Development of an Ontology for Project Management Success Criteria and Associated Technical and Personal Competencies in an Australian Engineering Context.

Past research has been undertaken into the development of the project management body of knowledge including issues such as how to define and measure project success, the constitution of a successful project outcomes, and the competencies needed for project managers to be successful. This research aims to develop an ontology to define successful project outcomes, and the associated technical and personal competencies needed for those outcomes. To minimise the impact of potential confounding variables identified from past research, the research was set within an Australian engineering project context, with the potential impact of professional background being evaluated within the study. The research uses a multi-method approach with conceptual data drawn from existing literature, an ontology developed using a Delphi style approach, and a review of the resulting attributes considered in a Case Study environment. It draws on project management peak body documentation, and academic literature, to identify a number of project success outcomes and competencies which provide the conceptual framework for the follow-up studies. A Delphi study involving twenty-three highly experienced Project Managers from a range of project management environments (Client, Consultant, Contractor and Supplier) established an ontology using three questionnaire-based study rounds, and a final Focus Group discussion. The resulting ontology maps the important relationships of 60 technical and personal competencies to each of five generic outcome groups. The key attributes of the ontology were then discussed with seventeen Project Managers, each responsible for mid-level projects, using a qualitative case study approach. The purpose of the Case Study was for the interviewees to reflect on their experiences relating to the attributes of the ontology and to be able to highlight the variables of particular importance to them. The research provides an improved understanding of key generic project outcomes, and the correlation between technical/ personal competency skills and those outcomes. The ontology may assist organisations involved in the recruitment of staff and team selection to target staff most likely to facilitate specific project outcomes. It may also allow project managers to work with their employers to target specific development programs in areas of their natural and developable strengths as part of a lifelong learning path.

Grantor dc:publisher

UNSW, Sydney

Year dc:date

2019

Author dc:creator

• Slay, Peter Gordon Ronald

• Success Criteria
• Project Management
• Ontology
• Competencies

Statement dc:rights

• open access
• CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
• free_to_read

Licence

• https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/

Language dc:language

EN

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/21153

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/65040