1.

The Application of Project Management Standards and Success Factors to the

Development of a Project Management Assessment Tool by Antonio G.
Sanjuan and Thomas Froese

 The paper is focused on assessing the project management practices that have been
implemented for specific construction projects. Usually, the project management
competencies of different firms are based upon the assessment of its’ individuals’
managerial skills. But, in this paper, instead of assessing the competencies of firms with
respect to the competencies of their individuals, the researcher has proposed a method to
assess the competencies of the firms with respect to the assessment of the project
management practices that have been implemented in their projects. It is to be noted that
the central component of any assessment scheme is the identification of specific elements
to be assessed (the assessment “targets”).

 Here, they drew upon established project management standards and project success
factors from previous research to provide the specific targets and benchmarks to be
assessed which include the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) by the
PM Institute, the IPMA Competence Baseline (ICB) by the International PM Association,
ISO 9000, and Prince2 by The Office of Government Commerce UK. The paper
described how these standards are integrated into the project management assessment
tool.

2. Integrating ISO 21500 Guidance on Project Management, Lean Construction

and PMBOK by Xavier Brioso

 The paper developed a proposal for combining the Standard ISO 21500 Guidance on
Project Management and the Project & Construction Management Systems, while
emphasising on their integration with PMBOK and the Lean Construction philosophy.
The Project & Construction Management is studied from a global point of view,
connecting, matching, supplementing, and/or combining the tools, techniques, and
practices of the afore-mentioned management systems, applied to construction projects.

 Within this framework, the stakeholder participation is analyzed during the application of
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Target Value Design (TVD); as well as the
sequences in which the processes, inputs, and outputs relate in time, originating variants
in the effort for the achievement of optimum compatibility.

 The researcher concluded that the various management systems may be made compatible
through the ISO 21500, as it allows sequences and the adaptation of processes to be
carried out in a flexible way and also, the freedom to choose tools and techniques, and the
flexibility to specify the processes’ inputs and outputs can help to overcome the typical
psychological barriers of specialists with a strong bias for a certain management system.
Although, ISO 21500 has a similarity with the PMBOK but it is intrinsically different
from it at the same time. It can also be concluded that these management systems do not
compete with each other; all methodologies are compatible if used appropriately.
3. ISO 21500:2012 and PMBoK 5 processes in information systems project
Management by João Varajão, Ricardo Colomo-Palacios and Hélio Silvac

 The purpose of this research was to contribute to a better understanding of information

systems (IS) project management practice, by investigating the ISO 21500:2012/PMBoK
5 processes implemented by project managers in Information System projects.

 Responses to an international web-based survey, representing 472 projects in total,

showed that processes from knowledge areas as, for instance, scope management, cost
management, and time management, are frequently implemented. However, there are
processes from important areas as, for instance, quality management and risk
management, that are being relegated to a second plane, which is a matter of concern.

 It was found that there is a significant association between the process implementation
and the human centric variables such as project manager’s age (and experience) and
adopted project management approach/methodology. Furthermore, results show that the
project management standards (ISO) and Bodies of Knowledge are suitable to
characterize the IS project management processes. This study has important implications
for practice, education and research, by identifying the PM areas that need more attention
from researchers and practitioners and that can be a deterrent of higher levels of success.

 Since IS projects do not have a very good reputation concerning success, the results
mentioned above can be of outmost importance to help researchers and practitioners to
improve project management performance.

4. Success Traits for a Construction Project by Syed Zafar Shahid Tabish and
Kumar Neeraj Jha

 The research emphasised on the importance of human factors and management actions in
determining the success of a project. They concluded that trained, committed, and
competent participants, with better coordination, positively influence the successful
completion of the project. Also, selection of competent and trained project team leaders
by the project management was described as a necessary factor for achieving the
successful completion of the project.

5. ISO 9000 Quality Standards in Construction by Abdulaziz A. Bubshait and

Tawfiq H. Al-Atiq
 An evaluation of the quality systems of 15 construction contractors in Saudi Arabia is
discussed here. The evaluation was performed against the ISO 9000 standard. The
contractors’ quality systems vary in complexity, ranging from an informal inspection and
test system to a comprehensive system.

 There is risk involved in any construction project and a contractor’s quality assurance
system is essential in preventing and the reoccurrence of problems thereby reducing the
 risk involved in the project. This system ensures consistent quality for the contractor’s
clients.
 The ISO 9000 clauses most often complied with are those dealing with (1) inspection and
test status; (2) inspection and testing; (3) control of non-conformance product; and (4)
handling, storage, and preservation. The clauses least complied with concern (1) design
control; (2) internal auditing; (3) training; and (4) statistical techniques. Documentation of
a quality system is scarce for the majority of the contractors.

 Though, the higher management of the 15 firms showed a higher interest in evaluation of
their quality management systems but there were some drawbacks which were observed
by the researchers:

o Misunderstandings were observed regarding the quality system documentation,

method of implementation and the difference between disposition of non-
conformances and corrective actions.
o Setting up priorities for improvement is another area that contractors are not
performing.

6. Assessing Adoption of Project Management Knowledge Areas and Maturity

Level: Case Study of a public Agency in Malaysia by Siti Zaleha Abdul Rasid,
Wan Khairuzzaman Wan Ismail, Nor Hazlin Mohammad and Choi Sang Long

 The paper investigated the adoption of 10 project management knowledge areas by a

public agency of Malaysia. The importance of project management maturity models was
described to have a greater significance in assessing an organization’s current capabilities.
These models are used to assess the maturity of an organization and to ensure its
efficiency and uniformity in delivering projects.

 The objectives of the study were to determine the degree to which project management
knowledge areas have been adopted by one public agency in terms of project integration,
scope, time, cost, quality, human resource, communication, risk, and procurement and to
assess the current maturity level of project management as perceived by project
managers.

 A total of 65 project managers and project team members were selected as respondents
for the study. Descriptive analysis was applied to answer the research questions and
objectives. The study revealed that almost 90% of the respondents felt that understanding
the nine project management knowledge areas was important when managing projects.

 Overall, it was found that the officers of the agency applied the project management
knowledge areas when managing projects. Project quality management was adopted the
most because this agency had developed a quality management system that was widely
used in the agency.