Retaining project management competence — Antecedents and consequences

Application of Career Ecosystems Theory and the New Psychological Contract to the Field of Project Management: Toward a Conceptual Model

The purpose of this article is to explore how different actors can operate within a project management ecosystem to sustain a pool of project management personnel with the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the standards required to support successful project delivery into the future. A new conceptual model is presented offering a set of six propositions whereby professional associations mediate the relationship between project management personnel and employers. The article advances understanding of career ecosystems theory and the new psychological contract via application to a new domain of project management. Practical implications and future research opportunities are also discussed.

The Mediating Impact of IT Capabilities on the Association between Dynamic Capabilities and Organizational Agility: The Case of the Jordanian IT Sector

This study suggests a novel progression to the current research endeavor by investigating the influence of information technology capabilities on organizational agility. More specifically, this study aims to fill the gaps found in previous studies and contribute to the current state of knowledge of this domain by focusing on the mediating role that IT capabilities play between dynamic capabilities and organizational agility. Toward that end, 270 Jordanian professionals working in supply chain management and operational departments were approached. Data were collected via distrusting a structured questionnaire that includes items assessing dynamic capabilities, IT capabilities, and organizational agility. The results demonstrated that IT capabilities significantly and positively mediated the relationship between resource-based dynamic capability and organizational agility. The study has also discussed several theoretical along with managerial implications of the research.

Servant Leadership and Project Success: Unleashing the Missing Links of Work Engagement, Project Work Withdrawal, and Project Identification

Employing self-determination and social identification theories, we examined how servant leadership, which focuses on employees’ needs, influences project success. Based on 453 responses from project team leader–project team member dyads working in a single organization, our findings suggest that servant leadership enhances project success predominantly by mitigating project work withdrawal, rather than accentuating work engagement. Additionally, when team members’ project identification is high, the servant leadership–work engagement relationship is weakened, whereas the servant leadership–project work withdrawal relationship is strengthened. We contribute to the nascent literature that positions servant leadership as an effective style in the project context.

Discussões sobre aprendizagem em projetos: um estudo bibliométrico

O objetivo dessa pesquisa é apresentar o que está sendo estudado sobre aprendizagem em projetos. Nesse caso, utilizamos a base de dados Scopus para levantamento dos estudos, considerando as principais revistas da área de Gerenciamento de Projetos. A pesquisa se iniciou a partir de uma análise bibliométrica, com levantamento de 256 artigos e, após filtros e ajustes, foram considerados 48 artigos na amostra final. Após análise fatorial exploratória, chegamos a cinco fatores, relacionados à aprendizagem em projetos, o que indicou as frentes de pesquisas para revisão sistemática. Como resultado, identificamos que a aprendizagem individual, a aprendizagem entre projetos e a aprendizagem em organizações baseadas em projetos foram os tópicos de concentração abordados nas pesquisas nos últimos dez anos. No que diz respeito à contribuição desta pesquisa, entendemos que esses temas ajudam pesquisadores e a comunidade de Gestão de Projetos na compreensão das bases teóricas e suas relações com a aprendizagem em projetos, indicando, assim, novas possibilidades de estudos. 

Knowledge sharing in project work: the dynamic interplay of knowledge domains and skills

Purpose

This study aims to illuminate the currently poorly understood inflow of knowledge originating from project managers across the value chain of construction projects. The primary purpose is to identify the domains of knowledge that project managers’ need to share in their management activities, the skills they need to develop in their sharing practices and how these relate to each other across different phases of a construction project.

Design/methodology/approach

Knowledge domains, skills and the relationships between them were identified following an inductive methodology, a combination of grounded theory and case study, and through the analysis of semi-structured interviews with 21 project managers and participants within a single construction project.

Findings

The outcome is a novel framework that theorizes the dynamic interplay between knowledge domains and the skills that facilitate knowledge sharing (KS) for successful project work throughout the construction project.

Originality/value

The combined effects of task heterogeneity, knowledge interdependencies and temporariness require paying increased attention to how knowledge domains and KS skills impact project performance. This paper addresses gaps in developing an integrative understanding of the nature of the domains of knowledge that need to be shared in a project context, the key skills contributing to KS and more importantly, how they evolve and are interpreted and reinterpreted throughout the project and assist KS practice in projects.

Is the Project Manager’s Road to Success Paved Only with Clear Career Paths?

This study examined the role of career attitudes and behaviors and employability enhancement factors in predicting project managers’ career success facets, over and above the availability of clear career paths. An online survey was completed by 552 Italian project managers. Clear career paths, employability culture, and protean career attitude positively predicted both objective and subjective (along with objective boundarylessness) career success. Dominance analysis showed the prevailing role of protean career, employability culture, and clear career paths. Results built a bridge between project management literature and career studies, particularly informing about the significance of the protean career. Organizational and individual implications for practices are discussed.

Project Lineage Management and Project Portfolio Success

Project portfolio approaches consider various concurrent project interdependencies but typically neglect longitudinal interdependencies. These are important for exploratory projects, which create strategic options. If these options are not exploited in successive projects they become lost opportunities. This study analyzes 138 firms regarding their extent to consciously manage project sequences. We differentiate between proactive lineage (planning a roadmap of future projects) and reactive lineage (using learnings from past projects). Results show that both practices are positively and independently related to portfolio success. We derive suggestions for future research and discuss which theoretical foundations could be used to better understand the impact of lineage management.

How Project Management and Top Management Involvement Affect the Innovativeness of Professional Service Organizations—An Empirical Study on Hospitals

This study investigates how top management involvement and project management professionalization affect firm innovativeness. We focus on hospitals as representative of professional service organizations characterized by pluralistic individual and organizational interests. A multiyear analysis of project management survey and objective performance data of 90 hospitals indicates that top management involvement in innovation projects reduces hospital innovativeness, and project management professionalization increases hospital innovativeness. However, increasing project management professionalization simultaneously strengthens top management involvement’s effectiveness. The results contribute to our understanding of potential interactions and different effects of project management efforts at different organizational levels in professional service organizations.

Selecting Organizational Partners for Interorganizational Projects: The Dual but Limited Role of Digital Capabilities in the Construction Industry

The selection of partners is critical for the success of interorganizational projects. Based on conceptual reasoning in light of prior research, as well as illustrative empirical insights into an ongoing interorganizational project in the construction industry, we argue that partner selection practices not only target the organizational capabilities of potential partners but they themselves require an organizational capability to search for, evaluate, and select. This article delineates the facets of this capability, reveals the role of digital capabilities therein, and shows that the respective capabilities are crucial for inclusion and exclusion in interorganizational projects. The results also point to capabilities that emerge at the interorganizational nexus.

Rolling Into the Profession: Exploring the Motivation and Experience of Becoming a Project Manager

The number of people who, at a certain point during their career, assume responsibilities as a project manager is increasing every year. Yet, we know little about the reasons why people want to become project managers, how they become project managers, and the ways in which they perceive their job once they have become project managers. In the current qualitative study, we conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews, using a multisource approach, from the perspectives of both project managers ( n = 31) and direct supervisors of project managers ( n = 21) from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Our results indicate that project managers tend to be drawn into the field by their enterprising interests, and mainly “roll into their profession” knowing little about possible career paths, and experience multiple positive and negative aspects of their jobs. Reflections on the outcomes are discussed, and practical implications for individuals considering a career in project management and their working organizations are given.

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence, Project Managers’ Competencies, and Transformational Leadership on Project Success: An Empirical Perspective

Project stakeholders always strive for a successful project, hence there is growing concern about the factors that influence project success. Although the success of a project is influenced by various factors, project managers play a very important role. This study aims to examine the relationship and impact of construction project managers’ emotional intelligence (EI), managerial competencies, and transformational leadership style on project success. A total of 107 Pakistani construction firms were studied with a view to measuring the effects of these variables on the overall performance of construction projects. The results show that project managers with high emotional intelligence who bear the desired competencies and exhibit transformational leadership behavior are effective leaders and ensure higher success in projects than their counterparts. The findings will assist project sponsors in selecting the appropriate project managers for their projects.