the education programmes and identify how these challenges could be dealt by using curriculum management systems. In order to implement the identified improvements, the authors propose an innovative architecture for a curriculum management system, which can be adopted by those universities interested in developing competencies-based programmes in project management. Some preliminary results are presented and discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Rebeka D. Vlahov ◽  
Maja Klindžić ◽  
Mladen Radujković

The application of project management practices in contemporary business is continuously increasing with the aim of delivering the work packages in a more cost-conscious and controlled way while making the best use of limited human resources to meet customer requirements and create competitive advantage. In order to be considered competent, individuals working in the field should demonstrate a certain level of knowledge, skills, and abilities – assessed, developed or improved through a certification system. Taking into account the importance of information modeling and technology in the domain of project management as a set of practices that determine structure, lifecycle and accessibility requirements of information and the emphasis placed on the behavioral competencies of project, program and portfolio managers, the authors of the paper focused on exploring the challenges and specificities of the project management profession in Croatia. Empirical research was conducted in two steps. Firstly, a qualitative research was done using in-depth interviews with a member of the editorial board of a new project management international certification standard and two representatives of the certification body in Croatia: the director and the assessor. The collected data were analyzed using grounded theory approach and results in four main areas were obtained: project management and certification challenges, addressing certification body needs, the missing link between educational institutions and project management in practice and key project management competencies. In the next step, a quantitative research with a questionnaire as a research instrument was conducted among 53 certified project, program and portfolio managers in Croatia regarding their perception of the importance of the behavioral project management competencies. The results show that the majority of the certified experts in the field consider "leadership" to be the most important behavioral project management competency, closely followed by teamwork and self-management, while relations and engagement, conflict and crisis as well as negotiation and resourcefulness are considered to be of the least importance for conducting the project, program, and portfolio successfully. Statistically significant differences in assigning importance to various project management competencies were revealed with regard to several respondents' independent characteristics.


2000 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Birkhead ◽  
Margaret Sutherland ◽  
Tudor Maxwell

Project management is internationally recognised as a management tool that is critical for success in the current work environment. In South Africa, initiatives are under way to produce internationally acceptable education and certification standards for the profession. The aim of this study is to identify the competencies and training needs required of project managers operating in South Africa's unique context. A questionnaire based on both previous international studies and personal interviews was administered by e-mail to members of the Project Management Institute of South Africa. Data was received from 128 respondents operating primarily in information technology, construction and engineering fields across the country. The results of the survey establish a rank ordered list of the competencies and training needs of South African project managers, and confirm that project management competencies are generic in nature. The findings are unique to South Africa, and proffer a set of core competencies which has important implications for the certification and training of South African project managers.


Author(s):  
Hazel Taylor ◽  
Jill Palzkill Woelfer

What behavioral competencies do experienced IT project managers apply when facing critical situations in their projects, and how have they developed those competencies? In this paper, the authors answer these questions. The authors interviewed 23 experienced IT project managers from 11 organizations, focusing on critical situations that they now managed differently from their earlier, novice, practices, and on how they had learned to develop these different approaches. The authors discuss a variety of management development and training interventions. They use a thematic analysis to identify the key competencies being applied and learning methods experienced by this set of managers. Results suggest that IT project managers are drawing on a different set of competencies from those required for project management in other industries. Additionally, this paper reveals the importance of informal learning channels, often involving project experiences, for the development of IT project management competencies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1321-1347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Sajid Khattak ◽  
Usman Mustafa

Purpose The complexity of projects has become a serious issue and obstacle in their successful completion. In order to overcome these complexities, it has become imperative to identify the relevant management competencies of project managers. The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of cost, time and scope in engineering infrastructure projects due to their complexities through management competencies. Design/methodology/approach In the first phase of the study, 32 experts were interviewed through semi-structured pre-tested questionnaire. In this phase, essential elements of complexities were identified initially. This was followed by finding required dimensions of competencies to counter these complexities and to acquire improved performance. In the final stage, required levels of competencies for specific elements of complexity were identified. In the second phase, 85 “project managers” were also approached to get feedback about their recently completed public sector engineering infrastructure projects in Pakistan. Findings The study identified additional dimensions, i.e. honesty, enthusiasm and dedication, in the case of competencies and adverse law and order situation, political instability, land issues, energy crisis and weak authorization of project managers in the case of complexities. Leadership, management skill, communication skill, effectiveness and result orientation were identified as top quality traits required. The study concluded that there is a significant impact of management competencies and complexities on project performance. Originality/value The study contributes to a better understanding of how to improve performance in complex engineering infrastructure projects through adopting management competencies. It also empirically illustrates the relations among project management competencies, complexities and project performance. Although the research is grounded on public sector infrastructure projects, its findings may also be helpful for practices in project management of other sectors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Nur Maizura Ahmad Noorhani ◽  
Arniatul Aiza Mustapha

Currently, a role for a creative or visually appealing interior designer has also includes project management. One of the project's primary roles is for the interior design manager is to successfully deliver to the client. Additionally, project managers are measured for their capability to deal with day-to-to-day activities as well as projects. This study shares the required competencies project managers and interior designers to qualify as a project manager in the field of design. This paper examines the 27 competencies required of an interior project manager and highlights the value of competence in these three areas: functional, contextual, and behavioral. Competence as a project manager is assessed using questionnaires. The review and data collection of the results later helps support competency skills, which then diminishes the value of competency activities. From the analysis of the results, it follows that the project validity of the manager's knowledge increases project efficiency. Following the findings, new guidelines are implemented to further and more generally define the nature of the research.Keywords: interior design practice, project management competency


Author(s):  
Radu-Ioan Mogos ◽  
Constanta-Nicoleta Bodea ◽  
Stelian Stancu ◽  
Augustin Purnus ◽  
Maria-Iuliana Dascalu

During the last years, the development of the project risk management competencies became a ubiquitous objective for education and training in project management due to the increasing constraints which companies face on the implementation of their projects. Alignment to the professional standards and usage of innovative methods in designing and delivery of instruction represent common requirements that education and training providers should consider and fulfill. The authors examine the main challenges in addressing project risk management subject in the education programmes and identify how these challenges could be dealt by using curriculum management systems. In order to implement the identified improvements, the authors propose an innovative architecture for a curriculum management system, which can be adopted by those universities interested in developing competencies-based programmes in project management. Some preliminary results are presented and discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3 (114)) ◽  
pp. 83-92
Author(s):  
Iurii Teslia ◽  
Iulia Khlevna ◽  
Oleksii Yehorchenkov ◽  
Tatiana Latysheva ◽  
Oleg Grigor ◽  
...  

It is shown that the production processes of project-oriented enterprises focused on manufacturing complex knowledge-intensive products combine project and operational activities. Analysis of project management methodologies in terms of their suitability for managing the activities of project-oriented enterprises engaged in manufacturing these products was conducted. It was found that project management methodologies do not address this issue, remaining outside the scope of project managers. To eliminate this shortcoming of the project management methodology, it was proposed to supplement it with the concept and method of coordination of project and operational activities in the process of manufacturing complex knowledge-intensive products. The concept of integration of project and operational activities in the process of manufacturing complex knowledge-intensive products was proposed. A method of coordination of project and operational activities in the process of manufacturing complex knowledge-intensive products was developed. The following criteria were proposed: management of operational processes as processes depending on the progress of projects; evaluation of the success of projects taking into account the assessment of their provision with products of operational activities. A model for calculating the number of components to be produced during the implementation of projects of manufacturing complex knowledge-intensive piece products was developed. The method of multiple simulations of project and operational processes in projects of manufacturing complex knowledge-intensive products was proposed. The developed concept and method passed practical testing at enterprises engaged in manufacturing complex knowledge-intensive products, in particular, Karbon Invest, LLC (Ukraine), and showed high efficiency of managing projects of manufacturing complex knowledge-intensive products. The developed tools allow creating integrated management systems for project and operational production of complex knowledge-intensive products.


Author(s):  
Gregory J. Skulmoski ◽  
Francis T. Hartman

The purpose of this research was to investigate the soft competencies by project phase that IT project managers, hybrid and technical team members require for project success. The authors conducted qualitative interviews to collect data from a sample of 22 IT project managers and business leaders located in Calgary, Canada. They identified the key competencies for the three types of job roles. The research participants offered their opinions of what are the most important competencies from the following competence categories: Personal Attributes (e.g. eye for details), Communication (e.g. effective questioning), Leadership (e.g. create an effective project environment), Negotiations (e.g. consensus building), Professionalism (e.g. life long learning), Social Skills (e.g. charisma) and Project Management Competencies (e.g. manage expectations). The authors discuss the progression of competence through these job roles. They identified and discuss the interplay between a change in job role and the required competencies necessary for IT project success from a neuro-science perspective.


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