Impact of Project Management Assets on Project Management Performance in Telecom Sector of Pakistan

Impact of Project Management Assets on Project Management Performance in Telecom Sector of Pakistan

1. INTRODUCTION

Project management is a necessary in business, and is fundamental for organizational development (Cammarano, 1997). Project management, includes. Practices and procedures, for delivering, product or a service (Guide, 2001) based.on.tangible and, intangible resources (; ).

Due to dynamic competitive markets, firms are in a race to create value by combining various organizational assets in different ways. These organizational assets involve tangible assets in form of technological, physical and financial resources, and intangible assets such as human, social and organizational resources ().These tangible assets are based on overt knowledge ( know-what),  while insubstantial assets ( know-how) or resources comprise of tacit knowledge()

Project management resource assets are used and developed by all the organizations effectively. In successful organizations, the function of project management has developed from doing the projects right which changed to doing the right projects. The function of project management is now focused on its relationship with other knowledge domains which includes organizational structure, knowledge management and strategy (Gardiner, 2014).

There are two prominent views regarding firm differential performance, the industry view and the resource based view of the firm. Porter (1980) suggested the industry based view in which supernormal returns are associated with firms association with an industry having favorable structural characteristics. While the resource based view links firm differential performance with heterogeneity rather than industry structural characteristics (J. Barney, 1991; Lamb, 1984; Rumelt, 1991; Wernerfelt, 1984). Firms comprising capabilities and resources that are valuable, rare, inimitable are able to achieve competitive advantage (; Rumelt, 1991).

The resource based view classifies company resources or assets as a source of its competitive advantage. A company comprises of financial, physical, social, human, technological and organizational resources. These resources can either be tangible or intangible. However, a subset of company assets contribute to its competitive advantage and are termed as strategic assets (). Appraising the firms resources is handicapped because management information systems of a firm provides curtailed picture of firms resource base, as they disregard intangible resources and people based skills being the most strategically important resources (Grant, 1991) .

A number of studies suggest that both tangible as well as intangible assets are one of the most important aspects of achieving competitive advantage due to their direct relationship with project performance. Understanding of this relationship is crucial to achieve competitive edge. Recent developments particularly in the meadow of project management make this topic useful to find out the function of project management assets in yielding project performance. Having this information will be very advantageous for project managers because they can make strategic investments in those assets which can be materialized into project management performance.

Problem Statement

Recently () mentioned that there are more studies needed in the area of linking project management assets and project management performance.

The intention of the study is to investigate the association between project management assets and project management performance while identifying the effect of project management assets for higher project performance. Project Management asset elements as described individually above would have a collective influence on project performance. Its magnitude and positive/negative effect will be tested for the purpose of this research.

Currently, project managers face the problem of decision making while investing in company’s assets, which can be a source of competitive advantage for the company and hence may resultantly lead to inefficiency, ineffectiveness, a challenge and a dilemma.  

Research Questions

Following are the research questions which will be answered in this research study

Q1.        How project management assets play their role in the success of organizational projects in telecommunication industry of Pakistan?

Q2.        Do project management assets affect project management performance?

Q3.        What step should be taken by the top management in the telecommunication industry of Pakistan so that the project becomes more successful?

Objective of the study

The aim of this research thesis is to focus on project management performance linkage to project management assets. In this research thesis Project management assets and their impact on project management performance is investigated deeply in context of telecommunication industry. Following are the research objectives which will be achieved in this research study:

O1.        The objective of this research study is to examine the relationship between project management assets and project management performance.

O2.        The objective of this research study is to identify the issues in utilizing the right mix of assets in telecommunication industry of Pakistan for achieving competitive advantage.

O3.         The objective of this research study is to provide managerial recommendation for telecommunication industry of Pakistan so that they can enhance their project performance.

Scope of the study

1. This study investigates the project management assets role to achieve organizational goals of telecommunication industry of Pakistan.
2. Previously project management assets are studied while including organizational support with a moderating role. In this study organizational support is used an independent variable as it has direct impact on project performance.
3. In Pakistani organization this research study has not been done previously so this research study will also fill this gap.

2-Literature Review

Project Management

According to (Kerzner, 2013),  project management is defined as a process by which project objectives can be controlled, while utilizing the existing organizational resources, structures and a set of tools and techniques without interrupting the organizational operations.

Project management starts with the management commitment and involvement towards the project goals().  

Project Management Assets

The assets of a firm can be classified as tangible or concrete and intangible or knowledge based (). The strategic resources of a company are only a source of its competitive advantage (). These strategic assets include overt and implicit knowledge (; ; Kogut, 2000; Nonaka, 1994)