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www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpromanInternational Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796

Competency mapping in project management: An actionresearch study in an engineering company

Sílvia Mayumi Takey, Marly Monteiro de Carvalho ⁎

Production Engineering Department, Polytechnic School University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Received 4 February 2014; received in revised form 30 June 2014; accepted 29 October 2014Available online 21 November 2014

Abstract

The present study proposes a seven-step method for the project management competency map. Additionally, the method helps to evaluateand design evolution trajectories based on organisational experience and challenges. This methodological approach merges literaturereviews with qualitative and quantitative research methods. Data were collected in a large Brazilian engineering company through theanalysis of documentation, behavioural event interviews, self-assessment surveys and statistical analyses. The proposed method is simple,replicable and insightful for managers across all industries and consists of the following: a description of competence and performancecriteria, an assessment process, a diagnosis of the current proficiency level, the identification of competence levels that differentiateprofessional categories, the establishment of expected profiles, a gap analysis and the association between experience and competencydevelopment.© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. APM and IPMA. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Project management; Individual competence; Competency management; Project manager

1. Introduction

To assure effectiveness in project management, it is strategic tomanage individual competence and to map competence-buildingtrajectories for the project manager and team members. Chipulu etal. (2013) suggest that project manager competencies are importantin project success.

The resource-based view (RBV) literature (Barney, 1991;Prahalad and Hamel, 1990) highlights the singular and strategiccharacteristic for each element of the VRIO framework (value,rarity, imitability and organisation), which reinforces the impor-tance of managing these processes in a strategic manner within anorganisation that seeks the mapping and construction of compe-tence trajectories.

⁎ Corresponding author at: Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, trav 2, n 128, ZIP code05508-900-São Paulo/SP, Brazil.

E-mail address: marlymc@usp.br (M.M. Carvalho).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.10.0130263-7863/00/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. APM and IPMA. All rights reserved.

Recently, with the increase in professional project manage-ment certifications, the level of interest in the competencies ofproject management professionals has increased(Starkwheather and Stevenson, 2011). However, for Bredinand Soderlund (2013) little attention has been paid to thecareers and career models of project managers.

Project management associations and institutes have imple-mented competency frameworks for project managers (AIPM,2008; IPMA, 2006; PMI, 2007). These frameworks recommendcompetency mapping in both hard and soft skills, but focus onhard skills. However, the number of studies with a focus on softskills is increasing, as demonstrated by Skulmoski et al. (2010),Clarke (2010a, 2010b), Stevenson and Starkweather (2010),Muller and Turner (2010) and Dainty et al. (2005). Moreover,Ahsan et al. (2013) show that job listings for project managersemphasise soft skills and competencies in a different manner thanthat in the literature, whereas Chipulu et al. (2013) find thatindustry puts more weight on generic skills than on projectmanagement knowledge.

785S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796

Given the importance attributed to these certifications withinthe business environment and the still emerging state of thisdebate, we proposes here mapping, evaluation and developmentprocesses for the competence of project managers and practi-tioners in an organisational context. The present paper aims atclosing this gap by answering the following two researchquestions: (RQ1) How to tailor organisation-specific projectmanagement competencies from standardized competency frame-works; (RQ2) How to systematically assess project managementcompetence in an organisation, including which competenciesdifferentiate each level in project management career models andwhich professional experiences relate to competence developmentin order to guide human resources development programmes. Weinvestigate these RQs through a structured approach driven byaction research in a large Brazilian engineering company, mergingqualitative and quantitative methods.

The present work is divided into five sections. The discussion ofacademic literature on competencies is presented in Section 2. Themethodological strategy that governed the present study ispresented in Section 3, detailing the primary and secondary datacollection instruments. The results and their respective analyses arepresented in Section 4. Finally, Section 5 presents recommenda-tions for researchers and others interested in competence in projectmanagement, considering the points of view of both organisationsand academia.

2. Literature review

2.1. Concept of individual competence

The concept of competence (Le Boterf, 1995) is widely usedtoday; however, competence has different meanings to differentpeople (Crawford, 1998), and no universally accepted defini-tion currently exists (Seppänen, 2002).

The definition of individual competence employed in thepresent work is the “ability to mobilise, integrate and transferknowledge, skills and resources to reach or surpass the configuredperformance in work assignments, adding economic and socialvalue to the organisation and the individual”, which was adaptedfrom Ruas et al. (2005) and Fleury and Fleury (2001). In otherwords, it is not enough to have a stock of knowledge and skillsassociated with higher performance (Boyatzis, 1992; Mccleland,1973;Mirable, 1997; Spencer and Spencer, 1993); their applicationin valuable deliveries also matters (Le Boterf, 1995; Zarifian,1996).

The International Project Management Association's Com-petence Baseline — ICB (IPMA, 2006) describes the technical,behavioural and contextual competencies of project manage-ment. Varajao and Cruz-Cunha (2013) propose a tool for theprocess of selecting project managers based on the 46 ICBcompetence elements as model criteria.

The Project Manager Competency Development (PMCD)Framework from the Project Management Institute (PMI,2007) describes knowledge, performance and personal compe-tencies. Knowledge competencies are described in the ProjectManagement Body of Knowledge (PMI, 2004), and perfor-mance and personal competencies are formed by units and

elements of competence. For example, the unit “Planning theproject” contains the element “Approved project schedule”.Each element begins with a verb in the past tense, implyingdelivery of value, which makes this framework the mostcompatible with the definition of competence adopted in thepresent work.

The Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM,2008) model defines performance competencies in eightunits according to knowledge areas, differentiating them intothree professional levels: project practitioner, manager anddirector.

A comparative analysis of these frameworks shows that thereare similarities between these frameworks in their consideration ofproject management processes and personal competencies. Themethodological approach for framework construction was alsosimilar (crowdsourced from practitioners). On the other hand, theIPMA (2006) does not define a performance category, as did thePMI (2007) and AIPM (2008), while being the only one to definecontextual competencies. The AIPM (2008) is the only of theseorganisations to differentiate competencies throughout the projectmanagement career. Therefore, instead of adopting only onemethod, it seems more appropriate to merge them.

Rose et al. (2007) collected project management competen-cies in a specific company using semi-structured interviewswith project managers to investigate the required competenciesin project situations. The study resulted in the identification ofseven competencies: technical, process, time, client, business,personal and uncertainty management.

Dainty et al. (2005) studied project management competen-cies in the construction sector, defining nine performance criteria,such as team building, leadership and decision-making. A panelof experts separated the managers into two groups (superior andaverage performance) and evaluated all participants using thedefined criteria. Variance analyses were performed, revealing 12competencies related to superior performance. This study shedslight on the establishment of proficiency levels and differentiatingcompetencies in project management careers.

Grant, Baumgardner and Shane (1997) studied the impor-tance of technical competencies for project managers ofprocurement projects for the Department of Defense. Usingthe characterisations of respondents and projects, a contingencyanalysis was performed. They concluded that technicalcompetencies are essential, especially in the initial phases of aproject and when the team has a technical level that is eithervery high or very low.

For Ahsan et al. (2013), project manager competenciescould be deployed into knowledge, skills, and abilities. Bredinand Soderlund (2013) outline two archetypes of projectmanager career models: the competence strategy model andthe talent management model.

It is important to highlight the contingent effect of industriesand countries on key competencies, as indicated by Ahsan et al.(2013). Similarly, Chipulu et al. (2013) identified differencesacross countries (the U.K., the U.S., Canada, China, India,Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore) and industry sectors,which place significantly different levels of salience on the sixdimensions of project manager competencies.

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2.2. Evaluation and development of project managementcompetencies

The IPMA (2006) defines four certification levels differentiatedby the project's degree of complexity in which the professionalperforms the competencies. The complexity of the assessment alsoincreases proportionally to the certification level and the stage ofthe process.

In the PMI (2007) framework, each element of competence hasperformance criteria (behaviour indicators that specify how com-petence is demonstrated in practice) and evidence (artefacts, inparticular documents, that prove the existence of the performancecriterion). The assessment method of this framework was the mostcompatible with the competence definition adopted, as previouslystated. The methods suitable for the desired levels of accuracyfollow:

• Low rigour: self or informal assessment.• Medium rigour: evidence review, 360° feedback, interviews.• High rigour: independent evaluator, workshops and simulations.

Campion et al. (2011) indicate that proficiency levels can takeseveral forms, including progressive levels of development,performance levels and detailed descriptions, depending on thedesired purpose. Bredin and Soderlund (2013) corroborate this andsuggest critical factors for the design of project management careermodels; the number of levels, the complexity of assignments andthe degree of formal requirements.

The PMI (2007) model indicates several forms of competencydevelopment: mentoring, coaching, peer-to-peer, role-playing,on-the-job training, group training, in-house training, computer-based training, formal training and conferences. Edum-Fotwe andMcCaffer (2000) studied the mechanisms for developing projectmanagement competencies and observed that, from the point ofview of professionals, the most important are academic courses,

Table 1Project management competences.

Category Competences

Project managementprocesses

Integration management; scope management; time managememanagement; human resource management; communication mcontract management; environmental management; safety and

Personal Leadership; communication; opening; relationships; team buildiothers; conflict resolution; holistic view; systemic view; assertivand integrity; commitment; self-control/work under presscreativity; negotiation; emotional intelligence; commitment tattention to detail; delegation; search for information; analyticalflexibility

Technical General technical overview; technical vocabulary; technical chtechnical solutions; technical solution assessment; technical riskdecisions; relationship between technologies; design (project);

Context and business Organisation's profitability; strategic alignment; customer relatiforces of industry (organisation, customer and suppliers); lemanagement improvement

formal training and work experience, with a greater emphasis onthe work experience.

2.3. Summary of the project manager competencies

A content analysis of the literature was performed, includingcompetency encoding, frequency counts, cross-tabulations andinterpretation of results, as suggested by Duriau et al. (2007). Adiagram of affinities was used to create the competency clusters,resulting in four categories of competencies: project manage-ment, personal, technical, context and business processes. Thisterminology is not consolidated; for instance, the personal (PMI,2007) and behavioural competency categories (IPMA, 2006) aredeployed in similar cluster of competencies; thus, in the presentpaper, we used “personal competencies”, which is more oftenemployed in the studies we analysed. Table 1 presents a summaryof the project management competencies by category.

In the project management process category, the competenciesrelate mainly to the Project Management Body of Knowledge®(PMI, 2008) knowledge areas. In the construction industry inparticular, it was found that environmental, safety and healthmanagement were of high importance (PMI, 2007).

Competencies in the personal category were the mostdisaggregated in the literature. Some personal competencies mayseem contradictory, such as holistic view and attention to details.Exploring deeper, the former is related to senior project managers,while the latter is related to practitioners (AIPM, 2008). Thisreinforces the need to identify key competencies throughout theproject management career and not to consider the project managera super hero, proficient in all competencies simultaneously.

Context and business competencies were highlighted mainlyin IPMA (2006) and seem to relate to experienced projectmanagers. The technical competency category is the only one thatcannot be found in standardized frameworks of internationalinstitutions, but are frequent in case studies with empirical data.Since the industries in such studies are close to the organisation in

References

nt; costs management; qualityanagement; risk management;health management

IPMA (2006), PMI (2007), and AIPM (2008)

ng; teamwork; development ofeness; problem-solving; ethicsure; relaxation; uncertainty;o the organisation; reliability;thinking; conceptual thinking;

Edum-Fotwe and McCaffer (2000), Dainty et al.(2005), IPMA (2006), Brill et al. (2006), PMI(2007), Rose et al. (2007), AIPM (2008),Clarke (2010a, 2010b), Muller and Turner(2010), Skulmoski and Hartman (2010),Akogbe et al.(2013), Ahsan et al. (2013), andJaafar and Othman (2013)

allenges; search for innovativeassessment; technical trade-offtechnical drawing

Thamhain and Wilemon (1978), Cleland andKing (1983), Bloom (1989), Grant et al.(1997), Edum-Fotwe and McCaffer (2000),and Rose et al. (2007)

onships; customer satisfaction;gislation; finance; continuous

Rose et al. (2007), IPMA (2006), Dainty et al.(2005), and Brill et al. (2006)

787S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796

the present work (e.g. defense equipment procurement, softwareengineering), we decided to keep them as a separate category, atthe same level of personal, process and contextual competencies.

3. Research methods

To investigate the RQs, we developed a structured approachdriven by action research in a large Brazilian engineeringcompany.

The starting point was to develop the conceptual framework,presented in the previous section, with a grounding in relatedliterature, as suggested by several authors (Voss et al., 2002;Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007; Carvalho, 2014). This phasehelped to demonstrate the exploratory stage of this researchfield, so action research is a suitable research method for ourRQs.

Action research, a term coined by Lewin (1946), is relevantand valid in its ability to address the operational realitiesexperienced by practicing managers while simultaneouslycontributing to knowledge (Coughlan and Coghlan, 2002:p.220). Its lack of generalizability is compensated for by theincomparable benefits of deep insight and potential of developingnew knowledge (Karlsson, 2002) due to its reflexive, collabora-tive and interventionist nature (Coghlan, 2007).

During the action research cycles, we introduced multi-methodcombinations to achieve the proposed objectives, mergingqualitative and quantitative approaches, as shown in Table 2.

There is an increasing trend in operations management ofapplying multi-method research as suggested by Singhal andSinghal (2012a,b). Thus, methods were combined in order toachieve triangulation and mitigate the methods' weaknesses.For each objective, a bibliographic survey was performedcombined with field research; Table 2 details the research anddata collection methods selected, as suggested by Flynn et al.(1990). Several sources of evidences were gathered, includingdocumentary analysis of the organisation, semi-structuredinterviews and focus groups with key stakeholders.

Action research was developed through a cycle of steps, eachcomposed of a cycle of planning, action, and fact finding (Lewin,1946), in which repeated cycles of data gathering, data feedback,data analysis, action planning, implementation and evaluationoccur (Karlsson, 2002). A meta-step of overall organisation andanalysis is the focus of research (Coughlan and Coghlan, 2002).This action research results in seven steps arising from the repeatedcycles: Step 1. Selection and analysis of the organisation, Step 2.

Table 2Structured approach.

Objective Main references

Competence definition Rose et al. (2007), Dainty et al. (2005), andCampion et al. (2011)

Competence assessmentmethods

IPMA (2006), PMI (2007) and AIPM (2008)

Proficiency levels Dainty et al. (2005), Campion et al. (2011)Competence development PMI (2007), Edum-Fotwe and McCaffer (2000),

Grant, Baumgardner and Shane (1997), and Roseet al. (2007)

Panel of experts, Step 3. Relationships between experiences andcompetencies, Step 4. Self-assessment method definition, Step 5.Self-assessment questionnaire, Step 6. Assessment process andStep 7. Training path.

Step 1 Selection and analysis of the organisationThe selected organisation, a Brazilian engineering andconstruction company active in infrastructure sectors suchas energy, mining, oil and gas, was founded in 1960 andhas around 800 employees. The selection criteria were thematurity of the Project Management Office (PMO) andproject management practices: the organisation has beenTop of Mind for three consecutive years in PMI's bench-marking (2009, 2010 and 2011), was nominated PMO ofthe year in 2012 by MundoPM magazine and 10% of allwork force are certified Project Management Professionals(PMPs®). The project management staff is divided intodisciplines according to knowledge areas. For the presentstudy the departments selected were scheduling planning(SP) and financial planning (FP), due to the representativenumber of practitioners.The preexisting behavioural competencies and descriptionsof project management posts were consulted. The ease ofaccess for the researchers to documents and key stake-holders was important to the choice of this company.Eighty-three employees participated in the research duringthe seven steps, including top management, PMO mem-bers and employees from the SP and FP departments.

Step 2 Content analysis and panel of expertsAs mentioned in Section 2.3, a content analysis of thesurveyed literature was performed (see Table 1) that led toencoding and clustering of competencies into fourcategories. This preliminary theoretical competence frame-work was then compared with the company's competencyguidelines and stakeholders' perspectives.The panel of experts methodwas selected to understand thesubjective reasons for tailoring the standardized projectmanagement competencies to a specific organisation, asperformed by Dainty et al. (2005) and Rose et al. (2007).After obtaining qualitative data, it was possible toformulate more precise constructs.The interview approach was situational (behavioural eventinterviews), as proposed by Rose et al. (2007) and Daintyet al. (2005). In each area, two types of respondents wereselected: (1) analyst/engineer and (2) coordinator/manager.

Research method Data collection method

Panel of experts Documentary analysis of the organisation; semi-structuredinterviews; focus groups with key stakeholders

Panel of experts Documentary analysis of the organisation; semi-structuredinterviews; focus groups with key stakeholders

Survey Self-assessment questionnairePanel of experts Causal map between experiences and competences;

self-assessment questionnaire (characterisation)

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PMO indicated professionals that had experience in thewhole spectrum of project typologies in the organisation,resulting in eight interviews (10% of the population).Although limited in number of interviewees, the interviewsexplored the entire career of each participant. The samplewas thus able to cover all project types and conditionspresent in the organisation (engineering projects; technicaland economic feasibility studies; engineering and manage-ment of procurement and construction projects; consortiumprojects; commercial proposals; executive projects; andon-site construction and assembly projects), which can beverified in Table 3.A computer-aided approach to content analysis was per-formed using the software NVivo9. An initial tree of com-petence codes was established from the theoreticalframework (see Table 1), and new codes were includedthroughout the analysis. The coding process was checkedcarefully, as the reliability of the content analysis wasprimarily addressed using multiple coders (Duriau et al.,2007).The frequency of each code enabled a primary selection ofcompetencies and the coded excerpts provided subsidiesfor the performance criteria. The preliminary results werereviewed by two focus groups — one with the inter-viewees and the other with two senior members of thePMO that were not in the initial sample. This review wasperformed as a means of minimising reliability problemsdue to the limited number of interviewees, resulting in thefinal version of the Dictionary of Competencies.

Step 3 Relationships between experiences and competenciesTo understand the competence-building trajectories forthe project manager according to professional experienceand challenges, a relational map was designed based ontop management trajectories and PMO members' trajec-tories, linking competencies and project experience.Maps were drawn with the software C-map® relating theinterviewees' experiences and the project managementcompetencies developed. These hypotheses were furthercompared with the statistically significant relationshipsfound through the analysis of the self-assessment ques-tionnaire (see Step 5).

Step 4 Self-assessment method definitionThe self-assessment questionnaire was selected becauseit is a low rigour method (PMI, 2007); therefore placing

Table 3Panel of experts: interviewees' profiles.

Characteristics FP1 FP2 FP3 SP1

Function Engineer Manager Manager CoordiSeniority Junior Senior Senior FullType A X XType B X XType C X X XType D X XConsortium X X XProposal X XEngineering X X X XConstruction X X X

less pressure on respondents (hopefully inducing morehonest responses) and quickly providing research data.From the literature and focus groups consisting of thosedesignated responsible by the PMO, including special-ists and area coordinators, the self-assessment methodwas defined for the questionnaire utilized in step 5.The core population for the self-assessment was definedas the employees directly involved in project activitiesfrom SP and FP departments. The sample size was 75respondents, representing 87% of SP employees (44professionals) and 94% of FP employees (31professionals).

Step 5 Self-assessment questionnaireIn the process of designing the research instrument, theadvantages and disadvantages of both self-administeredand interviewer-administered questionnaires were ex-plored (Saunders et al., 2007, Bryman and Bell, 2011).A self-administered assessment questionnaire with amix of open- and closed-ended questions was selected.Through the Dictionary of Competencies and theself-assessment method, an online questionnaire wasestablished. Each competence was represented by oneor more performance criteria. These criteria werepresented to respondents in a random order, and eachincluded the use of a past participle. By means of asemantic scale, respondents evaluated the degree ofautonomy with which they had displayed each compe-tence in the previous five years.Characterisations of the professionals (e.g., function,seniority, certifications) and their experiences (e.g.,project type and phases in which they had worked) werecollected to identify correlations between competenciesand the professionals' experience. Four pilot studieswere performed prior to the formal application.A pilot test of the questionnaire was performedwith scholars and organisation stakeholders and wasbased on the face and content validity of the researchinstrument (Saunders et al., 2007; Bryman and Bell,2011). After a pilot test of the instrument, the semanticscale was transformed into a metric as follows: I havenot done this (0); I have done this under guidance (30 =1); I have done this autonomously (31 = 3); and I havecoordinated the execution of this (32 = 9). This scalewas adopted because of the interviewees' descriptions

SP2 SP3 SP4 SP5

nator Coordinator Engineer Engineer ManagerFull Junior Junior Senior

X

X X XX X X XX XX X XX X X XX X X

789S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796

of the career trajectories: the progression from junior tofull professional was much faster than the progressionfrom full to senior or management/leadership levels.Cronbach's alpha test was applied to verify whether theperformance criteria characterised the same competen-cies.Using MINITAB® software, descriptive statistics andMood's median test were used to (1) identify thedifferentiating competencies between functions andseniority degrees and to (2) study the differences shownby professionals' experience in competence performance.This technique was chosen because the variables in thisstudy are non-parametric and do not have a normaldistribution, conditions that would violate premises ofother variance tests, such as ANOVA.With the aid of coordinators from each of the areas, theexpected proficiency standard was established for eachcareer level according to functions and seniorities, and ananalysis of development gaps was performed.

Step 6 Assessment processThe competency assessment process and the perfor-mance criteria were proposed based on the literature andfield research. The proposal includes auxiliary methodsand evidence for benchmarking competence perfor-mance, process periodicity and responsibilities.

Step 7 Training pathAs a result of the previous steps, a training activity pathwas suggested for each function and for each level ofseniority in the SP and FS areas, based on the trainingcategories cited by the PMI (2007).

Engineer

Fin

anci

al P

lan

nin

gS

ched

ulin

g P

lan

nin

g 8%

44%39%

9%

Contexto e Negócios

Pessoais

Processos

Técnicas

15%

56%

26%

3%

Contexto e Negócios

Pessoais

Processos

Técnicas

Fig. 1. Competences by category: financial p

4. Results

4.1. Panel of expertsThe profile of the panel of experts is presented in Table 3,

where it was found that all relevant experiences were covered.The encoding resulted in 372 references in FP and 466 in

SP. Competencies that complemented the theoretical frame-work were identified, such as constructability (sequencing ofconstruction activities during the engineering phase for theearly identification of obstacles in the field).

When analysing the reference distribution (see Fig. 1), arelatively higher participation in the category of context andbusiness was observed for managers. These are areas morerelevant to FP than to SP, whereas technical competencies(understanding of the engineering activities) have a greaterimportance in SP.

The competencies identified as being the most important bymore than half of the respondents from each area are presentedin Table 4.

Time management was relevant to FP due to the interfacewith cash flow. Among personal competencies, flexibility stoodout, especially in consortia and less professionalised markets.Among the technical competencies, only a technical vocabularystood out. In the context and business category, emphasis wasgiven to continuous improvement, strategic alignment, riskidentification in tax legislation and customer relationships. Forthe junior level, the professional added value by integratingfinancial information to support decision-making, and for thesenior level, he added value by analysing trends and actingpreventatively.

Manager

13%

43%

36%

8%

Contexto e Negócios

Pessoais

Processos

Técnicas

19%

50%

27%

4%

Contexto e Negócios

Pessoais

Processos

Técnicas

lanning and scheduling planning areas.

Table 4Most important competences for respondents of financial planning and scheduling planning.

Category Financial planning Scheduling planning

Project management processes Cost; term Scope; termPersonal Flexibility CommunicationTechnical Technical vocabulary General technical overview; technical drawingContext and business Continuous management improvement;

strategic alignment; customer relationships; legislationCustomer relationships; continuousimprovement; strategic alignment

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By performing a triangulation of the theoretical framework,interviews and documentary analysis, the definitions of compe-tencies were collected using a model adapted from PMI (2007)and AIPM (2008) that employs verbs in the description and oneor more performance criteria. For each criterion, at least oneexcerpt from the interviews was registered that substantiated itselaboration.

There was no personal competence identified in SP that hadnot been considered in FP; therefore, the Dictionaries ofCompetencies remained equal in this category.

A feedback meeting following the development of the firstversion of the Dictionary of Competencies was held with theinterviewees, and then a final validation with the responsiblePMO occurred, resulting in the final version.

The list of competencies in Table 5 summarizes the resultsobtained in this step.

4.2. Relationships between experiences and competencies

From the answers provided in the situational interviews,experiences and developed competencies were related using thesoftware C-map to construct conceptual maps (see the excerptin Fig. 2).

In both areas, participation in commercial proposals lead toagility and the capacity to address uncertainty, as activities had tobe performed in a short time and with scarce data. Operations thatincluded the whole life cycle (engineering, procurement, con-struction) contributed to the development of flexibility, emotionalintelligence, risk management and adaptation strategies in the caseof a diversity of practices associated with the higher complexity ofthis type of project, particularly in the presence of partners fromdifferent organisational cultures.

For junior professionals, acquiring greater autonomy is acritical experience that can occur in low-complexity projects orspecific parts of the scope. In SP, working on the construction siteis an essential experience for the development of competencies,whereas there is no such association in FP.

4.3. Results of the self-assessment questionnaire

4.3.1. Sample characterisationThe SP area has 44 professionals, 32% with PMP certification

and 5% with Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)certification. The professionals were divided into six categories:intern (4), assistant (7), junior analyst/engineer (8), analyst/engineer (12), senior analyst/engineer (7) and manager (6). Aresponse rate of 87% was obtained. The FP population (31professionals) was divided into 5 categories: intern/assistant (5),

junior analyst (12), analyst (7), senior analyst (6) and manager (4).The obtained response rate was 94%.

4.3.2. Reliability tests and descriptive statisticsFor competencies with more than one performance criterion,

Cronbach's alpha test was performed, and two cases with alphavalues of less than 0.7 were identified: 1.4. Applies and adaptstechniques and tools for time management in SP and 4.1.Promotes continuous management improvement for both areas;therefore, their criteria were analysed as separate competencies.

In the descriptive analysis, the calculation of the average percompetence per category resulted in the current proficiencyframework (see an excerpt in Fig. 3).

4.3.3. Differentiating competenciesTo identify competencies that differentiate between categories,

Mood's median test was applied to the categories in pairs (e.g.intern vs. junior analyst) for each competence, thus obtaining thechart shown as in Fig. 4 (for SP). The competencies with p-valuesless than 0.05 are indicated, demonstrating significant differences.

In the transition from a junior analyst in SP to a full analyst,there is an evolution in interpretation of deviations and trends;holistic and systemic views; leadership; critical analysis andcustomer relationship competencies, which is consistent withan increased role on the front line and accumulated experience.In the transition to the senior level, context and businesscompetencies differ from other groups (consistent with thepanel of experts), in addition to a better understanding of theinterdependencies between technical areas, working in scopechanges, autonomy in the analysis of trends and responsibilityfor time management.

4.3.4. Differentiating experiencesMood's median test was applied to determine if a group that

had undergone certain experiences was significantly moreproficient in each competence when compared to others.

It was found, for instance, that in SP, PMPs® were not moreproficient in the process competencies, in contrast to what wasobserved in FP. More developed competencies were consis-tently observed for those who had participated in proposals,because they are required to negotiate with the client, developthe first schedule with a high degree of uncertainty in a shorttime, use political competencies and customise to the practicesof partners and customers. The importance of experience onconstruction sites was confirmed. There was no relationshipobserved between acting as an engineering, procurement andconstruction (EPC) project executor and delegation, scope

Table 5The list of competences.

Group Financial planning competences Scheduling planning competences

Project managementprocesses

1.1. Contributes to budget review and control, resource plan and cash flow1.2. Interprets and provides deviations and trends of costs and funding and acts to prevent orreduce financial impacts on the project1.3. Supports the scope control of the project1.4. Plans and implements the financial and tax management process1.5. Selects and communicates the financial status of the project to stakeholders1.6. Contributes to the identification, analysis, quantification and planning of the project risksand opportunities response1.7. Contributes to the development and consolidation of the project budgeting1.8. Adapts the cost management in consortium situations1.9. Performs the processes of operation closure1.10. Assumes responsibility for the project cost management

1.1. Contributes to the development of the EAP1.2. Develops the project schedule1.3. Contributes to the control of physical progress and the project schedule1.4. Applies and adapts techniques and tools for time management1.5. Interprets and foresees term deviations and trends and acts to avoid or reduce impactson the project schedule1.6. Supports the scope control of the project1.7. Manages information and communicates the project status to stakeholders1.8. Contributes to the risk and opportunity management in the project schedule1.9. Guides the team integration for the project scope delivery1.10. Plans and makes deliveries of the FEL® methodology viable1.11. Performs critical analyses/audits of the project time management1.12. Assumes responsibility for the project time management

Technical 3.1. Achieves a general technical view of the project and makes interactions with technical staffeasier

3.1. Achieves a general technical view of the project and makes interaction with technicalstaff easier3.2. Understands technical subjects for project term management

Personal 2.1. Holistic view2.2. Interpersonal relationships and teamwork2.3. Conceptual thinking2.4. Analytical thinking2.5. Negotiation and conflict resolution2.6. Leadership2.7. Emotional intelligence2.8. Creativity and entrepreneurship2.9. Team building and management2.10. Ease with technology2.11. Delegation2.12. Knowledge and learning2.13. Communication2.14. Systemic view2.15. Ability to address uncertainty2.16. Attention to details2.17. Critical analysis2.18. Agility2.19. Flexibility and adaptability2.20. Resiliency2.21. Political

Same as financial planning

Context and business 4.1. Promotes continuous management improvement4.2. Ensures the alignment between the project objectives and the organisation's strategy4.3. Establishes mutual trust relationships with the customers and helps to promote their fidelity4.4. Understands the legislation related to the project, protecting it from legal exposures andtaking advantage of tax benefits4.5. Establishes appropriate management strategies in situations of diversity of stakeholders

4.1. Promotes continuous management improvement4.2. Ensures the alignment between the project objectives and the organisation's strategy4.3. Establishes mutual trust relationships with the customers and helps to promote theirfidelity4.4. Establishes appropriate management strategies in situations of diversity of stakeholders

791S.M

.Takey,M

.M.C

arvalho/International

Journalof

Project

Managem

ent33

(2015)784–796

Fig. 2. Relationships between experiences and competences: scheduling planning. Legend:

1.1 EAP development1.2 Schedule development1.3 Progress control1.4 Application

techniques and tools1.5 Trend analysis1.6 Scope control1.7 Information management1.8 Risk management1.9 Team guidance1.10 FEL deliveries1.11 Critical analysis

of projects1.12 Time management

responsibility2.1 Holistic view

2.2 Interpersonal relationships2.3 Conceptual thinking2.4 Analytical thinking2.5 Negotiation and

conflict resolution2.6 Leadership2.7 Emotional intelligence2.8 Creativity and

entrepreneurship2.9 Team building and

management2.10 Ease with

technology2.11 Delegation2.12 Knowledge and

learning2.13 Communication2.14 Systemic view

2.15 Ability to address uncertainty2.16 Attention to detail2.17 Critical analysis2.18 Agility2.19 Flexibility and adaptability2.20 Resiliency2.21 Political3.1 General technical view3.2 Technical interdependences4.1 Continuous management improvement4.2 Strategic alignment4.3 Customer relationships4.4 Practice adaptation strategies in the

case of diversity of stakeholders

F.S.: Feasibility StudyEPC exec.: EngineeringProcurement andConstruction as mainexecutorPM: Project ManagerImprove.: ImprovementCommerc.: CommercialConsorti.: Consortium

.

792 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796

control and resiliency competencies, which are associated withthe high degree of complexity and the scope.

4.3.5. Expected profile and gap analysisWith the current profile of the employees and the aid of area

coordinators, the expected profile for each category was defined,and using this profile, graphical gap analyses were performed.Fig. 5 illustrates both the expected profile and gap analysis bysubtracting the minimum expected grade obtained for eachobservation and summing this value. An interesting practice is to

compare the assessment of a professional with the expectedprofile for both the professional's current category and the nextlevel up.

Note that the intern in Fig. 5 already has all the competenciesfor his category, but in relation to what is expected from a juniorengineer, he needs training to develop the project schedule underguidance (1.2), control progress and schedule (1.3), manage andcommunicate status information (1.7) with autonomy, improveinterpersonal relationships (2.2) and agility (2.18) competencies.Following the analysis of the relationships between experiences

Fig. 3. Average of competences per category: scheduling planning (excerpt).

793S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796

and competencies, it would be recommended allocate the internresponsible for the control of a specific area of the project, such asprocurement (competencies 1.2, 1.3, 1.7), and to involve him inthe planning processes (1.2, 2.18) under guidance.

4.4. Evaluation process and training paths

A medium rigour assessment, which was inspired by theIPMA (2006), is proposed in two stages. To the senior members,who in general answer to the project manager (who is not fromthe SP/FP area), validation during the critical analysis of the

Fig. 4. Differentiating competences (scheduling planning). Legend:

1.1 WBS development1.2 Schedule development1.3 Progress control1.4 Application techniques and tools1.5 Trend analysis1.6 Scope control1.7 Information management1.8 Risk management1.9 Team guidance1.10 FEL deliveries1.11 Critical analysis of projects1.12 Time management responsibility2.22 Holistic view

2.23 Interpersonal relationships2.24 Conceptual thinking2.25 Analytical thinking2.26 Negotiation and conflict resolu2.27 Leadership2.28 Emotional intelligence2.29 Creativity and entrepreneurship2.30 Team building and managemen2.31 Ease with technology2.32 Delegation2.33 Knowledge and learning2.34 Communication2.35 Systemic view

project is suggested (performed by another senior professionalfrom the same area). In this case, the evaluator did not spend along time with the assessed member, and auxiliary evidence(primarily documents) was proposed for validation, as suggestedby PMI (2007) and AIPM (2008). For the personal competencies,benchmarking should be based on examples and feedbacks. It issuggested that the evaluations be performed at the end of eachproject phase to strengthen the relationships between experiencesand competencies.

By relating the Dictionary of Competencies, the relation-ships between experiences and competencies and the expected

tion

t

2.36 Ability to address uncertainty2.37 Attention to detail2.38 Critical analysis2.39 Agility2.40 Flexibility and adaptability2.41 Resiliency2.42 Political3.3 General technical view3.4 Technical interdependences4.5 Continuous management improvement4.6 Strategic alignment4.7 Customer relationships4.8 Practice adaptation strategies in the case of diversity of stakeholders.

794 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796

profile, a training activity path was prepared for each categoryin SP (Fig. 6). For the process competencies, the followinglogic was applied:

• Competence performed under guidance: e-learning and man-ager support (coaching), on-the-job training under guidance.

• Competence performed with autonomy: simulation/role-playing and on-the-job training with autonomy.

• Competence performed by coordinating its execution: prep-aration of the simulations, offering coaching and on-the-jobtraining leading the team.

5 . Conclusions

It was observed that the adopted concept of individual com-petence received wide acceptance among the people involved andenabled clarification regarding the subject, which was poorlyunderstood by the organisation's project management profes-sionals. The literature content analysis and the frameworks frominternational institutions on project management (AIPM, 2008;IPMA, 2006 and PMI, 2007) have provided a conceptual andstructural basis. A diagram of affinities was used to create thecompetency clusters, resulting in four categories of competencies:project management, personal, technical, context and businessprocesses.

Fig. 5. Template for expected

The complement of the field research methods, inspired bythe work of Dainty et al. (2005), Rose et al. (2007) and Grant,Baumgardner and Shane (1997), was important for capturingthe specificities of the organisation, which were reflected in theproposed competence map and provided the coordinators andprofessionals of the area with a sense of ownership of theresults, in addition to maintaining strategic alignment. Theiterative validation process with those responsible for the areaswas also crucial for the involvement of the interested partiesand the acceptance of the proposed competence framework.

Because competence is a highly sensitive subject related to thecareer development of professionals, allocation in projects,post-assignment and seniority degree, and the development of thecompetency framework from academic-scientific references andmethods proved very positive for the maintenance of impartialityand for enhancing confidence in the results. Another positive pointof this methodology is its reproducibility in other projectmanagement knowledge areas.

The primary issue that deserves further exploration is therelationship between competencies and the specific contexts inwhich they are performed, considering complexity as a multi-plicative factor in the performance assessment. A competenceperformed by a junior professional in a less complex context(for example, a small-size project) may not be performed withthe same proficiency in more complex scenarios. The veryprocess of the proposed competence assessment can provide

profile and gap analysis.

Fig. 6. Training path (scheduling planning — excerpt). Legend:

1.1 WBS development1.2 Schedule development1.3 Progress control1.4 Technique and tool

application1.5 Trend analysis1.6 Scope control1.7 Information

management1.8 Risk management1.9 Team guidance1.10 FEL deliveries1.11 Critical analysis of

projects1.12 Time management

responsibility2.1 Holistic view

2.2 Interpersonalrelationships

2.3 Conceptual thinking2.4 Analytical thinking2.5 Negotiation and conflict

resolution2.6 Leadership2.7 Emotional intelligence2.8 Creativity and

entrepreneurship2.9 Team building and

management2.10 Ease with technology2.11 Delegation2.12 Knowledge and learning2.13 Communication2.14 Systemic view

2.15 Ability to address uncertainty2.16 Attention to details2.17 Critical analysis2.18 Agility2.19 Flexibility and adaptability2.20 Resiliency2.21 Political3.1 General technical view3.2 Technical interdependencies4.1 Continuous management

improvement4.2 Strategic alignment4.3 Customer relationships4.4 Practice adaptation strategies in case

of diversity of stakeholders

EPC: Engineering Procurement and ConstructionPMP: Project Management Professional®WBS: Work Breakdown Structure

.

795S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796

subsidies for this development, because it suggests thatperformance assessments are tied to the end of each projectphase, which can be classified in terms of complexity.

Some aspects of the research design limit the generalisationof the findings. First, it involved an engineering andconstruction project, and new studies should be conductedfor other types of projects and sectors. Second, the focus is on aspecific organisation, and its characteristics also conditionedthe findings. However, as suggested by Karlsson (2002), thedeep insight on the field is rather unique in action research,which can compensate for a lack of generalizability.

Conflict of interest

None.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of theBrazilian research funding agencies CNPq (National Council for

Scientific and Technological Development — 306734/2010-9)and FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation — 2014/07590-0)

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