IMPACT OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT TRAINING ON PROJECT SUCCESS RATE

Transcription

1 International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET) Volume 9, Issue 7, July 2018, pp , Article ID: IJMET_09_07_133 Available online at ISSN Print: and ISSN Online: IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed IMPACT OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT TRAINING ON PROJECT SUCCESS RATE Tamilselvan Mahalingam Research Scholar, Research and Development Centre, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India Dr. S. K.Nagarajan Assistant Professor in, Tamilnadu Police Academy, Chennai ABSTRACT The study examines the impact of project management training on project success rate. The study adopted a quantitative non-experimental, correlational design research method, the researcher employed and the internet as the tool for data collection and 200 participants were selected using purposive sampling technique. The study shows that the planning stage of a project has the highest mean rank of 4.30, followed by initiating stage with a mean rank of 3.32, monitoring & controlling stage with a mean rank of 2.59 while closing stage has the least mean rank of This implies that the planning stage has the highest rank, followed by initiating stage and Monitoring & controlling stage. There was a significant difference in project management training between male and female participants in which female participants score higher on project management training compared to male participants. Also, there was a weak significant positive correlation between project management training and project success rate. The study concludes that a high level of project management training and competent and well-experienced project manager are essential for project success rate. Keywords: Project Training, Project Success. Cite this Article: Tamilselvan Mahalingam and Dr. S. K.Nagarajan, Impact of Project Training On Project Success Rate, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, 9(7), 2018, pp INTRODUCTION Fifty percent of works carried out in organizations are project related works. Thus, projects are considered as the propeller for the execution of organization growth. Two factors are militating against the training and development of project managers. The first being the substantial acquisition of relevant knowledge. Project management is a collection of enormous numbers of project management specific knowledge areas. Also, the project manager in addition to the knowledge areas must have the right knowledge of management editor@iaeme.com

2 Tamilselvan Mahalingam and Dr. S. K.Nagarajan issues that can arise in a project (PMI, 2000). Second, as a result of the theory and practicebased nature of the project management discipline, it is not adequate for the project manager to dwell only on abstract knowledge of project management methodologies. The project manager must also have the capacity to put the acquired knowledge into use in complex environments. The rate at which project fails is on the increase. About forty percent of projects related to construction works fail (Al-Khouri, 2012). Project management training offers lots of benefit and companies that are well structured have taken advantage of this (Edmonds, 2010). The numerous professional organizations, training institutes, universities offering project management training in the world today has created more training benefits. These training institutions have been able to only concentrate on project management tools and techniques thus ignoring the soft skills aspect of project management. General project management training is, without doubt, essential, but they fail to develop the team member's capacity to effectively manage the critical aspect of the project to achieve success at the end of the project. In alignment with their mission, the Project Institute (PMI) updated the requirement for the re-certification process recently. The re-certification demands that each Project management Professional (PMP) holders must have 60 professional development units (PDU) to renew their certification every three years with the inclusion of leadership, strategy and business management and technical project management referred to as the talent triangle of the PMI. The skill set is necessary because it will help PMP credential holders to stay competitive in the highly digitalized competitive workplace. The knowledge level of the project manager and the team member contributes greatly to the success of a project thus the relevance of project management training applies to them all. 2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS i. What is the degree of improvements required in project management knowledge area with regards to the project management training? ii. What are the most important stages needed to be included in project management training in order to increase success rate? 3. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES H0: There is no significant difference in project management training between male and female participants H0: There is no significant relationship between the project management training and the project success rate. 4. LITERATURE REVIEW Carvalho, Patah, and De Souza Bido, (2015) studied the impact of project management on project success with special consideration on cost, scheduling and margin variables. Their findings indicate that there is a positive relationship between the response variable of schedule with project management enablers and also project management effort in training and capabilities development. John (2010) in his research article on the importance of project management training on business success, the researcher asserted that training tailored to the organization's goal contributes to the organization through the provision of an improved level of project risks and also offer resource control. According to Frank (2002), a project manager has direct control over percent of the success of a project. As a result, it is obvious that project managers play a major role in deciding what projects are successful in the field of project management. Successful management of editor@iaeme.com

3 Impact of Project Training On Project Success Rate projects entails several skills which include interpersonal capacity, technical abilities and the ability to comprehend the business environment, the project and human management and also dynamically incorporate suitable leadership skills (Strang, 2003). Also, Katz (1991) opined that efficient management rests on technical, human and conceptual skills that can be improved independently. El Sabaa (2001) noted that the human capabilities of project managers have the highest impact on practices of project management and technical abilities the least. A project manager is ultimately responsible for leading and managing the project, however, for a project to be successful, the project manager needs competent project team members. Hence the importance of project management training applies to all. The competency of a project manager is highly essential to the success of a project, and various past research works have underscore vital skills (Abu Bakar et al., 2009; Belassi and Tukel, 2009). Ahadzie (2007) also stressed that the level of awareness of the industries about the correlation between project success achievement and competencies of construction project management. Thriving construction companies now ensure that project managers attain the core qualifications and requirements necessary to ensure success in their various fields (Sommerville et al., 2010). 5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This research work is based on primary data. A questionnaire was used to obtain the information on the impact of project management training on project success rate. A total number of 200 participants were selected for this study. The researcher made use of purposive sampling technique and questionnaires were administered to participants. The researcher used SPSS software in the analysis of the responses to the administered questionnaires. Statistical tests such as Independent Sample T-test, Pearson Correlation, Friedman Test and Multiple Regression Analysis were used in the study. 6. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Demographic Characteristics of Participants The demographic characteristics covered in this section are gender, age, highest education, years of experience, current career level and projects worked for. A total number of 110 male and 90 female participants were involved in this study with 55.0% male and 45.0% female which implies that there are more male participants which could be as a result of the male dominance in construction companies. From table 1, it was revealed that 119 (59.5%) of the participants were within the age group of years, 51 (25.5%) were within the age group of years and 103 (51.5%) were graduates with Bachelors degree followed by Masters degree holders with 51 (25.5%). Also, 97 (48.5%) had 1-5 years experience while 66 (33.0%) had 6-10 years experience with 92 (46.0%) of the participants at the entry level while 42 (21.0%) were at the senior level. Finally, 96 (48.0%) of the participants were project managers while 68 (34.0%) were project management team members. Discussion of findings This study answered the two research questions. The result of the first research question in table 2 shows that 160 (80.0%) of the participants noted that there is need for degree of minor improvement in project integration management, 108 (54.0%) noted that there is need for no change in project scope management, 108 (54.0%) of the participants noted that there is need for degree of minor improvement in project schedule management while 83 (41.5%) of the participants noted that there is need for degree of major improvement in the project cost editor@iaeme.com

4 Tamilselvan Mahalingam and Dr. S. K.Nagarajan management. The knowledge area with the highest degree of considerable improvement is project risk management and the knowledge area with the highest degree of major improvement is project cost management while the knowledge area with the highest degree of minor improvement is project integration management. The second research question in table 2 shows that Planning stage has the highest mean of 3.77, followed by initiating stage with 3.03, executing stage has a mean of 2.21, monitoring & controlling stage has a mean of 2.20 while the closing stage has a mean of Also, planning stage has the highest mean rank of 4.30, Initiating stage has a mean rank of 3.32, monitoring & controlling stage has a mean rank of 2.59, executing stage has a mean rank of 2.47 while closing stage has a mean rank of This implies that the planning stage has the highest rank followed by the initiating stage and Monitoring & controlling stage. Also, there was a statistical significant difference based on the importance of the domain to be included in project management training to increase success rate, Chi-square = , p= The result of the first hypothesis in table 4 shows that there is a significant different in project management training between male and female participants (t (198) = , p<.05), in which female participants score higher on project management training (X = 23.52, S.D= 3.30) compared to male participants (X = 22.49, S.D= 3.23) which imply that project management training is better among female participants compared to male participants. The result of the second hypothesis in table 5 shows that there was a weak significant positive correlation between project management training and project success rate with (r=.190) which implies that an excellent project management training programme will increase project success rate while a poor project management training programme will lead to decline in project success rate. Implication for of companies should observe the different areas where project management training are necessary while keeping in mind the aim to improve dimensional fulfillment levels of workers. The new age manager is an exemplification of commencing and executing human resources management activities by guaranteeing that companies and workers have common knowledge of the activities in the workplace environment. Workers with the required level of satisfaction can play an important and principal role in giving effective services. Project management professionals should ensure that projects are not subjected to unrealistic timelines and targets, individual gains and political considerations should not determine project decisions, and there should be regular review and re-evaluation of projects to determine potential success. There is a possibility that training project managers to be more efficient in their project decision making and goal attainment may give rise to greater project success, therefore companies should develop various training techniques in packaged in the form of seminars and workshops to assist project managers to be more efficient in project decision making and attainment of goals. 7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION This study examines the impact of project management training on project success rate. Based on the findings, the planning stage of the project management had the highest mean rank, followed by initiating stage, monitoring & controlling stage, executing stage while closing stage has the least mean rank. Also, findings of this study show that there was a positive correlation between project management training and project success rate with which implies that an excellent project management training programme will increase project success rate while a poor project management training programme will lead to a decline in project success rate. Proper project planning gives rise to good execution of innovative ideas and contributes to the editor@iaeme.com

5 Impact of Project Training On Project Success Rate innovative problem-solving procedures at early phases of project development and enhances accurate cost estimates to be done; serves as an early warning system and keeps the project team focused and minimized risks and the timeline for the completion of the project. It is essential for the project manager and his team to have adequate knowledge and a high level of competence concerning project management to ensure the success of projects. In order to achieve a high level of success rate in a project, the project sponsors must get the services of a competent project manager who is proficient enough with the capabilities of handling projects, and the project team members must cooperate with the project manager so that they can function as a team for successful completion of projects. The Human Resource section ought to take up the task of project management training and dedicated since considered and official way to deal with training and development will contribute decidedly towards the performance of workforce. Training is required because of fast dynamic changes in innovation, creating major competences, controlling staff retrenchment and re-building and protecting the gaps in education which all being challenges of instant nature. REFERENCES [1] AbuBakar, A. H., Arman, A. R., Shardy, A., Aidah, A. (2009). Project Success Factors For Sustainable Housing: A Framework, Paper presented at the International Conference Of Construction Industry 2009, Padang Indonesia. [2] Ahadzie, D.K. (2007). A model for Predicting the Performance of Project Managers in Mass House Building Projects in Ghana, University of Wolverhampton. [3] Al-Khouri, A. M. (2012). Projects in Reality: Lessons from Government Projects. Business and Review, 2(4), [4] Belassi, W. & Tukel, O.I. (1996). A New Framework for Determining Critical Success/Failure Factors In Projects, International Journal of Project management, 14(3), [5] Carvalho, M.M.d., Patah, L.A. & De Souza Bido, D. (2015). Project management and its effects on project success: cross-country and cross-industry comparisons. International Journal of Project. 33 (7), [6] Edmonds, J. (2010). How training in project management can help businesses to get back on track. Industrial and Commercial Training, 42(6), doi: [7] El-Sabaa, S. (2001). The Skills and Career Path of an Effective Project Manager, International Journal of Project management, 19(1), 1-7. [8] Frank, T. (2002). The superior project manager Marcel Dekker. New York. [9] John, E. (2010). How training in project management can help businesses to get back on track", Industrial and Commercial Training, 42(6), , DOI / [10] Katz, R.I. (1991). Skills Of An Effective Administer. Harvard Business Review. [11] Project Institute (2000). A guide to the Project Body of knowledge. Newton square. P.216. [12] Sommerville, J., Craig, N. & Hendry, J. (2010). The role of the project manager: All things to all people. Structural Survey, 28(2), , [13] Strang, K.D. (2003). Achieving Organizational Learning Across Projects, Proceedings of PMI, North America Global Congress, Texas editor@iaeme.com

6 Tamilselvan Mahalingam and Dr. S. K.Nagarajan [14] Gehan Mohamed Ahmed Mostafa and Afaf Salah Abd-El-Mohsen, Development of Self- Leadership Skills Training Module Based On Need Assessment of Nursing Personnel: Mobile Learning Application, Volume 5, Issue 4, July- August (2014), pp , International Journal of Advanced Research in (IJARM). [15] Dr. Dogra, D. K. Effect of Combined Core and Plyometric Training Programme on Power and Muscular Strength of Tripura Cricketers. International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology, 6(1), 2015, pp [16] S. Vasanthi and Dr. S. Rabiyathul Basariya, Employee Cross Training and its Impact on Employee Performance, International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 9(6), 2018, pp [17] Dr. V. Antony Joe Raja and R. Anbu Ranjith Kumar, A Study on Effectiveness of Training and Development in Ashok Leyland all over India. Journal of, 3(1), 2016, pp APPENDIX Table 2 Degree of improvements required in project management knowledge area in relation to the project management training Item No 1 Knowledge Areas Considerable Major Minor No Change SD Project Integration 2 Project Scope 3 Project Schedule 4. Project Cost 5. Project Quality 6. Project Resource 7. Project Communications 8. Project Risk Project Procurement Project Stakeholder 15 (7.5%) 20 (10.0%) 19 (9.5%) 32 (16.0%) 26 (13.0%) 41 (20.5%) 74 (37.0%) 98 (49.0%) 87 (43.5%) 77 (38.5%) 11 (5.5%) 9 (4.5%) 8 (4.0%) 83 (41.5%) 82 (41.0%) 74 (37.0%) 58 (29.0%) 22 (11.0%) 4 (2.0%) 36 (18.0%) 160 (80.0%) 63 (31.5%) 108 (54.0%) 37 (18.5%) 53 (26.5%) 60 (30.0%) 44 (22.0%) 54 (27.0%) 46 (23.0%) 29 (14.5%) 14 (7.0%) 108 (54.0%) 65 (32.5%) 48 (24.0%) 39 (19.5%) 25 (12.5%) 24 (12.0%) 26 (13.0%) 63 (31.5%) 58 (29.0%) editor@iaeme.com

7 Impact of Project Training On Project Success Rate Table 3 Ranking based on the importance to be included in project management training to increase success rate The ranking was done using Friedman Test Domain N Mean S.D. Mean Rank Rank Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring & Controlling Closing Table 3.1 Test Statistics Item Value N 200 Chi-Square Df 4 Asymp.Sig Table 4 Independent T-Test showing significant difference in project management training between male and female participants Dependent Variable Project training Gender N X SD Df T P Male Female < editor@iaeme.com

8 Tamilselvan Mahalingam and Dr. S. K.Nagarajan