A Research Proposal for Analysis of Management Competencies for the British Construction Industry - Essay Example

A Research Proposal for Analysis of Management Competencies for the British Construction Industry and : Date: A Research Proposal for Analysis of Management Competencies for the British Construction Industry Introduction The conventional philosophy of management in construction projects puts great emphasis on the ability to plan and undertake projects. There has been a remarkable shift of project institutions from local and regional scope into an international context including several multi-stakeholders (Chen et al, 2011, pp.1153-1165). At the same time, the techniques of company loyalty, traditional rivals, and employee progress are transforming at a speed that has not previously been encountered in post-industrial era (Omoteso, Owusu-Manu and Dogbega, 2011, pp.26-40). It is the surfacing of these concepts coupled with matters like as knowledge distribution, fresh markets, and information technology that presently form the needs anticipated from today’s engineering projects graduates (Chen et al, 2011, pp.1153-1165). For that reason, the constant emphasis on project management as the answer to institutional success is being maintained, thus, the significance of Project Management knowledge and skills (Omoteso, Owusu-Manu and Dogbega, 2011, pp.26-40). Due to the effects of these economic situations in the construction sector, it is not shocking to see that project management study has changed with a similar focus on project-level budget and schedule administration (Madter et al, 2012, pp.639-651). Key features of project management performance in the construction sector demands that projects are administered within the stipulated time and cost (Chen et al, 2011, pp.1153-1165). A comprehensive planning of scope, time and price is undertaken prior to project implementation and they must be debated upon (Omoteso, Owusu-Manu and Dogbega, 2011, pp.26-40). Widespread rivalry and the ever-transforming economic situations needs established environment experts to have an insight of the broader range of competency requirement issues at this period of time (Chen et al, 2011, pp.1153-1165). In particular, the change of project management as an academic subject in institutions of higher learning has re-emphasized the management practices since they have prepared each successive generation of industry executives (Henderson, 2008, pp.48-59). Finished projects need to be reviewed and practical lessons learnt, recorded and included in the next project so as to prevent recurrence of mistakes (Omoteso, Owusu-Manu and Dogbega, 2011, pp.26-40). In Britain, construction projects supported by the government are marred with many challenges. These impediments are a result of management matters, which leave the key players of such projects dissatisfied. Nonetheless, the principle of project management has been widened in recent times from the previous focus on management of majorly unitary projects, with well described and agreed objectives and end products, to incorporate diverse projects and programs that are in their very nature multidisciplinary (Chen et al, 2011, pp.1153-1165). This has led to management embarking on a bigger strategic attention in a bid to establish value within the corporate world and harmonize the conventional metrics of performance with fresh techniques that support a greater role for multiple assumptions of responsibilities (Omoteso, Owusu-Manu and Dogbega, 2011, pp.26-40). Researches in project management competencies are not new. Nevertheless, it is disheartening that little attempts have been made to unravel the intrinsic links of the many project management competencies (Chen et al, 2011, pp.1153-1165). The strategy that my research will adopt is a data reduction technique. Principal Component Analysis will be used to assess the existence of any sophisticated structure within the project management competence variables, as well as find out the variables that measures the fundamental effects (Omoteso, Owusu-Manu and Dogbega, 2011, pp.26-40). There is an urgent need to identify the major project management competence areas that are in line with the conceptual philosophy. There is also the need to assume few courses in advanced concepts, terminal in characteristic and increased professional development oriented. The remaining parts of this research proposal comprises of the literature review, research methodology to be employed in gathering and analyzing data needed for getting the solutions to the research problem. The last section of this proposal consists of analysis of data collected and the ethical considerations (Omoteso, Owusu-Manu and Dogbega, 2011, pp.26-40). Literature Review and Research Questions Many studies have been conducted on project management competencies with the purpose of identifying factors dictating and/or strategies for a successful project or a competent project manager. Most of such researches accord with attribute-oriented techniques, paying attention to either the project work activities or the individual attributes of project managers. For example, Chen et al (1153-1165) used worker-based and work-oriented criteria to distinguish project management competencies (pp.1153-1165). The latter considers work as existing independently of the employee, described in terms of technical needs of work tasks, whereas the former places emphasis on workers’ characteristics, like knowledge, talents and skills (Chen et al, 2011, pp.1153-1165). The understanding of competence in both cases is attribute-based case, composed of a particular group of generic and context-independent features, which do not influence practical competence in attaining work. Researchers’ understanding of the project management competencies have been further improved through giving three distinct categorizations, namely output competencies, input competencies and individual competencies (Omoteso, Owusu-Manu and Dogbega, 2011, pp.26-40). According to Crawford, whereas input competencies mean the knowledge and experiences that an individual brings to a task, output competencies are considered as the demonstrable activity that the employee shows at the job setting (Dragan, Zorica and Marija, 2013, pp.41-48). Both approaches try to show that individual competencies are associated with the key attributes in demonstrating an individual’s ability to perform a task. They also show that the categorizations associated with individual and output competencies given by Crawford seem to have some similarities to the circumstantial-task typology of project management competencies. Effective performance, as defined by Boyatzis, is a rate of achievement of output goals or relevant achievement of a duty. Output goals are specific results or required outcomes by the job (Tsui, Cheung and Rohz, 2013, pp.602-611). This is a direct or indirect addition to product or service of the firm (Omoteso, Owusu-Manu and Dogbega, 2011, pp.26-40). To realize these goals, individuals behave in a specific way that is often consistent with the technological procedures, institutional policies, procedures and rules of the work setting. Many researchers have suggested that only actions result in the specific outcomes in a constant manner. For that reason, random actions cannot be regarded as part of the effective performance. For a project to be successful, it must be fulfilled within the stipulated timeframe and budget, at the required level of performance, with the results welcomed by clients within minimum scope alterations (Soderlund, 2005, pp.451-480). It must also be done. It must also be done without disturbing the major workflow of the firm and without altering the corporate tradition. Competencies are widely regarded as human features and abilities (Tsui, Cheung and Rohz, 2013, pp.602-611). Many view competencies as the ability to undertake duties in accordance with the required outcomes. The ability here refers to the possession of appropriate qualifications, education and talent, mental and physical abilities by an employee for achieving the required (Tsui, Cheung and Rohz, 2013, pp.602-611). The employee must also have the required knowledge, behavior, understanding and attitude required for successful execution of the job (Jiri, Handa and Martina, 2012, pp.129-142). Competencies have the potentiality for realizing the desired outcomes. Nevertheless, a potential capability of achieving the duty is needed but not effective characteristic of the competencies. Heneman and Ledford later viewed competencies as demonstrable features of an individual like knowledge, skills and traits that enhance performance (Tsui, Cheung and Rohz, 2013, pp.602-611). As such, they suggest that competencies should solely be demonstrable, that is, manifestly shown and identifiable. In the vibrant and changing world of project management, communication is still highly regarded as the needed and critical competency for managing projects. Listening and verbal communication have been ranked by scholars in the top 10 of a list consisting of over 50 competencies vital for project managers to be fruitful in today’s organizational structure. Undeniably, the increasing growth of virtual settings, with geographically distributed team members coupled with technology-controlled communication, makes competency in communication more critical for both the modern and tomorrow’s project managers (Henderson, 2008, pp.48-59). From a research standpoint, the form of communication competence in overseeing construction projects has attracted less attention than research on communication processes like giving feedback and influencing others. Little integration, if any, has taken place in these researches with the existing communication theories, which has led to inadequate knowledge concerning the fundamental behavioral dynamics of competent communication, particularly its relation with significant projects and institutional results. Further, communication has usually been linked to many instruments and strategies for managing projects. For that reason, it is losing its uniqueness as a component for research (Henderson, 2008, pp.48-59). At the moment, Competency Frameworks are just perceived as a methodology for determining competencies by individual Human Resource management procedures, as maps or pointers of behavior, knowledge or skills that are esteemed, acknowledged and in some cases rewarded by the firm (Cepeda, Urquiza, and Rejas-Muslera, 2012, pp.117-135). Common and differential perspectives in institutional competency Frameworks can be obtained (Abdel Nasser et al, 2012, pp.27-37). In the contexts of many corporate firms, the purpose for establishing frameworks is to point out the competencies that have real impacts in business outcomes (Isabel et al, 2013, pp88-97). The most widely used industry approaches highly depends on creating sophisticated and detailed internal job assessment geared towards highlighting standard corporate job profiles (Hartman and Skulmoski, 2009, pp.61-80). Job description may be inclusive of goals, evaluation approaches, organizational hierarchy and level of independence (Henderson, 2008, pp.48-59). Leadership style is another measure of competence. Many research papers have been generated for decades to evaluate leadership style based on the competencies linked to Managerial, Intellectual and Emotional differences. With one given leadership style, the questions for assessing their competence are how does the construction project manager lead the team of laborer’s? Does the construction project manager require total control of the project stages throughout its life cycle? Maybe they intend to give the leadership responsibility to another functional manager during the processes of the project (Timothy et al, 2014, pp.35-60). By undertaking a comparison of various leadership styles and highlighting each competency, conclusions can be arrived at (Clarke, 2010, pp.5-20). These inferences can be used to define the management approaches that are most appropriate for the construction teams so as to achieve each stage of the project efficiently and effectively (Toran-Monserrat et al, 2013, pp.1-8). The competency levels required depend on the complexity of the project, the significance of the project, and the type of contract under which the project was performed (Clarke, 2010, pp.5-20). This research will carry out an assessment of the competency of construction project managers in Britain by assessing their leadership styles, communication strategies and their individual traits (Timothy et al, 2014, pp.35-60). In recent times, there has been an increased use of performance-oriented competency assessment standards as opposed to the traditional knowledge-based standards. Besides assessing the leadership styles of construction managers, this research will identify their traits, leadership styles and performance in terms of the results delivered, so as to gauge their competencies. However, before we move to the research methodologies to be used, we have to first begin by having a clear understanding of the term competency (Lambopoulos, Pantouvakis and Panas, 2014, pp.739-747). History has it that the first use of the term competence in the academic realms was documented in1970s, but that is by no means the genesis if the concept of management competencies. All through the history of mankind, the classical beginning of the concept that is put down in writings was discovered in the Code of Hamurabi, in the in-depth study “The Republic” by Plato, as well as “Metaphysics” of Aristotle. However, the first to develop the concept of competence associated with superior performance was R.H. White in 1959. Thereafter, Chomsky proposed to separate the competence and deliberate on the object descriptive of linguistics (Figueroa-Sandoval and Figueroa-Rodriguez, 2014, pp.725-729). In the construction context, another origin surfaced in the work setting, where David McClelland, a Harvard University psychologist in 1973. He wrote and published an article in which he asserted that conventional tests and questionnaires utilized in projecting task performance, academic and professional achievements, that are founded on the measurement of knowledge and skills, did not project fruitful performance in the brick and mortar contexts. As a result, he sought and developed a new variable which he termed ‘competence’. His model recognizes two particular leverage points for using the term. The first point is from the discipline of linguistics while the second is widely used in job settings where most developments have derived the concept (Figueroa-Sandoval and Figueroa-Rodriguez, 2014, pp.725-729). Within the context of construction project management, there are four internationally used standards for gauging management competencies. They include; the Project Manager Competency Development Framework, Project Management Institute (PMI) and the International Project Management Association (IPMA). The Project Manager Competency Development Framework has three competence sections for a project manager: performance, knowledge and personal issues (Davis, 2011, pp.37-57). The knowledge and performance areas are further structured into nine areas of project management knowledge: scope, integration, time, quality, cost, human resource, procurement management and risk. Personal competencies are on the other hand subcategorized into five key areas: customer-oriented, results-oriented, management capabilities, impact and influence, and personal efficiency. Nonetheless, the International Project Management Association’s understanding of standard of competence is drawn from a collection of requirements and skills within the technical context (Davis, 2011, pp.37-57). Research Methodology The analysis of management competencies in the British construction industry needs a consideration of various inter-connected variables. The relationship between managers’ competencies and the project performance and results has variables that that are not always clear in their power and direction. Additionally, the combined impacts of these variables on management competency have not yet been researched sufficiently. All these matters suggest the heavy complexity of analyzing the variables and needs employing multi-method approach. Variables The four kinds of variables that have been defined for the purpose of this study include: 1. Dependent Variables-these are variables which are influenced by independent variables such as managers’ competencies and their overall performance in terms of output delivered. 2. Independent Variables- these are factors such as the construction firms’ culture, institutional climate, management and team values, as well as team and management competencies. 3. Extraneous variables- these are factors which may influence the differences in dependent variables, such as the demographic features like gender, age, level of education experience, industry and team. 4. Mediating variables- these are factors that come in the middle of a stimuli and response, such as values, motivation and competencies. Sampling Procedure The research will dwell on construction firms in Britain, such as housing and road building sectors. The target subjects for the purpose of data collection are the construction project managers or the immediate supervisors, as well as the subordinate casual and long-term laborers. The sample size will be 150 construction projects. The study intends to obtain the desired outcome with 98% confidence interval, as well as a margin error of 3%. Modes of Data Collection My research methodology will employ two approaches of data collection, inclusive of an analysis based on the self-administered questionnaire and Interview. The analysis will be majorly based on a group of self-administered-questionnaires. The data gathering procedure and instruments for the construction supervisors, managers and workers will be separated (Partington, 2002, pp.36-48). The questionnaire will consist of three major parts, namely: 1. Section 1- This part seeks to gather information concerning individual and professional issues of the executives and their workers. This is solely meant for analysis. It will take approximately 7 minutes to fill. 2. Section 2- will have a list of questions about the firm’s culture. It will unravel information concerning the morals and norms the workers have in common. This will consume approximately 15 minutes. 3. Section 3- This will have questions on the respondents, their colleagues, supervisors or managers’ performance, competence and job acknowledgement. This part will consume approximately 30 minutes. Analysis of Data Collected The information that has been gathered will be analyzed with the use of both inferential and descriptive statistical approaches. The analysis on the transformations required to bolster project managers’ competencies will be drawn from the personal and work competencies. The proposed multidimensional method of scaling will be used to arrive at the best agreement between the variables (Partington, 2002, pp.36-48). Ethical Considerations There ethical considerations that will guide my research will be drawn from Glass’ code of ethics that govern the researcher’s behavior in the field. This code of ethics include: cherishing complete truthfulness, avoiding self-aggrandizement at the expense of fellow researchers, protecting freedom of scientific enquiry and opinion, and totally committing my findings through primary publication, synthesis and instructions. After a careful examination of my research vis-à-vis Glass’ code of ethics, there are ethical dilemmas and answers to such dilemmas that I will have to consider (Partington, 2002, pp.36-48). First, I will make a decision and deliberate on how the decisions marry with the possible outcomes. As a researcher, I must ensure that the information that I have collected is substantial enough to make an informed decision based on the circumstance. This includes accurate definition of the events and phenomena and the ability to comprehend the world from the stakeholders’ standpoint. This means that it is not my perspectives that solely matters, but also the perspectives of people around me (Partington, 2002, pp.36-48). It is important to maintain integrity throughout the research process. Integrity here refers to the readiness to openly communicate and directly exhibit high standards of individual behavior and acting in accordance with the research spirit, even when it is hard to do so. This has the effect of bringing about trustworthiness and loyalty to the research community and stakeholders. Integrity manifests itself through a set of behaviors that; demonstrates fearlessness or convictions and accepts the responsibilities of the research undertaken and their outcomes; is open to participants and strengthens trust; keeps pledges, spells out intentions and executes them; acknowledges individual’s biases that can have an influence on the research; and is a role model for other researchers (Partington, 2002, pp.36-48). Communication is fundamental for undertaking any scholarly research. Communication with others can be understood as the researcher’s ability to establish solid relationships with the participants and the entire community and using the relevant communication strategies. Traits that manifest communication with others take the form of: listening and raising questions in a manner and fashion that motivates open conversations and fosters understanding; can interpret the gathered data and make it valuable to the stakeholders and the social system; highlighting cases, providing information logically and clearly in an understandable way; and cementing good relations with the stakeholders, founded on respect and mutual trust (Partington, 2002, pp.36-48). Management research commits itself to qualitative research, with special attention on the target groups, thereby paving way for clear insights into the phenomena (Peterson, Wilderrom and Ashkanasy, 2011, pp.35-67). Nevertheless, acknowledgement of cultural and religious differences and the noting down of common versus particular cultural traits ought to be respected. Culturally-oriented and contagious studies should craft the data collection strategy to be in line with the clients’ cultural convictions and expectations. Additionally, researchers need to have an understanding of probable value disharmonies and ethnic differences with regard to specific norms, values and cultural expectations (Partington, 2002, pp.36-48). Maybe, there is no other setting that values disharmonies manifest themselves than in the work platform. In such contexts, the rights and wants of various key players need to be constantly discussed and put in harmony with each other. References Abdelnasser et al., 2012. Developing Competency Model for the Project Manager in the Libyan Industry. International Journal of Economic Behavior, [e-journal] 2, pp.27-37. Available at: < http:www.ebscohost.com > [Accessed 11 May 2014]. Cepeda, I., Urquiza, A., and Rejaz-Muslera, R., 2012. Competency-Based Model Through It: An Action Research Project. 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Proceedings of the International Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge and Organizational Learning, [e-journal], pp. 602-611. Available at: < http:www.ebscohost.com > [Accessed 11 May 2014] Read More