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International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784 – 796
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Competency mapping in project management: An action

research study in an engineering company
Sílvia Mayumi Takey, Marly Monteiro de Carvalho ⁎
Production Engineering Department, Polytechnic School University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Received 4 February 2014; received in revised form 30 June 2014; accepted 29 October 2014
Available online 21 November 2014

Abstract

The present study proposes a seven-step method for the project management competency map. Additionally, the method helps to evaluate
and design evolution trajectories based on organisational experience and challenges. This methodological approach merges literature
reviews with qualitative and quantitative research methods. Data were collected in a large Brazilian engineering company through the
analysis of documentation, behavioural event interviews, self-assessment surveys and statistical analyses. The proposed method is simple,
replicable and insightful for managers across all industries and consists of the following: a description of competence and performance
criteria, an assessment process, a diagnosis of the current proficiency level, the identification of competence levels that differentiate
professional categories, the establishment of expected profiles, a gap analysis and the association between experience and competency
development.
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. APM and IPMA. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Project management; Individual competence; Competency management; Project manager

1. Introduction Recently, with the increase in professional project manage-

To assure effectiveness in project management, it is strategic to
manage individual competence and to map competence-building
trajectories for the project manager and team members. Chipulu et
al. (2013) suggest that project manager competencies are important
in project success.
The resource-based view (RBV) literature (Barney, 1991;
Prahalad and Hamel, 1990) highlights the singular and strategic
characteristic for each element of the VRIO framework (value,
rarity, imitability and organisation), which reinforces the impor-
tance of managing these processes in a strategic manner within an
organisation that seeks the mapping and construction of compe-
tence trajectories.
⁎ Corresponding author at: Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, trav 2, n 128, ZIP code
05508-900-São Paulo/SP, Brazil.
E-mail address: marlymc@usp.br (M.M. Carvalho).
ment certifications, the level of interest in the competencies of
project management professionals has increased
(Starkwheather and Stevenson, 2011). However, for Bredin
and Soderlund (2013) little attention has been paid to the
careers and career models of project managers.
Project management associations and institutes have imple-
mented competency frameworks for project managers (AIPM,
2008; IPMA, 2006; PMI, 2007). These frameworks recommend
competency mapping in both hard and soft skills, but focus on
hard skills. However, the number of studies with a focus on soft
skills is increasing, as demonstrated by Skulmoski et al. (2010),
Clarke (2010a, 2010b), Stevenson and Starkweather (2010),
Muller and Turner (2010) and Dainty et al. (2005). Moreover,
Ahsan et al. (2013) show that job listings for project managers
emphasise soft skills and competencies in a different manner than
that in the literature, whereas Chipulu et al. (2013) find that
industry puts more weight on generic skills than on project
management knowledge.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.10.013
0263-7863/00/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. APM and IPMA. All rights reserved.
 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796
Given the importance attributed to these certifications within
the business environment and the still emerging state of this
debate, we proposes here mapping, evaluation and development
processes for the competence of project managers and practi-
tioners in an organisational context. The present paper aims at
closing this gap by answering the following two research
questions: (RQ1) How to tailor organisation-specific project
management competencies from standardized competency frame-
works; (RQ2) How to systematically assess project management
competence in an organisation, including which competencies
differentiate each level in project management career models and
which professional experiences relate to competence development
in order to guide human resources development programmes. We
investigate these RQs through a structured approach driven by
action research in a large Brazilian engineering company, merging
qualitative and quantitative methods.
The present work is divided into five sections. The discussion of
academic literature on competencies is presented in Section 2. The
methodological strategy that governed the present study is
presented in Section 3, detailing the primary and secondary data
collection instruments. The results and their respective analyses are
presented in Section 4. Finally, Section 5 presents recommenda-
tions for researchers and others interested in competence in project
management, considering the points of view of both organisations
and academia.
2. Literature review
2.1. Concept of individual competence
The concept of competence (Le Boterf, 1995) is widely used
today; however, competence has different meanings to different
people (Crawford, 1998), and no universally accepted defini-
tion currently exists (Seppänen, 2002).
The definition of individual competence employed in the
present work is the “ability to mobilise, integrate and transfer
knowledge, skills and resources to reach or surpass the configured
performance in work assignments, adding economic and social
value to the organisation and the individual”, which was adapted
from Ruas et al. (2005) and Fleury and Fleury (2001). In other
words, it is not enough to have a stock of knowledge and skills
associated with higher performance (Boyatzis, 1992; Mccleland,
1973; Mirable, 1997; Spencer and Spencer, 1993); their application
in valuable deliveries also matters (Le Boterf, 1995; Zarifian,
1996).
The International Project Management Association's Com-
petence Baseline — ICB (IPMA, 2006) describes the technical,
behavioural and contextual competencies of project manage-
ment. Varajao and Cruz-Cunha (2013) propose a tool for the
process of selecting project managers based on the 46 ICB
competence elements as model criteria.
The Project Manager Competency Development (PMCD)
Framework from the Project Management Institute (PMI,
2007) describes knowledge, performance and personal compe-
tencies. Knowledge competencies are described in the Project
Management Body of Knowledge (PMI, 2004), and perfor-
mance and personal competencies are formed by units and
785
elements of competence. For example, the unit “Planning the
project” contains the element “Approved project schedule”.
Each element begins with a verb in the past tense, implying
delivery of value, which makes this framework the most
compatible with the definition of competence adopted in the
present work.
The Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM,
2008) model defines performance competencies in eight
units according to knowledge areas, differentiating them into
three professional levels: project practitioner, manager and
director.
A comparative analysis of these frameworks shows that there
are similarities between these frameworks in their consideration of
project management processes and personal competencies. The
methodological approach for framework construction was also
similar (crowdsourced from practitioners). On the other hand, the
IPMA (2006) does not define a performance category, as did the
PMI (2007) and AIPM (2008), while being the only one to define
contextual competencies. The AIPM (2008) is the only of these
organisations to differentiate competencies throughout the project
management career. Therefore, instead of adopting only one
method, it seems more appropriate to merge them.
Rose et al. (2007) collected project management competen-
cies in a specific company using semi-structured interviews
with project managers to investigate the required competencies
in project situations. The study resulted in the identification of
seven competencies: technical, process, time, client, business,
personal and uncertainty management.
Dainty et al. (2005) studied project management competen-
cies in the construction sector, defining nine performance criteria,
such as team building, leadership and decision-making. A panel
of experts separated the managers into two groups (superior and
average performance) and evaluated all participants using the
defined criteria. Variance analyses were performed, revealing 12
competencies related to superior performance. This study sheds
light on the establishment of proficiency levels and differentiating
competencies in project management careers.
Grant, Baumgardner and Shane (1997) studied the impor-
tance of technical competencies for project managers of
procurement projects for the Department of Defense. Using
the characterisations of respondents and projects, a contingency
analysis was performed. They concluded that technical
competencies are essential, especially in the initial phases of a
project and when the team has a technical level that is either
very high or very low.
For Ahsan et al. (2013), project manager competencies
could be deployed into knowledge, skills, and abilities. Bredin
and Soderlund (2013) outline two archetypes of project
manager career models: the competence strategy model and
the talent management model.
It is important to highlight the contingent effect of industries
and countries on key competencies, as indicated by Ahsan et al.
(2013). Similarly, Chipulu et al. (2013) identified differences
across countries (the U.K., the U.S., Canada, China, India,
Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore) and industry sectors,
which place significantly different levels of salience on the six
dimensions of project manager competencies.
786 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796

2.2. Evaluation and development of project management formal training and work experience, with a greater emphasis on
competencies the work experience.

The IPMA (2006) defines four certification levels differentiated
by the project's degree of complexity in which the professional
performs the competencies. The complexity of the assessment also
increases proportionally to the certification level and the stage of
the process.
In the PMI (2007) framework, each element of competence has
performance criteria (behaviour indicators that specify how com-
petence is demonstrated in practice) and evidence (artefacts, in
particular documents, that prove the existence of the performance
criterion). The assessment method of this framework was the most
compatible with the competence definition adopted, as previously
stated. The methods suitable for the desired levels of accuracy
follow:
• Low rigour: self or informal assessment.
• Medium rigour: evidence review, 360° feedback, interviews.
• High rigour: independent evaluator, workshops and simulations.
Campion et al. (2011) indicate that proficiency levels can take
several forms, including progressive levels of development,
performance levels and detailed descriptions, depending on the
desired purpose. Bredin and Soderlund (2013) corroborate this and
suggest critical factors for the design of project management career
models; the number of levels, the complexity of assignments and
the degree of formal requirements.
The PMI (2007) model indicates several forms of competency
development: mentoring, coaching, peer-to-peer, role-playing,
on-the-job training, group training, in-house training, computer-
based training, formal training and conferences. Edum-Fotwe and
McCaffer (2000) studied the mechanisms for developing project
management competencies and observed that, from the point of
view of professionals, the most important are academic courses,
2.3. Summary of the project manager competencies
A content analysis of the literature was performed, including
competency encoding, frequency counts, cross-tabulations and
interpretation of results, as suggested by Duriau et al. (2007). A
diagram of affinities was used to create the competency clusters,
resulting in four categories of competencies: project manage-
ment, personal, technical, context and business processes. This
terminology is not consolidated; for instance, the personal (PMI,
2007) and behavioural competency categories (IPMA, 2006) are
deployed in similar cluster of competencies; thus, in the present
paper, we used “personal competencies”, which is more often
employed in the studies we analysed. Table 1 presents a summary
of the project management competencies by category.
In the project management process category, the competencies
relate mainly to the Project Management Body of Knowledge®
(PMI, 2008) knowledge areas. In the construction industry in
particular, it was found that environmental, safety and health
management were of high importance (PMI, 2007).
Competencies in the personal category were the most
disaggregated in the literature. Some personal competencies may
seem contradictory, such as holistic view and attention to details.
Exploring deeper, the former is related to senior project managers,
while the latter is related to practitioners (AIPM, 2008). This
reinforces the need to identify key competencies throughout the
project management career and not to consider the project manager
a super hero, proficient in all competencies simultaneously.
Context and business competencies were highlighted mainly
in IPMA (2006) and seem to relate to experienced project
managers. The technical competency category is the only one that
cannot be found in standardized frameworks of international
institutions, but are frequent in case studies with empirical data.
Since the industries in such studies are close to the organisation in

Table 1
Project management competences.
Category Competences References
Project management Integration management; scope management; time management; costs management; quality IPMA (2006), PMI (2007), and AIPM (2008)
processes management; human resource management; communication management; risk management;
contract management; environmental management; safety and health management
Personal Leadership; communication; opening; relationships; team building; teamwork; development of Edum-Fotwe and McCaffer (2000), Dainty et al.
others; conflict resolution; holistic view; systemic view; assertiveness; problem-solving; ethics (2005), IPMA (2006), Brill et al. (2006), PMI
and integrity; commitment; self-control/work under pressure; relaxation; uncertainty; (2007), Rose et al. (2007), AIPM (2008),
creativity; negotiation; emotional intelligence; commitment to the organisation; reliability; Clarke (2010a, 2010b), Muller and Turner
attention to detail; delegation; search for information; analytical thinking; conceptual thinking; (2010), Skulmoski and Hartman (2010),
flexibility Akogbe et al.(2013), Ahsan et al. (2013), and
Jaafar and Othman (2013)
Technical General technical overview; technical vocabulary; technical challenges; search for innovative Thamhain and Wilemon (1978), Cleland and
technical solutions; technical solution assessment; technical risk assessment; technical trade-off King (1983), Bloom (1989), Grant et al.
decisions; relationship between technologies; design (project); technical drawing (1997), Edum-Fotwe and McCaffer (2000),
and Rose et al. (2007)
Context and business Organisation's profitability; strategic alignment; customer relationships; customer satisfaction; Rose et al. (2007), IPMA (2006), Dainty et al.
forces of industry (organisation, customer and suppliers); legislation; finance; continuous (2005), and Brill et al. (2006)
management improvement
 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796
the present work (e.g. defense equipment procurement, software
engineering), we decided to keep them as a separate category, at
the same level of personal, process and contextual competencies.
3. Research methods
To investigate the RQs, we developed a structured approach
driven by action research in a large Brazilian engineering
company.
The starting point was to develop the conceptual framework,
presented in the previous section, with a grounding in related
literature, as suggested by several authors (Voss et al., 2002;
Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007; Carvalho, 2014). This phase
helped to demonstrate the exploratory stage of this research
field, so action research is a suitable research method for our
RQs.
Action research, a term coined by Lewin (1946), is relevant
and valid in its ability to address the operational realities
experienced by practicing managers while simultaneously
contributing to knowledge (Coughlan and Coghlan, 2002:
p.220). Its lack of generalizability is compensated for by the
incomparable benefits of deep insight and potential of developing
new knowledge (Karlsson, 2002) due to its reflexive, collabora-
tive and interventionist nature (Coghlan, 2007).
During the action research cycles, we introduced multi-method
combinations to achieve the proposed objectives, merging
qualitative and quantitative approaches, as shown in Table 2.
There is an increasing trend in operations management of
applying multi-method research as suggested by Singhal and
Singhal (2012a,b). Thus, methods were combined in order to
achieve triangulation and mitigate the methods' weaknesses.
For each objective, a bibliographic survey was performed
combined with field research; Table 2 details the research and
data collection methods selected, as suggested by Flynn et al.
(1990). Several sources of evidences were gathered, including
documentary analysis of the organisation, semi-structured
interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders.
Action research was developed through a cycle of steps, each
composed of a cycle of planning, action, and fact finding (Lewin,
1946), in which repeated cycles of data gathering, data feedback,
data analysis, action planning, implementation and evaluation
occur (Karlsson, 2002). A meta-step of overall organisation and
analysis is the focus of research (Coughlan and Coghlan, 2002).
This action research results in seven steps arising from the repeated
cycles: Step 1. Selection and analysis of the organisation, Step 2.
Table 2
Structured approach.
Objective Main references
Competence definition Rose et al. (2007), Dainty et al. (2005), and
Campion et al. (2011)
Competence assessment IPMA (2006), PMI (2007) and AIPM (2008)
methods
Proficiency levels Dainty et al. (2005), Campion et al. (2011)
Competence development PMI (2007), Edum-Fotwe and McCaffer (2000),
Grant, Baumgardner and Shane (1997), and Rose
et al. (2007)
787
Panel of experts, Step 3. Relationships between experiences and
competencies, Step 4. Self-assessment method definition, Step 5.
Self-assessment questionnaire, Step 6. Assessment process and
Step 7. Training path.
Step 1 Selection and analysis of the organisation
The selected organisation, a Brazilian engineering and
construction company active in infrastructure sectors such
as energy, mining, oil and gas, was founded in 1960 and
has around 800 employees. The selection criteria were the
maturity of the Project Management Office (PMO) and
project management practices: the organisation has been
Top of Mind for three consecutive years in PMI's bench-
marking (2009, 2010 and 2011), was nominated PMO of
the year in 2012 by MundoPM magazine and 10% of all
work force are certified Project Management Professionals
(PMPs®). The project management staff is divided into
disciplines according to knowledge areas. For the present
study the departments selected were scheduling planning
(SP) and financial planning (FP), due to the representative
number of practitioners.
The preexisting behavioural competencies and descriptions
of project management posts were consulted. The ease of
access for the researchers to documents and key stake-
holders was important to the choice of this company.
Eighty-three employees participated in the research during
the seven steps, including top management, PMO mem-
bers and employees from the SP and FP departments.
Step 2 Content analysis and panel of experts
As mentioned in Section 2.3, a content analysis of the
surveyed literature was performed (see Table 1) that led to
encoding and clustering of competencies into four
categories. This preliminary theoretical competence frame-
work was then compared with the company's competency
guidelines and stakeholders' perspectives.
The panel of experts method was selected to understand the
subjective reasons for tailoring the standardized project
management competencies to a specific organisation, as
performed by Dainty et al. (2005) and Rose et al. (2007).
After obtaining qualitative data, it was possible to
formulate more precise constructs.
The interview approach was situational (behavioural event
interviews), as proposed by Rose et al. (2007) and Dainty
et al. (2005). In each area, two types of respondents were
selected: (1) analyst/engineer and (2) coordinator/manager.
Research method Data collection method
Panel of experts Documentary analysis of the organisation; semi-structured
interviews; focus groups with key stakeholders
Panel of experts Documentary analysis of the organisation; semi-structured
interviews; focus groups with key stakeholders
Survey Self-assessment questionnaire
Panel of experts Causal map between experiences and competences;
self-assessment questionnaire (characterisation)
788 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796
PMO indicated professionals that had experience in the
whole spectrum of project typologies in the organisation,
resulting in eight interviews (10% of the population).
Although limited in number of interviewees, the interviews
explored the entire career of each participant. The sample
was thus able to cover all project types and conditions
present in the organisation (engineering projects; technical
and economic feasibility studies; engineering and manage-
ment of procurement and construction projects; consortium
projects; commercial proposals; executive projects; and
on-site construction and assembly projects), which can be
verified in Table 3.
A computer-aided approach to content analysis was per-
formed using the software NVivo9. An initial tree of com-
petence codes was established from the theoretical
framework (see Table 1), and new codes were included
throughout the analysis. The coding process was checked
carefully, as the reliability of the content analysis was
primarily addressed using multiple coders (Duriau et al.,
2007).
The frequency of each code enabled a primary selection of
competencies and the coded excerpts provided subsidies
for the performance criteria. The preliminary results were
reviewed by two focus groups — one with the inter-
viewees and the other with two senior members of the
PMO that were not in the initial sample. This review was
performed as a means of minimising reliability problems
due to the limited number of interviewees, resulting in the
final version of the Dictionary of Competencies.
Step 3 Relationships between experiences and competencies
To understand the competence-building trajectories for
the project manager according to professional experience
and challenges, a relational map was designed based on
top management trajectories and PMO members' trajec-
tories, linking competencies and project experience.
Maps were drawn with the software C-map® relating the
interviewees' experiences and the project management
competencies developed. These hypotheses were further
compared with the statistically significant relationships
found through the analysis of the self-assessment ques-
tionnaire (see Step 5).
Step 4 Self-assessment method definition
The self-assessment questionnaire was selected because
it is a low rigour method (PMI, 2007); therefore placing
Table 3
Panel of experts: interviewees' profiles.
Characteristics FP1 FP2 FP3 SP1
Function Engineer Manager Manager Coordinator
Seniority Junior Senior Senior Full
Type A X X
Type B X X
Type C X X X X
Type D X X
Consortium X X X X
Proposal X X
Engineering X X X X
Construction X X X X
less pressure on respondents (hopefully inducing more
honest responses) and quickly providing research data.
From the literature and focus groups consisting of those
designated responsible by the PMO, including special-
ists and area coordinators, the self-assessment method
was defined for the questionnaire utilized in step 5.
The core population for the self-assessment was defined
as the employees directly involved in project activities
from SP and FP departments. The sample size was 75
respondents, representing 87% of SP employees (44
professionals) and 94% of FP employees (31
professionals).
Step 5 Self-assessment questionnaire
In the process of designing the research instrument, the
advantages and disadvantages of both self-administered
and interviewer-administered questionnaires were ex-
plored (Saunders et al., 2007, Bryman and Bell, 2011).
A self-administered assessment questionnaire with a
mix of open- and closed-ended questions was selected.
Through the Dictionary of Competencies and the
self-assessment method, an online questionnaire was
established. Each competence was represented by one
or more performance criteria. These criteria were
presented to respondents in a random order, and each
included the use of a past participle. By means of a
semantic scale, respondents evaluated the degree of
autonomy with which they had displayed each compe-
tence in the previous five years.
Characterisations of the professionals (e.g., function,
seniority, certifications) and their experiences (e.g.,
project type and phases in which they had worked) were
collected to identify correlations between competencies
and the professionals' experience. Four pilot studies
were performed prior to the formal application.
A pilot test of the questionnaire was performed
with scholars and organisation stakeholders and was
based on the face and content validity of the research
instrument (Saunders et al., 2007; Bryman and Bell,
2011). After a pilot test of the instrument, the semantic
scale was transformed into a metric as follows: I have
not done this (0); I have done this under guidance (30 =
1); I have done this autonomously (31 = 3); and I have
coordinated the execution of this (32 = 9). This scale
was adopted because of the interviewees' descriptions
SP2 SP3 SP4 SP5
Coordinator Engineer Engineer Manager
Full Junior Junior Senior
X
X X
X X X X
X
X X X
X X X X
X X
 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796
of the career trajectories: the progression from junior to
full professional was much faster than the progression
from full to senior or management/leadership levels.
Cronbach's alpha test was applied to verify whether the
performance criteria characterised the same competen-
cies.
Using MINITAB® software, descriptive statistics and
Mood's median test were used to (1) identify the
differentiating competencies between functions and
seniority degrees and to (2) study the differences shown
by professionals' experience in competence performance.
This technique was chosen because the variables in this
study are non-parametric and do not have a normal
distribution, conditions that would violate premises of
other variance tests, such as ANOVA.
With the aid of coordinators from each of the areas, the
expected proficiency standard was established for each
career level according to functions and seniorities, and an
analysis of development gaps was performed.
Step 6 Assessment process
The competency assessment process and the perfor-
mance criteria were proposed based on the literature and
field research. The proposal includes auxiliary methods
and evidence for benchmarking competence perfor-
mance, process periodicity and responsibilities.
Step 7 Training path
As a result of the previous steps, a training activity path
was suggested for each function and for each level of
seniority in the SP and FS areas, based on the training
categories cited by the PMI (2007).
Engineer
3%
15%
Financial Planning
26%
Contexto e Negócios
Pessoais
Processos
Técnicas
56%
9% 8%
Scheduling Planning
Contexto e Negócios
Pessoais
Processos
39%
44% Técnicas
Fig. 1. Competences by category: financial planning and scheduling planning areas.
789
4. Results
4.1. Panel of experts
The profile of the panel of experts is presented in Table 3,
where it was found that all relevant experiences were covered.
The encoding resulted in 372 references in FP and 466 in
SP. Competencies that complemented the theoretical frame-
work were identified, such as constructability (sequencing of
construction activities during the engineering phase for the
early identification of obstacles in the field).
When analysing the reference distribution (see Fig. 1), a
relatively higher participation in the category of context and
business was observed for managers. These are areas more
relevant to FP than to SP, whereas technical competencies
(understanding of the engineering activities) have a greater
importance in SP.
The competencies identified as being the most important by
more than half of the respondents from each area are presented
in Table 4.
Time management was relevant to FP due to the interface
with cash flow. Among personal competencies, flexibility stood
out, especially in consortia and less professionalised markets.
Among the technical competencies, only a technical vocabulary
stood out. In the context and business category, emphasis was
given to continuous improvement, strategic alignment, risk
identification in tax legislation and customer relationships. For
the junior level, the professional added value by integrating
financial information to support decision-making, and for the
senior level, he added value by analysing trends and acting
preventatively.
Manager
4%
19%
27%
Contexto e Negócios
Pessoais
Processos
Técnicas
50%
8%
13%
Contexto e Negócios
Pessoais
36% Processos
Técnicas
43%
790 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796
Table 4
Most important competences for respondents of financial planning and scheduling planning.
Category Financial planning
Project management processes Cost; term
Personal Flexibility
Technical Technical vocabulary
Context and business Continuous management improvement;
strategic alignment; customer relationships; legislation
By performing a triangulation of the theoretical framework,
interviews and documentary analysis, the definitions of compe-
tencies were collected using a model adapted from PMI (2007)
and AIPM (2008) that employs verbs in the description and one
or more performance criteria. For each criterion, at least one
excerpt from the interviews was registered that substantiated its
elaboration.
There was no personal competence identified in SP that had
not been considered in FP; therefore, the Dictionaries of
Competencies remained equal in this category.
A feedback meeting following the development of the first
version of the Dictionary of Competencies was held with the
interviewees, and then a final validation with the responsible
PMO occurred, resulting in the final version.
The list of competencies in Table 5 summarizes the results
obtained in this step.
4.2. Relationships between experiences and competencies
From the answers provided in the situational interviews,
experiences and developed competencies were related using the
software C-map to construct conceptual maps (see the excerpt
in Fig. 2).
In both areas, participation in commercial proposals lead to
agility and the capacity to address uncertainty, as activities had to
be performed in a short time and with scarce data. Operations that
included the whole life cycle (engineering, procurement, con-
struction) contributed to the development of flexibility, emotional
intelligence, risk management and adaptation strategies in the case
of a diversity of practices associated with the higher complexity of
this type of project, particularly in the presence of partners from
different organisational cultures.
For junior professionals, acquiring greater autonomy is a
critical experience that can occur in low-complexity projects or
specific parts of the scope. In SP, working on the construction site
is an essential experience for the development of competencies,
whereas there is no such association in FP.
4.3. Results of the self-assessment questionnaire
4.3.1. Sample characterisation
The SP area has 44 professionals, 32% with PMP certification
and 5% with Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
certification. The professionals were divided into six categories:
intern (4), assistant (7), junior analyst/engineer (8), analyst/
engineer (12), senior analyst/engineer (7) and manager (6). A
response rate of 87% was obtained. The FP population (31
professionals) was divided into 5 categories: intern/assistant (5),
Scheduling planning
Scope; term
Communication
General technical overview; technical drawing
Customer relationships; continuous
improvement; strategic alignment
junior analyst (12), analyst (7), senior analyst (6) and manager (4).
The obtained response rate was 94%.
4.3.2. Reliability tests and descriptive statistics
For competencies with more than one performance criterion,
Cronbach's alpha test was performed, and two cases with alpha
values of less than 0.7 were identified: 1.4. Applies and adapts
techniques and tools for time management in SP and 4.1.
Promotes continuous management improvement for both areas;
therefore, their criteria were analysed as separate competencies.
In the descriptive analysis, the calculation of the average per
competence per category resulted in the current proficiency
framework (see an excerpt in Fig. 3).
4.3.3. Differentiating competencies
To identify competencies that differentiate between categories,
Mood's median test was applied to the categories in pairs (e.g.
intern vs. junior analyst) for each competence, thus obtaining the
chart shown as in Fig. 4 (for SP). The competencies with p-values
less than 0.05 are indicated, demonstrating significant differences.
In the transition from a junior analyst in SP to a full analyst,
there is an evolution in interpretation of deviations and trends;
holistic and systemic views; leadership; critical analysis and
customer relationship competencies, which is consistent with
an increased role on the front line and accumulated experience.
In the transition to the senior level, context and business
competencies differ from other groups (consistent with the
panel of experts), in addition to a better understanding of the
interdependencies between technical areas, working in scope
changes, autonomy in the analysis of trends and responsibility
for time management.
4.3.4. Differentiating experiences
Mood's median test was applied to determine if a group that
had undergone certain experiences was significantly more
proficient in each competence when compared to others.
It was found, for instance, that in SP, PMPs® were not more
proficient in the process competencies, in contrast to what was
observed in FP. More developed competencies were consis-
tently observed for those who had participated in proposals,
because they are required to negotiate with the client, develop
the first schedule with a high degree of uncertainty in a short
time, use political competencies and customise to the practices
of partners and customers. The importance of experience on
construction sites was confirmed. There was no relationship
observed between acting as an engineering, procurement and
construction (EPC) project executor and delegation, scope
Table 5
The list of competences.
Group Financial planning competences Scheduling planning competences
Project management 1.1. Contributes to budget review and control, resource plan and cash flow 1.1. Contributes to the development of the EAP
processes 1.2. Interprets and provides deviations and trends of costs and funding and acts to prevent or 1.2. Develops the project schedule
reduce financial impacts on the project 1.3. Contributes to the control of physical progress and the project schedule
1.3. Supports the scope control of the project 1.4. Applies and adapts techniques and tools for time management

S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796
1.4. Plans and implements the financial and tax management process 1.5. Interprets and foresees term deviations and trends and acts to avoid or reduce impacts
1.5. Selects and communicates the financial status of the project to stakeholders on the project schedule
1.6. Contributes to the identification, analysis, quantification and planning of the project risks 1.6. Supports the scope control of the project
and opportunities response 1.7. Manages information and communicates the project status to stakeholders
1.7. Contributes to the development and consolidation of the project budgeting 1.8. Contributes to the risk and opportunity management in the project schedule
1.8. Adapts the cost management in consortium situations 1.9. Guides the team integration for the project scope delivery
1.9. Performs the processes of operation closure 1.10. Plans and makes deliveries of the FEL® methodology viable
1.10. Assumes responsibility for the project cost management 1.11. Performs critical analyses/audits of the project time management
1.12. Assumes responsibility for the project time management
Technical 3.1. Achieves a general technical view of the project and makes interactions with technical staff 3.1. Achieves a general technical view of the project and makes interaction with technical
easier staff easier
3.2. Understands technical subjects for project term management
Personal 2.1. Holistic view Same as financial planning
2.2. Interpersonal relationships and teamwork
2.3. Conceptual thinking
2.4. Analytical thinking
2.5. Negotiation and conflict resolution
2.6. Leadership
2.7. Emotional intelligence
2.8. Creativity and entrepreneurship
2.9. Team building and management
2.10. Ease with technology
2.11. Delegation
2.12. Knowledge and learning
2.13. Communication
2.14. Systemic view
2.15. Ability to address uncertainty
2.16. Attention to details
2.17. Critical analysis
2.18. Agility
2.19. Flexibility and adaptability
2.20. Resiliency
2.21. Political
Context and business 4.1. Promotes continuous management improvement 4.1. Promotes continuous management improvement
4.2. Ensures the alignment between the project objectives and the organisation's strategy 4.2. Ensures the alignment between the project objectives and the organisation's strategy
4.3. Establishes mutual trust relationships with the customers and helps to promote their fidelity 4.3. Establishes mutual trust relationships with the customers and helps to promote their
4.4. Understands the legislation related to the project, protecting it from legal exposures and fidelity
taking advantage of tax benefits 4.4. Establishes appropriate management strategies in situations of diversity of stakeholders
4.5. Establishes appropriate management strategies in situations of diversity of stakeholders

791
792 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796

Fig. 2. Relationships between experiences and competences: scheduling planning. Legend:

1.1 EAP development 2.2 Interpersonal relationships 2.15 Ability to address uncertainty F.S.: Feasibility Study
1.2 Schedule development 2.3 Conceptual thinking 2.16 Attention to detail EPC exec.: Engineering
1.3 Progress control 2.4 Analytical thinking 2.17 Critical analysis Procurement and
1.4 Application 2.5 Negotiation and 2.18 Agility Construction as main
techniques and tools conflict resolution 2.19 Flexibility and adaptability executor
1.5 Trend analysis 2.6 Leadership 2.20 Resiliency PM: Project Manager
1.6 Scope control 2.7 Emotional intelligence 2.21 Political Improve.: Improvement
1.7 Information management 2.8 Creativity and 3.1 General technical view Commerc.: Commercial
1.8 Risk management entrepreneurship 3.2 Technical interdependences Consorti.: Consortium
1.9 Team guidance 2.9 Team building and 4.1 Continuous management improvement
1.10 FEL deliveries management 4.2 Strategic alignment
1.11 Critical analysis 2.10 Ease with 4.3 Customer relationships
of projects technology 4.4 Practice adaptation strategies in the
1.12 Time management 2.11 Delegation case of diversity of stakeholders
responsibility 2.12 Knowledge and
2.1 Holistic view learning
2.13 Communication
. 2.14 Systemic view

control and resiliency competencies, which are associated with
the high degree of complexity and the scope.
4.3.5. Expected profile and gap analysis
With the current profile of the employees and the aid of area
coordinators, the expected profile for each category was defined,
and using this profile, graphical gap analyses were performed.
Fig. 5 illustrates both the expected profile and gap analysis by
subtracting the minimum expected grade obtained for each
observation and summing this value. An interesting practice is to
compare the assessment of a professional with the expected
profile for both the professional's current category and the next
level up.
Note that the intern in Fig. 5 already has all the competencies
for his category, but in relation to what is expected from a junior
engineer, he needs training to develop the project schedule under
guidance (1.2), control progress and schedule (1.3), manage and
communicate status information (1.7) with autonomy, improve
interpersonal relationships (2.2) and agility (2.18) competencies.
Following the analysis of the relationships between experiences
 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796 793

Fig. 3. Average of competences per category: scheduling planning (excerpt).

and competencies, it would be recommended allocate the intern
responsible for the control of a specific area of the project, such as
procurement (competencies 1.2, 1.3, 1.7), and to involve him in
the planning processes (1.2, 2.18) under guidance.
4.4. Evaluation process and training paths
A medium rigour assessment, which was inspired by the
IPMA (2006), is proposed in two stages. To the senior members,
who in general answer to the project manager (who is not from
the SP/FP area), validation during the critical analysis of the
project is suggested (performed by another senior professional
from the same area). In this case, the evaluator did not spend a
long time with the assessed member, and auxiliary evidence
(primarily documents) was proposed for validation, as suggested
by PMI (2007) and AIPM (2008). For the personal competencies,
benchmarking should be based on examples and feedbacks. It is
suggested that the evaluations be performed at the end of each
project phase to strengthen the relationships between experiences
and competencies.
By relating the Dictionary of Competencies, the relation-
ships between experiences and competencies and the expected

Fig. 4. Differentiating competences (scheduling planning). Legend:

1.1 WBS development 2.23 Interpersonal relationships 2.36 Ability to address uncertainty
1.2 Schedule development 2.24 Conceptual thinking 2.37 Attention to detail
1.3 Progress control 2.25 Analytical thinking 2.38 Critical analysis
1.4 Application techniques and tools 2.26 Negotiation and conflict resolution 2.39 Agility
1.5 Trend analysis 2.27 Leadership 2.40 Flexibility and adaptability
1.6 Scope control 2.28 Emotional intelligence 2.41 Resiliency
1.7 Information management 2.29 Creativity and entrepreneurship 2.42 Political
1.8 Risk management 2.30 Team building and management 3.3 General technical view
1.9 Team guidance 2.31 Ease with technology 3.4 Technical interdependences
1.10 FEL deliveries 2.32 Delegation 4.5 Continuous management improvement
1.11 Critical analysis of projects 2.33 Knowledge and learning 4.6 Strategic alignment
1.12 Time management responsibility 2.34 Communication 4.7 Customer relationships
2.22 Holistic view 2.35 Systemic view 4.8 Practice adaptation strategies in the case of diversity of stakeholders.
794 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796
profile, a training activity path was prepared for each category
in SP (Fig. 6). For the process competencies, the following
logic was applied:
• Competence performed under guidance: e-learning and man-
ager support (coaching), on-the-job training under guidance.
• Competence performed with autonomy: simulation/role-
playing and on-the-job training with autonomy.
• Competence performed by coordinating its execution: prep-
aration of the simulations, offering coaching and on-the-job
training leading the team.
5 . Conclusions
It was observed that the adopted concept of individual com-
petence received wide acceptance among the people involved and
enabled clarification regarding the subject, which was poorly
understood by the organisation's project management profes-
sionals. The literature content analysis and the frameworks from
international institutions on project management (AIPM, 2008;
IPMA, 2006 and PMI, 2007) have provided a conceptual and
structural basis. A diagram of affinities was used to create the
competency clusters, resulting in four categories of competencies:
project management, personal, technical, context and business
processes.
Fig. 5. Template for expected profile and gap analysis.
The complement of the field research methods, inspired by
the work of Dainty et al. (2005), Rose et al. (2007) and Grant,
Baumgardner and Shane (1997), was important for capturing
the specificities of the organisation, which were reflected in the
proposed competence map and provided the coordinators and
professionals of the area with a sense of ownership of the
results, in addition to maintaining strategic alignment. The
iterative validation process with those responsible for the areas
was also crucial for the involvement of the interested parties
and the acceptance of the proposed competence framework.
Because competence is a highly sensitive subject related to the
career development of professionals, allocation in projects,
post-assignment and seniority degree, and the development of the
competency framework from academic-scientific references and
methods proved very positive for the maintenance of impartiality
and for enhancing confidence in the results. Another positive point
of this methodology is its reproducibility in other project
management knowledge areas.
The primary issue that deserves further exploration is the
relationship between competencies and the specific contexts in
which they are performed, considering complexity as a multi-
plicative factor in the performance assessment. A competence
performed by a junior professional in a less complex context
(for example, a small-size project) may not be performed with
the same proficiency in more complex scenarios. The very
process of the proposed competence assessment can provide
 S.M. Takey, M.M. Carvalho / International Journal of Project Management 33 (2015) 784–796 795

Fig. 6. Training path (scheduling planning — excerpt). Legend:

1.1 WBS development 2.2 Interpersonal 2.15 Ability to address uncertainty EPC: Engineering Procurement and Construction
1.2 Schedule development relationships 2.16 Attention to details PMP: Project Management Professional®
1.3 Progress control 2.3 Conceptual thinking 2.17 Critical analysis WBS: Work Breakdown Structure
1.4 Technique and tool 2.4 Analytical thinking 2.18 Agility
application 2.5 Negotiation and conflict 2.19 Flexibility and adaptability
1.5 Trend analysis resolution 2.20 Resiliency
1.6 Scope control 2.6 Leadership 2.21 Political
1.7 Information 2.7 Emotional intelligence 3.1 General technical view
management 2.8 Creativity and 3.2 Technical interdependencies
1.8 Risk management entrepreneurship 4.1 Continuous management
1.9 Team guidance 2.9 Team building and improvement
1.10 FEL deliveries management 4.2 Strategic alignment
1.11 Critical analysis of 2.10 Ease with technology 4.3 Customer relationships
projects 2.11 Delegation 4.4 Practice adaptation strategies in case
1.12 Time management 2.12 Knowledge and learning of diversity of stakeholders
responsibility 2.13 Communication
. 2.1 Holistic view 2.14 Systemic view

subsidies for this development, because it suggests that
performance assessments are tied to the end of each project
phase, which can be classified in terms of complexity.
Some aspects of the research design limit the generalisation
of the findings. First, it involved an engineering and
construction project, and new studies should be conducted
for other types of projects and sectors. Second, the focus is on a
specific organisation, and its characteristics also conditioned
the findings. However, as suggested by Karlsson (2002), the
deep insight on the field is rather unique in action research,
which can compensate for a lack of generalizability.
Conflict of interest
None.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the
Brazilian research funding agencies CNPq (National Council for
Scientific and Technological Development — 306734/2010-9)
and FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation — 2014/07590-0)
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