Abstract

The importance of Project Management (PM) cannot be overemphasized as the demand for capable and effective project managers to lead IT projects is significantly increasing. The PMI (Project Management Institute) is predicting the demand for new entrants in PM is rising and the demand for project managers will outstrip the demand for other professions over the next decade. Hence, the employers are demanding more capable and effective project managers. The institutions of higher education are responding to this demand by offering more graduate and undergraduate courses in PM, and by offering certificate programs and graduate degrees in PM. Therefore, it is important to determine the soft and technical skills needed for effective project managers to lead challenging and complex IT projects including enterprise systems to success. The effective PM courses and programs can be designed based on these skills for better preparation of project managers and making them more effective. This research seeks to gain insights into how PM working professionals, PM educators and PM students perceive the required soft and technical skills needed to be a successful project manager. The three groups are surveyed separately to examine their perceptions of effective skills. There has not been an integration of research on the required PM skills. The primary purpose of this research is to fill this gap in the academic research stream and determine the effective PM skills for designing and building effective PM courses. This research should facilitate aligning PM course offerings and programs to effective PM soft and technical skills. As educators aspire to prepare students for the PM positions and their challenges, they should be aware of effective skills in successfully completing various projects and therefore design their effective PM courses and programs accordingly.

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