International Journal of Project Management 20 (2002) 93±98

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman

Working towards best practices in project management:

a Canadian study
Robert Loo *
Faculty of Management, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1K 3M4
Received 9 February 2000; received in revised form 27 June 2000; accepted 9 July 2000

Abstract
This study examined the best practices in a heterogeneous sample of 34 Canadian organizations having professional project
managers. The study also examined barriers to best practices and the organizational context in terms of leadership styles and
organizational culture. Like other studies, these results revealed a mix of technical and people-oriented best practices and areas for
improvement. Recommendations are presented for organizations. # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Best practices; Leadership; Organizational culture; Planning

1. Introduction construction industry and found that `preparing and

Best practices may be described as optimum ways of
performing work processes to achieve high performance
[1,2]. While much of the best practices literature
addresses best practices in the context of competition
where organizations benchmark against the best, world-
class organizations for targeted processes such as new pro-
duct performance [3] or a human resource management
process such as training [4], there is also the context of
internal benchmarking. As Thurow states, ``Great com-
panies compete against themselves. They may be the
best but they are never good enough, they can always
become better.'' [5, p. 285]. O'Dell, Grayson and
Essaides [6] devote a book to methods for the internal
transfer of best practices rather than focussing on
benchmarking against external organizations. Similarly,
Toney and Powers [7] examined best practices in a project
management benchmarking study of Fortune 500 com-
panies. They identi®ed some 19 key success factors
grouped into three areas: project strategy (e.g. strategic
communications), project management professionalism
(e.g. optimize employee compensation), and standar-
dized methodology and procedures (e.g. emphasize
project and people management). Striving for best
practices also ®ts the TQM approach to management
where one is involved in benchmarking and continuous
improvement. For example, Jawaharnesan and Price [8]
studied project management best practices in the UK
* Tel.: +1-403-329-2174; fax: +1-403-329-2038.
E-mail address: loo@uleth.ca
0263-7863/01/$22.00 # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0263-7863(00)00042-9
organising' and `developing project de®nition' were
among the highest ranked tasks.
Best practices do not emerge from a vacuum, rather, an
organizational culture must exist that values and nurtures
best practices [3]. One key element is the existence of
competencies where competencies may be seen as a set
of knowledge, skills, and abilities competencies; a task
or activity competency; an output competency; and a
result competency [9,10]. In terms of leadership, three
di€erent kinds of competencies are required: leadership
competencies such as the ability to lead change; func-
tional competencies such as technical and human
resource management skills; and personal skills such as
high achievement motivation and persistence [11].
Besides the competency literature, there is a substantial
literature that focusses speci®cally on project leadership.
For example, Zimmerer and Yasin [12] reported that in
their study of American project managers, the highest
rated characteristics for e€ective project managers and
for project success were team building, communicating,
demonstrating trust, and focussing on results among
others. Similarly, the key project tools for success were
project scheduling, budgeting, and execution planning
among a others. They concluded that their pro®le
``reveals a leader who recognizes that it is absolutely
essential to build a project team, reinforce positive
behaviour, communicate, demonstrate trust and respect,
develop team members and empower them to perform
and set goals while remaining ¯exible to respond to the
inevitable changes'' [12, pp. 37±38]. Kerzner [13] has
done a notable job of tying together these di€erent
94 R. Loo / International Journal of Project Management 20 (2002) 93±98
contributors to best practices in project management
with his six components model of excellence: integrated
management processes, organizational culture, manage-
ment support, training and education, informal project
management, and behavioural excellence.
The main purposes of the present study were to have
project managers identify (a) the best practices in their
Canadian organizations, (b) areas for improvement, (c)
barriers to best practices in their organizations, and (d)
to rate important organizational contexts for best prac-
tices, namely, organizational culture and leadership styles.
2. Method
2.1. Sample
A random sample of 150 Canadian organizations was
selected from the population of 168 organizations having
professional project managers in the province of
Alberta, the researcher's location. The sample cut across
private and public-sectors, organizational size and industry
groups. One project manager was randomly selected from
each organization's listing of project managers in the Pro-
ject Management Institute-Canada membership list.
2.2. Questionnaire development
The questionnaire was developed from a critical
review of the literature on best practices in management
and, in particular, project management as well as on key
organizational context factors, speci®cally, leadership
style and organizational culture. The questionnaire was
®rst pretested using two university instructors and then
pretested using 12 project managers randomly selected
from the research population. Only minor revisions
were required; for example, minor re-wordings to ques-
tions to remove ambiguities and slight changes to the
layout of the questionnaire to improve readability.
2.3. Procedure and analysis
The questionnaire was mailed during the summer-fall
1999 with one follow-up mailing to non-respondents to
help increase the response rate. Besides the descriptive
statistical analyses of quantitative data, qualitative con-
tent analyses [14] were performed on the participants'
written comments to identify themes underlying the
comments. All participants received a detailed feedback
report on the survey results in December 1999.
3. Results
The response rate was 22.7% with 34 of 150 organi-
zations returning completed questionnaires for analyses.
While a higher response rate is desirable, it is appre-
ciated that project managers are themselves under great
time pressures and many were interested in participating
in this study but unable to ®nd the time to complete the
questionnaire as stated in their e-mail messages to the
author. The respondents tended to have been in the
project management profession for a long time
(M=16.5 years, S.D.=9.2) and also in their present
organization for a long time (M=11.2 years, S.D.=9.2).
A wide variety of organizations are represented in the
responding organizations: high technology (7), manage-
ment/engineering consulting ®rms (6), manufacturing
(5), construction (5), oil and gas (4), utilities (4), gov-
ernment (2) and one unreported.
4. ``Best PM practices'' in my organization
The qualitative content analyses of responses and
comments yielded a rich variety of themes that were
grouped into categories that were, in turn, grouped into
two clusters, technical and people clusters.
4.1. Top ``best PM practice''
In response to the question asking for the top ``best
practice'' in their organization, there was an almost
even split between ``technical'' and ``people'' themes
mentioned. Four technical themes emerged as the orga-
nization's top best practice: having an integrated Project
Management System (PMS); e€ective scope manage-
ment of projects; e€ective project planning, scheduling,
and controlling; and e€ective contract management.
There were four people-related themes that emerged
from the comments: having high caliber project teams;
having stakeholder participation; e€ective communications
within teams and externally; and customer satisfaction.
4.2. Second most important ``best PM practice''
Responses to the question asking for the second most
important best practice resulted in four technical
themes: having an integrated and appropriate PMS for
projects was noted here as with the top best practice;
e€ective scope management; e€ective resource manage-
ment; and contingency planning. Three people-oriented
``best practices'' emerged from the data: continuity in
client contact; e€ectively managing human resources;
and e€ective communications.
4.3. Third most important ``best PM practice''
Finally, participants were asked to present the third
most important best practice; analyses of comments
resulted in four technical and one people-oriented theme.
The four technical themes were the PMS; controlling costs
 R. Loo / International Journal of Project Management 20 (2002) 93±98
and budgets; the importance of preplanning; and the
importance of thorough project documentation. The
one people theme centered on the importance of e€ec-
tive communications and meetings.
Overall, it was interesting to see the best practices split
between technical and people practices rather than just
emphasize the technical aspects of PM. As several par-
ticipants noted, it is through people that the work gets
done. There were several best practices that recurred
over the top three places, namely having an integrated
and comprehensive PMS, e€ective planning including
preplanning and contingency planning, e€ective scope
management, e€ective client and contract management,
e€ective resource management, and e€ective commu-
nications.
4.4. Most important areas for improving PM practices
in my organization
Participants were asked to identify the top three most
important areas for improving PM practices in their
organization. Comments for the most important or top
area for improvement were organized into three technical
themes and one people theme: implement standard PM
practices; improve scope management; improve budget
management; and the need for more manager and sta€
training.
Some seven themes, six technical and one people-
oriented theme, emerged from comments about the second
most important area for improvement: integrate project
control methods; apply PM principles to small projects;
the need for organizational learning; the need to
empower teams; the need for project reviews and audits;
the need for ecient and e€ective resource planning;
and the need for more e€ective planning and preplanning.
Some ®ve themes, four people and one technical
theme, emerged from comments about the third most
important area for improvement. The need for PM
training and education, particularly, training in plan-
ning tools; the need for project documentation and the
sharing of project tools, techniques, and templates; the
need to better manage human resources; the need to
promote e€ective communications and trust among all the
stakeholders; and the need to improve interpersonal skills.
4.5. Potential barriers to achieving these improvements
Numerous potential barriers were identi®ed to
achieving the sorts of improvements to PM noted in the
previous section.
. An over-inclusive view of PM. The view that some
managers hold that there is one way to do PM and
that everyone in PM needs to know everything
about PM was seen as an impediment to improve-
ments.
95
. No PM `champion'. Not having strong leadership
or a 'champion' of PM principles in the organiza-
tion was seen as an impediment.
. Leadership and the organizational culture. The
concern was raised that senior management cannot
®xate just on the bottom line, there is a need to
attend to process (e.g. planning) and people
aspects too.
. Inadequate investment in training. Organizational
short-sightedness was seen as one impediment to
investing funds in training for the longer-term
payo€. The costs of training and time away from
the job for training courses were seen as barriers.
. Resistance to change. Sta€ resistance to learning
and using PM tools meant that some managers
and sta€ are not prepared to change nor do they
see a need to change.
. Individual versus team compensation. It was noted
that compensation systems typically rewarded
individual contributors rather than the team for
team performance; thus, individuals are reluctant
to share information and PM tools with others.
. Time pressures and constraints. Everyone is already
busy and improvements would require allocating
even more time and energy into work at the
expense of personal and family time.
The noted barriers to improvements presented no
surprises given the body of literature in both the PM
and more general management literature on the di-
culties of change. Fortunately, the literature includes
success stories and tips on change management [15].
5. My organizational culture
Overall, the ratings and rankings on organizational
culture, as seen in Table 1, reveal organizations that are
perceived to be very ethical (``good ethics is good
business'') and to have very diverse workforces. On the
other hand, some of these organizations might consider
re-examining their systems for individual and group
rewards/compensation, sta€ involvement/empowerment
in areas such as decision-making, their approach to
training and development, and willingness to take
risks.
5.1. Comments about my organizational culture
Analyses of comments about their own organizational
culture led to four themes.
. Changing culture and managing change. The fact
that organizational cultures are not stable but are
constantly changing and there is a need to e€ec-
tively manage change.
96 R. Loo / International Journal of Project Management 20 (2002) 93±98

Table 1
Describing my organizational culturea

My organization Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Rankings

1 2 3

Takes risks 17.6 52.9 23.5 5.9 10.3 2.6 5.1

Welcomes change 32.4 50 11.8 5.9 17.9 5.1 2.6
Has a diverse workforce 29.4 55.9 11.8 2.9 17.9 5.1 2.6
Invests a lot in training 20.6 44.1 26.4 8.8 0 10.3 5.1
Emphasizes ethical practices 58.8 35.3 5.9 0 12.8 10.3 5.1
Has e€ective communications 26.5 52.9 14.7 5.9 10.3 17.9 5.1
Uses TQM principles 25 45.8 29.2 0 7.7 2.6 5.1
Uses teams a lot 39.4 39.4 18.2 3 7.7 2.6 5.1
Involves employees in decisions 8.8 55.9 26.5 8.8 2.6 2.6 12.8
Rewards individual performance 20.6 44.1 29.4 5.9 0 2.6 12.8
Rewards group performance 26.5 41.2 26.5 5.9 0 0 0
Has strong organizational culture 26.5 47.1 20.6 5.9 5.1 0 7.7
a
All table entires are percentages (%) and might not add to 100% due to rounding errors.

. Pressures for innovation. Downsizing over the
years has placed a heavier burden on remaining
sta€, therefore, innovative PM improvements are
seen as very important in organizations.
. Bottom-line focus. This theme re¯ected the view
that, unforunately, the prime focus in organiza-
tions is on the bottom line, people are viewed as a
necessary evil and there are too many people.
. Distrust. This theme noted the mild distrust
between executives and sta€.
able to actively contribute to problem-solving, decision-
making, and the like. The emphasis on situational leader-
ship makes good sense given the diversity within project
teams (e.g. di€erent professional and technical disciplines
and degrees of PM experience). Finally, while transfor-
mational leadership did not receive relatively high ratings,
this style has an important role in organizations; as one
participant noted, we are in a very competitive world
and Canadian organizations need to change.

7. Shaping the future

6. The leadership style in my organization
Not surprisingly in PM environments, this sample
described their organizations as stressing both task- and
people-oriented leadership styles while minimizing a
laissez-faire leadership style as seen in Table 2. Given
that PM environments tend to have highly educated and
motivated sta€, then the high ratings for participative
leadership are expected seeing as project sta€ should be
Having examined the current state, participants then
looked towards shaping the future, particularly the
important role of leadership and organizational culture
seeing as ``best practices'' take place within the larger
organizational context.
7.1. Best PM leadership style in my organization for the
future would be

Table 2 Comments were presented about four styles of leader-

Leadership style in my organizationa ship that would be best for their particular organization in
the future.
The leadership style in Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly
my organization is agree disagree
. People-oriented leadership (25.8% of respondents
Task-oriented 36.4 51.5 6.1 6.1 endorsed). Respondents mentioned people-orien-
People-oriented 38.2 41.2 11.8 8.8
ted leadership because projects are completed
Directive 26.5 55.9 14.7 2.9
Participative 38.2 38.2 2.9 8.8 through people. One noted that he had seen this
Laissez-Faire 5.9 20.6 52.9 20.6 style work while other styles failed and another
Situational 14.7 52.9 23.5 8.8 respondent stated, ``Treat them well and they will
Transactional 12.1 63.6 21.2 3 remain loyal and the company will succeed.''
Transformational 36.4 30.3 27.3 6.1
. Participative leadership (22.6%). Not surprisingly,
a
All table entries are percentages (%) and might not add to 100% a participative style was endorsed given that pro-
due to rounding errors. ject sta€ are typically well-educated and articulate
 R. Loo / International Journal of Project Management 20 (2002) 93±98
sta€ who have much (specialized) knowledge and
experience to contribute. One person noted the
inclusion in decision-making and fostering of
creative freedom as important characteristics
associated with this style.
. Transformational leadership (16.1%). Several respon-
dents advocated transformational leadership, with
one stating, ``Because most Canadian organizations
are lagging behind the world's leading organizations,
though this is not apparent since the [dollar] exchange
rate advantage for Canada has hidden weaknesses
such as the low productivity of labour.''
. Situational Leadership (12.9% respondents). Several
mentioned situational leadership with the following
quotes illustrating the rationale for the situational
style.
``Situational leadership appears to ®t the future
needs the best...this style appears to ®t with the
needs of project management and has the ¯ex-
ibility that is required in diverse workforces.''
``Each project is the consequence of a unique
contract.''
``No one [leadership] style is right for every
situation. Thus, situational leadership Ð which is
a style of styles Ð is best but dicult for many
people to develop.''
. Transactional (6.2%), Directive (3.2%), and Task
Leadership (3.2%) styles were rarely endorsed.
8. Conclusions and management implications
Overall, results show that these Canadian organiza-
tions are doing some PM activities very well (i.e. best
practices) but, not surprisingly, that there are areas for
improvement in both the technical and people side of
PM. What is being done well can be summarized as
speci®c technical and people competencies:
. e€ective technical competencies centering on pro-
ject planning, scope management, project control
especially over costs/budgets, and having a project
management system and documentation; and
. e€ective people competencies centering on com-
munications and client/stakeholder participation.
There are several technical PM areas that need
improvement:
. to standardize, integrate, and disseminate PM
practices throughout the organization,
. to practice better scope management and front-
end planning (preplanning), and
. to implement more e€ective budget management.
Similarly, there are several people competencies that
need improvement:
97
. to invest more in training for sta€ and managers
alike especially in the areas of con¯ict management,
stress management, team building, motivation
techniques, and communications skills; and
. to implement e€ective team-based compensation
and recognition in addition to the commonly-used
individual-based compensation systems.
The results and recommendations for these Canadian
organizations are in line with those reported in studies
from other countries [3,7,8,12,13] which have shown the
important role of both technical and people compe-
tencies, project leadership, and a supportive organiza-
tional culture among other key factors in best practices.
Therefore, these results are generalizable beyond this
Canadian context and sample.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a grant from the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of
Canada. More detailed results are available from the
author at the Faculty of Management, The University
of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1K 3M4.
E-mail: loo@uleth.ca.
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