A Review of Project Managers’ competencies for project success in the construction industry: A systematic review

Abstract

Given the incessant number of project failures in the construction industry in both developed and developing nations alike, it became increasingly important to examine the literature to determine possible factors that can be accounted for the massive project failures in construction projects. A review of the literature revealed that majorly a lack competence by the project managers was a crucial factor in determining construction projects success or failures. Over the last decade a large number of studies have been carried out on project managers competencies, however systematic literature reviews (SLR) are still scare in this area. Hence the purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic literature review to determine firstly the critical success factors for construction projects as well as identify what project managers’ competencies were associated with project success in the construction industry. A synthesis of the findings in the SLR revealed several project managers competencies of which communication, commitment, experience and leadership were considered the most critical competencies for project success. The review revealed that there is a lack of empirical studies establishing the relationship between project managers' characteristics (i.e., their competencies, experience in managing projects as well as their adherence to the critical success factors) and project success, which can be avenues foe more empirical investigations in the future.