Beyond the Iron Triangle: Revisiting Project Manager Competencies and Their Link to Project Success; A Thematic Synthesis of Empirical Evidence, 2015-2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-vi.290Keywords:
Project Manager Competencies, Project Success, Systematic Literature Review, Resource-Based View, PMCD FrameworkAbstract
Although time, cost and quality remain the key project success factors, a growing body of research suggests that the project manager is a key contributor to project success. To address three questions, including: What are the criteria used in the literature to define project success? What project manager competencies are the most frequently studied? What is the relationship between project manager competencies and project success? This review brought together thirteen empirical studies published from 2015 to 2024. The number of records identified in Google Scholar by using the PRISMA search protocol was 1040, which was first screened by title and abstract, then by full-text, and finally by thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke's approach to thematic analysis. The evidence has been drawn together in two different theoretical lenses: the Resource Based View (hard (technical) vs soft (interpersonal) competencies) and the Project Manager Competency Development (knowledge, personal and performance competencies). Stakeholder and organization-level measures are growing in importance alongside time, cost and quality as the traditional success metrics. The most common reported competencies were emotional intelligence, communication, interpersonal skills, and leadership, which were often, but not always, correlated with project success, and this correlation was not found in the bureaucratic, centrally governed settings.
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