The impact of project manager s skills and age on project success

Abstract

Goal: This study seeks to examine project success in relation to project managers’ factors. Pertaining to research questions, we highlighted: “do project manager’s technical, conceptual, political and human skills are significantly related to project success?, and does project manager’s age play a significant role in achieving project success? Design / Methodology / Approach: This research employed a quantitative research method using survey questionnaires to collect data from 400 project managers working in five well-known construction companies in Cairo, Egypt. Descriptive statistics using Relative Importance Index (RII) were employed to rank the dimensions of project manager’s skills: conceptual, technical, human and political skills; and project success dimensions: cost, schedule and quality. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the impact of project managers’ skills on project success while simple linear regression was used to examine the relationship between project manager’s age and project success Results: The results of RII revealed that project managers maintain a competitive level of technical, conceptual, political and human skills, and emphasize on specific aspects of cost, schedule, and quality dimensions of project success. The regression analysis revealed that 49.2% of the explained variation in project success can be accounted for technical, political, human and conceptual skills at coefficient of determination values of 0.611, 0.506, 0.431 and 0.407 respectively while the project manager’s age had no association with project success with a P value 0.694 at alpha level of 0.05. Limitations of the investigation: Generalizing research findings might be challenged because sample size was randomly selected due lack of identifying the exact size target population. Practical implications: The managerial implication of this study lies in the need for construction companies not to consider project manager’s age as a significant factor for project success, instead they need to ensure that project managers possess a competitive level of conceptual, technical, political and human skills. Originality / Value: Pertaining to contribution to academia, this research argues that project success subject to a set of comprehensive set of project managerial skills namely conceptual, technical, political and human. Further, it is essential to distinguish between project manager’s age and experience and not to consider project manager’s age as a determinant of a project success. Keyword: Project Manager’s Skills; Project Manager’s Age; Project Success; Construction Industry. INTRODUCTION Many organizations rely on projects to run operations and sustain their business success. Construction companies rely on projects to deliver a unique product or services to their The Impact of Project Manager’s Skills and Age on Project Success Brazilian Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 18, No. 4, e2021950, 2021 2/16 customers. Construction companies rely on managing projects in their business activities and establishment of houses, apartments, condominiums, villas, schools, hospitals, bridges, airport, stores, malls, and roads. In handling a specific construction project, construction companies need to assign a project manager with relevant skills to ensure project success. Research acknowledges the significant role of project managers’ skills in achieving project success (Hwang and Ng, 2013; Sunindijo, 2015). Construction industry is one of the fundamental industries in Egypt with a remarkable impact on economic development and creation of employment opportunities. Egyptian government emphasizes the influential role of infrastructure and construction as the main drivers of financial stability and urban growth. Despite Covid-19 had a negative impact on construction industry, the demand for infrastructure and housing and infrastructure remain stable as the country’s population continues to increase. According to a report by Oxford Business Group (2020), the Egyptian construction industry is expected to achieve longer-term growth driven by the growing trend of urbanisation and government support to double Egypt’s urban area from 7% to 14% by 2052. Based on a recent Fitch Ratings report, the Egyptian construction sector will continue its strong position throughout the next decade with a 9% annual growth rate between the years 2020-2024 (Refaat, 2020). Further, Refaat (2020) reported that the value of the current Egyptian construction industry is about 25 billion USD and estimated to reach more than $ 89 billion by 2029 that represent about 30% of the value of the construction industry in the Middle East and North Africa region. Researchers and professional believe that the project manager is a very essential element to the success of the construction project and have an impact at every stage of the construction project as argued by Ali and Chileshe (2009). Within today's competitive market, the recognition and growth of project managers ' skills is becoming increasingly important (Omidvar et al, 2012). El-sokhn and Othman (2014) argued that the construction sector is regarded for its persistent problems of fragmentation, low productivity, time and value overruns; bad safety, inferior working conditions, and inadequate excellent which finally leads to project failure and terrible development images. A project manager needs knowledge and expertise to handle the construction project effectively and efficiently (Hwang and Ng, 2013). A project manager with integrity is important to the necessity and progress of the project. This study was centered on the assumption that project success can be predicted by project managers’ skills guided by Blaskovics (2016) argumentation that project managers play a key part in achieving project success. Subsequent sections present a brief review of the literature considering project success, project manager’s skills and age along with hypotheses development. LITERATURE REVIEW This section presents a review of the literature on project success, relationship between project managers’ skills and project managers’ age and project success. Project Success The success of construction projects is an important issue for most governments, users and communities. Muller (2007) indicated that the projects vary in size, uniqueness and difficulty. Although many papers on project success have been published, there is no consensus on it (Jiang et al, 2016). In modern construction projects, customers and contractors are having great difficulty completing the project due to the increasing complexity in designing and involving stakeholders (Doloi, 2009). Standish Group (2015) reported that only 5% of projects are considered successful and that a high rate of project failure can negatively impact business profitability. Gunduz and Yahya (2018) stressed the need to identify and analyze the factors associated with the success and failure of building projects in recent decades. Project managers can increase the chances of successful completion of projects and fulfill all requirements by applying management tools during project planning and implementation The Impact of Project Manager’s Skills and Age on Project Success Brazilian Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 18, No. 4, e2021950, 2021 3/16 phases (Gunduz and Yahya, 2018). Researchers presented various conceptualization of project success as shown in Table 1. Former research focused on achieving the iron triangle goals of project success: time, cost and quality (Atkinson, 1999; Wateridge, 1998). Table 1. Selected conceptualizations of Project Success Dimensions Author/s Cost Schedule Quality Performance Operating environment Safety Hughes, Tippett, and Thomas (2004). √ √ √ √ √ √ Chan and Chan (2004) √ √ √ √ √ √