تاثیر نقاط قوت / ضعف شرکت روی شایستگی های مدیریت پروژه

The project is at the core of the construction business. Project management can be used as a tool to maximize the success of projects and ultimately the success of construction companies. It is therefore worthwhile to explore the factors that can enhance project management competencies. In this study, it was hypothesized that “project management competencies” are influenced by “corporate strengths/weaknesses”. “Corporate strengths/weaknesses” was defined as a second-ordered construct composed of three latent variables including the company’s resources and capabilities, its strategic decisions, and the strength of its relationships with other parties. The data obtained from a questionnaire survey administered to 73 contractors were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of the study verified the hypothesis suggested.

The construction industry is a project oriented industry. Effective project management is key for the successful accomplishment of sophisticated projects [1] and [2]. Jaselskis and Ashley [3] state that construction projects commonly experience uncertainty because of shortages in resources and the nature of the project. The factors that are conducive to successful project management are abundantly discussed in the literature. For example, Munns and Bjeirmi [4] suggest that the factors of success in project management include commitment to complete the project, appointment of a skilled project manager, adequate definition of the project, correctly planning the activities in the project, adequate information flow, accommodation of frequent changes, rewarding the employees, and being open to innovations. The environment in which the project takes place was also taken into account by many researchers [5], [6] and [7]. That the use of the appropriate management techniques contributes to successful project management is also stressed by many researchers e.g., [4], [8] and [9]. The literature appears to emphasize project-related factors at the expense of company-related factors such as a company’s resources and capabilities, its strategic decisions, and the strength of its relationships with other parties. It should be kept in mind that a company is an organization that supports the many projects undertaken by the company, generally in different geographical locations and administered by quite autonomous project managers but relying heavily on the support of the head office. In that sense, every project is somewhat influenced by the policies and culture of the central company organization. The objective of the study reported in this paper is to explore the impact of corporate strengths/weaknesses on project management performance. Corporate strengths/weaknesses are defined in the study to reflect three dimensions: the company’s resources and capabilities relative to finances, technical and human capital, research and development, receptiveness to innovation; its strategic decisions relative to differentiation, market/client/partner selection, investment, organizational and project management; and the strength of its relationships with other parties such as clients, unions, and the government. Project management competencies are defined by the factors set forth by different researchers e.g., [2] and [4], the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) [10] and the suggestions of construction professionals contacted in a pilot study. All relevant factors are described in detail in the next two sections. A questionnaire survey was administered to a number of construction companies to test the hypothesis that corporate strengths/weaknesses have a significant impact on project management competencies. The hypothesis was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM), a statistical tool described later in the paper.

The impact of corporate strength/weaknesses on project management competencies was investigated in this study. According to the model presented in Fig. 1, corporate strengths/weaknesses are defined by the latent variables “company resources and capabilities”, “strategic decisions” and “strength of relationships with other parties”. It was hypothesized that “corporate strengths/weaknesses”, so defined, impacts “project management competencies”. In order to test this hypothesis, a questionnaire survey was administered to 73 Turkish construction companies. A two-step SEM model was set up to measure the five latent variables (project management competencies, company resources and capabilities, strategic decisions, strength of relationships with other parties, and corporate strengths/weaknesses) through their constituent variables and to see if the hypothesized relationship holds (Fig. 1). According to the findings of the SEM analysis (Fig. 1 and Table 1), Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of all the latent variables were well over the 0.70 min set by Nunally [66] which indicated that the internal reliability of the individual constructs was quite high. The internal reliability of the overall model was also found to be 0.95 which is an excellent result. CFA showed that all factor loadings presented in Fig. 1 were significant at α = 0.05. Limitations due to the small sample size are overcome by using robust methodology and the goodness of fit indices presented in Table 1. The indices consistently indicated a good fit, considering the recommended values. As a result, it can be concluded that the hypothesis set at the beginning of the study was verified by the statistically significant (α = 0.05) and very strong path coefficient (0.93) shown in Fig. 1. Beyond the success criteria commonly mentioned in previous research on project management e.g., [2], [4], [45], [72], [73] and [81], the considerable influence of corporate strengths/weaknesses was confirmed by the finding of this study. This finding adds a different perspective to success criteria in project management, and is particularly important since construction is largely project-based. Based on the findings of the study, it can be stated that companies should adjust their resources and capabilities, their long-term strategies and their relationships with other parties to better serve the needs of the individual projects. Indeed, in the dynamic environment of the construction industry, companies have to behave farsighted in order to survive. Ample leadership qualities should be acquired in addition to being open to innovation and fostering research and development. Tactical considerations which are short-term have to be complemented by long-term and strategic decisions. Finally, strong relationships (may be exploring partnering relationships) should be developed with prospective clients, unions, and government. Further research that incorporates a more detailed view of project management competencies such as the IPMA Competence Baseline [82] could reveal new insights into technical, behavioral, as well as contextual competencies.