Core Competencies for Construction Project Management: Literature Review and Content Analysis

Although the construction industry is a major player in the global economy, it is dealing with problems such as declining productivity, workplace safety, and work disputes. The human element—construction project managers in particular—is key to solving many of these persisting problems. A thorough understanding of construction project managers’ performance is important to identifying training needs, and enables executives to better match competent construction project managers with the appropriate projects. This paper examined competencies required for construction project managers and competency identification tools and techniques. Potentially relevant references were searched using appropriate search terms, topics, and publication dates in the ASCE Library. The process resulted in 2,102 references. Titles, abstracts, and contents of the references were examined further to select the most relevant references from the list; 31 of the initial 2,102 references were selected for content analysis. A systematic review and detailed content analysis of the 31 selected references from the ASCE Library published over the last 3 decades was conducted. Results of content analysis revealed that to identify competencies, two information gathering techniques predominantly were used in the selected sources, whereas three techniques seldom were used. A total of 39 competency categories required for construction project managers were identified. The most frequently identified competency categories were technical, leadership, communication, managing, organizing, and planning, teaming/teamwork, and determination. Findings of this study can assist the construction industry in directing its efforts toward key competency development areas and catering training and professional development to the real needs of the workforce.