One of the main capital expenditures is construction projects; these can provide very large profits. These profits can be used for public projects; that are justified by cost-benefit analysis, or private projects; that are justified by budget constraints. Most projects have a very tight financial plan that is part of a large scheme. As projects are very cost intensive one of the main roles of project managers are to estimate total costs and ensure the budget is kept throughout the duration of the project. Libya is a developing country that has a growing construction industry, however, the management of construction projects frequently experiences challenges with time and cost restraints and this affects the overall performance of the project as well as the performance of the project managers. The main aim of this thesis is to investigate and evaluate the factors that impact project manager performance and their ability to complete and deliver projects successfully in Libya. This study will ascertain the role of project managers, the challenges that project managers in Libya frequently encounter the cause of time and cost overruns within construction projects and the main factors for successful construction projects. This research adopted both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The findings are based upon 300 structured questionnaires distributed to general, project managers working on construction sectors in Libya (Tripoli). Completed questionnaires received were 183. This is a response rate of 61%. The data was analyzed by using factor analysis (FA). A statistical analysis was used to confirm and addressed the issues of reliability and validity of the questionnaire survey as a measuring instrument. In addition structured interviews with qualified project managers were used to confirm that the data collected was truly reflective. Upon the data analysis from the questionnaire survey and structured interview that the project manager is the most important factor affecting the success of the project in construction industries Libya, furthermore project manager skills are important component that influence the performance of project manager. Proposed guideline has been adopted for implementation of balanced scorecard in Libya to help construction organisations improved their strategic management system. Finally, the conclusions, key findings, recommendations to industry, limitations of the study, and possible further work in research were discussed.

This thesis is addressing the knowledge base of project managers in the South African Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) sector. It is determining if project management is recognised as an important profession in the ICT Sector; it is also establishing the attributes required for an ICT project manager; the background of ICT project managers with respect to their job experience and qualification and lastly the effectiveness of project management in the ICT sector. A literature review on the knowledge base of ICT project managers is done to clarify particular issues, to determine international perspective on the issues of the study and to contextualise the study. The central research tool was a questionnaire. Project managers from different ICT companies in South Africa were selected to respond to the questionnaire which was mailed to them. Close-ended questions were used in the development of themes and the data were analysed on the basis of tables and graphs and hypothesis testing. The study found that project management is recognised as a career path within the South African ICT sector. It was also found that ICT project managers seem to have a good capability in terms of technical, organic, conceptual and business skills. Most ICT project managers are qualified up to a postgraduate level. They have a degree in another profession and then undertake project management certification. The study also found that project management adds value to the client as well as the company and also adds to the effectiveness of relationships with peers in achieving project goals. The study concluded with recommendations on what can be done to improve the competency of ICT project managers in the ICT sector and also made recommendations for future research.

The competences of project managers are a vital role in projects success. An exten-sive literature survey was conducted to determine the constitution of an adequate knowledge base for would-be project managers. A detailed literature study was conducted. The literature review discussed how to assess project management competencies. Technical skills and social cultural skills were identified from the literature review. A comprehensive list of criteria was used to generate the critical success factors.Based on the critical success factors that were obtained from the literature in the content for the knowledge base was constructed. This research then started to address what constitutes certification requirements. Certification programs were identified globally for the study. This study identified what the certification programs offered. This research started by proposing a knowledge base and using the “grounded theory approach” used content analysis to compare the proposed knowledge base with project management certification programs. The study concluded with recommendations on the gaps that exist in project man-agement certification programs.

The competences of project managers are a vital role in projects success. An exten-sive literature survey was conducted to determine the constitution of an adequate knowledge base for would-be project managers. A detailed literature study was conducted. The literature review discussed how to assess project management competencies. Technical skills and social cultural skills were identified from the literature review. A comprehensive list of criteria was used to generate the critical success factors.Based on the critical success factors that were obtained from the literature in the content for the knowledge base was constructed. This research then started to address what constitutes certification requirements. Certification programs were identified globally for the study. This study identified what the certification programs offered. This research started by proposing a knowledge base and using the “grounded theory approach” used content analysis to compare the proposed knowledge base with project management certification programs. The study concluded with recommendations on the gaps that exist in project man-agement certification programs.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis is addressing the knowledge base of project managers in the South African Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) sector. It is determining if project management is recognised as an important profession in the ICT Sector; it is also establishing the attributes required for an ICT project manager; the background of ICT project managers with respect to their job experience and qualification and lastly the effectiveness of project management in the ICT sector. A literature review on the knowledge base of ICT project managers is done to clarify particular issues, to determine international perspective on the issues of the study and to contextualise the study. The central research tool was a questionnaire. Project managers from different ICT companies in South Africa were selected to respond to the questionnaire which was mailed to them. Close-ended questions were used in the development of themes and the data were analysed on the basis of tables and graphs and hypothesis testing. The study found that project management is recognised as a career path within the South African ICT sector. It was also found that ICT project managers seem to have a good capability in terms of technical, organic, conceptual and business skills. Most ICT project managers are qualified up to a postgraduate level. They have a degree in another profession and then undertake project management certification. The study also found that project management adds value to the client as well as the company and also adds to the effectiveness of relationships with peers in achieving project goals. The study concluded with recommendations on what can be done to improve the competency of ICT project managers in the ICT sector and also made recommendations for future research.

The primary objective of the study was to establish the role that is played by team member leadership and strategic leadership, in complementing project manager competencies, on project success. Ultimately, the study is meant to assist project organizations and project managers in crafting leadership development programmes and plans that entrench leadership as a complementary aspect among project participators. The study is modelled on the concept that there are essentially three levels of leadership in projects, namely: (a) executive, (b) management and (c) operational level (DuBrin, 2010). There is therefore a complementary leadership relationship between company executives, project managers and team members that contribute to project success. Most current project leadership practices emphasize the project manager’s competencies as the key driving force in project success. Howell and Shamir (2005) assert that many writers in leadership agree that leadership is an interdependent relationship between the leader and the follower, yet leadership theories are too “leader-centric”. Beyer (1999) and Yukl (1998) in Howell and Shamir (2005) also criticized charismatic leadership theories as promoting stereotypes of “heroic leadership” that single-handedly determine the fate of the groups and organizations and that followers are a submissive lot to the leader’s will and demands. The literature study revealed that there are different perspectives on project success. Project managers and team members mostly focus on operational objectives of cost, time and quality requirements to the detriment of the business results, yet top management focus on business results. Further the literature showed that certain leadership theories only recognise the project manager for leadership on projects while others accept that followers themselves are leaders and that formal leadership is becoming irrelevant. Leadership is meant to be distributed to various role players in the team since it is a complementary construct. The empirical study consisted of a structured questionnaire distributed to a population of company executives, project managers and project team members in various project organizations predominantly in the Eastern Cape. The structured questionnaire was aimed at gathering views on the aspects of project success and project leadership, especially the role played by the strategic leadership and team member leadership as active participants that complement the project manager in achieving project success. The results of the empirical study revealed that: Project success straddled both the notion of meeting time, cost and quality requirements as well as achieving strategic business results. Leadership is a relationship between the leader and the led and that it must be dispersed to various participators in the team. Top management (executives) play a valuable role in linking projects to strategy and ensuring an aligned selection of projects. Team members play an active role in leadership, empowering the project leader and influencing his or her behaviour and consequently determining the results of the leadership relationship. Recommendations are presented for increasing project success through total leadership. These recommendations include that: Management in project organisations should expand the definition and understanding of project success at all levels. Executive management in project organisations should always view projects as strategic weapons to compete in the market place. The strategic imperatives of projects and project selection are not a once-off exercise but further taken to implementation at project level through strategy implementation and monitoring. Team members should be recognised as active participators in project leadership relationship. It is an obsolete idea to assume that as a result of the project manager having good leadership qualities and competencies that the team members will automatically follow.

M.Phil. (Engineering Management) / This dissertation provides an investigation on the level of technical knowledge which project managers have to carry to deliver technical projects. It has now become a standard to many organizations to run their deliverables in projects to reach their objectives and every project is set to be unique. Project management can be thought as the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to meet project requirements or coordination of human, financial and material resources to achieve beneficial change defined by quantitative and qualitative objectives. At the heart of project management is the project manager a project director and driver. Project manager is a professional tasked with leading a project from inception to completion [27]. It is not clear as to which level of technicality must project managers be to delivering projects in time, on budget and in an acceptable quality, thus the duties and qualities of a technical inclined project manager are covered in this study. Project manager leads a project team from the start of a project life cycle to finish, accomplishing the project objectives on time and within budget. Facing obstacles, budget and time-constraints, project manager is a key to planning and executing projects that produce the desired deliverable or result [4]. Developing the literature around the project management industry outlines the duties and responsibilities of a project manager which then defines the skills needed for project managers. It is safe enough to have a project manager with all the required skills stretching from technical through to managerial. Organizations delivering large scale projects have developed a role of an engineering manager who takes control of all technical aspects of the project. A project with an engineering manager allows the project manager to administrate the project and in that case the level of technicality for project managers is not important. A great athlete does not always make a great coach. Some of the best coaches in the world were not the best athletes, but have a firm understanding of the game. As suggested in [28] by Richard Fanelli, an architect and project manager guru that “a complete project manager must be an expert technically and knowing how things are done, as well as being detail oriented”. The one person the place can't function without. Everyone, the boss, supervisors, assistants comes to you for help. But where do you as a project manager go when you need help? As a project manager one is part bookkeeper, part administrator, part leader, part human resource pro, part technical guru, and part many other parts without parting ways with your sanity. Findings to the research topic are drawn to support the final conclusions discussed in the later part of the report. The project manager must also have technical competence in some aspects of the work being performed on the project. It appears however that there is considerable disagreement between researchers on the issue of how much technical knowledge is required. The more technically aware one is, the better they will be able to understand risks, potential roadblocks, and impacts of delays to the schedule. Project manager requires skills in three primary areas, namely interpersonal, technical and administration to deliver project successfully.

IT projects continue to fail at an alarming rate. The majority of IT initiatives have a significant impact within organisations due to the integrative nature of IT systems and as a result the cost of this failure is high. The purpose of this research report is to investigate the prevalence of „accidental project managers‟ in the ICT industry (employees that have demonstrated technical expertise and been promoted to project management positions without any regard for project manager training and competencies) and examine what effect these untrained project managers have on project performance. A descriptive, quantitative research methodology was employed, and the sample that supported this research was taken from members of the Internet Service Provider‟s Association and the Project Management Institute of South Africa. The results indicated a positive association between project manager training level and projects being completed within budget, on time, and resulting in an operational system. The results also supported a correlative relationship between project manager training level and overall project outcome. These findings highlight the importance to organisations of investing in project manager training and developing effective recruitment criteria in order to boost IT project success rates.

IT projects continue to fail at an alarming rate. The majority of IT initiatives have a significant impact within organisations due to the integrative nature of IT systems and as a result the cost of this failure is high. The purpose of this research report is to investigate the prevalence of „accidental project managers‟ in the ICT industry (employees that have demonstrated technical expertise and been promoted to project management positions without any regard for project manager training and competencies) and examine what effect these untrained project managers have on project performance. A descriptive, quantitative research methodology was employed, and the sample that supported this research was taken from members of the Internet Service Provider‟s Association and the Project Management Institute of South Africa. The results indicated a positive association between project manager training level and projects being completed within budget, on time, and resulting in an operational system. The results also supported a correlative relationship between project manager training level and overall project outcome. These findings highlight the importance to organisations of investing in project manager training and developing effective recruitment criteria in order to boost IT project success rates.