Investigating the Competency of Project Managers in the Chinese Construction Industry: A Case Study

The competency of project managers has critical influences on the success of construction projects. However, the research on the importance of competency factors and the actual competence level of project managers in the Chinese construction industry remain rare. On the basis of literature review, this paper develops the professional competency index system of Chinese construction project managers, which includes 3 dimensions and 7 indicators. Based on a questionnaire survey, descriptive statistical analysis and importance-performance analysis (IPA) were conducted to explore the difference between the importance of professional competency factors and the actual level of their competencies, to understand the weak areas of project manager’s competency and to further improve their professional competencies. The results show that the actual level of all professional competency indicators is lower than their corresponding importance level, indicating that in general, the professional competency of project managers in the Chinese construction industry needs to be comprehensively improved. Among them, the largest gap measured in mean value differences is the “knowledge” dimension, and in terms of factors the gaps for “professional knowledge”, “practical ability” and “career planning ability” are the most significant between the perceived importance and actual levels. These are the aspects that project managers need to focus on improving. The research results in this paper provide theoretical reference for further improvement of the competences of project managers in the Chinese construction industry.