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Assessing the critical behavioral competencies of information technology (IT) project managers at Southern California Edison

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Assessing the critical behavioral competencies of information technology (IT) project managers at Southern California Edison

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ASSESSING THE CRITICAL BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES OF
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) PROJECT MANAGERS AT
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON
by
Sanjay Kumar Dutta
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2000
Copyright 2000 Sanjay Kumar Dutta
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UMI Number: 3018074
Copyright 2000 by
Dutta, Sanjay Kumar
All rights reserved.
___ ®
UMI
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
School of Education
Los Angeles, California 90089-0031
This dissertation, written by
Saniav K. Dutta__________________________
under the direction o f h La Dissertation Committee, and
approved by all members o f the Committee, has been
presented to and accepted by the Faculty o f the School
o f Education in partialfulfillment o f the requirementsfor
the degree of
D o c t o r o f E d u c a t io n
Dissertation Committee L/issertafioni
Q j& f£
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements v
List of Figures vi
List of Tables vii
Abstract xii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1
Problem 1
Statement of Problem 5
Description o f Southern California Edison's
Information Technology Business Unit 5
Research Questions 7
Setting and Sample 7
Procedures for Study 10
Data Analysis 12
Proposed Outcomes of the Research 12
Limitations 13
Organization 14
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 15
An overview of competencies - Definitions and Criteria 16
The History of Job Competence Assessment 21
Improved Performance as a Function o f Improved Job Competence 25
The Changing Nature of U.S. Electric Power Industry 28
Regulatory and Political Forces 28
Market Forces 29
Technological Forces 30
Role o f IT with respect to future Electric Utility market 31
New Electric Utility Environment 33
The Field of Project Management 34
Project Manager - Skills and Competencies 36
Competency and Competency Clusters for
Technical Professionals and Managers 46
Literature Review - A Summary 49
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 52
IT Project Manager sample selection 52
Data collection procedures 53
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IT Project Manager Protocol 53
IT Manager Protocol 53
Analytical Strategies 54
The Position Description Questionnaire (PDQ) 54
Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) 57
The Behavioral Event Interview (BEI) 58
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 60
Position Description Questionnaire (PDQ) Analysis 60
Position Purpose 60
Responsibilities 63
Major Challenges 67
Decision Making 70
Job Knowledge 72
Education, Experience & Additional Requirements 74
Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) Results
from the IT Manager Sample 75
Behavioral Event Interview (BEI) Analysis 77
Achievement Cluster 78
Helping/Service Cluster 85
Influence Cluster 90
Managerial Cluster 97
Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster 107
Personal Effectiveness Cluster 117
The key characteristics of IT Project Managers 125
CHAPTER V: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS 126
Summary 126
Conclusions 128
Achievement C luster 128
Helping/Service Cluster 131
Influence C luster 13 3
Managerial Cluster 136
Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster 140
Personal Effectiveness Cluster 144
IT Project Managers Core Competency Model based on the Findings 148
Implications and Recommendations 156
IT Project Managers and Potential IT Project Managers 156
Staffing Professionals 157
IT Managers 157
IT Training Managers or Educators 158
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Future Research Suggestions 162
REFERENCES 164
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Letter to Candidates 171
Appendix B: Position Description Questionnaire 172
Appendix C: Competency Clusters 176
Appendix D: Competency Rating Questionnaire 197
Appendix E: BEI Questions from PDQ 219
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Kshama Dutta
I would like to thank my wife, Kshama, for supporting me in this effort. For the past
four years her support was the key in completing the coursework and this research.
Dr. Edward J. Kazlauskas
I would like to thank Professor Kazlauskas for the tremendous guidance that he gave
me on how to approach the research, form a committee, analyzing the data and
interpreting the results which were key to the successful completion of this research.
Brindley Me Gowan
I would like to thank Brindley Me Gowan for giving me a chance to be part of the IT
Training Institute at Southern California Edison and work with IT project managers
and other IT professionals. Under his guidance I was able to conduct this research.
Kavita, Samita and Rahull
I owe the greatest gratitude to my three children, Kavita, Samita and Rahull, ages six,
four and three, respectively. I hope to make up for all the precious moments that were
spent in studying in past four years.
Thank You All.
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vi
List of Figures
Figure 2-1. Central and Surface Competencies 18
Figure 2-2. Competency Causal Flow Model 19
Figure 2-3. What Superior Performance is Worth 27
Figure 4-1. Position Description Questionnaire: Responsibilities 67
Figure 5-1. IT Project Manager Competency Model 149
Figure 5-2. IT Project Manager Competency Model
(Achievement Cluster) 150
Figure 5-3. IT Project Manager Competency Model
(Helping/Service Cluster) 151
Figure 5-4. IT Project Manager Competency Model (Influence Cluster) 152
Figure 5-5. IT Project Manager Competency Model (Managerial Cluster) 153
Figure 5-6. IT Project Manager Competency Model
(Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster) 154
Figure 5-7. IT Project Manager Competency Model
(Personal Effectiveness Cluster) 155
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List of Tables
Table 2-1. Behavioral Skills 39
Table 2-2. Ranking o f skill needs 40
Table 2-3. Knowledge Areas of Project Managers 42
Table 2-4. Project Management Skills 45
Table 2-5. Achievement Cluster 47
Table 2-6. Helping/Service Cluster 47
Table 2-7. Influence Cluster 47
Table 2-8. Managerial Cluster 48
Table 2-9. Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster 48
Table 2-10. Personal Effectiveness Cluster 49
Table 4-1. Position Description Questionnaire. Responsibilities: Project Planning 64
Table 4-2. Position Description Questionnaire. Responsibilities: Project Control 65
Table 4-3. Position Description Questionnaire. Responsibilities:
People Management 65
Table 4-4. Position Description Questionnaire. Responsibilities:
Task Performance 66
Table 4-5. Summary of Challenges/Problems faced by IT Project
Managers Daily 68
Table 4-6. Summary of Challenges/Problems faced by IT Project Managers
Weekly/Monthly 69
Table 4-7. Summary of Challenges/Problems faced by IT Project Managers
Monthly/Quarterly 69
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Table 4-8. Position Description Questionnaire: Decision Making Analysis
(Project Planning) 70
Table 4-9. Position Description Questionnaire: Decision Making Analysis
(Project Control) 70
Table 4-10. Position Description Questionnaire: Decision Making Analysis
(People Management) 71
Table 4-11. Position Description Questionnaire: Decision Making Analysis
(Task Performance) 71
Table 4-12. Position Description Questionnaire: Job Knowledge
(Business Knowledge) 72
Table 4-13. Position Description Questionnaire: Job Knowledge
(System Knowledge) 73
Table 4-14. Position Description Questionnaire: Job Knowledge
(Technical Knowledge) 73
Table 4-15. Position Description Questionnaire: Education, Experience &
Additional requirements 74
Table 4-16. Mean Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) 76
Table 4-17. Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ):
Achievement Cluster 78
Table 4-18. Achievement Orientation: BEI findings 79
Table 4-19. BEI findings: Concern for Quality and Order (CO) 82
Table 4-20. BEI findings: Initiative (INT) 83
Table 4-21. Results o f the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ):
Helping/Service Cluster 86
Table 4-22. BEI findings: Interpersonal Understanding (IU) 87
Table 4-23. BEI findings: Customer-Service Orientation (CSO) 88
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Table 4-24. Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ):
Influence C luster 91
Table 4-25. BEI findings: Impact and Influence (IMP) 92
Table 4-26. BEI findings: Organizational Awareness (OA) 94
Table 4-27. BEI findings: Relationship Building (RB) 96
Table 4-28. Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ):
Managerial Cluster 98
Table 4-29. BEI findings: Directiveness (DIR) 99
Table 4-30. BEI findings: Teamwork and Cooperation (TW) 101
Table 4-31. BEI findings: Developing Others (DEV) 103
Table 4-32. BEI findings: Team Leadership (TL) 105
Table 4-33. Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ):
Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster 108
Table 4-34. BEI findings: Technical Expertise (EXP) 109
Table 4-35. BEI findings: Information Seeking (INF) 111
Table 4-36. BEI findings: Analytical Thinking (AT) 113
Table 4-37. BEI findings: Conceptual Thinking (CT) 115
Table 4-38. Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ):
Personal Effectiveness Cluster 118
Table 4-39. BEI findings: Self-Control (SCT) 118
Table 4-40. BEI findings: Self Confidence (SCF) 120
Table 4-41. BEI findings: Organizational Commitment (OC) 122
Table 4-42. BEI findings: Flexibility (FLX) 124
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Table 5-1. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Achievement Orientation
Table 5-2. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Concern for Quality and Order
Table 5-3. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Initiative (INT)
Table 5-4. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Interpersonal Understanding
Table 5-5. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Customer-Service Orientation
Table 5-6. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Impact and Influence (IMP)
Table 5-7. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Organizational Awareness (OA)
Table 5-8. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Relationship Building (RB) Networking
Table 5-9. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Directiveness (DIR)
Table 5-10. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Teamwork and cooperation (TW)
Table 5-11. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Developing others (DEV)
Table 5-12. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Team Leadership (TL)
Table 5-13. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Technical Expertise
Table 5-14. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Information Seeking (INF)
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Table 5-15. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Analytical thinking (AT)
Table 5-16. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Conceptual thinking (CT)
Table 5-17. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Self control (SCT)
Table 5-18. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Self-confidence (SCF)
Table 5-19. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Organizational commitment (OC)
Table 5-20. Comparison with Previous Research Findings:
Flexibility (FLX)
Table 5-21. Competency Rankings based on the IT Managers
response to the CRQ
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Abstract
This study identified the behavioral competencies which should be present
among Information Technology (IT) project managers to promote effective
performance which meets or exceeds their departments’ standards. A qualitative
research methodology was used to identify the behavioral competencies o f IT project
managers. Additionally, an adaptation of the methodologies described by McClelland
in Competency Assessment Methods (Spencer et al., 1994) was selected as research
design.
The IT project managers (N=16) that participated in this study were identified
by their supervisors or the IT (department) managers as “effective” project managers,
individuals whose performance met or exceeded their departments’ standards. These
IT project managers and the IT managers represented three disciplines in IT business
units at Southern California Edison: Application Services, Desktop Services, and
Telecommunication services.
The IT project managers were administered a Position Description
Questionnaire and they participated in a Behavioral Event Interview. These
instruments yielded narrative data for content analysis of the frequency and level of
competencies demonstrated. A survey, in form of Competency Rating Questionnaire,
was administered to the IT managers (N=8) to assess their perceptions concerning the
key characteristics o f IT project managers. Additionally, the literature review
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provided the existing research and reviews with relationship to IT project managers’
key characteristics.
Teamwork and cooperation were found to be critical competencies for IT
project managers. The following competencies emerged as very important to the role
of IT project managers: achievement orientation, initiative, customer-service
orientation, developing others, interpersonal understanding, organizational awareness,
analytical thinking, flexibility, team leadership, conceptual thinking and self-
confidence. Information seeking, organizational commitment, impact and influence,
self-control, technical expertise, directiveness and relationship building were
considered as important competencies for effective performance of IT project
managers. Based on the findings, a competency model of a successful IT project
manager was developed.
A series of recommendations include helpful hints for IT project managers and
the potential IT project managers who wish to pursue this career, suggestions to
staffing professionals and IT managers who select and hire IT project managers,
recommendation to IT training managers or educators who are responsible for training
and development of IT project managers, and opportunities to researchers for further
studies.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Problem
In recent years, companies have been investing substantial amounts of money
in information technology (IT). In 1991, U.S. companies spent over $100 billion on
IT and almost 40% o f United States capital spending was being used to acquire IT
(Roach, 1991). In 1994, annual U.S. spending on the development of IT applications
reached $250 billion (Johnson, 1995). Some estimates show that utilities in the United
States alone spend up to $1.3 billion annually on information technology (Cain &
Holcombe, 1999). This figure is expected to grow to more than $3 billion by 2003.
Much of these investments are directed at modifying office work and improving
productivity (Applegate, 1998; Brandt, 1994; Ducker, 1988, 1993). Some
organizations may use IT to help enhance the quality of services and increase their
flexibility and responsiveness to changing environment conditions, while IT to
increase efficiency.
Successful implementation o f IT project is an essential part of executing new
business strategies (Cash & Fox, 1992), whether the strategy calls for modifying
office, improving productivity, enhance the quality of services, or increase flexibility
and responsiveness to changing environment conditions. The strategic importance
that IT now plays, coupled with the burgeoning costs o f developing systems, has
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raised the stakes associated with project failure. While it is difficult to obtain statistics
on the actual frequency of IT failures, various sources suggest that at least half of all
IT projects are not as successful as we would like them to be (Majchrzak, 1992; Davy,
1999). According to a study by Standish Group International (see Kapur, 1997) a
staggering 31.1 percent of projects will be canceled before they ever get completed.
An another study by The Hackett Group, a Hudson, Ohio-based benchmarking firm
(see L.W., 1999), found that the average company completes only 37 percent of large
IT projects on time and only 42 percent on budget. In addition, more than half of the
projects will overrun their initial cost estimates by almost 200 percent. The lost
opportunity costs are not measurable but could easily be in the billions o f dollars
considering over $250 billion spent each year on IT.
Research suggests that three distinct spheres of IT activities underlie IT-based
innovation: IT infrastructure management, IT use management, and project
management (Clark et at., 1997; Cross et al., 1997; Sambamurthy & Zmud, 1994;
Weill & Broadbent, 1998). Project management involves blending knowledge of IT
infrastructure capabilities and capacities with knowledge associated for the
conceptualization, acquisition, development and deployment of information systems
applications (Curtis et al., 1988; Slevin & Pinto 1987; Walz et al., 1993).
Developing the best IT strategies in the world does no good if it cannot be
implemented. A benchmark study piloted by Financial Executives Institute and the
Hackett Group (reported by Axson, 1996) shows that there is a critical need in IT
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today to bring a higher level o f project management and implementation expertise to
the IT organization itself.
The tremendous gains in technology and the availability of new project
management tools seem to have little direct effect on ones ability to keep IT projects
within established time and budget constraints (Cash & Fox, 1992). A successful
project almost always has a “champion” (Cash & Fox, 1992) or a “leader” (Dekom,
1991) who either by past experience or by persistent determination provides needed
leadership to members of the project team, ensures adequate detail, secures
communications between the parts, and sells to see that results are achieved.
Risk of failure, coupled with cost concerns, is making IT project management
such a risky business these days. And it is a business which has become everyone’s
business, especially upper management. Half o f most organizations’ capital
expenditures are going into information technology.
Effective IT project management (Deane et al., 1997; Pitman, 1991) involves
not only meeting schedules, budgets, and specification, but also making decisions
which, in turn, require understanding the project environment, background, cultural
and political context of the project, people, and most importantly strategic issue of
whether project outcomes meet customer needs. IT project management is more about
people than technology (Hallows, 1997). The people side consists o f communications
and motivational issues with regards to the project. However, this side is rarely
addressed directly. And yet, as we all know, people can make or break a project.
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A significant amount of research has been performed to determine the
characteristics o f successful lawyers, engineers and other professionals. Tests have
been developed to predict if high school graduates will become effective lawyers and
engineers. Typically, in the information technology field, individuals become project
managers based on their technical seniority. Technical people are often characterized
as lacking basic communication skills. Technically trained people usually concentrate
their studies on the technology rather than the humanities or personal communication
skills (Weimer, 1998). Many of these individuals are thrust into project manager
positions without much regard to their likelihood of success. If an individual is ill
prepared, by virtue of experience or personal characteristics, failure in a project may
be the unfortunate outcome. A failure on an IT project could easily cost in excess of
several million dollars.
The major challenges faced by IT management are twofold, first, to determine
the appropriate IT strategy and subsequent implementation plan, and secondly, to
develop the requisite staff skill and knowledge to be able to successfully implement
this plan. The first task alone is overwhelming, however, this not is the focus of this
study. The second challenge, that of training and development of IT professionals is
often underestimated by IT management. Many o f the IT professionals have technical
knowledge which is rapidly becoming obsolete and have inadequate business and
project management skills to compensate.
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Statement of the Problem
Given the myriad issues facing IT project managers today, it is clear that in
order to remain viable in today’s IT environment an understanding of the key
characteristics o f their role is required. IT project managers require information about
how they can remain successful in their environment and IT managers and directors
need information about the characteristics of outstanding IT project managers for
selection and succession planning. Additionally, based on findings of this research the
IT training manager could develop training curriculum for IT project managers. The
goal of this study was to develop a profile of key characteristics of IT project
managers within a single organization.
Description of Southern California Edison’s Information Technology Business
Unit
Southern California Edison (SCE) has the fourth largest data center on the
West Coast. Prior to hiring the current CIO in 1997, SCE had evaluated outsourcing
its IT functions. As consequence of negative anticipation, there had been tremendous
attrition of IT staff. And then, nearly concurrent with the decision not to outsource,
SCE downsized. It offered an early retirement program, and many of the IT staff with
a lot of seniority that weren’t quite ready to leave because of outsourcing now had this
opportunity. The net effect? When the new CIO came on board, IT had lost 50 percent
of its staff. And it faced this tremendous staff shortage just as the corporation was
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embarking on some huge initiatives: the complete replacement o f its customer
information system, implementation o f a new HR system, the Y2K problem, and a
myriad of about another 80 smaller projects.
Information technology is a key enabler of the products, services, and business
processes which SCE must have to continue as a business leader and innovator, and to
thrive in the new competitive environment of electric utilities. The information
technology budget across the company amounted to some $300 million in 1998. In
1998, $175 million were spent towards strategic information technology capital
projects. Many of these capital projects are in support of SCE’s business initiatives
that are run by project managers. Often, a project's success depends on having a
capable project manager lead the project. With the project manager being the key to
the success of a project, an ineffective project manager could easily cost the company
several million dollars. These costs can be categorized as overruns, delays, and lost
future opportunities due to tied up resources.
Southern California Edison’s information technology infrastructure is far
reaching and forward looking. SCEnet, a flexible, robust 1,500-mile fiber optic
network, connects all the company's key locations and is capable of handling large
volumes of data. Other infrastructure elements include an expansive mobile-radio
network, a 22,000-pocket radio network which relays meter data and SC ADA
readings, 28,800 telephone extensions, an 8.1-terbyte mainframe, 15,000 local-area
network (LAN) drops, some 14,000 PCs, and 12,500 e-mail IDs.
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The CIO’s mandate has been to rebuild the organization. This project is also
part of this rebuilding process. The organization has committed to a minimum of 80
hours o f training per IT employee per year. Those interested in this study would be IT
project managers at all levels, IT (department) managers, IT training manager, and
researchers in the field of IT project management.
Research Questions
There is one grand tour question (Creswell, 1994) formed which addresses the
purpose of this study: What are the key behavioral characteristics which should be
present among IT project managers to promote performance that meets or exceeds the
department standards? Creswell (1994) recommends that qualitative research
questions include one to two grand tour questions followed by few sub-questions.
Two sub-questions support the grand tour question. Is it possible to develop a
competency model of successful IT project manager? How could the staffing
professionals, IT managers or supervisors and the IT training managers or educators,
utilize this competency model to select and develop successful IT project managers?
Setting and Sample
The IT project managers that participated in this study represented three
following areas: application/information program, desktop services, and
telecommunications. The application/information program provides an environment
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and applications portfolio that facilitates agile business processes and enables sharing
of quality information across SCE, as well as with customers, business partners,
suppliers, and regulatory agencies. This program is the crossroads where all business
unit applications meet to check for redundancies and gain efficiencies in
interoperability. Information is assessed, structured and utilized for the advantage it
can provide to the enterprise. Desktop services provide and support a standards-based,
distributed environment, as well as providing support for a variety of information
appliances. Desktop applications are supported by automated, centrally managed
processes resulting in minimal support requirements for installing, upgrading, fixing,
or removing software products. Telecommunications, as mentioned earlier, a flexible,
robust 1,500-mile fiber optic network, connects all the company’s key locations and is
capable of handling large volume of data.
The project managers that participated in this study had been involved with
various projects in the above-mentioned areas within the IT business unit. The project
managers from the application services were primarily involved in improving the
process o f application development through the implementation of defined and
repeatable system engineering practice. In addition, these project managers developed
IT architectures and strategies to address changes in business strategy or IT industry
technology. Also, these project managers were involved in developing a discipline
and curriculum o f system engineering at SCE which can be practiced throughout the
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distributed IT community. The ultimate product o f application services was to build
systems of high quality schedule and budget while minimizing rework.
The participating project managers from Desktop Services were involved in
various projects, such as, Common Desktop Environment (CDE); organization,
centralization and management of business/operational processes, procedures,
standards, and projects; making desktop services products Y2K ready; Peregrine
service center product; Tivoli project; and managing Service Request Management
(SRM).
The project managers from the telecommunication area were involved with
projects in the area of Corporate Real Estate’s strategic facilities plan (involvement
limited to IT matters); management of various aspects of Year 2000 and how it relates
to communication services; managing IT infrastructure projects for the business units
and internal IT project; managing the day to day and long range activities of network
switching systems and network planning; and overseeing the development and
tracking of integrated and division-wide project schedules, budgets, and other
performance indicators.
The participants in this study were identified by their organizations as
“effective” project managers, individuals whose performance met or exceeded their
departments’ standards. Each of the participating IT project manager had a
“Performance Partnership Agreement” or PPA that had 4 to 6 goals for the year, each
goal having following three levels of ratings: “Unmet” or (U), “Met” or (M), and
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“Exceed” or (E). However, there is an only one overall performance rating at end of
the year.
Procedures for the Study
This study was framed around discovering the behavioral job competencies or
attributes that promote effective performance in typical IT project managers. A job
competency is an underlying characteristic of a person that may be a motive, trait,
skill, aspect of one's self image or social role, or a body of knowledge which he or she
uses (Boyatzis, 1982).
As mentioned above, the candidates or the IT project managers participating in
this study were from three separate departments within the corporate IT business unit
at SCE. There were 16 IT project managers that participated in this qualitative study.
There were five IT project mangers from IT application services, six of the project
managers were from the IT desktop services, and five of the project managers were
from the telecommunication services. The three pieces of data that were utilized for
this study are as follows:
I) Position Description Questionnaire (PDQ) (Appendix B). Each candidate
filled out a PDQ. This questionnaire was used to gather information for the
purpose of defining duties and responsibilities of the participating project
managers.
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2) Behavioral Event Interviews (BEI). The candidates were interviewed for
approximately one to one-and-one-half hours (open-ended questions) about
the details o f their work as IT project managers. The interviews were audio
taped and transcribed verbatim. The BEI is the heart o f the Job
Competency Assessment process (Spencer & Spencer, 1993). The
objective of the BEI was to get very detailed behavioral descriptions of
how the IT project managers went about performing their work. To get the
complete story the interviewees were asked to speak on the first person
basis and answer to such open-ended questions as listed below. Lists of
questions were derived from the IT project managers’ responses to the
PDQ (see Appendix E for questions driven from the PDQs) and other
incidents presented by the interviewees during the BEI.
What was the situation? What events led up to it?
Who was involved?
What did you (the interviewee) think, feel, or do in the situations?
What did you actually do or say?
What was the outcome? What happened?
3) A unique survey, in form o f Competency Rating Questionnaire (Appendix
C), was administered to IT department managers to assess their perceptions
concerning the key characteristics of IT project managers.
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Data Analysis
In the analysis and synthesis o f data, triangulation strategies of multiple
sources, and convergence o f data gathered by different methods was employed to
interpret data. The information gathered from the PDQ was analyzed to determine
specific roles and responsibilities of participating project managers. Also, the
information made available on the PDQ was utilized to develop questionnaires for the
Behavioral Event Interview (BEI). Thematic content analysis (Boyatzis, 1998) of IT
project manager’s operant thought patterns were conducted using transcribed
narratives of the (BEI). These narratives were analyzed for repeating themes or
concepts.
Proposed Outcomes of the Research
Little, in depth, research has been conducted on the behavioral competencies
required to be successful as an IT project manager. This qualitative study attempts to
define the behavioral characteristics o f IT project managers which lead to effective
performance. The developed competency model will serve the following benefits:
first, for IT project managers or potential IT project managers to get a realistic picture
of the work and the required behavioral skills would aid in deciding whether or not to
pursue the IT project manager’s position at either at SCE or elsewhere with settings
similar to that of SCE. Second, the staffing professionals could use this information to
select potential candidates to work for SCE’s IT department. Third, IT managers or
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13
supervisors could use this information to hire and develop career plans for IT project
manages. Finally, IT training manager could use this information to develop curricula
and course content for IT project management professionals.
Limitations
This study was limited by typically identified factors that limit qualitative
research. These include the small number of subjects and the possibility of researcher
bias. Due to the small sample size and the fact that the IT project managers were
being drawn from only one company, SCE, it will be difficult to draw generalizations
about the study results to the larger population of IT project managers. However,
there seem to be a great mix of experience among the subjects involved in this study.
Roughly half of the subjects were traditional utility employees (one’s with long utility
career). The other half had been working for SCE for less than 18 months and they
had a non-utility background (predominately Air Space industry and other IT
companies). This study could be generalized to IT organizations within other electric
utilities and IT organizations with similar settings. Also, this study will further the
research of the IT project management field and the approach o f this study can be
applied to other target populations within the broad project management field.
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Organization
This qualitative study is organized into five chapters and appendices. This
introductory chapter provides the background of the problem along with the
procedures of the study, a list o f research questions, and the limitations of the study.
Chapter II, the literature review, includes a review o f the literature specifically
pertaining to the methodological issues, as well as the strengths and limitations o f the
methodology are reviewed. Also, the existing research and reviews with relationship
to this study are discussed.
Chapter III provides the description of conceptual approach and teclmiques
adopted in the dissertation. A description of the analytic strategy to be used in the
study is reviewed.
Chapter IV provides the results of this qualitative study.
Chapter V provides the summary and conclusions based upon this study’s
research outcomes in the context o f the literature, and it provides series of
recommendations for IT project managers, staffing professionals, IT managers and IT
training managers or educators.
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CHAPTER U
LITERATURE REVIEW
This study is framed around identifying the behavioral competencies
(underlying characteristics) that should be present among Information Technology (IT)
project managers to promote effective performance which meets or exceeds their
departments’ standards. A behavioral competency is an underlying characteristic of a
person that may be a motive, trait, skill, aspect of one’s self image or social role, or a
body of knowledge which he or she uses (Boyatzis, 1982).
This chapter contains literature pertaining to several issues, such as behavioral
competencies, the changing nature of U.S. electric power industry, role of IT with
respect to future electric utility market and the field of project management. The first
section describes an overview of competencies - definition and criteria. The second
section describes the history of job competency assessment. Third section describes
the strengths and limitations of the job competency assessment method. Following
this, the challenges to the electric utility by the emergence of deregulation are
discussed. Next, the field o f project management is considered. Following this, the
critical role of IT project manager is examined. Further, a review of existing studies
detailing competencies and skills required by IT project manager is provided.
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1 6
An overview of competencies - Definitions and Criteria
Organizations in the late 1990’s are struggling with the rapid pace of change
and the subsequent pressure it places on maintaining a competent workforce.
McLagan (1997) writes:
All of the sudden, it seems, there is a surge of interest in competencies, a
global surge. In the United States, the emphasis is on leadership competencies-
driven, perhaps, by concerns about losing world-class status.
A competency is an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally
related to criterion-referenced effective and/or outstanding performance in a job or
situation (Boyatzis, 1982).
Underlying characteristic means the competency is a fairly deep and enduring
part of a person’s personality and can predict behavior in a wide variety of situations
and job tasks. Competency characteristics can be motives, traits, self-concept, content
knowledge, and cognitive and behavioral skills - any individual characteristic that can
be measured or counted reliably and that can be shown to differentiate significantly
between outstanding and typical performers.
• Motives. The underlying need or thought pattern, which drives, directs
and selects (McClelland, 1971) an individual’s behavior towards certain
actions or goals and away from others.
• Traits. A general disposition to behave or respond in a certain way, e.g.,
self-confidence, self-control, stress resistance (Kobasa et al., 1982).
• Self-concept. A person’s attitude, values, or self-image.
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• Content Knowledge. Information a person has in specific content areas,
either technical or interpersonal.
• Cognitive and Behavioral Skills. The ability to perform a certain physical
or mental task. Mental or cognitive skill competencies include analytic
thinking (processing knowledge and data, determining cause and effect,
organizing data and plans) and conceptual thinking (recognizing patterns in
complex data).
The type or level o f a competency has practical implication for human resource
planning. As illustrated in Figure 2-1, knowledge and skill competencies tend to be
visible, and relatively surface, characteristics of people. Self-concept, trait, and
motive competencies are more hidden, “deeper,” and central to personality. The goal
of this study is to dig beneath the visible characteristics (i.e., skill and knowledge) to
uncover the hidden underlying behavioral competencies of successful IT project
managers.
Competencies differ in the extent to which they can be taught. Surface
knowledge and skill competencies are relatively easy to develop. Training is the most
cost-effective way to secure these employee abilities. Altering attitudes and values is
harder. While changing motives and traits is possible (McClelland & Winter, 1969),
the process is lengthy, difficult and expensive. It is most cost-effective to select for
these characteristics. Most organizations, however, do the reverse: they hire on the
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basis o f educational credentials and assume that candidates come with or can be
indoctrinated with appropriate motives and traits.
Skill
Visible Skill
Knowledge
Self-concept
Trait,
Motive
Hidden
Self-concept
Trait
Motive
Attitudes,
Values ^
Knowledge
Surface:
The Iceberg Model Most easily
developed
Figure 2-1. Central and Surface Competencies
Core personality:
Most difficult to
develop
Causally related means that a competency causes or predicts behavior and
performance. Motive, trait, and self-concept competencies predict skill behavior
actions, which in turn predict job performance outcomes. Competencies are related to
job performance in a simple causal flow model as outlined in Figure 2-2.
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“Intent” “Action”
19
“Outcome”
Behaviors Job Performance Personal Characteristics
• Motive Skill
• Trait
• Self-Concept
• Knowledge
Figure 2-2. Competency Causal Flow Model
Competencies always include an intent, which is the motive or trait force that
causes action toward an outcome. For example, knowledge and skill competencies
invariably include a motive, trait, or self-concept competency, which provides the
drive or “push” for the knowledge or skill to be used. Behavior without intent does
not define a competency. An example is “project management by walking around.”
Without knowing why a project manager is walking around, one cannot know which,
if any, competency is being demonstrated. The project manager’s intent could be
boredom, leg cramps, the monitoring or work to see if quality is high, or a desire “to
be visible to the project members.” Action behaviors can include thought, where
thinking precedes and predicts behavior. Examples are motives (e.g., thinking about
doing something better), planning or problem-solving thoughts (Spencer & Spencer,
1993).
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Criterion referenced means that the competency actually predicts who does
something well or poorly, as measured on a specific criterion or standard. The criteria
most frequently used in competency studies are:
• Superior Performance. This is defined statistically as one standard
deviation above average performance, roughly the level achieved by the top
1 person out of 10 in a given working situations (Hunter et al., 1990)
• Typical Performance. This means a ‘‘minimally acceptable” level of work,
the lower cutoff point below which an employee would not be considered
competent to do the job.
Competencies can be divided into two categories, '‘threshold” and
“differentiating,” according to the job criterion they predict.
• Threshold Competencies. These are the essential characteristics (usually
knowledge or basic skills, such as the ability to read) that everyone in a job
needs to be minimally effective but they do not distinguish superior from
typical performers.
• Differentiating Competencies. These factors distinguish superior from
average performers. For example, achievement orientation expressed in a
person’s setting goals higher than those required by the organization, is a
competency that differentiates superior from average project manager.
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The History of Job Competence Assessment
A great deal o f the early interest in competence was an outgrowth of research
on personality traits through the field of industrial and organizational psychology. The
concept of human competence emerged through the work o f Robert White. In 1959,
Robert White isolated a human trait he called “competence.” The modem competency
movement in American industrial-organizational psychology dates from the late 1960s
and early 1970s. In 1973, David McClelland published a paper entitled “Testing for
Competence Rather than Intelligence” (McClelland, 1973). It was here that
McClelland was credited for launching the competency movement in psychology
(Barrett & Depinet, 1991). McClelland explored competency variables that could
predict job performance and which were not biased toward race, sex or socioeconomic
status. The first tests of McClelland’s principles were with U.S. State Department
Foreign Service Information Officers (McClelland & Dailey, 1973) and U.S. Navy
Race Relations Consultants in the early 1970s (McClelland, 1984). McClelland used
criterion samples to compare people who were clearly successful in their jobs with
individuals who were less successful. In doing so, McClelland developed a
methodology to discover the competency variables. The most important of these
methods were:
1. Use of criterion Samples. This method compares people clearly successful in jobs
with persons less successful in order to identify those characteristics associated
with success.
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2. Identification of operant thoughts and behaviors causally related to successful
outcomes. That is, competency measures should involve open-ended situations in
which an individual has to generate behavior, as distinguished from ''respondent”
measures such as self-report and multiple choice tests which require choosing one
of several well-defined alternative responses to carefully structured situations.
Real life and jobs rarely present such test conditions. Rather, the best predictor of
what a person can and will do is what he or she spontaneously thinks and does in
an unstructured situation - or has done in similar past situations.
As result of the studies mentioned above, McClelland and his colleagues
developed several techniques to capture competence. These techniques include:
1. The use of criterion sampling. Here, clearly outstanding performers are contrasted
to a sample of typical performers using objective performance measures to identify
the two samples.
2. The Behavioral Event Interview (BEI) (McClelland & Dailey, 1972). The BEI
combined Flanagan’s critical incident method (Flanagan, 1954) with “Thematic
Apperception Test” (TAT) probes McClelland developed over 30 years in studying
motivation (McClelland, 1985). Where Flanagan was interested in identifying the
task elements o f jobs, McClelland was interested in the characteristics of the
people who did a job well. The BEI essentially asks people to think of several
important on-the-job situations in which things turned out well or poorly and then
to describe these situations in exhaustive narrative detail, answering such questions
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as these: What led up to the situations? Who was involved? What did you think
about, feel, want to have happen in the situation? What did you do? What was the
outcome?
3. Thematic analysis. The BEI transcripts from successful and typical performers are
scored using a method adopted long ago to measure motivation (Atkinson, 1958),
now being called “CAVE,” for Content Analysis or Verbal Expression (Zullow et
al., 1988). CAVE coding enables investigators to count (measure empirically) and
test statistically for the significance of differences in the characteristics shown by
superior and average performers in various jobs.
The essence of McClelland’s radical departure in approach to job analysis is
that where traditional job analysis looks at elements of the job - e.g., by following
people around with stopwatches or using surveys which find that employees spend
xyz% of their time “communicating” - competency assessment studies the people who
do the job well, and defines the job in terms of the characteristics and behaviors of
these people. For example, most project management jobs involve the task of
planning and organization. The interesting question is what leads a person to plan and
organize well or efficiently. Competency research indicates two underlying
competencies are causally related to effective planning and organizing: Achievement
motivation (an overriding concern with increasing efficiency) and analytical thinking
(the ability to array things in hierarchical or sequential order: to identify what is most
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24
important to do first, and what needs to be done at time 1 to be able to do a subsequent
task at time 2, to be able to finish the project at time 3).
McClelland’s opponents criticized him on the basis of the intelligence testing
movement in the Unite States. Barrett and Depinet (1991) questioned these findings
citing several meta-analytic showing that intelligence test scores do predict
performance in a variety o f jobs. However, McClelland fiercely defended his position
by using the argument that intelligence is a threshold type of variable. Once a person
has a certain minimal level of intelligence, his performance beyond that point is un
correlated with his ability (McClelland, 1995b). The job competency assessment
technique developed by McClelland is universally valid (Spencer & Spencer, 1993).
In job competence assessment, the analysis starts with the person in the job, makes no
prior assumptions as to what characteristics are needed to perform the job well, and
determines from open-ended Behavioral Event Interviews which human characteristics
are associated with job success. The competency method emphasizes criterion
validity; what actually causes outstanding performance in a job, not what factors most
reliably describe all the characteristics of a person, in the hope that some of them will
relate to job performance. Competencies identified by the competency process are
context sensitive. That is, they describe what successful jobholders actually do in their
own organization and culture, not what management theory says should be needed for
success. Job Competency Assessment is a rigorous methodology used for over 25
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25
years to predict competencies for hundreds o f jobs, which span the public and private
sectors (Spencer & Spencer, 1993).
Improved Performance as a Function of Improved Job Competence
By studying performance of outstanding IT project managers, and identifying
those characteristics that are useful for making selection decisions, future productivity
in IT project management has the potential for being greatly enhanced. In other
industries, salespeople in commercial, computer, wholesale, and retail firms who were
hired using competency-based selection experienced between 50% and 63% less
turnover than a control group of salespeople in the same firms hired using traditional
methods (Spencer & Spencer, 1993). With regard to performance measured on the
basis o f annual sales, the competency-selected group o f retail salespersons averaged
19% more sales, while the competency-selected group of commercial salespersons
averaged 78% more sales (Spencer & Spencer, 1993). For managers in a major snack
food and beverage company who were hired based on competencies, results are
similar. As compared with managers hired with traditional methods, these individuals
were found to be about twice as likely to perform successfully, as measured by
bonuses paid out according to level of performance (McClelland, 1996). Depending
on the complexity o f the job, the value of one standard deviation above the mean is 19
to 48 percent of output for non-sales jobs, and 48-120 percent for sales (Hunter et al.,
1990) see Figure 3. If one were to assume a modest gain in productivity value was
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26
attainable for IT project managers, some significant organizational cost savings could
be realized. For example, if fifteen IT project managers employed with SCE at an
annual salary of $100,000 each (=$1.5 million for total project manager salaries) were
performing at a superior, rather than a mediocre level, an additional $720,000 per year
(48% productivity value enhancement * $1.5 million in salaries) could be gained by
having IT project managers performing as one standard deviation above the mean. In
addition, short-cut methods for selection based on just a few of the key competencies,
rather than having to use the whole cluster o f model characteristics, have been shown
to result in favorable selection decisions (Caldwell & O’Reilly, 1990).
It is also possible for IT project managers to be trained in certain competencies,
and in the enhancements of certain motives. Competency-based training includes the
development of a competency model: identification o f which competencies are best
selected for versus trained for: choosing cost-effective development options (such as a
combination of mentorship and self-development); developing curricula; training
trainers; training learners; and evaluating training results. The benefits of
competency-based training can shift productivity by as much as 0.67 of a standard
deviation (Spencer & Spencer, 1993). If in a high complexity job productivity value
can be enhanced by 48% through improved selection, then at least 32% productivity
value enhancement can be attained through training (48% productive value * 0.67 of a
standard deviation = 32%). In the IT project manager example, such training could
yield almost $500,000 ($1,500,000 * 32%) per year in increased productivity.
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50%
27
$52,000 (13.5%) $148,000 (86.5%)
-1 S. D. +1 S. D '
-48% +48%
Salary Salary 1 0 %
.52 x Salary 1.48 x
salary $100,000 salary
Productivity value of 1 S. D.
Low-complexity jobs 19%
Moderate-complexityjobs 32%
High-complexity jobs 48%
Sales 48%-120%
Adapted from J. E. Hunter, F. L. Schmidt, and M. K. Judiesch, “Individual Differences
in Output Variability as a Function of Job Complexity,” Journal o f Applied
Psychology 75 (1990), 28-42.
Figure 2-3. What Superior Performance is worth?
This serves to illustrate some of the potential benefits that can be realized once
competency-based changes have been completed.
Motive enhancement training has also been conducted with success. It
includes teaching the appropriate motive syndrome; self-study; goal-setting; and
interpersonal supports (McClelland & Winter, 1969; McClelland & Franz, 1992).
Skills and knowledge training certainly has its role to play in the development of IT
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28
project managers, such as knowledge o f planning, control, negotiation, and risk
assessment. However, that is only half the picture. It may be that to effect a change in
IT project manager behavior, the deeper, more core personality attributes of these
individuals needs to be developed.
The Changing Nature of U.S. Electric Power Industry
The $250 billion U.S. electric power industry is in the midst o f historic
transformation. The industry structure of the past - vertically integrated utilities
operating in protected geographic markets - is moving towards more diverse corporate
structures and product offerings. Some will operate in narrow niches, and other,
across state and even national geographical boundaries. All are focusing on specific
areas of competence and, as a result, are being forced to invest in a narrow range of
assets and earn a return for their investors in a broad range of ways.
The following three factors are forcing a restructuring of the electric power
business. Three major forces are: regulatory and political, market, and technological.
Regulatory and Political Forces
The regulatory and political forces in the electric utility industry are part of a
broad wave of deregulation that has swept across the United States since the 1970s. In
industry after industry, from airlines and trucking to banking and telecommunications,
people increasingly rely on the invisible hand of the market rather than the visible
hand of government. In each case, old industry structures have fallen by the wayside,
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and new ones have emerged (Vietor, 1994). In the U.S. electric utility industry, the
1970s marked the breakdown of a consensus among regulators, utilities, consumers,
and the public that had existed since the turn o f the century. The foundation o f this
consensus was a long period of national prosperity, cheap energy, and ever-rising
energy demand; however, it began to crumble in 1973 with the first oil shock. Energy
prices shot up, becoming a significant item on the bills of consumers and businesses.
Regulators countered with the passage of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act or
1978 (PURPA) to attract alternative suppliers to the market (Navarro, 1996). From
1980 to 1992, the percentage of total U.S. electricity generated by non-utility sources
rose from 2.9 percent to 9.9 percent (Hyman, 1994). As a result of the cheaper power,
customers and legislators have pushed for greater competition within the wholesale
market with the 1992 Energy Policy Act, which mandates access to the transmission
grid for wholesale wheeling. State regulators were to decide whether they wanted to
extend this policy to retail wheeling.
The breakdown of consensus has led to a plurality of regulatory directions.
California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and Rhode
Island have moved aggressively to enhance competition.
Market Forces
The market forces for change are coming from both consumers and producers.
Even though most states do not yet retail wheeling, consumers increasingly have
found ingenious ways to avoid regulatory barrier. Consumers are experiencing
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growing pressures to cut their power bills. Cambridge Energy Research Associates
found numerous instances in which residential customers were paying electricity
charges 50 percent higher than those their neighbors were paying in a geographically
contiguous area (Navarro, 1996). Industrial consumers have been even more
aggressive than their residential counterparts. Since energy costs are approximately 5
percent of most manufactures' total operating costs, and as much as 30 percent in such
energy-intensive industries as aluminum processing and steel making, manufacturers
have significant incentives to reduce their energy bills. Electric utilities should
prepare for brutal competition, similar to that in the airline, trucking, and
telecommunications industries.
Technological Forces
The largest technological force for change has been the end of economies of
scale in generation technology. From 1949 to 1965, the cost of an incremental
kilowatt of generating plant capacity fell 37 percent as the size of the generators
increased (Hyman, 1994). In addition, as power industry approached the
thermodynamic limit of Rankine steam cycle (Yeager, 1994), the coal-pound
equivalent to produce a kilowatt-hour declined 23 percent (Hyman, 1994).
In the transmission segment of the value chain, there have been major
improvements in power control technologies. Some companies are experimenting
with DC transmission that does not need transformers, which, if successful, will
double the capacity of the current transmission grid and may reverse the battle
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between AC and DC transmission won by Westinghouse over Edison at the turn of the
century (Hyman, 1994).
In distribution, IT is emerging as a powerful force. New technologies -
including high-speed power-line networks, automated real-time meters and other
devices, and the ubiquitous Intemet-have made it possible for marketer and seller of
electricity and related services to be distinct from the provider o f electrons (Buday et
al. 1996).
The disruptive potential of these three forces cannot be reversed. Executives in
the electric utility industry must understand how these forces will affect the cost of
their products, the purchase and delivery of value-added services, and their
relationship with customers.
According to John E. Hayes, Jr., former chairman, president, and CEO of
Southwestern Bell Telephone, the driving forces of change in the industries are very
similar - and simple:
“The drivers are not regulators. They are not legislators. They are not
associations. They are not policy makers. They are changes in customer
demand, changes in economics, and changes in technology.”
Role of IT with respect to future Electric Utility market
The electric power industry is reputed to be the third largest user of computers
and communications, behind government and the banking industry. According to
New-Evans Research Co. an average U.S. electric utility invested $43 million in 1997
on IT (Schuler, 1997). The research company defines IT as “enterprise-wide systems,
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management information systems and technical information systems. The latter
include applications found in utility control centers, notably those for energy
management.
Electric utility companies are reinventing themselves to change from vertical to
virtual integration based on value networks segmented into six areas: generation,
transmission, distribution, energy services, power markets, and IT products and
services (Weiner et al., 1997). As mentioned above IT is emerging as a powerful
force. In the airline and banking industries, the need for information to support the
market development has increased exponentially. Thus, these industries have relied on
IT to handle the transactions. A similar patter has occurred in the natural gas industry
which has invested heavily in IT during past fifteen years to improve how gas is
tracked, marketed, and accounted for. The electric utility industry is behaving in the
same way. In an industry in which power is increasingly sold as a commodity on open
markets, the amount of information and computer technology to develop efficient
markets is growing exceptionally. For example, meters in most U.S. homes are read
only once a month. Real-time pricing o f residential electricity would require
gathering, processing, and distributing this data every minute, which is being done
through sophisticated IT. Ideally, each electron is a smart electron that has
information associated with it, such as who generated it, who needs it, and how and
when it was used.
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In the future, utilities’ primary products and value-added services will be based
on the hardware and software tools they have developed, the associated skills, and the
information they have about customers and their behaviors. Everyone, it seems, is
selling brokering systems, bulletin board applications and power pool accounting
software packages. Some utilities are mining their deep experience in meter
technologies to create an automated meter, hoping to capitalize on a broader market to
drive costs down. Everything from customer usage information to specific appliance
information and usage history is valuable. In addition, the fiber-optic cables that
utilities are laying will also provide sources of revenue. In addition to market-making
systems, services like transaction processing and billing, consumer-tracking and
marketing information systems, and infrastructural services for intelligent buildings,
will be important parts of the information services segment o f the future electricity
industry.
New Electric Utility environment
The continued development of more sophisticated telecommunications and
information processing systems are pivotal in enduring reliable serv ices as more and
more utilities enter the competitive electric market. Without the ability to track
customers’ electric usage halfway across the country and to dispatch exchanges of
power, answering the call for greater competition would be infinitely more difficult.
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Utilities have entered a new environment, one that requires new skills and new
organizational approaches. In the IT arena, the utilities are facing an additional
challenge, that is, the IT workforce shortage. Well-rounded staff members, technically
competent and good at customer interaction, are especially difficult to find. A Gartner
Group study (reported by Guptill, 1998) found that broader roles (data manager,
project manager, network manager/administrators) are the most difficult to fill. This
implies a lack of cross-technology, cross-responsibility training and abilities. On the
other hand, the technology-focused positions such as web administrator are becoming
less difficult to fill as the technologies and skills become commodities and integrated
into other areas of responsibility. A survey of 900 Gartner Group IT Executive
Program Clients (1996-1999) (reported by Light, 1999) shows that project and process
management efficiently are growing concerns of IT executives.
The Field of Project Management
Project management has been called the accidental profession. It is not a
profession that people consciously choose to pursue. No child answers the question
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” with the answer “Why, a project
manager, of course.” People typically become project managers after stumbling onto
project management responsibilities.
The definition of the project management concept as a specialist area of
management came about initially in the US Aerospace Weapons Research and
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Development Industries. The Manhattan Project during World War II was an early
example, but it was not until the 1950s that project management began to crystallize
into its present form. Other important users of the project management concept, from
its earliest days, are the oil and chemical industries, with the engineering contractors
involved in these industries. The project concept is also used in high technology
research and development, in the engineering and manufacturing industries for new
product development and manufacture, and in the design and construction of new plant
equipment. Today, the design and introduction o f information systems, and the
development and introduction of new information technologies also use the project
management concept. Thus IT industry and the IT function within companies, both
employ project management.
The principal reason for the development of the project management concept,
organization, and specialized, often highly sophisticated techniques, is that the
traditional forms of organization structure and management techniques do not handle
project type work effectively. Projects are essentially temporary activities for those
concerned, with typical lives of from six months to five years. Management,
organization and information systems have to be established anew for each project,
and there can also be only a very limited learning curve for those involved. In
addition, decision-making in project work tends not to be repetitive and bad decisions
at any stage in a project affect it throughout its life, and it is not generally possible to
recover from early deficiencies in project management.
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Normally, project involves several departments of a company working together
and in the majority of cases more than one company is involved in work on one
project. Often these departments, or companies are working on several projects at the
same time, each at different stages in the project life cycle. Project work is therefore
necessarily complex with respect to interdependencies between the departments and
companies involved. Because projects are unique one-off undertakings, there are
problems in defining work, organization, allocating responsibility, budgeting,
planning, control, communication and co-ordination.
The temporary, complex and often loose nature of the relationships and
authority patterns involved in project management work, combined with the number of
different departments and companies involved in any one project, whose objectives
and management styles may differ, leads to human performance problems and a
tendency for conflict between groups and individuals. Thus the traditional
management theory and organizational structures have to be modified in project
management.
Project Manager - Skills and Competencies
The highest-ranked information technology project success factor is having a
competent project manager (Jiang et al., 1996; Pinto & Slevin, 1987). Good IT
project managers know that if they are to get the job done, they must possess or
develop both technical and behavioral skills. Although there are several views on the
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critical skill needs o f IT project managers, there is little question about the importance
o f selecting a project manager who is technically, interpersonally, and administratively
skilled (Frame, 1994; Pinto & Kharbanda, 1996; Reich, 1991).
Researchers and practitioners suspect that a great majority of project managers
are weak on certain required skills, and their weakness contributes to the problems
encountered on many projects (Drucker, 1980; Peters, 1987,1992). Various sources
o f conflict for project teams and users can arise during the project development. If
project managers are aware of the various alternatives they can employ, there is a real
opportunity to not only defuse conflict, but also to learn valuable lesson from the
conflict episode (Pinto & Kharbanda, 1995). Thus, how project managers perceive
their environment, respond to events, and interact with others influence the outcome of
projects (Kliem & Anderson, 1996).
As the use of project management techniques becomes an increasingly well-
accepted way to perform IT projects and tasks, more and more companies are
providing technical training for their IT project managers in methodologies such as
planning, work breakdown structure, scheduling, estimating, scope definition, and
project control systems (Spinner, 1992; Ward, 1995). A remaining challenge for IT
project managers is to develop communication, negotiation, interpersonal, and
administrative skills to complement their technical skills (Frame, 1994; Handy, 1989;
Reich, 1991).
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Little empirical research has been conducted to identify the behavioral
competencies of IT project managers. IT researchers define many behavioral skills
needed by IT system analysts (Cheney & Lyons, 1980; Green, 1989). O f these
studies, the most comprehensive analysis of behavioral skills based on extensive pilot
research was Green’s (1989) work involving 18 behavioral skills see Table 2-1.
Frame (1994) believed that these skills, not related to any particular type of system
development, could be applied to any project development regardless of environment.
Jiang et al. (1998) prepared a survey questionnaire that included the 18
behavioral skills listed in Table 2-1 and distributed it to various IT companies with an
average of approximately 1,000 IT people and an annual IT budget between $46
million and $172 million. The target participants were IT project leaders or IT
managers with in-depth experience in system project development. Out o f 120
distributed questionnaires, 118 were returned for analysis. More than half of the
respondents (56.8%) had more than 10 years o f work experience, about half of the
respondents (48.7%) had system experience in more than five application areas, and
44.1% of the subjects had been involved in projects averaging more than five staff
years.
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39
Table 2-1. Behavioral Skills_________________________________________________
1. Diplomacy: Being able to say “no” without being too blunt; displaying tact in
dealing with others.
2. Interviewing: Asking the right questions in order to obtain the information
needed.
3. Directing: Giving instructions and communicating user requirements to
programming and support staff.
4. Patience: Continually refining user requirements by requesting feedback;
tolerating lack o f computer literate and specificity.
5. Assertiveness: Insisting on a course of action or what one believes in, even
though it may be unpopular.
6. Leadership: Getting work done while keeping the team satisfied; effectively
giving rewards and punishment.
7. Speaking: Presenting your ideas in a manner easily understood by your audience,
both in-group meetings and person to person.
8. Writing: Preparing written documents that accurately communicate ideas in a
manner easily understood by intended readers.
9. Listening: Paying attention to and concentrating on what is being said, and asking
questions that refine points about which one is uncertain.
10. Empathy: Being able to understand how other feel; accurately determining what
someone else thinks about an issue.
11. Sales: Promoting the system you advocate; persuading others to accept your
viewpoint.
12. Politics: Understanding what motivates individuals; determining sources o f power
and influence in an organization.
13. Managing: Planning, organizing and controlling projects so that they get done on
schedule and within budget.
14. Training: Educating users and other non-technical groups on the capabilities of
computers and systems.
15. Cooperation: Working with others productively; resolving conflict in an effective
manner.
16. Organization Communications: Having a broad view o f company goals and
operations; knowing the orientation of senior management.
17. Nonverbal Communications: Reinforcing the message to others through gestures
and expression.
18. Sensitivity: Being aware o f the implications o f design and change for the user
community.
Source: Green (1989).
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Table 2-2 lists the respondent’s ranking of the importance of the 18 behavioral
skills as reported in the research study by Jiang et al. (1998).
Table 2-2. Ranking of skill needs______
Ranking Behavioral Skill
1. Interviewing
2. Directing
3. Managing
4. Speaking
5. Listening
6. Writing
7. Cooperation
8. Patience
9. Leadership
10. Sensitivity
11. Diplomacy
12. Training
13. Empathy
14. Organizational Communications
15. Politics
16. Sales
17. Assertiveness
18. Nonverbal Communications
Source: Jiang et al., (1998)
The top three behavioral skills o f IT professionals reported in research by Jiang
et al., (1998) are interviewing, directing and managing, respectively. Interviewing
includes being able to ask the right questions in order to obtain the information
needed. Woldring (1996) indicated the most often cited reason for project failure is
the project manager’s inability to clarify users’ expectations and requirements.
Directing, being able to give instructions and communicate user requirements to
programming and support staff, goes hand-in-hand with being able to interview.
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System analysts and programmers being supplied with incomplete specifications is
another major reason for IT failures (Lyytinen, 1988). Managing, or the ability to
plan, organize and control projects so that they get done on schedule and within
budget follows at third rank. The importance of management skills is supported by
many studies (Frame, 1994; Spinner, 1992). A major goal for project managers is to
get the job done on time, within budget, and according to specifications.
Communication skills such as speaking, listening, and writing tend to
constitute the second tier of rankings. Communicating effectively requires conscious
communication vs. reactive responses or patterned behaviors (Kelso, 1997). The third
tier of skills in the rankings is interpersonal skills such as cooperation, patience,
sensitivity and diplomacy. The lowest ranking behavioral skills are sales,
assertiveness and nonverbal communication. These include the ability to promote the
system, persuade users to accept their viewpoint, insist on a course of action or belief
and signal meaning not explicitly presented.
Besides Green’s (1989) behavioral skills, the Project Management Institute’s
identification of knowledge areas for the successful project manager (all types of
project managers) is similarly diverse. These knowledge areas are shown in Table 2-3.
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Table 2-3. Knowledge Areas of Project Managers
1. Scope Management
2. Time Management
3. Cost Management
4. Human Resource Management
5. Risk Management
6. Quality Management
7. Procurement Management
8. Communications Management
9. Integration Management
Source: "Guide To the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Project Management
Institute (PMI)
A project manager’s knowledge areas must be broad and diverse; however,
mastering these knowledge areas does not ensure a project manager’s automatic
success. Charles L. Buck, Jr. Stated:
“Project Management is an art, a science, and a profession, but good project
mangers probably have more in common with good artists than with scientists.
Project management is a matter o f vision, determination, and the ability to
appreciate the men and women who can turn that vision and determination
into physical realities. ”
Buck indicated that project managers must be capable of performing five basic
operations:
1. Set Objectives
2. Organize the Project
3. Motivate and Communicate
4. Set Achievable Goals
5. Develop People
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Pettersen (1991) attempted to integrate all of the various characteristics that
predict an effective project manager. Pettersen attempted to take the narrowly targeted
contributions of the researchers and combine them into a single complementary list of
predictors.
A. Problem Solving
1. Problem Analysis
2. Judgment and Practical Sense
3. Decisiveness
4. Planning and Organization
B. Administration
5. Control
6. Strategy and Organizational Know-How
7. Specialized Knowledge
C. Supervision and Project Team Management
8. Delegation of Responsibilities
9. Team Structuring
10. Consideration Towards Team Members
11. Development of Team Members
12. Teamwork, Flexibility and Cooperation
13. Resolving Conflicts
D. Interpersonal Relations
14. Oral Communication
15. Interpersonal Influence, Persuasion and Negotiation
16. Ascendancy
E. Other Personal Qualities
17. Need Achieve and Proactivity
18. Self-Confidence, Maturity and Emotion Stability
19. Loyalty, Honesty, and Integrity
20. Tolerance Towards Ambiguity and Openness to change
21. Interest in the job
The administrative and problem solving sets of predictors from Pettersen’s list
bring together what are normally considered management skills (planning,
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organization, and control). The supervision and project team management set of
predictors along with the interpersonal relations set of predictors bring together
components (interpersonal influence, persuasion and negotiation, resolving conflicts
and delegation of responsibilities) o f various leadership roles.
Although Pettersen’s work is commendable, he does not have any quantifiable
validation for his work. Pettersen’s efforts focused on the opinions of experts in the
field and his conclusions have not been tested. As indication in Pettersen’s research,
the project management field is complex due to the breadth of a project manager’s
skill set.
Posner (1987) surveyed two hundred and eighty-seven project managers with
two open-ended questions:
1. What personal characteristics, traits, or skills make for “above average”
project managers?
2. What specific behaviors, techniques, or strategies do “above average”
project mangers use (or use better than their peers)?
Posner summarized these results into six skill sets, listed in Table 2-4.
The above mentioned research studies by Green (1989), Jiang et al. (1998),
Pettersen (1991), Posner (1987) and the Project Management Institute (1996) identify
many skills, knowledge areas and operational abilities which make a good project
manager, however, none of these investigations scientifically validated their findings
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by examining the effects these skills, knowledge areas, and operational abilities have
on a project manager’s effectiveness.
Table 2-4. Project Management Skills
Ranking Skills
1 Communication Skills
• Listening
• Persuading
2 Organizational Skills
• Planning
• Goal-Setting
• Analyzing
3 Team Building Skills
• Empathy
• Motivation
• Esprit de Corps
4 Leadership Skills
• Sets Example
• Energetic
• Vision (big picture)
• Delegates
• Positive
5 Coping Skills
• Flexibility
• Creativity
• Patience
• Persistence
6 Technology Skills
• Experience
• Project Knowledge
Source: Posner (1987).
The basic goal o f this study was to determine the underlying characteristics or
the behavioral competencies, other than technical skills and knowledge, needed by IT
project managers to be successful in the uncertain world o f IT project management
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where as mentioned earlier, a staggering 31.1 percent of projects will be canceled
before they ever get completed and more than half of the projects will overrun their
initial cost estimates by almost 200 percent. IT project managers must be prepared to
learn specific management skills and attitudes to be successful not only in the world of
IT, but also in the deregulated electric utility environment.
Competency and Competency Clusters for Technical Professionals and Managers
A Just-Noticeable-Difference (JND) Scaled Competency Dictionary 1996
(McBer and Company, 1996; Spencer et al., 1994; Spencer & Spencer, 1993) for
technical professional and managerial jobs is shown in six following clusters:
Achievement, Table 2-5; Helping/Service, Table 2-6; Influence, Table 2-7;
Managerial, Table 2-8; Cognitive, Table 2-9; and Personal Effectiveness, Table 2-10.
This Hay McBer Competency Dictionary is a thoroughly researched document, which
includes over 20 years o f competency research validated across many empirically
derived competency models, examining outstanding and typical performers around the
world.
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Table 2-5. Achievement Cluster
Achievement Competencies
1. Achievement Orientation: A concern for working well or for surpassing a standard of
excellence. The standard may be one’s own past performance (striving for
improvement); and objective measure (result orientation); outperforming others
(competitiveness); challenging goals one has set; or even what anyone has ever done
(innovation). Thus a unique accomplishment also indicates ACH.
2.
Concern for Quality and Order: Acting to minimize errors and maintain high
standards of quality by checking or monitoring data and work, and by developing and
maintaining system for organizing work and information.
3. Initiative: Refers to: 1) the identification of a problem, obstacle or opportunity and 2)
taking action in light of that to address current or future problems or opportunities. As
such, initiative can be seen in the context of proactively doing things and not simply
thinking about future actions. The time frame of this scale moves from completing past
or current projects to action on future opportunities or problems. Formal strategic
planning is not included in this competency.
Table 2-6. Helping/Service Cluster
Helping/Service Competencies
1. Interpersonal Understanding: Implies wanting to understand other people. It is the
ability to accurately hear and understand the unspoken or partly expressed thoughts,
feelings, and concerns or others. It measures increasing complexity and depth of
understanding of other and may include cross-cultural sensitivity.
2. Customer-Service Orientation: Implies a desire to help or serve customers, to meet
their needs. It means focusing one’s efforts on discovering and meeting the customer
or client’s needs.
Table 2-7. Influence Cluster
Influence Competencies
1. Impact and Influence: implies an intention to persuade, convince, influence or impress
others, in order to get them to go along with or to support the speaker’s agenda. It is
based on the desire to have a specific impact or effect on others where the person has
his or her own agenda, a specific type of impression to make, or a course of action that
he or she wants the others to adopt.
2. Organizational Awareness: The ability to understand and learn the power relationship
in one’s own organization or in other organizations (customers, suppliers, etc.). This
includes the ability to identify who are the real decision-makers and the individuals
who can influence them; and to predict how new events or situations will affect
individuals and groups within the organization.
3. Relationship Building (Networking): Builds or maintains friendly, reciprocal, and
warm relationships or networks of contacts with people.
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Table 2-8. Managerial Cluster
_______________________ Managerial Competencies_______________________
1. Directiveness: Implies the intent to make others comply with one’s wishes where
personal power or the power of one’s position is used appropriately and effectively,
with the long-term good of the organization in mind. It includes a theme or tone of
'‘ telling people what to do.” The tone ranges from firm and directive to demanding or
even to threatening. Attempts to reason with, persuade or convince others to comply
are Impact and Influence, not Directiveness.__________________________________
2. Teamwork and Cooperation: implies a genuine intention to work cooperatively with
others, to be part of a team, to work together as opposed to working separately or
competitively. For this competency to be effective the intent should be genuine.
Teamwork and Cooperation may be considered whenever the subject is a member of a
group of people functioning as a team. “Team,” as is the case with Team Leadership, is
broadly defined as any task or process-oriented group of individuals._______________
3. Developing Others: Involves a genuine intent to foster the long-term learning or
development of others with an appropriate level of need analysis and other thought or
effort. Its focus is on the development intent and effect rather than on a formal role of
training.______________________________________________________________
4. Team Leadership: The intention to take a role as a leader of a team or other group. It
implies a desire to lead other. Team Leadership is generally, but certainly not always,
shown from a position of formal authority. The “team” here should be understood
broadly as nay group in which the person takes on a leadership role._______________
Table 2-9. Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
________________________ Cognitive Competencies_______________________
1. Technical Expertise: The motivation to expand and use technical knowledge or to
distribute work-related knowledge to others.__________________________________
2. Information Seeking: Driven by an underlying curiosity and desire to know more
about things, people or issues. It implies beyond the questions that are routine or
required in the job. It may include “digging” or pressing for exact information;
resolution of discrepancies by asking a series of question; or less-focused
environmental “scanning” for potential opportunities or miscellaneous information that
may be of future use.____________________________________________________
3. Analytical Thinking: Understanding a situation by breaking it apart into smaller
pieces, or tracing the implications of a situation in a step-by-stem way. Analytical
Thinking includes organizing the parts of a problem, situation, etc., in a systematic
way; making systematic comparisons of different features or aspects; setting priorities
on a rational basis; identifying time sequences, causal relationships of If-Then
relationships._________________________________________________________
4. Conceptual Thinking: The ability to identify patterns or connections between
situations that are not obviously related, and to identify key or underlying issues in
complex situations. It includes using creative, conceptual or inductive reasoning.
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Table 2-10. Personal Effectiveness Cluster
___________________Personal Effectiveness Competencies__________________
1. Self Control: Acting to keep one’s emotions under control and restrain negative
behaviors when provoked, when faced with opposition or hostility from others, or when
working under conditions of stress._________________________________________
2. Self-Confidence: Expressing belief in one’s ability to accomplish a task and select an
effective approach to a task or problem. This includes confidence in one’s ability as
expressed in increasingly challenging circumstances and confidence in one’s decisions
or opinions.____________________________________________________________
3. Organizational Commitment: The ability and willingness to align one’s own behavior
with the needs, priorities and goals of the organization. It involves acting in ways that
promote organizational goals or meet organizational needs. It may appear as putting an
organizational mission before one’s own preferences.___________________________
4. Flexibility: The Ability to adapt to and work effectively within a variety of situations,
and with various individuals or groups. Flexibility entails understanding and
appreciating different and opposing perspectives on an issue, adapting one’s approach
as the requirements of a situation change, and changing or easily accepting changes in
one’s own organization or job requirement.
Literature Review - A Summary
The definition o f the project management concept as a specialist area of
management came about initially in the US Aerospace Weapons Research and
Development Industries. The Manhattan Project during World War II was an early
example, but it was not until the 1950s that project management began to crystallize
into its present form. Today, IT industry and the IT function within companies, both
employ project management.
Researchers have tackled the topic of project managers’ and other IT
professionals’ success from a variety o f perspectives. The two studies reviewed here,
first, based on extensive pilot research (Green, 1989) and second, in form of survey
questionnaire (Jiang et al., 1998) rank the importance of various behavioral skills for
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50
IT professionals. Green’s (1989) research found diplomacy, interviewing, directing,
patience, assertiveness, leadership and speaking to be most important behavioral skills.
Where as, the research information gathered through a survey questionnaire by Jiang
et al. (1998) which used the exact same behavioral skills as defined by Green (1989),
found interviewing, directing, managing, speaking, listening, writing and cooperation
to be the most important behavioral characteristics of IT professionals.
Pettersen (1991) attempted to integrate contributions of the researchers and
combine them into a single complementary list of characteristics which predict an
effective project manager. The administrative and problem solving sets of predictors
from Pettersen’s list bring together what are normally considered management skills
(planning, organization, and control). The supervision and project team management
set of predictors along with the interpersonal relations set of predictors bring together
components (interpersonal influence, persuasion and negotiation, resolving conflicts,
and delegation of responsibilities) of various leadership roles.
Posner (1987) surveyed project managers with two open-ended questions
which asked the subjects to list the personal characteristics, traits, skills and specific
behaviors that make for "above average” managers. Posner summarized the results
into the following six skill sets: communication skills, organizational skills, team
building skills, leadership skills, coping skills and technical skills.
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51
According to Buck (1977), a project manager's knowledge areas must be broad
and diverse; however, mastering these knowledge areas does not ensure a project
manager’s automatic success. Charles L. Buck, Jr. Stated:
“ Project Management is an art, a science, and a profession, but good project
mangers probably have more in common with good artists than with scientists.
Project management is a matter o f vision, determination, and the ability to
appreciate the men and women who can turn that vision and determination
into physical realities. ”
Buck indicated that project managers must be capable o f performing five basic
operations:
1. Set Objectives
2. Organize the Project
3. Motivate and Communicate
4. Set Achievable Goals
5. Develop People
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52
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This descriptive research seeks to create a model comprised o f set of core
competencies required of IT project managers to promote effective performance which
meets or exceeds their departments’ standards. Descriptive research involves
collecting data to answer questions concerning the status of the subject o f study. An
adaptation of the methodologies described by McClelland in Competency Assessment
Methods (Spencer et al., 1994) was selected as the bases of research design. The
topics discussed in this chapter include: IT project manager sample selection, data
collection procedures and the analytical strategy used to interpret the results.
IT Project Manager sample selection
The IT project managers (n=16) were selected by IT managers or the
department managers from three different organizations within the IT business unit,
those departments were: application services, desktop services and telecommunication
services. This sample represented 50 to 60 percent of IT project managers in SCE’s IT
organization. Each IT project manager had a ‘Performance Plan Agreement’ (PPA)
with their supervisor or manager which listed four to six goals that these project
managers had to meet during the year. The PPA had three levels o f ratings: U =
Unmet, or unsatisfactory progress; M = Met, or on target; and E = Exceeded, or ahead
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of schedule. The selected project managers either met or exceeded in their year-end
targets in all o f their goals.
Data collection procedures
IT Project Manager Protocols
The participating project managers (n=16) were asked to fill out a Position
Description Questionnaire (PDQ) (see Appendix B for instruction details). This
questionnaire was designed to gather information for the purpose of defining duties
and responsibilities of IT project managers.
Next, each project manager was called to schedule the Behavioral Event
Interview (Boyatzis, 1982; McClelland & Dailey, 1972). In the BEI, which lasted 1-
11/2 hours in duration, the subjects were asked to give a comprehensive description of,
along with thought patterns and feelings associated with, critical incidents that took
place within previous 24 months. This concluded the project managers’ portion of this
study’s data collection protocols.
IT Manager Protocol
To provide a context for interview coding, IT managers (n=8) were asked to
individually complete the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) (see Appendix D
for instruction details). The CRQ was designed to measure the IT managers’
perception of the importance of generic managerial competencies to the role of IT
project managers.
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Analytical Strategies
To summarize, the following instruments were used in the data collection
procedures of this study:
• Position Description Questionnaire - administered to the IT project
managers to gather information for the purpose o f defining duties and
responsibilities o f IT project managers.
• Behavioral Event Interview (McClelland & Dailey, 1972) - administered to
the IT project managers.
• Competency Rating Questionnaire - administered to the IT managers.
The Position Description Questionnaire (PDQ)
The PDQ was designed to gather information for the purpose of defining duties
and responsibilities of IT project manager rote. The information gathered through this
instrument helped in generating probes during the Behavioral Event Interview. The
PDQ covered the following:
Responsibilities. The subject were asked to list key responsibilities of their
position, emphasizing “what” was done - supervision, making decisions,
strategic planning, forecasting, etc. The project managers were asked to
indicate how much o f their time was devoted in working on each responsibility
as an approximate percentage o f the job. When complete, all percentages
added up to 100%.
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Major Challenges. Here the subjects were asked to describe two or three of the
most difficult problems or challenges encountered in their positions, and the
available resources (e.g., policies, procedures, strategies, etc.) to help solve
them.
Decision-making. Here the subjects were asked to describe the nature of
decisions and/or recommendations that they generally made in their jobs, along
with some examples.
Job Knowledge. Subjects were asked to provide a list of general areas of
knowledge (acquired information or concepts which relate to a specific
discipline such as engineering principles, accounting theory, investigation
techniques, etc.) required for project manager position to be a contributor to the
organization.
Education, Experience & Additional Requirements. Finally, the subjects were
asked to indicate the minimum level of education required to perform their jobs
effectively, and its application to the responsibilities of the position.
Analysis of PDQ
The main purpose of PDQ was to gather information on roles and
responsibilities of IT project managers so that specific questions could be formed for
the BEI. Based on project managers' responses to the PDQ a list of questions was
generated for each project manager, see Appendix E for list of questions. All
components o f the PDQ position purpose, responsibilities, major challenges, etc., were
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analyzed using descriptive statistics (e.g., frequency and means). Based on responses
on the PDQ the roles and responsibilities were categorized into four major areas:
project planning, project control, people management, and task performance.
Although performing specific tasks such as, testing product performance, developing
tools and templates, data entry, etc., are usually not considered functions o f project
management, but the majority of these project managers spent a considerable time
performing these tasks. See below for examples of specific questions formed from
this area o f responses:
Project Planning:
What you do to establish project plans and schedules?
What you do to establish budget estimates?
Project Control:
What is it that you do to control the project?
What you do to provide oversight o f project management and technical
consultation?
People Management:
What you do to build team environment?
What you do to acknowledge you subordinates accomplishments?
Task Performance:
What is your process to gather information?
What is your role in doing the root cause analysis for a given problem?
What you do to develop tools for implementation the process and project
methodology?
What type o f technical research do you provide to the business units?
Next, major challenges and problems faced by IT project managers were
summarized on frequency bases, that is daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly. Here
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are some o f the questions that were generated in the analysis of major challenges and
problems:
Where is the challenge in working with cross-junctional teams?
As project manager where is the challenge in meeting with the vendors and
own Edison business units?
Where is the challenge in supervising your staff?
What is the challenge in gathering user requirements?
Next the decision-making was categorized by area of responsibilities: project
planning, project control, people management and task performance. See below for
example o f specific questions formed from this area of responses:
On day-to-day bases what are some o f the decisions that you have to make?
What type o f negotiations do you perform in your current position?
How do you validate users requirements?
Finally, IT project managers were asked to list general areas of knowledge,
education, experience and additional requirements required in performing their
position. This data is presented in descriptive form in Tables 4-12-4-15.
Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ)
The Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ), see Appendix D, was
administered to the IT managers which revealed the ranking of most to least important
Hay McBer’s Just-Noticeable-Difference (JND) Scaled Dictionary 1996 (Spencer &
Spencer, 1993; McBer and Company, 1996) to the role of IT project manager. This
instrument was primarily used to obtain IT managers’ perceptions o f the importance of
the generic competencies to the success o f IT project managers.
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Analysis of CRQ
The data gathered from the CRQ was analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Competencies were scaled on a Likert scale of 1-5 (1= not important to the role of the
IT project manager; 5 = critical to the role of IT project manager). Each of the
competencies in the CRQ were behaviorally anchored and scaled from a minimum
level of 1, to a higher level of 4,5, or 6, depending on the competency. Higher levels
reflect increasingly higher level of behavioral performance: a clear progression from
lower to higher levels on multiple dimensions including intensity, completeness or
scope. The ranking o f competencies were based on averages of “importance of
competency to the job.”
Competencies with average scores higher than 3.5 were considered very
important for effective performance of the IT project managers. The rational for
choosing a score higher than 3.5 is significant because it represents a slightly above
average importance rating. Score of 3.0-3.5 represented that the competency was
important for effective performance of the job.
The Behavioral Event Interview (BEI)
The Behavioral Event Interview (BEI) has been psychometrically validated and
found to be a reliable measure of obtaining narrative content of incumbent behaviors
that can be analyzed for differentiating competencies in a variety o f organizational
settings (Boyatzis, 1982; McClelland, 1995a; McClelland & Dailey, 1972). BEI
transcripts were coded against Hay McBer’s Just-Noticeable-Difference (JND) Scaled
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59
Competency Dictionary 1996 (Spencer & Spencer, 1993; McBer and Company 1996).
Interview content were coded for both frequency of competencies exhibited and level
within each competency exhibited. Previous tests of inter-rater reliability o f BEI
content scored with the JND Scale have resulted in 67% reliability on the frequency of
competencies and 80% reliability on competency levels (Spencer & Spencer, 1993).
Analysis of BEI
The elicited responses, in interview form or BEI, from a sample o f sixteen IT
project managers from three areas: application services, desktop services and
telecommunication services in SCE’s IT department, were audio taped and transcribed
and the transcriptions were coded for frequency of occurrence of each of twenty
competencies using the coding methods developed by Boyatzis (1998) and Spencer &
Spencer (1993).
Next each of the twenty competencies were individually compared and
contrasted with the results from CRQ to establish gaps between the competence levels
exhibited by the IT project managers and the competence levels required by the IT
managers. As part of the analysis, specific examples of each level of behaviors within
all twenty competencies are provided.
In the final chapter, the findings of PDQ, CRQ and BEI are summarized. A
competency model for IT project managers is developed based on the findings and
implications and recommendations are discussed.
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60
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
In this chapter the findings of position description questionnaire (PDQ),
competency rating questionnaire (CRQ) and behavioral event interviews (BEI) are
analyzed. Over a three-month period of time, data was collected from high performing
IT project managers and IT managers to determine the competencies required to
promote effective performance which meets or exceeds departmental standards.
Position Description Questionnaire (PDQ) Analysis
The Position Description Questionnaire (PDQ) was designed to gather
information for the purpose of defining duties and responsibilities of IT project
manager roles. Further, specific questions were developed for Behavioral Event
Interviews (BEI) from the information provided on the PDQ see Appendix E. On the
PDQ the IT project managers were asked to provide information in following six
areas: position purpose; responsibilities; major challenges; decision making; job
knowledge; and education, experience & additional requirements. A description and
findings are provided below.
Position Purpose
In this section of the PDQ the IT project managers were asked to briefly
describe the primary purpose o f their positions.
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61
Findings
The findings suggested each of the project managers had a unique position
purpose in two of three IT areas represented: Application Services, Desktop Services,
and Telecommunication Services. All five-project managers from the Application
Services area had very similar position purposes. The primary responsibility for IT
project managers from Application Services was to instill the discipline of systems
engineering at SCE in order to improve the delivered systems while reducing budget
and time. Additionally, the position purposes in Application Services included:
• Provide consulting to information systems development projects particularly in
the areas of project planning and management, requirements definition, system
architecture, and performance engineering.
• Establish and promote systems engineering as a discipline at SCE through
consulting on and practice of systems engineering processes.
• Manage the definition and development o f enterprise architecture standards
through the use of interdepartmental and interdisciplinary teams.
• Conduct technical and business case reviews of major capital software
development projects.
• Provide technical management expertise to projects as needed.
Each of the six project managers from the Desktop Services had unique
position purposes. These included:
• End-to-End process owner for the delivery of IT Products and Services.
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62
• Introduce Peregrine-Request Management into the client community.
• Provide tactical project management of the Tivoli Project and input to strategic
decisions regarding the Tivoli implementation at SCE.
• To organize, centralize and manage business/operational processes, procedures,
standards, projects, and publish communication (including Intranet Web sites)
for Desktop Services.
• Oversee the movement of making desktop services products Y2K ready.
• To manage the deployment of the Common Desktop Environment (CDE)
project.
The five project managers from Telecommunication Services described their
position purposes as follows:
• Manage the various aspects of Y2K and how they relate to communication
services.
• Manage the day-to-day and long-range activities of Network Switching
Systems, Network Planning, Communication Specialists and FOT contractors.
• Represent IT infrastructure as the single point of contact for Corporate Real
Estate’s Strategic Facilities Plan.
• Oversee the development and tracking of integrated and division-wide project
schedules, budgets, and other performance indicators.
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63
• Manage IT Infrastructure projects for the Line Organizations (Business Units)
and internal IT projects. Manage and monitor the FCC Rules & Regulations
for SCE’s private Voice Mobile Radio System.
As mentioned earlier, with the exception to the project managers from
Application Services, none of the other project managers either from Desktop Services
or Telecommunication Services had a similar position purposes. Although the project
managers from Application Services had similar position purposes, however, they all
were involved with separate projects. Due to the complexity and breadth of the project
management field, it has not been possible to develop a concise, yet inclusive
definition of project management. The practitioners in the field have agreed that
project involves a defined activity to be performed within specific cost requirements
and time constraints. However, nearly all work efforts can be defined in this way.
This definition would include sharpening a pencil, building a stadium and producing
one million automobiles.
Responsibilities
In this section of the PDQ the subjects were asked to list their key
responsibilities of their positions. The project managers were asked to indicate how
much of their time was devoted to working on each responsibility as an approximate
percentage of the total job. When complete, all percentages added to 100%.
The analysis of responses to this section of the PDQ revealed four major areas
of responsibilities: project planning, project control, people management and task
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64
performance. Tables 4-1 - 4-4 show the summary o f findings with regards to the
responsibilities of these project managers. Figure 4-1 shows the graphical illustration
o f responsibilities.
Project Planning. Project planning included responsibilities such as budget
estimation, scheduling, defining user requirements, developing strategies and
developing system architecture. On the average the project managers spent roughly
28% of their time on responsibilities associated with project planning.
Project Control. Among the areas of responsibilities included under project
control were maintaining and controlling the status of project schedule and
Table 4-1. Position Description Questionnaire. Responsibilities: Project Planning
IT Project Managers (n=16); Time Spent (%'
Responsibilities 1
%
2
%
3
%
4
%
5
%
6
%
7
%
8
%
9
%
10
%
11
%
12
%
13
%
14
%
15
%
16
%
Average
Time
Spent
%
Project
Planning:
budget
estimation,
scheduling,
defining user
requirements,
developing
system
architecture and
stargazing.
50 30 27 20 30 30 45 20 30 25 25 40 0 25 25 25 27.9%
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Table 4-2. Position Description Questionnaire. Responsibilities: Project Control
IT Project Managers (n=l6); Time S pent (%)
Responsibilities 1
%
2
%
3
%
4
%
5
%
6
%
7
%
8
%
9
%
10
%
11
%
12
%
13
%
14
%
15
%
16
%
Average
Time
Spent
%
Project
Control:
Maintaining
status of
project
schedule and
budget,
reporting
project status,
negotiating
and providing
consultation.
25 22 16 20 30 50 30 60 30 25 25 38 75 15 35 25 32.6%
Table 4-3. Position Description Questionnaire. Responsibilities: People Management
IT Project Managers (n=16); Time S pent (%)
Responsibilities 1
%
2
%
3
%
4
%
5
%
6
%
7
%
8
%
9
%
10
%
11
%
12
%
13
%
14
%
15
%
16
%
Average
Time
Spent
%
People
Management:
supervising,
team building,
providing
leadership on
cross-
functional
teams and
conducting
performance
reviews.
25 45 28 40 10 0 25 10 30 10 25 20 25 15 40 0 21.8%
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66
Table 4-4. Position Description Questionnaire. Responsibilities: Task Performance
IT Project Managers (n=16); Time S pent (%)
Responsibilities 1
%
2
%
3
%
4
%
5
%
6
%
7
%
8
%
9
%
10
%
11
%
12
%
13
%
14
%
15
%
16
%
Average
Time
Spent
%
Task
Performance:
testing product
performance,
developing
tools and
templates, data
entry, FCC
rules and
regulations,
analyzing and
evaluating
business cases,
developing
processes and
procedures and
conducting
technical
research.
0 3 29 20 30 20 0 10 10 40 25 2
0 45 0 50 17.8
budget, holding meetings, project status reporting, negotiating and providing technical
consultation. The project managers spent about 32% of their time controlling the
projects.
People Management. Roughly half o f the project managers in this study
managed or supervised a staff ranging from one person to up to fifty people. The
overall time spent on managing staff was about 22%.
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67
IT Project Manager "Responsibilities"
Task
Fterformance FYoject
18% Planning ........ ..........................
28% g fto je c t Hanning
g R o jec t Control
□Fteople Management
Ffeople I ^ QTask Fterformance
Mmagement \
22%
Roject Control
32%
Figure 4-1. Position Description Questionnaire: Responsibilities.
Task Performance. The project managers spent close to 18% of their time
performing specific, technical or non-technical tasks, such as developing tools and
templates, performing business analysis, data entry, develop user requirements,
analyzing and evaluating business cases, and providing technical research.
Major Challenges
In this section of the PDQ the IT project managers were asked to describe two
or three of the most difficult problems or challenges encountered in their position, and
the available resources (e.g., policies, procedures, strategies, etc.) to solve them. The
project managers were also asked to disclose the frequency o f occurrence for these
challenges. Some o f the specific challenges faced by IT project managers along with
the frequency of occurrence for these challenges are summarized in Tables 4-5 - 4-7.
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68
Table 4-5. Summary o f Challenges/Problems faced by IT Project Managers Daily
_________________________ Challenges/Problems_________________________
“Working with a cross Junctional team that has responsibility towards the project
but still has operational responsibility, is a daily challenge. Operational people
feel more responsible towards day-to-day operations since this is the core of their
job. Convincing these people the importance o f the project and having them buy
into the project is needed to succeed with this type o f structure... "
"Conversion o f user requests) into a complete order allowing completion of
orders correctly the first time. Available resources include 4 dedicated analysts to
handle an average o f 70 - 80 requests per day... ”
'"The development and application o f systems and software engineering practices is
in its infancy at SCE. As a result there are limited policies and procedures in
place. This makes is difficult to ensure a consistent response to questions... ”
"Although project managers and department managers usually recognize that the
practices should be improved they frequently don " t want to apply what is seen as
additional work to their projects. Convincing them that they should is an extreme
challenge... ”
"Lack o f continuity among all the divisions with in IT. Some promote, change
titles, and grant spot bonuses while others “ play by the rules " . Employees can see
the gaps that are developing... ”
“Lack o f continuity among all the divisions with in IT. Some promote, change
titles, and grant spot bonuses while others “ play by the rules Employees can see
the gaps that are developing________
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69
Table 4-6. Summary of Challenges/Problems faced by IT Project Managers
Weekly/Monthly__________________________________________________________
_________________________Challenges/Problems_________________________
“The most significant challenge o f this position is having to deal with numerous
technical and procedural issues with the Tivoli software. Many times software
anomalies force procedural changes. This places a lot ofstress on the limited
resources available to respond appropriately to all o f the requirements... ”
“Driving IT technology strategies/processes into the business side o f the BUs in
order to show the BUs how technology can impact business strategy. This
includes, ironically, within IT itself.. ”
“There are no standard procedures/format for defining and developing:
1. Project User Requirements
2. Project Schedides
3. Project Plans
4. Project System Requirements
5. Project Architecture Requirements
6. Project Budgets
7. Maintain Client Project Expectations... ”
“A project management application tool has not been selected as a standard for
maintaining project requirements. Other than MS Project, we need applications
that manage project requirements, (i.e. DOORS by OSS)... ”____________________
Table 4-7. Summary of Challenges/Problems faced by IT Project Managers
Monthly/Quarterly.
_________________________ Challenges/Problems_______________________
“Coordinating the demands o f meeting the deployment schedule with limiting
factors, such as: I) network not ready; 2) Client has other conflicting
priorities/projects; 3) equipment not available due to budgetary constraints and
product availability from the vendors... ”
“When assessing IT projects system engineer decisions may have a negative
impact on a project's schedule or budget (more testing needed, requirements not
complete, solution does not fit with existing architecture...). This can become
confrontational at times especially if the project team is pursuing an achievement
goal. The challenge can be addressed by referring to standardized development
processes and policies and by demonstrating the value o f the decision to the
project... ”
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70
Decision Making
In this section the IT project managers were asked to describe the nature of the
decisions and/or recommendations that they make in their positions. The types of
decisions made along with the type of recommendations offered by the project
managers are shown in Tables 4-8 -4-11.
Table 4-8. Position Description Questionnaire: Decision Making Analysis (Project
Planning).
Decisions Expected Recommendations Expected
• Forecasting of budget and resources.
• Long range planning and implementation of
network components to satisfy BU requirements.
• Develop plans for migration of components into
a production environment, maintain those
components and optimize their performance
• Determine priority of tasks within the overall
project.
• Provide direction and makes strategic decisions
regarding changing program or initiative scope,
policy, development and implementation.
• Staffing: number, type, job
function, and business
support.
• Cost: tools, products,
expenses, etc.]
• Authority to implement
after thorough analysis and
business case is presented.
• Authority to implement
after thorough analysis and
business case is presented.
Table 4-9. Position Description Questionnaire: Decision Making Analysis (Project
Control).
Decisions Expected Recommendations Expected
• Budget compliance.
• Based on a formal technical review should
a project proceed on to the next
development phase?
• What short-term tasks team members must
address.
• Evaluate requirements and benefits of
individual tasks as they relate to the overall
project. Set project schedules based on
these evaluations.
• Decision to request for special warranty
terms and conditions for the benefit of the
company &/or Business Unit.
• Provide alternatives: re-deploy,
use of existing BU inventory,
etc.
• Use of alternative technologies
(desktop, laptop, palmtop,
network resources).
• Either proceed or what actions
must be completed prior to
proceeding or while proceeding.
• Make recommendations on
overall project strategy, what
upgrades to pursue and when to
do them.
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Table 4-10. Position Description Questionnaire: Decision Making Analysis (People
Management)._______________________________________ _____________
Decisions Expected Recommendations Expected
• Staff Development and career goals.
• Assign tasks to staff.
• Assign and direct personnel to do different
tasks for the benefit of the project. Based on
budgetary & expertise.
• Lead Performance Partnership
development.
• Define development and career
goals.
• Rate merit performance and
salary considerations.
• Recommend strategies and
methodologies.
Table 4-11. Position Description Questionnaire: Decision Making Analysis (Task
Performance)
Decisions Expected Recommendations Expected
• Availability of products and services.
• Completeness and thoroughness o f a
business case.
• Assess the Business Unit System
Requirements.
• Develop and communicate IT processes for
the implementation of the SCE Software
Improvement Program by the various SCE
Business Units.
• Development of an approved
purchase list.
• Define what the “look and “ of a
product interface should be.
• Should the business case be
approved and if not what must
be done prior to approval.
• The proposed system solution is
sound and can meet the business
needs and system requirements.
-Or- state that corrective action
is needed and prepares a list of
actions needed, and presents this
to the Business Unit Project
Manager.
• Evaluate and recommend IT
processes to be in employed, in
both an individual and team
environment.
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72
Job Knowledge
Here the IT project managers were asked to list general areas of knowledge
required for this position to be a contributor to the organization. Also, the project
managers were instructed not to include knowledge that they may individually
possess, but which is not required to perform this job. Tables 4-12-4-14 list the
findings.
Table 4-12. Position Description Questionnaire: Job Knowledge (Business
Knowledge)
Class Category Description
Business
Knowledge
1. Business • Thorough knowledge o f SCE and IT
department policies, objectives, applicable
governmental and regulatory laws and
accounting and budgeting practices.
• SCE financial knowledge of developing and
tracking budgets. Understanding of capital
budget.
• Business/Economic analysis of engineering
projects.
• Deep understanding of SCE accounting
systems - e.g., budget tracking, work order
system, CARS.
2. Management • Project Management knowledge: concepts of
planning, implementation, control, success
measurements, operations, negotiating,
vendor management and maintenance.
• Employee development.
3. Social • Ability to Lead, Plan and Manage Projects.
• Ability to communicate technical and project
related issues both orally and verbally, to all
levels of technical and management
personnel.
• Good Interpersonal Skills.
• Presentation Skills.
• Ability to Conduct and Facilitate Effective
Meetings.
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73
Table 4-13. Position Description Questionnaire: Job Knowledge (System Knowledge)
Class Category Description
System
Knowledge
4. Problem
Solving
• How to identify and document user
requirements and to translate user
requirements into system requirements.
5. Development
Methodology
• Ability to work with developers to link
user and system requirements to ensure a
successful architectural design.
• System architecture, system development
methodologies, broad knowledge of
current information technology.
• Systems Engineering Discipline.
• Software Engineering practices.
• Software Development Life Cycle
Models.
Table 4-14. Position Description Questionnaire: Job Knowledge (Technical
Knowledge)_________________
Class Category Description
Technical
Knowledge
6. Hardware • All aspects of Communication Services
(Wireless, Transmission, Data Communication
and Voice).
• Broad knowledge of user entry (PC), to
connectivity (LAN, WAN), to servers (print,
file, application), as well as external support
(modems, circuits, etc.).
• Thorough knowledge of IT Infrastructure’s
Network, Desktop, and Telecommunications
Planning Concepts.
7. Software • I-net technology, mainstream software
applications.
• UNIX application architecture, client server
application architecture, RDBMS concepts.
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74
Education, Experience & Additional Requirements
In this section the IT project managers were asked to list the level of education,
experience and any additional requirements required to perform their job effectively.
Project managers’ responses are summarized in Table 4-15.
Table 4-15. Position Description Questionnaire: Education, Experience & Additional
Requirements.
Education Experience Additional
Requirements
• BS/BA Degree in
Engineering,
Computer Science,
Information
Technology or
Business with
additional course
work in information
technology and
project
management.
• MBA in business
field, or equivalent
experience in
assessment of
software system
business case
viability.
• A minor degree in
organizational
behavior.
• Certification in
Computer
Technology,
operating systems,
etc.
• Project Management
Professional
Certification (PMP)
• Attend Technology
Symposiums and
Conferences.
• Management of a technical
service force.
• Experience in the
development of user
requirements and their
relationship to system
requirements and
architectural design.
• Experience with the use of
applications such as: MS
Exchange, Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, Internet
browser, etc.
• 5-10 years of experience
developing information
systems including several
years experience managing
medium to large
information technology
projects.
• Minimum of 2 years
experience in a Project
Management level position
in software development
activity.
• Five years of supervisory
experience, team building.
• Two years experience with
SCE accounting systems
• Experience in developing
applications in
heterogeneous
environment.
• Strong customer
service background.
• Process management
skills; ability to review
and document current
process model, create
and document new
process models, tie
recommendations to
improvements, cost,
etc.
• Ability to review
projects from technical
perspective, and to
evaluate architectural
soundness, reliability,
availability, and
maintainability, and to
make recommendations
for corrective action.
• Superior skills in
consulting,
negotiations, and
conflict management.
• Ability to provide
mentoring on technical
aspects
• Ability to provide
consultation to all
levels of personnel
throughout the
company
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75
Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) Results from the IT Manager Sample
With regard to the IT manager’s perception of the importance o f the
competencies to the role of the IT project manager; the mean results o f the CRQ are
displayed in Table 4-16. Each of the competencies in the CRQ are behaviorally
anchored or scaled from a minimal level (varying from 4 to 6, depending on the
competency). Higher levels reflect increasingly higher level o f behavioral
performance: a clear progression from lower to higher levels on multiple dimensions
including intensity, completeness or scope. The CRQ presents competencies in
generic form, in scales designed to cover behavior in a wide range o f jobs, and to be
adapted for many applications.
The CRQ results revealed that teamwork and cooperation were found to be
critical competencies for IT project managers. The following competencies emerged
as very important to the role of IT project managers: achievement orientation,
initiative, customer-service orientation, developing others, interpersonal
understanding, organizational awareness, analytical thinking, flexibility, team
leadership, conceptual thinking and self-confidence. Information seeking,
organizational commitment, impact and influence, self-control, technical expertise,
directiveness and relationship building were considered as important competencies for
effective performance of IT project managers.
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76
Table 4-16. Mean Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ)
Generic Competency Name1 Importance to
The Job2
Minimum
Level3
Outstanding
Level3
Achievement Orientation4 4.3 2.5 5.4
Concern for Quality and Order7 4.0 2.6 4.6
Initiative6 4.3 1.8 4.1
Interpersonal Understanding5 3.6 2.0 3.9
Customer-Service Orientation4 4.0 2.1 5.4
Impact and Influence4 3.5 2.3 4.6
Organization Awareness6 3.8 2.1 4.4
Relationship Building
(Networking)6
3.1 1.5 3.1
Directiveness6 3.3 1.3 4.1
Teamwork and Cooperation6 4.6 2.0 4.8
Developing Others6 4.3 1.9 4.5
Team Leadership4 4.0 2.0 4.8
Technical Expertise6 3.0 1.6 3.9
Information Seeking6 3.6 2.5 4.4
Analytical Thinking* 3.9 2.0 3.5
Conceptual Thinking4 3.8 1.8 4.4
Self-Control6 3.5 2.0 4.3
Self-Confidence6 3.8 1.8 43
Organizational Commitment5 3.6 2.1 3 3
Flexibility5 3.8 1.3 3.4
(Subjects: IT managers, n=8)
' Competencies are listed in the order of the instrument or Just-Noticeable-Difference (JND) Scaled
Competency Dictionary
: Competencies based on CRQ results in the Importance to the Job column as rated by IT managers
were scaled on a Likert scale of 1-5 (from I = not important to the role of the IT project manager to 5 =
critical to the role of the IT project manager). Competencies with average scores higher than 3.5 in the
column marked "Important to the Job” were considered important to the effective performance o f the
role o f the IT project manager, as indicated by the bolded rows.
3 These columns demonstrate the level at which the competency based on IT managers responses to the
CRQ is required for minimally effective performance and outstanding performance. Each competency
is scaled, from a minimum o f I to a maximum o f 6 to reflect differences in scope, intensity, and
complexity.
4 Competencies scaled from 1-6. For items in the minimum and outstanding level columns only.
5 Competencies scaled from 1-4. For items in the minimum and outstanding level columns only.
6 Competencies scaled from 1-5. For items in the minimum and outstanding level columns only.
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77
The rational for choosing a score higher than 3.5 is significant because it
represents a slightly above average importance rating. Score o f 3.0-3.5 often
represents that competency is often necessary for effective performance of the job. A
score of 4.0 represents that competency is always necessary for effective performance
o f the job. Therefore, a score higher than 3.5 represents the competency is almost
always necessary for effective performance of the IT project manager job. The
findings were compared and contrasted with BEI findings.
Behavioral Event Interview (BEI) Analysis
The BEI is a behaviorally anchored measure of skills. The BEI probes people
to think of several important on-the-job situations in which things turned out well or
poorly and then to describe these situations in exhaustive narrative detail, answering
such questions as these: What led up to the situation? Who was involved? What did
you think about, feel, want to have happened in the situation? What did you do? What
was the outcome? Interviews were audio taped after receiving the permission from the
interviewee. Subsequently, the tapes were transcribed.
After all interviewing and transcribing was complete, the transcribed pages
were numbered and lines o f the transcriptions were coded by using the twenty Just-
Noticeable-Difference (JND) Scaled Competency Dictionary 1996 (McBer and
Company, 1996; Spencer et al., 1994; Spencer & Spencer, 1993) for technical
professional and managerial jobs, Appendix D.
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78
I. Achievement Cluster
In the achievement cluster all three competencies were rated very important by the
IT managers, see Table 4-17.
Table 4-17. Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ): Achievement
Cluster
Generic
Competency
Name1
Competency
Rating2
(n=8)
Importance
to the Job3
Level(s) (L#) of
Performance
Required for
Minimum
Performance
Level(s) (L#) of
Performance
Required for
Outstanding
Performance
Achievement
Orientation4
4.3 Very
Important
L2/L3 L5
Initiative5 4.3 Very
Important
L2/L3 L4/L5
Concern for
Quality and
Order6
4.0 Very
Important
L2 L4
'Competencies are listed in the order o f ranking within the Achievement Cluster as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
:The average of ratings as rated by the IT managers on the CRQ. Competencies were scaled on a Likert
Scale o f 1-5 (from I = not important to the role o f the IT project manager to 5 = critical to the role of
the IT project manager).
’Importance to Job based on CRQ ratings: 0-1.5 = Not Important
1.6-2.5 = Somewhat Important
2.6-3.S = Important
3.6-4.5 = Very Important
4.6-5.0 = Critical
4 Achievement Orientation (Levels)
L 1 - Wants to do Job well
L2 - Creates Own Measures of Excellence
L3 - Improves Performance
L4 - Sets and Works to Meet Challenging Goals
L5 - Makes Cost-Benefit Analysis
L6 - Takes Calculated Entrepreneurial Risks
’Initiatives (Levels)
LI - Is Decisive in Crises; L2 - Acts 1-3 Months Ahead; L3 - Acts 4-12 Months Ahead
L4 - Acts Over a Year Ahead
"Concern for Quality and Order (Levels)
LI - Keeps an Organized Workspace; L2 - Shows a General Concern for Order and Clarity
L3 - Monitors Work; L4 - Monitors Data or Project; L5 - Develops Complex Systems
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Achievement Orientation
Definition:
A concern for working well or for surpassing a standard o f excellence. The standard
may be one's own past performance (striving for improvement); and objective
measure (result orientation); outperforming others (competitiveness); challenging
goals one has set; or even what anyone has ever done (innovation). Thus a unique
accomplishment also indicates ACH.
Achievement orientation was rated to be a very important competency by the
IT managers, see Table 4-17. The minimum threshold calls for following behaviors:
creates own measures excellence (level 2) & improves performance (level 3). The
outstanding level calls for: making cost-benefit analysis (level 5).
BEI findings
Table 4-18. Achievement Orientation: BEI findings.
Competency
Name
Number
of Times
Coded
Level
I
Level
2
Level
3
Level
4
Level
5
Level
6
Achievement
Orientation
34 6 7 9 3 6 j
Examples:
LI: Wants to do job well: Tries to do the job well or right. May express frustration
at waste or inefficiency (e.g., gripes about wasted time and wants to do better) but
does not cause specific improvements.
"there was nothing I could do...they had nobody else that could come out with
that short notice and if they did to bring them up to speed would be really difficult any
way so what I did was to move on ahead as much as we could... ”
“I was frustrated with it, but I also ...this wasn ’ t my sole focus...I also knew I
got other things that need to be taken care o f and I didjust that. ”
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L2: Creates own measures of excellence: Uses own specific methods of measuring
outcomes against a standard of excellence not imposed by others. May focus on new
or more precise ways of meeting goals set by management.
“I developed the model that I used to measure our department's
performance... ”
"I tell them if you think you are going to come into this job and sit behind the
desk for eight hours then this job is not for you...you are expected to unpack the boxes,
you are expected to put all o f the cards in the machine, and you are expected to take it
out to the field. ”
L3: Improves Performance: Makes specific changes in the system or in own work
methods to improve performance (e.g., does something better, faster, at lower cost,
more efficiently, improves quality, customer satisfaction, morale, revenues), without
setting any specific goal.
"I sat down and put something together in Excel because I knew we were
going to be moving 3000 people over three years and I wanted to make this lot
easier... ”
‘'what I do is... we identified what those products are and I try to bring those in
to a consistent system and repeatable process... and pushing them back out to the
business units. ”
L4: Sets and Works to Meet Challenging Goals: “Challenging” means there is
about a 50-50 chance of actually achieving the goal-it is a definite stretch, but not
unrealistic or impossible. OR refers to specific measures o f baseline performance
compared with better performance at a later point in time: e.g., “When I took over,
efficiency was 20%-now it is up to 85%.”
"...so instead o f saying we were going to do a 150 o f2 001 went as far up as
180 o f200 to give myself some room in case anything happened. ”
"Edison being such a big company doing what is being done by other people
may not be enough...maybe it is a good thing to do at this time but I think we should
think evolutionary... wireless would be one strategy the voice would be another
strategy... ”
L5: Makes Cost-Benefit Analyses: Makes decisions, sets priorities or chooses goals
on the basis of calculated inputs and outputs. Makes explicit considerations of
potential profit, Retum-on-Investment or cost-benefit analysis. Analyzes for business
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outcomes. (To code, the person must show: 1) specific mention o f costs and 2)
specific benefits and 3) a decision based on the balance between them.
“/ gather my estimate, look at what I think it is going to cost and also
understand the derived value...so I do an ROl...it is going to cost me this much and I
know how much I am going to get out o f it... ”
“when you got a SI0 million project and buying the product and the product is
costing us $2 million and the cost to fix that is 5% o f$2 million, one basically have to
show a lot more weight than 5% o f the price. ”
L6: Takes Calculated Entrepreneurial Risks: Commits significant resources and/or
time (in the face of uncertainty) to increase benefits, (i.e., improve performance, reach
a challenging goal, etc.).
" I know when their fiscal quarters are, their (vendors) fiscal year is...so what I
do is try to get close to those time frames because then they get hungry, as an example,
I get 30% discount normally and their fiscal quarter just ended and they gave me an
extra 4% discount because he wanted it to make his books looking good. ”
“ ...now I am with a challenge that I estimated $8 million for this year and
they 're not going to give me the equipment this year ...I worked with out phone expert
to see if we could move and purchase next years equipment now...and that s how we
were able to off-load and come in pretty close to what we estimated... ”
Concern for Quality and Order (CO)
Definition: Acting to minimize errors and maintain high standards o f
quality by checking or monitoring data and work, and by developing and
maintaining system for organizing work and information.
Concern for quality and order was rated to be a very important competency by
the IT managers, see Table 4-17. The minimum threshold calls for following
behaviors; shows a general concern for order and clarity (level 2) & monitors work
(level 3). The outstanding performance level requires IT project managers to develop
complex systems.
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BEI findings
Table 4-19. BEI findings: Concern for Quality and Order (CO)
Competency Name Number of Level Level Level Level Level
Times Coded 1 2 3 4 5
Concern for Quality
and Order (CO)
63 0 27 18 17 1
Examples:
LI: Keeps an Organized Workspace: Maintains an orderly workspace with desk,
files, tools, and so on in good order.
None fielded.
L2: Shows a General Concern for Order and Clarity: Works for clarity - wants
roles, expectations, tasks, data crystal-clear and preferably in writing.
“ I would review (he items that we have identified as needing to accomplished
or some action that needed to be taken and we would go through with this published
list o f what was the action item, who had the action item, and what was the result... I
put that list together. ”
“ What I did is I have been keeping track, documenting what the changes are,
providing the estimates sending it to them in a documentedform... "
L3: Monitors Work: Monitors quality of work, checks to ensure that procedures are
followed. OR keeps clear, detailed records of own or others’ activities.
“/ worked with wireless project manager from the statement o f
work...providing resources, managing their work, make sure that they work as they
have promised that they would do..."
'When Ireview the project I am looking at...is it clear for example, in the
requirements phase...are the requirements attainable? Have they defined what is
needed vs. what is nice to have or must have...do they have any conflict with
requirements? ”
L4: Monitors Data or Project: Monitors progress of a project against milestones of
deadlines. Monitors data, discovers weaknesses or missing data, and seeks out
information to keep order, general concern for increasing order in existing system.
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"Basically on a daily basis I collect the results and input them into a tracking
tool that I have and report on a monthly basis to management as far as how we have
performed... we meet weekly as a staff in our staff meetings and we go over department
averages... ”
“there are seven service level indicators that are in my department...I track
those for my manager and I give the figures year to date, that particular month, and I
give it to everybody and it goes to the upper management... ”
L5: Develops Complex Systems: Puts new, detailed, complex systems in place to
increase order and improve quality of data. OR deduces new needs (not having to do
with order) from perceived disorder.
“two years ago it was to stabilize the network get it running smooth...it is
fairly smooth now...next thing was to put those network management tools and than
look at the utilization o f the network bandwidth... I have told my boss that this is the
year o f network management... ”
Initiative (INT)
Definition: Refers to: 1) the identification o f a problem, obstacle or opportunity and
2) taking action in light o f that to address current or future problems or opportunities.
As such, initiative can be seen in the context of proactively doing things and not
simply thinking about future actions. The time frame o f this scale moves from
completing past or current projects to action on future opportunities or problems.
Formal strategic planning is not included in this competency.
Initiative (INT) was rated to be a very important competency by the IT
managers, see Table 4-17. The minimum threshold calls for this behavior: is decisive
in crises (level 2). The outstanding performance level calls for IT project managers to
act 4-12 months ahead (level 4) & act over a year ahead (level 5).
BEI findings
Table 4-20. BEI findings: Initiative (INT)
Competency Number of Level Level Level Level Level
Name Times Coded 1 2 3 4 5
Initiative
(INT)
66 51 10 1 5 1
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Examples:
LI: Addresses Current Opportunities or Problems: Recognizes and acts upon
present opportunities, overcomes obstacles to address present problems, usually within
a day or two.
“/ generally spend about 15 minutes at the start o f every day talking about any
changes or updates that we need to be aware o f so that we could handle the orders
that are coming to the group... ”
" I bring them in at the service center because it gives them the visibility to the
products that we offer and what we are trying to do for them... and try to gain some
buy-in. "
"I wanted to get to the heart o f the area that needed the most guidance that
time... we had big outages that was most visible to the department, I wanted to hit that
first... "
L2: Is Decisive in Crises: Acts quickly and decisively in crises (where norm is to
wait, ‘'study,” hope problem will resolve itself).
" I pulled in a couple o f vendors together and said look we want to do this on
the Rose Float... we got very good exposure last year, we estimate that we have got $4
million worth o f advertising off o f this float... ”
" I reviewed the estimate and I didn't see that they even came close to what it
should be so took on the responsibility o f counting it for them... ”
L3: Acts 1-3 Months Ahead: Creates opportunities or minimizes potential problems
by a unique extra effort (new program, special travel, etc.) occurring within a one- to
three- month time frame.
“ .../ went through classes, I know how the classes are in Peregrine...!brought
in somebody with an oracle background because I knew that was something that he
could contribute right away and we were short of... ”
L4: Acts 4-12 Months Ahead: Anticipates and prepares for a specific opportunity or
problem that is not obvious to others. Takes action to create an opportunity or avoid
future crises, looking ahead 4-12 months.
“I started out with a goal which was to make sure that everything that we
supported is fully Junctional by the end o f year 2000... I worked backwards to see what
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/ need to do to achieve that within reason for example, what kind o f contingency plan
should we implement... ”
“/ was starting to see a lot offlakiness from the vendor...it was on this time
that I was starting to get into a point where I could not wait any longer I only had
seven months left before I had to finish my equipment upgrade. "
L5: Acts Over a Year Ahead: Anticipates situations 1-2 years ahead or more and acts
to create opportunities or avoid problems that are not obvious to others.
"I told my boss here are my plans for the next couple o f years as far as what I
want to accomplish... ”
II. Helping/Service Cluster
The two competencies associated with the helping/service cluster, interpersonal
understanding and customer service orientation, were both rated very important by the
IT managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ), see Table 4-21.
Interpersonal Understanding (IU)
Definition: Implies wanting to understand other people. It is the ability to accurately
hear and understand the unspoken or partly expressed thoughts, feelings, and
concerns or others. It measures increasing complexity and depth o f understanding o f
other and may include cross-cultural sensitivity.
Interpersonal understanding was rated to be a very important competency by
the IT managers, see Table 4-21. The minimum threshold calls for following
behavior: understand both emotion and content (level 2). The outstanding level calls
for IT project managers to understands underlying issues (level 4).
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Table 4-21. Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ): Helping Service
Cluster
Generic
Competency
Name1
Competency
Rating2
(n=8)
Importance
to the Job3
Level(s) (L#)
o f Performance
Required for
Minimum
Performance
Level(s) (L#)
of
Performance
Required for
Outstanding
Performance
C ustomer-Service
Orientation4
4.0 Very
Important
L2 L5
Interpersonal
Understanding5
3.6 Very
Important
L2 L4
'Competencies are listed in the order o f ranking within the Helping Service Cluster as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
:The average o f ratings as rated by the IT managers on the CRQ. Competencies were scaled on a Likert
Scale o f 1-5 (from 1 = not important to the role o f the IT project manager to 5 = critical to the role of
the IT project manager).
im portance to Job based on CRQ ratings: 0-1.5 = Not Important
1.6-2.5 = Somewhat Important
2.6-3.5 = Important
3.6-4.5 = Very Important
4.6-5.0 = Critical
4 Customer-Service Orientation (Levels)
LI - Follows Up
L2 - Maintains Clear Communication
L3 - Takes Personal Responsibility
L4 - Takes Action for the Customer
L5 - Addressing Underlying Customer Needs
L6 - Uses a Long Term Perspective
interpersonal Understanding (Levels)
LI - Understands Either Emotion or Content
L2 - Understands Both Emotion and Content
L3 - Understands Meanings
L4 - Understands Underlying Issues
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BEI findings
Table 4-22. BEIfindin gs: Interpersonal Understanding (IU)
Competency Name Number of
Times Coded
Level
1
Level
2
Level
3
Level
4
Interpersonal
Understanding (IU)
16 0 3 5 8
Examples:
LI: Understands Either Emotion or Content: Understands either present emotions
or explicit content, but not both together.
None fielded.
L2: Understands Both Emotion and Content: Understands both present emotions
and explicit content.
"I do not take it personally or anything it may turn out to be a better idea...I
mean I do not want to shut him out and make him have it such that he does not want to
present any new ideas to me... ”
“ I got one other person on my team who is very strong with relational
database and distributed architecture and if I know I have already loaded him to the
brim and I get an another request...I am more than likely going to do it myself rather
than dump it on him and have him stress over it... ”
L3: Understands Meanings: Understands current, unexpressed or poorly expressed
meanings: understands current unspoken thoughts, concerns or feelings. OR gets
others to willingly take actions desired by the speaker; that is, uses understanding to
get others to act the way you want them to.
"I don't know what winning the battle is ...some times I may be hurting
actually hurting the vendor for the betterment o f what I am trying to do. ”
"Hike to make my own judgment and I just treat everybody the same...just
because they are management does not mean that I treat him any different than a
genitor or...you know what I mean... ”
L4: Understands Underlying Issues: Understands other people’s underlying
problems; understands the reason for someone’s ongoing or long-term feelings,
behavior, or concerns. OR presents a balanced view o f others’ specific strengths and
weaknesses.
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“/ have really good focused hardworking administratively oriented people who
are being asked to do very technical jobs...and it is very difficult for them... ”
“...he used to work for me and I knew him as somebody that very intelligent,
really a good person, a person that gets along with everyone... ”
Customer-Service Orientation (CSO)
Definition: Implies a desire to help or serve customers, to meet their needs. It means
focusing one's efforts on discovering and meeting the customer or client’ s needs.
The IT managers rated customer-service orientation to be a very important
competency, see Table 4-21. The minimum threshold calls for level 2 behavior which
states that the IT project manager should maintain clear communications. On the
other hand, the outstanding performance calls for level 5 effort that is addressing
underlying customer needs.
BEI findings
Table 4-23. BEI findings: Customer-Service Orientation (CSO)
Competency
Name
Number
of Times
Coded
Level
1
Level
2
Level
3
Level
4
Level
5
Level
6
Customer-
Service
Orientation
(CSO)
49 6 26 1 8 7 1
Examples:
LI: Follows Up: Follows through on customer inquiries, requests, and complaints.
Keeps customer up-to-date about progress of projects (but does not probe customer’s
underlying issues or problems.
“So at that time I went back to the client and told them that this is the date that
it will be done. I got a confirmation, I can pretty much bet my life on it... ”
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“...provide this document back to the project team... what I expect from
them... I will send them an e-mail and attach this technical assessment document back
to them...I also ask them to provide action plans for each findings... ”
L2: Maintains Clear Communication: Maintains clear communication with
customer regarding mutual expectations, monitors client satisfaction. Distributes
helpful information to clients. Gives friendly, cheerful service.
“I made a presentation...explaining here is where we are, here is where we are
going, here is why we got to go there, and here is what I need from you, by the way
here is why it (Tivoli) is good for you... ”
“What my role is to speak with the customer...ask them what their
requirements are in a change management...show them what is currently being done
in a change management... ”
L3: Takes Personal Responsibility: Takes personal responsibility for correcting
customer-service problems. Corrects problems promptly and un-defensively.
“...that goes all the way from going in and doing presentations on the material
to sitting down with the project manager one-on-one and actually walking them
through the process... ”
L4: Takes Action for the Customer: Makes self fully available, especially when
customer is going through a critical period.
... / called the call center back and said here is going to be the best time that
way I could have somebody out there on top o f it as an added safety net and they
agreed to it and that’ s what we did. ”
“What I do is I take screen prints o f current environment like mainframe or
Unix and I go over it with the customer... ”
5: Addressing Underlying Customer Needs: Knows the customer's business and/or
seeks information about the real underlying needs of the customer, beyond those
expressed initially. Matches these to available (or customized) products or services.
“...talkedabout what the system can do while I was demonstrating it as they
(clients) gave us feedback and concerns, recorded that information...took that
information back and built a pilot plan... ”
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"...we sat down with some checklists and some guidelines and help them
identify the completeness o f their business requirements... ”
L6: Uses a Long-Term Perspective: Works with a long-term perspective in
addressing a customer’s problems. May trade off immediate costs for the sake if the
long-term relationship. Looks for long-term benefits to the customer. Acts as a
trusted advisor; becomes involved in customer’s decision-making process. Builds an
independent opinion on client needs, problems, or opportunities and possibilities for
implementation.
"...there are a lot o f smart people here, people with engineering
backgrounds...the first thing they want to do is to dive in ...OK we are going to build
this Web based application, we are going to use Java...the question is...what do you
want it to do ...what is the business need...you are feeling pain somewhere... it is
either in your budget or manpower so how are you going to make that better from the
process perspective... ”
III. Influence Cluster
One of the competencies associated with the influence cluster, organizational
awareness, was rated to be very important competency, where as, the other two
competencies, impact and influence and relationship building, were rated to be
important competencies by the IT managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire
(CRQ), see Table 4-24.
Impact and Influence (IMP)
Definition: Implies an intention to persuade, convince, influence or impress others, in
order to get them to go along with or to support the speaker’ s agenda It is based on
the desire to have a specific impact or effect on others where the person has his or her
own agenda, a specific type o f impression to make, or a course o f action that he or she
wants the others to adopt.
Impact and influence was rated to be a very important competency by the IT
managers, see Table 4-24. The minimum threshold calls for IT project managers to
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take a single action to persuade (level 2). The outstanding level calls for: using
indirect influence (level 5).
Table 4-24. Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ): Influence
Cluster
Generic
Competency
Name1
Competency
Rating2
(n=8)
Importance
to the Job3
Level(s) (L#) of
Performance
Required for
Minimum
Performance
Level(s) (L#) of
Performance
Required for
Outstanding
Performance
Organizational
Awareness4
3.9 Very
Important
L2 L4
Impact and
Influence5
3.5 Important L2 L5
Relationship
Building6
3.1 Important L2 L3
'Competencies are listed in the order of ranking within the Influence Cluster as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
:The average o f ratings as rated by the IT managers on the CRQ. Competencies were scaled on a Likert
Scale of 1-5 (from I = not important to the role o f the IT project manager to 5 = critical to the role of
the IT project manager).
’Importance to Job based on CRQ ratings: 0-1.5 = Not Important
1.6-2.5 = Somewhat Important
2.6-3.5 = Important
3.6-4.5 = Very Important
4.6-5.0 = Critical
’Organizational Awareness (Levels): LI - Understands Formal Structure; L2 - Understands Informal
Structure; L3 - Understands Climate and Culture; L4 - Understands Organizational Politics;
L5 - Understands Underlying Organization issues
’Impact and Influence (Levels): LI - States Intention but Takes No Specific Action; L2 - Takes a
Single
Action to Persuade; L3 - Calculates the Impact o f One’s Actions or Words; L4 - Uses Indirect
Influence; L5 - Uses Complex Influence Strategies
‘Relationship Building (Levels): LI - Makes Informal Contacts; L2 - Builds Rapport; L3 - Makes
Social Contacts; L4 - Establishes Personal Friendships; L5 - Makes Strong Personal Friendships
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BEI findings
Table 4-25. BEI findings: Impact and Influence (IMP)
Competency
Name
Number of
Times
Coded
Level
1
Level
2
Level
3
Level
4
Level
5
Level
6
Impact and
Influence
(IMP)
39 1 5 25 3 3
2
Examples:
LI: Slates Intention but Takes No Specific Action: Intends to have a specific effect
or impact; expresses concern with reputation, status, appearance, etc., but does not
take any specific actions.
" You have to show them what the big picture is... in this case the big picture
would be coming...would be that desktop services will become the very
professional...on the ISO 9000 level where we could outsource... ”
L2: Takes a Single Action to Persuade: Uses direct persuasion in a discussion or
presentation (e.g., appeals to reason, data, others' self-interest; uses concrete examples,
visual aids, demonstrations, etc.). Makes no apparent attempt to adapt presentation to
the interest and level of the audience.
“...they often ask, why did you design it this way...so in this case I would
explain, explain, explain... I think the design is good... so it may be it is Just
communication or it may be lack o f explaining...so explain it to them... ”
“Ijust say the same thing over again...and if they ask me one more time I say
the same thing again... ”
L3: Takes Multiple Actions to Persuade: Takes two or more steps to persuade
without trying to adapt specifically to level or interest of an audience. Includes careful
preparation o f data for presentation. OR making two or more different arguments or
points in a presentation or a discussion.
“I really boiled it down to four key points with just key data to support it and I
put about four PowerPoint slides up...walked him through them...he asked me about
five minutes worth o f questions and then he said you got to do what you got to
do...and they signed off the hardware budget next afternoon... ”
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"some Just communicated with an e-mail, some I made phone calls, others I
went out and met one-on-one with to explain all o f these things and on the individual
level...that was the middle management level...on the individual end-user level I did
have a presentation that I go out and do... that explains the objectives o f the project
and the process and timing...
L4: Calculates the Impact of One’s Actions or Words: Adapts a presentation or
discussion to appeal to the interest and level of others. Anticipates the effect of an
action or other detail on people’s image of the speaker. OR takes a well thought-out
dramatic or unusual action in order to have a specific impact. Anticipates and prepares
for others’ reactions.
“I walked to the white board, and I drew the process, the diagram o f what the
steps were...whose responsibilities were for each o f the components...so I drew the
process, may partner was there, assisting me in the process concurring the things that
I was doing and she looked at the process and she agreed, and she said sorry. "
"I said to the vendors that if you partner with us we would give you some sort
o f recognition and we did that with Cisco, L.A. Cellular, and Frontier Global
Center...and they got their logos on our float...that is the way I sold it to them... ”
LS: Uses Indirect Influence: Uses chains of indirect influence: “get A to show B so
B will tell C such -and-such.” Takes two steps to influence, with each step adapted to
the specific audience. Anticipates and prepares for others’ reactions. Uses experts or
other third parties to influence.
“I conversed with my manager... I got him to buy into me and we met with the
upper management and said this is critical we need the CIO to send the letter to
vendor's VP...and we did that...since then they have assigned a project manager and
looks like it is back on track ”
“we did some pilot testing, we got the user to evaluate it...we had some o f the
vendors come in and have a mockup o f the system so they couldfeel, touch, and
look...so we had our clients' input as to which o f the three vendors were the best. ”
L6: Uses Complex Influence Strategies: Assembles political coalitions, builds
“behind-the-scenes” support for ideas, gives or withholds information to have specific
effects, uses “group process skills” to lead or direct a group.
“I tell them that I work directly for (name) their whole attitude changes
because all o f the sudden they realize that I have the backing or the managerial clout
ofsomeone with a title at that level who can stop projects cold if he is not satisfied
with their directions... ”
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“ .../ have to go to not just the project manager but to project manager's
management up the ladder...now we are taking tow levels above what the manager is
in order to reinforce the message my boss is putting out inside the different business
units... ”
Organizational Awareness (OA)
Definition: The ability to understand and learn the power relationship in one's own
organization or in other organizations (customers, suppliers, etc.). This includes the
ability to identify who are the real decision-makers and the individuals who can
influence them; and to predict how new events or situations will affect individuals and
groups within the organization.
Organizational awareness was rated to be an important competency by The IT
managers, see Table 4-24. The minimum threshold for this competency require
understanding o f informal structures (level 2) and the outstanding performance calls
for the understanding o f organizational politics (level 4.)
BEI findings
Table 4-26. BEI findings: Organizational Awareness (OA)
Competency Number of Level Level Level Level Level
Name Times Coded 1 2 3 4 5
Organizational
Awareness (OA)
9 1 1 5 1 1
Examples:
LI: Understands Formal Structures: Recognizes or uses the formal structure or
hierarchy of an organization, “chain of command,” positional power, rules and
regulations, Standard Operating Procedures, etc.
" ...to some degree we have some leverage for example, business cases...we
are basically reviewing business cases so CIO can go in and say yes or no...so if we
say no then she can go in and say no... we have different leverage for different times
depending on what it is the we 're doing... ”
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L2: Understands Informal Structures: Understands (uses) informal structures
(identifies key actors, decision-influencers, etc.)- Applies this knowledge when formal
structure does not work as well as desired.
“ I have been working in ITfor 10 years so I know all o f the players and their
expertise and their strengths... ”
L3: Understands Climate and Culture: Recognizes non-spoken organizational
limitations-what is and is not possible at certain times or in certain positions.
Recognizes and uses the corporate culture and the language, etc., that will produce the
best response.
“ ...we hardly go through the contracts because that causes trouble for the
bargaining unit. ”
"...within Edison the challenges are continuity on how you deliver a product
to different business units because they each have different requirements...what works
for a big division like T&D may not work for HR...so with the product that I manage
we have to find a common ground that is acceptable to all of them... ”
L4: Understands Organizational Politics: Understands, describes (or uses) on-going
power and political relationships within the organization (alliances, rivalries), with a
clear sense of organizational impact.
“ ...and by that time corporate real estate people not only had kept going to my
upper management but they went further up... ”
L5: Understands Underlying Organization Issues: Understands (and addresses) the
reasons for on-going organizational behavior or the underlying problems,
opportunities or political forces affecting the organization, (e.g., current market trends,
demographic changes, trade union policies, national or historical issues that affect
market opportunities, etc.).
" I know we have downsized in terms o f Edison employees but we have also
beefed up quite a bit on the contractors side so that clients are coming in with a lots o f
space requirements ...corporate real estate and IT have to work hand-in-hand because
with offices andfurniture. phones and computers ...anyway trying to balance all
that... ”
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Relationship Building (RB) (Networking)
Definition: Builds or maintains friendly, reciprocal, and warm relationships or
networks o f contacts with people.
Relationship building was rated to be an important competency by the IT
managers, see Table 4-24. The minimum acceptance level requires the following
behaviors: makes informal contacts (level I) & builds rapport (level 2). On the other
hand, only level 3 is acceptable for higher end of relationship building: makes social
contacts.
BEI findings
Table 4-27. BEI findings: Relationship Building (RB)
Competency Number of Level Level Level Level Level
Name Times Coded 1 2 3 4 5
Relationship
Building (RB)
1 1 1 4 6 0 0
Examples:
LI: Makes Informal Contacts: Makes informal contacts with others in addition to
contacts required in the course of work. Includes unstructured chats about work-
related issues, or about children, sports, news, etc.
“ ...sometimes I try to for example, if there is a project status meeting at 10am
or something, I do not do it all o f the time, but I will try to attend that project status
meeting and take them to lunch and ask them how things are going, how the project is
going... ”
L2: Build Rapport: Builds or maintains rapport with a wide circle o f friends and
acquaintances. May pursue friendly relationships with associates, customers, or others
at clubs, restaurants, sports events, etc.
“/ am very proud that I have a quite a bit o f integrity and I am known quite a
bit, not just within IT but... so that has helped me to build relationships ...the integrity I
have with the knowledge and background I have with IT also helps me building
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relationships with non IT types...I also interact with number o f other organizations as
we are going through these building o f the facilities... ”
L3: Makes Social Contacts: Mentions initiating parties, outings, or special gatherings
designed to improve or strengthen relationships with others. Includes inviting people
hove or going to the home of others. OR participates actively in on-going social
relationships.
“ Itake them to lunch...take them to after hours activities...orderpizza...we
even have had parties at someone's house... ”
"...as far as acknowledgment o f employees accomplishments are concerned I
have done that by as many means as / have at my disposal... we have done some team
lunches... ”
L4: Establishes Personal Friendships: Establishes friendships, including making
personal disclosures as part of establishing or maintaining rapport. Acknowledges that
a friend provided information or a contact that was helpful in attaining a business goal.
None fielded.
L5: Makes Strong Personal Friendships: Makes strong
friendships as demonstrated by the fact that a friend testifies on
behalf of, supports, or goes with the person in attaining a business
goal.
None fielded.
IV. Managerial Cluster
The IT managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) rated
teamwork and cooperation to be the critical competencies. Two other competencies,
developing others and team leadership, were rated to be very important competencies,
and directiveness was rated an important competency by the IT managers, see Table 4-
28.
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Table 4-28. Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ): Managerial
Cluster
Generic
Competency
Name1
Competency
Rating2
(n=8)
Importance
to the Job3
Level(s) (L#)
of Performance
Required for
Minimum
Performance
Level(s) (L#)
of Performance
Required for
Outstanding
Performance
Teamwork
and
Cooperation4
4.6 Critical L2 L5
Developing
Others5
4.3 Very
Important
L2 L5
Team
Leadership6
4.0 Very
Important
L2 L3
Directiveness7 3.3 Important LI L4
'Competencies are listed in the order o f ranking within the Managerial Cluster as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 The average o f ratinp as rated by the IT managers on the CRQ. Competencies were scaled on a Likert
Scale of 1-5 (from I = not important to the role o f the IT project manager to 5 = critical to the role of
the IT project manager).
’Importance to Job based on CRQ ratings: 0-1.5 = Not Important
1.6-2.5 = Somewhat Important
2.6-3.5 = Important
3.6-4.5 = Very Important
4.6-5.0 = Critical
4 Teamwork and Cooperation (Levels)
LI - Cooperates; L2 - Expresses Positive Expectation of Team
L3 - Solicits Inputs; L4 - Encourages Others; L5 - Builds Team Spirit
’Developing Others (Levels)
LI - Expresses Positive Expectation of Person; L2 - Gives How-to Directions
L3 - Gives Reasons, Other Support; L4 - Gives Feedback to Encourage
L5 - Does Longer-Term Coaching or Training
‘Team Leadership (Levels)
L 1 - Manages Meetings Well; L2 - Keeps People Informed
L3 - Promotes Team Effectiveness; L4 - Takes Care of the Group
L5 - Positions Self as the Leader; L6 - Communicates a Compelling Vision
7 Directiveness (Levels)
LI - Gives Directions; L2 - Sets Limits
L3 - Demands High Performance; L4 - Maintains Visible Standards o f Performance
L5 - Holds People Accountable for Performance
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Directiveness (DIR)
Definition: Implies the intent to make others comply others comply with one's wishes
where personal power or the power o f one’ s position is used appropriately and
effectively, with the long-term good o f the organization in mind. It includes a theme or
tone o f "telling people what to do. ” The tone ranges from firm and directive to
demanding or even to threatening. Attempts to reason with, persuade or convince
others to comply are Impact and Influence (IMP), not Directiveness.
The IT managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) ranked
directiveness as an important competency see Table 4-28. The minimum acceptance
level requires the following behavior: gives directions (level I) and maximum level
requires the IT project managers to able to maintain visible standards o f performance
(level 4).
BEI findings
Table 4-29. BEI findings: Directiveness (DIR)
Competency Name Number of Level Level Level Level Level
Times Coded 1 2 3 4 5
Directiveness (DIR) 27 16 8 I
2
0
Examples:
LI: Gives Directions: Gives adequate directions, makes needs and requirements
reasonably clear. Explicitly delegates details of routine tasks in order to free self for
more valuable or longer-range considerations.
"...I took the one expert that had been building and setting me up with the
migration, I said OK until we get the go-ahead your new prime directive from me is
you need to handle the upgrade, the Tivoli 3.6,1 want you to get fidly into it and here
is the software I got some hardware for you to work with... ”
“/ maintain the schedule...I am the first entry point in the technical review...I
also assign systems engineer who should be responsible for which project because we
have many project that need to go through with that process... ”
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“There are four or five different groups I sort o f sit back and guide things as
they go...I let the technical people do their technical work...I don't want them to
worry about budgeting I want them to do the technical work. "
L2: Sets Limits: Firmly say “No” to unreasonable requests, or sets limits for others’
behavior. May manipulate situations to limit others’ options, or to force them to make
desired resources available.
"Isaid it is noon on a Friday Ijust cannot take an outage like that...Isaid this
just doesn ’ t effect you but it also effects another organization so let's come to a
compromise... ”
"I said if this is so important to the strategic facilities plan then why don't you
guys pay for it... ”
L3: Demands High Performance: Unilaterally sets standards, demands high
performance, quality or resources; insists on compliance with own orders or requests
in a “no-nonsense” or “put my foot down” style.
"The vendor was playing games with us. It seemed like they did not have a
great handle on their own equipment as to what needs to be done. So there were lots
o f games being played on there side... there came a point where I needed to escalate
this to my upper management...this got escalated all the way to the CIO level. ”
L4: Maintains Visible Standards of Performance: Intrusively (or publicly) monitors
performance against clear standards (e.g., posts sales results next to individual goals
with shortfalls circled in red).
“...make sure that everybody is on track, everybody is on schedule...keeping a
close tabs on the progress and resources ...and make sure that everybody is doing
it...basically, I would ask, not in a blunt way, but do you know what your were
supposed to do... what is your obstacle...! basically visited them everyday... ”
“...something as simple as the golden screwdriver award...that's the guy who
screwed up the last month... that’ s all unjust but it gets them to think that I screwed up
I better think how I do things.. ”
L5: Holds People Accountable for Performance: Consistently compares
performance against standards. States consequences and confronts others openly and
directly about performance problems.
None fielded.
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Teamwork and Cooperation (TW)
Definition: Implies a genuine intention to work cooperatively with others, to be part
o f a team, to work together as opposed to working separately or competitively. For
this competency to be effective the intent should be genuine. Teamwork and
Cooperation may be considered whenever the subject is a member o f a group o f
people functioning as a team. “Team, ” as is the case with Team Leadership, is
broadly defined as any task or process-oriented group o f individuals.
Teamwork and Cooperation (TW) were ranked to be critical competencies by
the IT Managers, see Table 4-28. At the minimum level IT project managers are
expected to express positive expectations o f team (level 2). The outstanding
performance calls for building team spirit (level 5).
BEI findings
Table 4-30. BEI findings: Teamwork and Cooperation (TW)
Competency Number of Level Level Level Level Level
Name Times Coded 1 2 3 4 5
Teamwork and
Cooperation (TW)
57 4 7 36 9 1
Examples:
LI: Cooperates: Participates willingly - supports team decisions, is a “good team
player," does his/her share of the work. As a member of a team, keeps other team
members informed and up-to-date about the group process, individual actions, or
influencing events; shares all relevant or useful information.
“I try to do as much with them as I could as far as I will work if have to also
it’ s not that / am sitting pretty in my office and I can't do anything... if there is
anything that I can help them with on their stuff... ”
“ ...I have to be fully prepared to work in their schedules and their priorities
and make my team flexible as possible to make that happen... ”
L2: Expresses Positive Expectations of Team: Expresses positive
expectations o f others in terms of their abilities, expected contributions, etc.; speaks of
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team members in positive terms. Shows respect for others' intelligence by appealing
to reason.
“/ have them look at the problem and come up with some ideas and we get
together and we talk about what is the best approach because they know how to do
their job... ”
“/ would say on average I don't do more than 20 to 25% o f really truly
technical stuff...simply because I got a team that can do that I just offload when I
need to take a load off o f them... "
L3: Solicits Inputs: Genuinely values others' input and expertise, is willing learn from
others (including subordinates and peers). Solicits ideas and opinions help form
specific decisions or plans. Promotes team cooperation.
“ ...usually when I do an interview I have a technical person with me and they
hit them with all the technical questions... "
“...in regards to the accuracy o f the information, the team that reports to me
right now was built off o f the technicians from each organization so they are the more
qualified people, more technical than I...so in my case I have to take the words o f
those experts in those fields... ”
L4: Encourages Others: Publicly credits others who have performed well.
Encourages and empowers others, makes them feel strong and important.
” ...soon as / found out that this is indeed a fact I took it to my manager... we
acknowledged his findings and we advertised it to the whole department... ”
“Iprovide recognition through personal thanks ...just patting them on the
back...sitting down along aside them...thanking them for their work...I provide
recognition through Corporate sponsored programs... I have given spot bonuses to
people that have contributed not only within my department but outside o f my
department who had an impact on our success... ”
L5: Builds Team Spirit: Acts to promote a friendly climate, good morale and
cooperation (holds parties and get-togethers, creates symbols of group identity).
Resolves team conflicts. Protects/promotes group reputation with outsiders.
“we had one person in our department she did an exceptional job last year
participating in the employee contributions and in our staff meeting this year I
thanked her for that and / told her that as a group she actually got us to do a lot o f
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things we probably would have never done and it is important... I am now contributing
I never did before... ”
Developing Others (DEV)
Definition: Involves a genuine intent to foster the long-term learning or development
o f others with an appropriate level o f need analysis and other thought or effort. Its
focus is on the development intent and effect rather than on a formal role o f training.
The IT managers deem developing others as a very important competency, see
Table 4-28. The minimum threshold level calls for IT project managers to give how to
directions (level 2) and the outstanding performance level expects IT project manager
to give feedback to encourage (level 4) and do long-term coaching or training (level
5).
BEI findings
Table 4-31. BEI findings: Developing Others (DEV)
Competency Number of Level Level Level Level Level
Name Times Coded 1 2 3 4 5
Developing
Others (DEV)
14 1 3 3 1 6
Examples:
LI: Expresses Positive Expectation of Person: Makes positive comments regarding
others’ developmental future: Current and expected future abilities and/or potential to
leam even in "difficult” cases. Believes others want to and can learn or improve their
performance.
"Hooked around who was working on what projects and I said OK, (name) is
not as busy as other people are currently...something that he has not worked on,
something he needs to learn so I assigned that responsibility to him and he accepted
it... ”
L2: Gives How-to Directions: Gives detailed instructions and/or on-the-job
demonstrations, tells how to do the task, makes specific, helpful suggestions.
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“ ...basically he wasnV that savvy with the Internet...so I went on the Internet
and lookedfor all o f that information for him...came back, worked with him showed
him how to do it... ”
L3: Gives Reasons, Other Support: Gives directions or demonstrations with reasons
or rationale as a training strategy. Gives practical supporter assistance to make job
easier for subordinate (i.e., volunteers additional resources, tools, information, expert
advice, etc.).
“ when we talk monthly I see some things that I will ask, help me understand,
what were you doing here because I don 7 understand it fully and it is like...did you
think about this... that if you had done steps A, B and C it would have been a little
different outcome...I tell them...something that I heardfrom our CEO when he came
on that if you have a good thought process behind what you “ re doing even if you come
to bad outcome if the process is there it is OK...you can make that mistake one time
but if you continue to make that same mistake then we need to talk... ”
L4: Gives Feedback to Encourage: Gives specific positive or mixed feedback for
developmental purposes. Reassures others after a setback. Gives negative feedback in
behavioral rather than personal terms, and expresses positive expectations for future
performance or gives individualized suggestions for improvement.
"I encourage my employees to always stop and try to see where the other side
is coming from...also, I give them the opportunity to explain themselves and their
perspective on what has occurred... "
L5: Does Longer-Term Coaching or Training: Arranges appropriate and helpful
assignments, formal training, or other experiences for the purpose of fostering a
person’s learning and development. Have people work out answers to problems
themselves so they really know how, rather than simply giving them the answer. This
does not include formal training done simply to meet corporate requirements. May
include identifying a training and developing need and establishing new programs or
materials to meet it.
"my staff war particularly weak on application... so I linked them up with some
o f the training that is available in the company ...actually prior to the current training
activity ...seek some outside training for them and actually purchase them cards that
allowed them to go to Comp USA training centers as much as they want for six
months... ”
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“/a m putting together systems engineering curriculum that I will roll out to
the other people in the company to help them get the skills that are necessary to apply
the systems engineering process... "
Team Leadership (TL)
Definition: The intention to take a role as a leader o f a team or other group. It
implies a desire to lead other. Team Leadership is generally, but certainly not always,
shown from a position offormal authority. The “team ” here should be understood
broadly as nay group in which the person takes on a leadership role.
The IT managers rated team leadership to be a very important competency, see
Table 4-28. The level 2 behavior states that the project managers should keep people
informed and for the outstanding performance level the project managers are expected
to take care o f the group (level 4) & position themselves as the leader (level 5).
BEI findings
Table 4-32. BEI findings: Team Leadership (TL)
Competency
Name
Number of
Times
Coded
Level
1
Level
2
Level
3
Level
4
Level
5
Level
6
Team
Leadership
(TL)
24 7 8 6 0 0
Examples:
LI: Manages Meeting Well: States agendas and objectives, control time, makes
assignments, etc.
“I usually got stuff down on a notepad, that's my to do list. So off o f my to do
list before meetings Ijust prepare what I need to talk about. In many cases if it is
significant I actually do an agenda before the meeting... ”
L2: Keeps People Informed: In a leadership role, lets people affected by a decision
now what is happening, even if they are not required to share such information.
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Makes sure the group has all the necessary information. May explain the reasons for
decisions.
“ I pulled in the Audit people into a follow-up session with security so that they
could understand...so that audits and security could see the same message and they
would have the opportunity to re-discuss this and possible reconsider their
position... ”
“my role was to pull together the reviewer's that had a stake in this...for
example, (name) helped me from the logistical side bring the infrastructure folks
together...we had to make sure that the Unix folks were there, NT was there...the
whole approach to technical review is you bring all o f these people together. ”
L3: Promotes Team Effectiveness: As a leader uses complex strategies to promote
team morale and productivity (hiring and firing decisions, team assignments, cross-
training, etc.). OR may include acts intended to build team spirit as long as intent is to
increase team effectiveness.
"Hooked for team players ...people who would be willing to support the
project and... I wanted people that find solutions rather than people that point
fingers... ”
"I chair the meetings ...and if needed I invite the project managers that Ideal
with...if they are not needed I do not waste their time and I do not invite them... ”
L4: Takes Care of the Group: Protects the group and its reputation. Makes sure the
practical needs of the group are met: obtains needed personnel, resources, and
information for the group.
None fielded.
L5: Positions Self as the Leader: Ensures that others buy into leader’s mission,
goals, agenda, climate, tone, and policy. “Sets a good example,” models desired
behavior. Ensures that group tasks are completed. Is a credible leader.
“ ...currently I am heading a team called application integration architecture
that is composed o f multiple business units representatives ...the senior members o f the
business units...my role in that team is to bring them altogether introduce to them
what application integration means...educate them provide information to them
answer any questions that they might have relative to other components... ”
"First o f all I told them that I needed them to be successful in order for me to
be successful in this project...! needed to know what their problems were and what
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their complaints were...so I listened to them and put everything out on the table what
their issues were...so we identified the issues and wrote them down and took them to
my management... ”
L6: Communicates a Compelling Vision: Has genuine “charisma,” communicates a
compelling vision that generates excitement, enthusiasm and commitment to the group
mission.
None fielded.
V. Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
The IT managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) rated analytical
thinking, conceptual thinking and information seeking to be very important
competencies. Technical expertise was rated to be an important competency by the IT
managers, see Table 4-33.
Technical Expertise (EXP)
Definition: The motivation to expand and use technical knowledge or to distribute
work-related knowledge to others.
The IT managers rated technical expertise to be an important competency, see
Table 4-33. The minimum level called for IT project managers to answer questions
(level I) & apply technical knowledge to achieve additional impact (level 2). The
outstanding performance requires project managers to offer technical help & advocate
and spread new technologies (level 4).
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Table 4-33. Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ): Cognitive
Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
Generic
Competency
Name1
Competency
Rating2
(n=8)
Importance
to the Job3
Level(s) (L#)
of Performance
Required for
Minimum
Performance
Level(s) (L#)
o f Performance
Required for
Outstanding
Performance
Analytical
Thinking4
3.9 Very
Important
L2 L3/L4
Conceptual
Thinking5
3.8 Very
Important
L2 L4
Information
Seeking6
3.6 Very
Important
L2/L3 L4
Technical
Expertise7
3.0 Important L2 L4
'Competencies are listed in the order o f ranking within the Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
as rated by the IT managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
:The average of ratings as rated by the IT managers on the CRQ. Competencies were scaled on a Likert
Scale of 1-5 (from 1 = not important to the role of the IT project manager to 5 = critical to the role o f
the IT project manager).
im portance to Job based on CRQ ratings: 0-1.5 = Not Important
1.6-2.5 = Somewhat Important
2.6-3.5 = Important
3.6-4.5 = Very Important
4.6-5.0 = Critical
Analytical Thinking (Levels)
L 1 - Breaks Down Problems; L2 - Sees Basic Relationships; L3 - Sees Multiple Relationships
L4 - Makes Complex Plans or Analysis
’Conceptual Thinking (Levels)
LI - Uses Basic Rules; L2 - Sees Patterns; L3 - Applies Complex Concepts; L4 - Clarifies
Complex Data or Situations; L5 - Creates New Concepts
inform ation Seeking (Levels)
L 1 - Asks Questions; L2 - Personally Investigates; L3 - Digs Deeper, L4 - Does Research
L5 - Uses Own-On-Going System
^Technical Expertise (Levels)
LI - Answers Questions; L2 - Applies Technical Knowledge to Achieve Addition Impact
L3 - Offers Technical Help; L4 - Advocates and Spreads New Technologies
L5 - Publishes New Technology
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BEI findings
Table 4-34. BEI findings: Technical Expertise (EXP)
Competency Number of Level Level Level Level Level
Name Times Coded 1 2 3 4 5
Technical
Expertise (EXP)
38 9 4 1 1 1 1
2
Examples:
LI: Answers Questions: Distributes current information in role as expert.
"I basically walk them through our analysis on what the findings are on the
business case and there will be recommendations in most cases... “
" ...there maybe a router board that may need to be expanded because it may
be up to capacity on the hub...that is that technical stuff that / know that I was able to
help him with... I am not a satellite engineer but when I do know stuff then I try to add
value with my technical knowledge. ”
L2: Applies Technical Knowledge to Achieve Additional Impact: Goes beyond
simply answering a question (i.e., to influence a client); or helps resolve others’
technical problems.
‘7 went back to my management and said / think we have a potential problem
with our architecture... I would like to have Tivoli come in and do a project in short
term...and tell me if lam right or wrong or how do we tweak it ...they agreed to
that ...brought in Tivoli... Tivoli looked at it and said you are right... ”
“...as we started discussing the different issues with using the tools one o f
them came up which I had to fall back on my technical background... we needed to
make to make changes in all o f the final servers and also the changes we needed to
make in the log-in groups...so my past technical knowledge is very significant... ”
L3: Offers Technical Help: Acts as a “floating consultant,” offering personal
expertise to improve performance, or resolve others’ technical problems.
“...the best way to describe it is what I am is an internal consultant to the
project team for technical matters for example, instead o f going out and hiring an
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outside consultant from SAIC or Anderson Consulting or whatever lam a resource
within Edison to provide that technical expertise to the business units... ”
"I am very technical so I do lot o f the technical work with them. As matter o f
fact I cover the phones and take problem calls from the field and I can resolve them as
good as they can. ”
L4: Advocates and Spreads New Technology: Actively goes out as a technically
missionary or change agent to spread new technology within the company.
"What we did was to program some o f the smarts into these new devices that
were micro processor based so what I did was make a design recommendation on
what should be being into these products. ”
"Prior to working for Edison I was at ARCO, I was a network engineer doing
a frame relay. I w2as the first one at ARCO doing that technology. ”
L5: Publishes New Technology: Publishes articles on new technology or new
methods in professional or technical journals.
Not fielded.
Information Seeking (INF)
Definition: Driven by an underlying curiosity and desire to know more about things,
people or issues. It implies beyond the questions that are routine or required in the
job. It may include “digging” or pressing for exact information; resolution o f
discrepancies by asking a series o f question; or less-focused environmental
"scanning " for potential opportunities or miscellaneous information that may be of
future use.
IT managers rated information seeking to be an important competency for the
IT project managers, see Table 4-33. According to the results o f CRQ IT project
managers should at least personally investigate & dig deeper. The outstanding
performance calls for IT project managers to conduct research.
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BEI findings
Table 4-35. BEI findings: Information Seeking (INF
Competency Number of Level Level Level Level Level
Name Times Coded 1 2 3 4 5
Information
Seeking (INF)
38 10 4 1 1 1 1 2
Examples:
LI: Asks Questions: Asks direct questions of the people who are there, or who are
supposed to answer questions about the situation, such as people who are directly
involved even if not physically present. Uses visible information, or consults other
available resources.
“... because this project was very political, it was very hard to get any
information out the vendor...I needed to establish the budget so I kept hammering on
the vendor to give us something... ”
“I go to the appropriate person that I feel has access to that information or the
knowledge about that information and ask them for it via e-mail or phone call or
whatever... ”
L2: Personally Investigates: Gets out to personally investigate the problem or
situation, when normally would not do so. Finds and questions those closest to the
problem. Asks, “What happened?”
" ...someone is coming to tell me about a disagreement with another person
and tell me that they have ironed it out, chances are that it is worse that what I am
being led to believe ...so at that point I went to that so and so and asked can you tell
me about the little disagreement that you had and he just spilled... ”
L3: Digs Deeper: Asks a series of probing questions to get at the root of a situation or
a problem, or potential opportunity below the surface issues presented. Calls on
others, who are not personally involved, to get their perspective, background
information, experience, etc. Does not stop with the first answer, finds out why
something happened.
“I stepped back and said, we have had a problem is it something that we could
have prevented it in the beginning, was there something we didn’ t test to begin with, is
there something that wasn ’ t thought o f that this change could effect something else... I
try do the 'what i f questions to the technical people. ”
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“so I had to go find some statistics as far as we could say what are the number
o f transactions we are seeing per month, the number ofpeople doing web hits and we
came up with the trend and we saw some growth there. We went to maybe couple of
the consulting groups, Gartner and Meta Group... ”
L4: Does Research: Makes a systematic effort over a limited period o f time to obtain
needed data or feedback, or in-depth investigation from unusual sources. OR does
formal research through newspapers, magazines, computer search systems, or other
resources. This may include market, financial, computer research.
“I make sure that I stay current in terms o f technology. I am an atrocious
reader ...I know the best technical book store for computers... and I probably drop a
good S2,000 a year on books... and the other thing is that I want to make sure that I
find the time to do the industry symposiums that are out there...the Metas and the
Gartners... ”
“For research I read magazines, go on the Internet, contact some o f the
consultants that we have and try to confirm those findings... ”
LS: Uses Own On-Going Systems: Has personally established on-going systems or
habits to get information (‘‘management by walking around,” regular informal
meetings, or the scanning o f certain publications etc.), including setting up individuals
to do regular information gathering for him or her.
“I host the JAD session from the business units to gather requirements...when
you have a short project the best way is to bring a bunch o f people in and help them
prepare what the requirements are and have one or two sessions together rather then
going to each individual to gather requirements. ”
"/ met with all 12 o f our business units that we are supporting right now and
two o f them are obvious advocates o f what we are trying to do, I would probably pull
them in and meet the people that are not interested and try to let them hear from their
own perspective. ”
Analytical Thinking (AT)
Definition: Understanding a situation by breaking it apart into smaller pieces, or
tracing the implications o f a situation in a step-by-stem way. Analytical Thinking
includes organizing the parts o f a problem, situation, etc., in a systematic way; making
systematic comparisons o f different features or aspects; setting priorities on a rational
basis; identifying time sequences, causal relationships o f If-Then relationships.
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The IT managers rated analytical thinking to be a very important competency,
see Table 4-33. The minimum level calls for IT project managers to see basic
relationships (level 2) and the outstanding performance calls for seeing multiple
relationships (level 3) & making complex pans or analysis.
BEI findings
Table 4-36. BEI findings: Analytical Thinking (AT)
Competency
Name
Number of
Times Coded
Level
1
Level
2
Level
3
Level
4
Analytical
Thinking (AT)
68 13 28 21 6
Examples:
LI: Breaks Down Problems: Breaks problems into simple lists of tasks or activities,
without assigning values. Makes a list of items with no particular order or set of
priorities.
" ...identifying the caller before you pick up the phone, posting historical
information on what the last thing the caller calledfor... these were all good things
however they (HRBU) were not considering infrastructural requirements... I said, to
do that you need to invest here and you need to have this installed, configured and
supported and so there was an undermining o f the success o f the scope o f the project
which was to introduce a computer telephone integration system... ”
“My process for gathering information is Ifirst want to understand what I am
gathering for, what my target is, then I try to identify where the resources are and
once I know where the resources are / go get the information that I need... ”
L2: Sees Basic Relationships: Takes apart problems into pieces. Links together
pieces with a single link: A leads to B; can separate into two parts: pros and con. Sorts
out a list of tasks in order of importance.
“I am distingiush between business requirements and system requirements,
there is a distinction between how you specify between business requirements and how
you specify systems requirements...business requirements are specified in terms o f the
capability o f the business and system s requirements are specified in terms of
something the system shall do specifically. ”
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“/ was given a deadline for this project. Understanding that we only have
until June o f this year to do this project I worked backward and see what is it that we
need to do...once I established that time line I really didn 't have to gain any
acceptance... ”
L3: Sees Multiple Relationships: Breaks down a problem into smaller parts. Makes
multiple causal links: several potential causes of events, several consequences of
actions, or multiple-part chains of events (A leads to B leads to C leads to D).
Analyzes relationships among several parts of a problem or situation. Anticipates
obstacles and thinks ahead about next steps.
“... we have a problem where an office will go down I will make it very simple,
why is it going down what are the contributing factors to it going down...is it that the
equipment isn ’ t good enough, is it that this software isn t upgraded or is it that there
isn ’ t enough memory...andanalyze what is going on with that... "
"...but what is even more important is you are not only driving the costs down
by you ’ re changing how you do business internally in order to leverage these
technologies ...so one o f the things that I did was I said OK, here is an application
area which I think is very important that shared services can gain a lot o f business
value from ..."
L4: Makes Complex Plans or Analyses: Uses several analytical techniques to break
apart complex problems into component parts. Uses several analytical techniques to
identify several solutions and weighs the value of each.
"If the budget is cut then Isay that is fine, I can do so many sites and then I
will analyze the sites to see where people have calling patterns... we have lots o f
people who live out in the Inland Empire region... I know I have a lot o f calls there so I
would upgrade that one before I do something, let say, San Fernando Valley area
where they don't have a lot o f employees... I did six locations that were the highest
volume locations we have... ”
"I would sit down with the engineers and ask what do we have to do with this
project. We have to obviously procure equipment in this case, how long is it going to
take to procure the equipment. We would establish the time line for the whole
project...with the input from them we would write down that time line for procuring
the equipment. And that is how we started establishing the schedule for the
project...and we did that for every project that we have in the year 2000... ”
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Conceptual Thinking (CT)
Definition: The ability to identify patterns or connections between situations that are
not obviously related, and to identify key or underlying issues in complex situations. It
includes using creative, conceptual or inductive reasoning.
IT managers rated conceptual thinking as very important competency for the IT
project managers, see Table 4-33. For a minimum level IT project managers should be
able to see patterns (level 2) and for an outstanding performance they should be able to
clarify complex data or situations (level 4).
BEI findings
Table 4-37. BEI findings: Conceptual Thinking (CT
Competency
Name
Number of
Times Coded
Level
1
Level
2
Level
3
Level
4
Level
5
Conceptual
Thinking (CT)
46 12 20 5 9 0
Examples:
LI: Uses Basic Rules: Uses simple rules (“rules of thumb”), common sense, and past
experiences to identify problems. Recognizes when a current situation is exactly the
same as a past situation.
“ ...those problems exist because o f process data does not exist or the process
is not being followed, or people do not understand where the things are falling
through the loops because they don 7 understand what the process is... ”
“I know it is critical through experience ...ifyou want to install something in
the rack you must install the rack first... ”
L2: Sees Patterns: When looking at information, sees patterns, trends, or missing
pieces. Notices when a current situation is similar to a past situation, and identifies the
similarities.
“ A lot o f this comes from experience. I look to see where it has historically
taken to install or implement ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) for the last couple
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o f years... it does not have to be ATM it could be routers before that or modems before
that. We know how long it takes to install the equipment... based on that I can look at
allocations o f money how much manpower it's going to take...and that’ s how I
developed the budget. ”
“ I gather my estimates based on experience and background that I have. My
background with Edison goes all the way back... I started out as
programmer... working on batch COBOL and mainframes so I have done virtually
everything in the FT department here. ”
L3: Applies Complex Concepts: Uses knowledge of theory or o f different past trends
or situations to look at current situations. Applies and modifies complex learned
concepts or methods appropriately; e.g., statistical process control, TQM demographic
analysis, managerial styles, organizational climate, etc. This is evidence of more
sophisticated pattern recognition.
"...one o f the things is called operational resources management
systems... what it does is it automates everything... it is not tied to production so it
automates things like buying office supplies over the Web, being able to provide your
general maintenance and services over the Web...so for example, you do not have to
push paper to do the purchase orders to get the window washers in...you can do it all
electronically. ”
" I went through the checklist trying to validate their business requirements...I
did that by knowing about the applications and what the applications do and knowing
that if down the road we matched the subsets o f requirements to application
fimctionality we would have a lot better fit... so we went through it and try to identify
completeness saying do they address the breadth o f what you need. ”
L4: Clarifies Complex Data or Situations: Makes complex ideas or situations clear,
simple, and/or understandable. Assembles ideas, issues, and observations into a clear
and use fill explanation. Restates existing observations or knowledge in a simpler
fashion.
'... what is it that the company really needs... we can buy servers as big as you
can get them and stick them out there the capacity will never be a problem. You can
build the biggest network and capacity will never be a problem but are you receiving
the benefits from that. What you want to do is grow incrementally. ”
“...I always say, le t’ s go back to the requirements document and say why are
we designing it this way and which o f my requirements does this design attempted to
be part...so you actually show them by actually having...you know...since I have done
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the grunt work and shown them that the process works then they understand the value
o f going through with the process... ”
L5: Creates New Concepts: Concepts that are not obvious to others and not learned
from previous education or experience to explain situations or resolve problems.
Not fielded.
VI. Personal Effectiveness Cluster
The IT managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) rated all three
competencies in the personal effectiveness cluster to be very important competencies,
see Table 4-38.
Self-Control (SCT)
Definition: Acting to keep one s emotions under control and restrain negative
behaviors when provoked, when faced with opposition or hostility from others, or
when working under conditions o f stress.
The IT managers rated self-control to be an important competency, see Table
4-38. The minimum threshold calls for IT project managers to respond calmly (level
2). For outstanding performance the project managers should respond constructively
(level 4).
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Table 4-38. Results of the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ): Personal
Effectiveness Cluster
Generic
Competency
Name1
Competency
Rating2
(n=8)
Importance
to the Job3
Level(s) (L#)
of
Performance
Required for
Minimum
Performance
Level(s) (L#)
of Performance
Required for
Outstanding
Performance
Self-
Confidence4
3.8 Very
Important
L2 L4
Flexibility5 3.8 Very
Important
LI L3
Organization
Commitment6
3.6 Very
Important
L2 L3
Self-Control7 3.5 Important L2 L4
BEI findings
Table 4-39. BEI findings: Self-Control (SCT)
Competency
Name
Number of
Times Coded
Level
1
Level
2
Level
3
Level
4
Level
5
Self-Control
(SCT)
13 4 7 0
2
0
'Competencies are listed in the order of ranking within the Personal Effectiveness Cluster as rated by
the IT managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
:The average of ratings as rated by the IT managers on the CRQ. Competencies were scaled on a Likert
Scale of 1-5 (from I = not important to the role of the IT project manager to 5 = critical to the role of
the IT project manager).
'Importance to Job based on CRQ ratings: 0-1.5 = Not Important
1.6-2.5 = Somewhat Important
2.6-3.5 = Important
3.6-4.5 = Very Important
4.6-5.0 = Critical
4 SeIf-Confidence (Levels): L 1 - Presents Self Confidently; L2 - Acts Independently; L3 - States
Confidence in Own Ability; L4 - Chooses Challenges or Conflicts; L5 - Chooses Extremely
Challenging Situations
’Flexibility (Levels): LI - Accepts Need for Flexibility; L2 - Applies Rules Flexibly; L3 - Adapts
Tactics; L4 - Adapts Own Strategy
"Organization Commitment (Levels): LI - Tries to fit in; L2 - Models Loyalty; L3 - Supports the
Organization; L4 - Makes Sacrifices for the organization
7 Self-Control (Levels): LI - Resists Temptation; L2 - Responds Calmly; L3 - Manages Stress
Effectively; L4 - Responds Constructively; L5 - Calms others
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Examples:
LI: Resists Temptation: Resists the temptation to engage in inappropriate
involvement or impulsive behavior.
“Once I lose something like that Ijust forget it, it is part o f my job. It's now
gone, for something that Ifought for and I thought we could wait and it was
dangerous to do... ”
“That is something that / am just that way in my personality, I am not going to
lash back at somebody because they have a different opinion to give... so for me the
challenge is to make sure that / don't take it personally andfly off the deep end... "
L2: Responds Calmly: Feels strong emotions, such as anger, extreme fhistration, or
stress; controls these emotions and continues discussion or other process fairly calmly.
“I was very angry and I told my manager how I felt about the situation. He
agreed that wasn 7 correct way that they should have handled it and he wanted to
know if that was going to effect the way I interact with them and / said, no, I will
continue to be professional but I will be very cautious with this individual in the
future. ”
“I had initially budgeted for another person and because there were a lot o f
changes the whole budget got cut and I didn 7 get that. I was frustrated but that s the
way it goes...you know you give it your best shot if you get somebody its great
otherwise hang in there may be next year... ”
L3: Manages Stress Effectively: Uses stress management techniques to control
response, prevent burnout, and deal with ongoing stresses effectively.
None fielded.
L4: Responds Constructively: Controls strong emotions or other stress and takes
action to respond constructively to the source o f the problem.
“Ifelt pressured...after the third technical question I had to tell them this
presentation was geared mostly for introduction offrame relaying. I don 7 think this
is the time or the place for me to answer those types o f questions... I would be more
than glad to after the presentation get your information I can certainly give you all the
details that you want. So they were happy. ”
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“I said, excuse me, let me see if we both are on the same page. Let me go and
diagram what the process is and you can confirm it, and if that is the case then let it
be...lets move on forward... ’ ’
L5: Calms Others: In very stressful situations, calms others as well as controlling
own emotions.
None fielded.
Self-Confidence (SCF)
Definition: Expressing belief in one s ability to accomplish a task and select an
effective approach to a task or problem. This includes confidence in one’ s ability as
expressed in increasingly challenging circumstances and confidence in one’ s
decisions or opinions.
Self-Confidence was rated to be very important competency by the IT
managers, see Table 4-38. Minimum level requires project managers to present
themselves confidently (level I) & act independently (level 2). Outstanding
performance calls for project managers to choose challenges or conflicts (level 4).
BEI findings
Table 4-40. BEI findings: Self Confidence (SCF)
Competency Number of Level Level Level Level Level
Name Times Coded 1 2 3 4 5
Self Confidence
(SCF)
46 21 0 22 3 0
Examples:
LI: Presents Self Confidently: Works without needing supervision, appears
confident in person, presents self strongly.
“ we do not have an organizational manager that oversees our activities so we
manage those activities ourselves... ”
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"On November I, the new architecture was built and we were ready for
migration, we almost hit it right to the day, ready to go. So I felt pretty comfortable
and confident that we did the right thing. ”
L2: Independently: Even when others disagree, makes decisions without asking
others; acts outside formal authority.
None fielded.
L3: States Confidence in Own Ability: Describes self as an expert, someone who
makes things happen, a prime mover, or a source. Sees self as better than others.
Explicitly states confidence in own judgment.
"I think I am a super boss. I mean what I try to do is I get everyone to work
together in teams, I try to synergize things where if I have a particular problem for
example, change management where it requires Oracle, and it requires Peregrine
background I try to pick, try to get them to work together on the problems. ”
“ Through my boss I have the authority to stop that project cold because I will
give the recommendation to my boss and he will right up to the capital review team
and they will stop it. ”
L4: Chooses Challenges or Conflict: Likes challenging assignments, is excited by a
challenge. Looks for and gets new responsibilities. Speaks up when disagrees with
management, clients, or others in power, but disagrees politely, stating own view
clearly and confidently, even in a conflict.
"I asked them to show a lot more weight than 5 percent o f the price...! told
them it is low, this is my rationale, so tell me lam wrong... ”
"I argued with my boss. I thought about that same night and I went to my boss
the next day and I said, I hope you did not take this in any personal way that I was
trying to scream and yell and attack, but / am really passionate about fairness in not
just my area but the entire department. With the same token I don V think you just
want me to sit back and say whatever you say boss... ”
L5: Chooses Extremely Challenging Situations: Confronts management or clients
bluntly or rudely. OR takes on extremely challenging (i.e., very risky, personally)
tasks willingly: “They told me it was career suicide...but I knew I could turn it around,
so I took the job anyway.”
None fielded.
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Organizational Commitment (OC)
Definition: The ability and willingness to align one's own behavior with the needs,
priorities and goals o f the organization. It involves acting in ways that promote
organizational goals or meet organizational needs. It may appear as putting an
organizational mission before one " s own preferences.
Organizational commitment was rated to be very important competency by the
IT managers, see Table 4-38. The minimum level calls for project managers to model
loyalty (level 2) and the outstanding performance calls for project managers to support
the organization (level 3).
BEI findings
Table 4-41. BEI findings: Organizational Commitment (OC)
Competency
Name
Number of
Times Coded
Level
1
Level
2
Level
3
Level
4
Organizational
Commitment (OC)
18 1 6 9
2
Examples:
LI: Tries to Fit in: Tries to fit in, dress appropriately, respects the way things are
done in the organization, and does what is expected. “People around here dress
conservatively, so I do too.”
*7 come as a project manager not trying to be 7 am project manager you do as
I say.' but more being as part o f the team. Iam one with the team...not the head o f the
team and that is the role I usually try to take and really try to gain the respect. ”
L2: Models Loyalty: Wants to help others get their job done, respects and accepts
what authorities see as important. May express affective ties to the organization, or
express concern about the image of the organization.
“... we looked at what is the corporate image is going to look like if we have
something that is somewhat good...so the next thing was video clips and that’ s what
we decided to do. ”
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“Number one desktop services (my organization) needs to be always in support
o f the mission and the vision o f IT. As long as we remember what those mission and
vision is for IT and we support it with the special roles and responsibilities that
desktop services has, keeping those things in mind that is how we came up with the
strategic plan. ”
L3: Supports the Organization: Acts to support the organization’s missions and
goals. Makes choices and sets priorities to meet organization’s needs and fit with the
organizational mission. Cooperates with others to achieve organizational objectives.
Publicly acts to fit the mission.
" I started out with our strategic planning for the department, it was together
with myself and my management and we talked about what our goals were for the year
and then we determined what the measurable service levels were going to be. ”
“/ am not only trying to protect their (business unit) budget but Edison's
budget and by the way if it all goes well it will help theirs. ”
L4: Makes Sacrifices for the Organization: Puts organizational needs before one's
own, which may include one’s professional identity, preferences, and family concerns.
OR stands by decisions that benefit the whole organization even if they are unpopular
or undercut one’s department’s short term good.
"At Edison, because so many o f our external vendors are here they tend to lose
the site o f the fact that we are their customers and they like to tell us how we are going
to buy their products and services and that has been a real challenge for me because I
think we have an obligation to the external vendors to let them tell us what they can do
for us and take that into consideration but they have to be open to listening to what it
is that w e’ re going to be doing to meet our own internal goals. ”
"Ifeel that lam not here to make every decision that is made lam here to in
force a lot o f decisions that are made by higher level managers. ”
Flexibility (FLX)
Definition: The Ability to adapt to and work effectively within a variety o f situations,
and with various individuals or groups. Flexibility entails understanding and
appreciating different and opposing perspectives on an issue, adapting one s
approach as the requirements o f a situation change, and changing or easily accepting
changes in one's own organization or job requirement.
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IT managers rated this competency very important for IT project management
function, see Table 4-38. The minimum threshold calls for project managers to accept
need for flexibility (level 1) and the outstanding performance calls for adapting tactics
(level 3).
BEI findings
Table 4-42. BEI findings: Flexibility ;f l x >
Competency
Name
Number of
Times Coded
Level
1
Level
2
Level
3
Level
4
Flexibility (FLX) 5 1 1 3 0
Examples:
LI: Accepts Need for Flexibility: Willingness to change ideas or perceptions based
on new information or contrary evidence. Understands other people’s points of view.
"I re-estimated it and explain to my manager that requirement had not been in
the original documentation and took my whipping for not flushing out all o f the
requirements and not to repeat that same mistake. ”
L2: Applies Rules Flexibly: Bends the rules or alter normal procedures to fit a
specific situation to get a job done and/or meet company goals.
" I feel I am not here to make every decision that is made I am here to in-force
a lot of decisions that are made by higher level managers so in that case what I have
to do is understand what it is they are trying to achieve and why they feel it is a good
idea and I have to understand that. ”
L3: Adapts Tactics: Decides what to do based on the situation. Acts to fit the
situation or the person.
“My architecture was ready to accept the migration on November I, but they
kept holding off and they finally approved it the second week o f January...I was
frustrated with it but I also knew this wasn't my sole focus...!just looked at the total
list o f things that needed to be done...rearrange the priorities and issue new marching
orders. ”
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“I wanted to go in and deploy to people that wanted us there so we could get
some successes. ”
L4: Adapts Own Strategy: Changes the overall plan, goal, or project to fit the
situation. May even make small or temporary changes in own or client's company to
meet the needs of a specific situation.
None fielded.
The key characteristics for IT project managers
Clearly, certain key characteristics for IT project managers have been
identified through CRQ and BEI findings. Teamwork and cooperation were
considered to be the most critical competencies by the IT managers as illustrated in the
data presented in Table 4-16. Achievement orientation, initiative, developing others,
concern for quality and order, customer-service orientation, team leadership, analytical
thinking, organizational awareness, conceptual thinking, self-confidence and
flexibility were considered very important competencies by the IT managers. The
following competencies interpersonal understanding, information seeking,
organizational commitment, impact and influence, self-control, directiveness,
relationship building, and technical expertise were considered important to the job of
IT project manager.
In the final chapter, the findings o f PDQ, CRQ and BEI are summarized. A
competency model for IT project managers is developed based on the findings and
implications and recommendations are discussed.
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CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In this chapter the findings o f PDQ, CRQ and BEI will be summarized. IT
project manager competency model will be developed and implications and
recommendations will be discussed.
Summary
IT researchers define many behavioral skills needed by IT system analysts
(Cheney & Lyons, 1980; Green, 1989). O f these studies, the most comprehensive
analysis of behavioral skills based on extensive pilot research was Green’s (1989)
work involving 18 behavioral skills, Table 2-1. Frame (1994) believes that these
skills, not related to any particular type of system development, apply to any project
development regardless of environment. Jiang et al. (1998) prepared a survey
questionnaire that included the 18 behavioral skills developed by Green and
distributed it to various IT groups. Pettersen (1991) attempted to integrate all of the
various characteristics that predict an effective project manager and listed these
characteristics into a single complementary list o f predictors, Table 2-4. Posner
(1987) surveyed two hundred and eighty-seven project managers with two open-ended
questions:
1. What personal characteristics, traits, or skills make for “above average”
project managers?
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2. What specific behaviors, techniques, or strategies do “above average”
project managers use (or use better that their peers)?
Posner summarized these results into six skill sets, listed in Table 2-5. Beside
these studies, the Project Management Institution (PMI) identified the knowledge
areas for the successful project manager, Table 2-3. The PMI did not list any specific
behaviors or skills in the specified knowledge areas.
As result of this study teamwork and cooperation were found to be critical
competencies for IT project managers. The following competencies emerged as very
important to the role of IT project managers: achievement orientation, initiative,
customer-service orientation, developing others, interpersonal understanding,
organizational awareness, analytical thinking, flexibility, team leadership, conceptual
thinking and self-confidence. Information seeking, organizational commitment,
impact and influence, self-control, technical expertise, directiveness and relationship
building were considered as important competencies for effective performance of IT
project managers.
Through the process o f compiling and interpreting collected data some
similarities were found with previous research. Because the methodology employed
is qualitative, hence generated within a particular context, the results of this study are
not statistically generalizable. Therefore, the conclusions in the chapter should be
applied to other organizations with caution, realizing and considering the unique
features of the particular setting.
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128
Conclusions
Achievement Cluster (ACH)
Achievement Orientation (AO). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of
performance: LI) wants to do job well, L2) creates own measures of excellence, L3)
improves performance, L4) sets and works to meet challenging goals, L5) makes cost-
benefit analyses and L6) takes calculated entrepreneurial risks.
Achievement orientation skills are closely associated with Pettersen’s (1991)
need achieve and pro-activity, Green’s (1989) & Jiang et al. (1998) assertiveness and
Posner’s (1987) goal setting skills. Based on the results o f CRQ the IT managers rated
achievement orientation to be a very important competency (ranked #2), see Table 5-
1. For an outstanding performance IT project managers are required to make cost-
benefit analysis and take calculated entrepreneurial risks (L5 & L6). Achievement
orientation was frequently coded (mid-level) in the BEI analysis leading to believe the
need for training to further enhance the skills associated with this competency.
Table 5-1. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Achievement Orientation
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green (1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking3
Pettersen (1991)/
Ranking4
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking5
Achievement
Orientation
(#2)
Assertiveness6
(#5)
Assertiveness6
(#17)
Need Achieve &
Pro-activity
(#17)
Goal-
Setting
(#4)
1 Achievement Orientation was #2 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 Assertiveness was ranked #5 in research conducted by Green (1989).
3 Assertiveness was ranked #17 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Need Achieve & Pro-activity were ranked #17 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Goal-Setting was ranked #4 in research conducted by Posner (1987).
6 Assertiveness is defined by Green (1989) as: insisting on a course o f action or what one believes in,
even though it may be unpopular.
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129
Concern for Quality and Order (CO). Associated behaviors and skills or
levels of performance: L I) keeps an organized workspace; L2) shows a general
concern for order and clarity; L3) monitors work; L4) monitors data or project; and
L5) develops complex systems.
Concern for quality and order skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989)
& Jiang et al. (1998) managing and Pettersen’s (1991) control skills. The results of
Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with previous research in
Table 5-2. Based on the results o f CRQ the IT managers rated considered concern for
quality and order to be a very important competency (ranked #5) for effective
performance of IT project manager function, see Table 5-2. This competency was
coded among the highest (top seven) in the BEI analysis. Level 5 performance was
coded only one time leading to believe that there might be some room for
improvement.
Table 5-2. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Concern for Quality and
Order (CO)
Name of Competency/
Ranking1
Green (1989)/
Ranking1
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking1
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking4
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking
Concern for Quality
and Order (#5)
Managing3
(#13)
Managing3
(#3)
Control
(#5)
1 Concern for Quality and Order was #5 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the
IT managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
: Managing was ranked #13 in research conducted by Green (1989).
3 Managing was ranked #3 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Control was ranked US in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Managing is defined by Green (1989) as: Planning, organizing and controlling projects so that they
get done on schedule and within budget
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130
Initiative (INT). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of performance:
LI) addresses current opportunities and problems; L2) is decisive in a crises; L3) acts
1-3 months ahead; L4) acts 4-12 months ahead; and LS) acts over a year ahead.
Initiative skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989) & Jiang et al. (1998)
managing, Pettersen’s (1991) planning and organizing and Posner’s (1991) planning
skills. The results o f Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with
previous research in Table 5-3. Based on the results of CRQ the IT managers rated
initiative to be a very important competency (ranked #3) for effective performance of
IT project manager function. For an outstanding performance CRQ results call for IT
project managers to anticipate and prepare for specific opportunities and look ahead 4-
12 months (level 4). This competency was coded among the highest (top seven) in the
BEI analysis. However, as compared to other levels, level one was coded heavily,
leaving quiet a bit o f room for improvement in this area.
Table 5-3. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Initiative (INT)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green
(1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking3
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking4
Posner (1987)/
Ranking5
Initiative ([N T)
m
M anaging6
(#13)
M anaging
(#3)
Planning and
O rganization
(#4)
Planning (#3)
1 Initiative was #3 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT managers on the
Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 Managing was ranked #13 in research conducted by Green (1989).
3 Managing was ranked #3 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Planning and Organization was ranked #4 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Planning was ranked #3 by research conducted by Posner (1987).
6 Managing is defined by Green (1989) as: Planning, organizing and controlling projects so that they
get done on schedule and within budget
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131
Helping/Service Cluster
Interpersonal Understanding (IU). Associated behaviors and skills or levels
o f performance: LI) understands either emotion or content; L2) understands both
emotion and content; L3) understands meanings; and L4) understands underlying
issues.
Interpersonal understanding skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989),
Jiang et al. (1998) and Posner’s (1987) empathy and Pettersen’s (1991) consideration
toward team members skills. The results of Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ)
are compared with previous research in Table 5-4. Based on the results o f CRQ the IT
managers rated initiative understanding to be a very important competency (ranked
#13) for effective performance of IT project manager function. For an outstanding
performance CRQ results call for IT project managers to understand other people’s
underlying problems (level 4). This competency was among the lowest coded (bottom
7) in the BEI analysis, however, level 4 was coded half of the time.
Table 5-4. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Interpersonal Understanding
(IU)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green
(1989)/
Ranking1
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking1
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking4
Posner (1987)/
Ranking5
Interpersonal
Understanding
(IU) (#13)
Empathy
(#10)
Empathy
(#13)
Consideration
toward team
members (#10)
Empathy (#6)
1 Interpersonal understanding was #13 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 Empathy was ranked #10 in research conducted by Green (1989).
1 Empathy was ranked #13 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
* Consideration toward team members was ranked #10 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Empathy was ranked #6 in research by Posner (1987).
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132
Customer-Service Orientation (CSO). Associated behaviors and skills or
levels of performance: LI) follows up; L2) maintains clear communication; L3) takes
personal responsibility; L4) takes action for the customer; L5) addressing underlying
customer needs; and L6) uses a long-term perspective.
Customer-service orientation skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989)
and Jiang et al. (1998) sensitivity skills. The results of Competency Rating
Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with previous research in Table 5-5. Based on the
results of CRQ the IT managers rated customer-service orientation to be a very
important competency (ranked #6). Outstanding performance calls for IT project
managers to know the customer’s business and/or seek information about the real
underlying needs of the customer (level 5). This competency was coded among the
top seven in the BEI analysis leading to believe the importance of this competency for
IT project managers. The BEI analysis revealed that level two effort was coded
extensively and levels 4 and 5 effort was seldom coded, leading to believe that skills in
areas need further development.
Table 5-5. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Customer-Service
Orientation (CSO) ___
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green (1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al. (1998)/
Ranking1
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking
CSO (#6) Sensitivity4 (#18) Sensitivity4 (#10)
— —
1 Customer-service orientation was #6 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
: Sensitivity was ranked #18 in research conducted by Green (1989).
3 Sensitivity was ranked #10 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Green (1989) defined sensitivity as: bing aware o f the implications o f design and change for the user
community.
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133
Influence Cluster
Impact and Influence (IMP). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of
performance: LI) States intention but takes no specific action; L2) takes a single
action to persuade; L3) takes multiple actions to persuade; L4) calculates the impact of
one’s actions or words; L5) uses indirect influence; and L6) uses complex influence
strategies.
Impact and influence skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989) and
Jiang et al. (1998) diplomacy, sales and politics, Pettersen’s (1991) interpersonal
influence, persuasion and negotiation and Posner’s (1987) persuading skills. Based
on the results of CRQ the IT managers rated impact and influence to be an important
competency (ranked #16), see Table 5-6. An outstanding performance calls for IT
project managers to use indirect influences to accomplish tasks or persuade others
(level 5). In the BEI analysis level three was heavily coded. Levels 4, 5, and 6 were
rarely coded leaving a lot o f room for development in these areas.
Table 5-6. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Impact and Influence (IMP)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green (1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking3
Pettersen (1991)/
Ranking4
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking3
Impact and
Influence
(IMP) (#16)
Diplomacy
(#1); Sales
(#11)
Diplomacy
(#11); Sales
(#16)
Interpersonal
Influence,
Persuasion (#15)
Persuading
(#2)
' Impact and influence was ranked #16 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
: Diplomacy and Sales were ranked #1 and #11, respectively; (Green, 1989).
3 Diplomacy and Sales were ranked #11 and #16, respectively; (Jiang et al., 1998).
4 Interpersonal influence and persuasion were ranked #15, (Pettersen, 1991).
5 Persuasion was ranked #2 in research conducted by Posner (1987).
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134
Organizational Awareness (OA). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of
performance: LI) understanding formal structure; L2) understands informal structure;
L3) understands climate and culture; L4) understands organizational politics; and L5)
understands underlying organizational issues.
Organizational awareness skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989) and
Jiang et al. (1998) organization communication, Pettersen’s (1991) strategy and
organizational know-how and Posner’s (1987) vision skills. The results of
Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with previous research in
Table 5-7. The IT managers believe that the project managers should understand or
use on-going power and political relationships within the organization to perform
effectively (level 4). This was one of the lowest coded (bottom 7) competency in BEI
analysis, leading to believe that there is an essential deficit of skills in this area.
Table 5-7. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Organizational Awareness
(OA)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green (1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/ Ranking1
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking4
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking5
Organizational
Awareness (#9)
Organization
Communication6
(#16)
Organization
Communication6
(#14)
Strategy and
Organizational
Know-How (#6)
Vision (Big
Picture)
(#11)
1 Organization awareness was ranked #9 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the
IT managers on Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
* Organization communication was ranked #16 in research conducted by Green (1989).
3 Organization communication was ranked #14 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Strategy and organizational know-how was ranked #6 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Vision (big picture) was ranked #11 in research conducted by Posner (1987).
6 Green (1989) defined organization communication as: having a view of company goals and operations;
knowing the orientation o f senior management
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135
Relationship Building (RB) Networking. Associated behaviors and skills or
levels o f performance: LI) makes informal contacts; L2) builds rapport; L3) makes
social contacts; L4) establishes personal friendships; and L5) makes strong personal
friendships.
Relationship building (RB) networking skills are closely associated with
Green’s (1989) and Jiang et al. (1998) politics and Pettersen’s (1991) oral
communication skills. The results of Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are
compared with previous research in Table 5-8. The IT managers rated relationship
building to be an important competency however, in the overall ranking relationship
building was ranked #19 out of twenty. The results of CRQ indicate that for an
outstanding performance required level 3 effort. In the BEI analysis relationship
building one of the lowest coded competency. For this competency, the levels of
effort exhibited by the IT project managers in BEI meets the expected levels of
performance required by IT managers, as indicated in the CRQ.
Table 5-8. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Relationship Building (RB)
Networking
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green
(1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et ai.
(1998)/
Ranking2
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking4
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking
Relationship
Building (RB)
Networking (#19)
Politics (#12) Politics (#15) O ral
Communication
(#14)
1 Relationship building was #19 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 Politics was ranked #12 in research conducted by Green (1989).
3 Politics was ranked #15 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Oral communication was ranked #14 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
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136
Managerial Cluster
Directiveness (DIR). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of
performance: LI) gives directions; L2) sets limits; L3) demands high performance;
L4) maintains visible standards of performance; and L5) holds people accountable for
performance.
Directiveness skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989) and Jiang et al.
(1998) directing, Pettersen’s (1991) delegation o f responsibilities, and Posner’s (1987)
delegates skills. The results of Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are
compared with previous research in Table 5-9. Based on the results of the CRQ the IT
managers rated directiveness to be an important competency (ranked #18). For an
outstanding performance the IT managers are expected to maintain visible standards of
performance (level 4). In the BEI analysis levels 1 and 2 were heavily coded. Skills
associated with levels 3 and 4 were rarely coded which means there is a lot of room for
development in these area.
Table 5-9. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Directiveness (DIR)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green
(1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking3
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking4
Posner(1987)/
Ranking5
Directiveness
(DIR) (#18)
Directing
(#3)
Directing (#2) Delegation of
Responsibilities
(#8)
Delegates
(#12)
1 Directiveness was # 18 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT managers on
the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 Directing was ranked #3 in research conducted by Green (1989).
3 Directing was ranked #2 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Delegation o f responsibilities was ranked #8 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
s Delegates was ranked #12 in research conducted by Posner (1987).
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137
Teamwork and Cooperation (TW). Associated behaviors and skills or levels
of performance: LI) cooperates; L2) expresses positive expectations o f team; L3)
solicits inputs; L4) encourages others; and L5) builds team spirit.
Teamwork and Cooperation skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989)
and Jiang et al. (1998) cooperation, Pettersen’s (1991) Teamwork, flexibility and
cooperation and Posner’s (1987) team building skills. The results o f Competency
Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with previous research in Table 5-10.
Based on the results o f CRQ the IT managers rated teamwork and cooperation to be a
critical competency (ranked #1). The outstanding performance the calls for IT project
managers to build team spirit by resolving team conflicts, protecting and promoting
group reputation with outsiders and act to promote a friendly climate. Only Posner’s
findings rate team building in the top five. This competency was one of the top coded
(top 5) in the BEI analysis. However, the behaviors and skills were limited to mostly
level 3 performances leaving a huge gap to fill to reach level 5 performance levels.
Table 5-10. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Teamwork and cooperation
(TW)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green
(1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking2
Pettersen (1991)/
Ranking4
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking3
Teamwork and
Cooperation (TW)
m
Cooperation
(#15)
Cooperation
(#7)
Teamwork,
flexibility and
cooperation (#12)
Team
building
skills (#3)
1 Teamwork and cooperation were #1 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 Cooperation was ranked #15 in research conducted by Green (1989).
1 Cooperation was ranked #7 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Teamwork, flexibility and cooperation were ranked #12 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Team building skills were ranked #3 in research conducted by Posner (1987).
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138
Developing Others (DEV). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of
performance: LI) expresses positive expectation of person; L2) gives how-to
directions; L3) gives reasons, other support; L4) gives feedback to encourage; and L5)
does longer-term coaching or training.
Developing others skills are closely associated with Green's (1989) and Jiang
et al. (1989) training and Pettersen’s (1991) development o f team members skills. The
results o f Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with previous
research in Table 5-11. Based on the CRQ the IT managers rated developing others to
be a very important competency (ranked #4). The outstanding level of performance
calls for IT project managers to give specific positive feedback for development
purposes (level 4). This was one of the least coded competency (bottom 7) in the BEI
analysis. This could be due to the fact that roughly half of the interviewees did not
have any body reporting to them. However, Level 5 was coded quiet a few times
leading to believe that formal training was being considered by many of the IT project
managers for their employees.
Table 5-11. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Developing others (DEV)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green
(1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking3
Pettersen (1991)/
Ranking4
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking
Developing Others
(DEV) (#4)
Training
(#14)
Training
(#12)
Development of
team members (#11)
“
1 Developing others was #4 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT managers
on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 Training was ranked #14 in research conducted by Green (1989).
} Training was ranked #12 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Development o f team members was #1 1 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
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139
Team Leadership (TL). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of
performance: LI) manages meeting well; L2) keeps people informed; L3) promotes
team effectiveness; L4) takes care o f the group; LS) positions self as the leader; and
L6) communicates a compelling vision.
Team leadership skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989) and Jiang et
al. (1998) leadership and Pettersen’s (1991) team structuring skills. The results of
Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with previous research in
Table 5-12. Based on the results of CRQ the IT managers rated team leadership skills
to be very important to the role of IT project manager (ranked #7). The outstanding
level calls for IT project mangers to ensure that others buy into his/her mission, goals,
agenda, climate, and policy (level 5). Team leadership was coded quiet often in the
BEI analysis, however, for the most part only levels 1,2, and 3 were coded. In this
case, a course in building complex leadership skills could be considered for the IT
project managers.
Table 5-12. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Team Leadership (TL
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green
(1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking3
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking4
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking
Team Leadership
(TL) (#7)
Leadership
m
Leadership
(#9)
Team structuring
(#9)
“ ““
' Team leadership was #7 in the overall ranking of generic competencies as rated by the IT managers on
the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
: Leadership was ranked #6 in research conducted by Green (1989).
1 Leadership was ranked #9 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
^Team structuring was ranked #9 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
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140
Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
Technical Expertise (EXP). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of
performance: LI) answers questions; L2) applies technical knowledge to achieve
additional impact; L3) offers technical help; L4) advocates and spreads new
technology; and L5) publishes new technology.
Technical expertise skills are closely associated with Pettersen’s (1991)
specialized knowledge and Posner’s (1987) technology skills. The results of
Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with previous research in
Table 5-13. Based on the results of CRQ the IT managers rated technical expertise to
be an important competency (ranked #20). Outstanding performance calls for IT
project managers to advocate and spread new technology (level 4). This competency
was coded quiet often in the BEI analysis, leading to believe there is no need for any
further development of this competency.
Table 5-13. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Technical Expertise
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green
(1989)/
Ranking
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking2
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking2
Technical
Expertise (#20)
— Specialized
Knowledge (#7)
Technology
skills (#18)
1 Technical expertise was #20 (last) in the overall ranking of generic competencies as rated by the IT
managers’ on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 Specialized knowledge was ranked #7 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
3 Technology skills were ranked #18 in research conducted by Posner (1987).
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141
Information Seeking (INF). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of
performance: LI) asks questions; L2) personally investigates; L3) digs deeper; L4)
does research; and L5) uses own on-going systems.
Information seeking skills are closely associated with Green's (1989) and Jiang
et al. (1998) interviewing and Pettersen’s (1991) judging and practical sense skills.
The results o f Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with previous
research in Table 5-14. Based on the results of CRQ the IT managers rated
information seeking skills to be very important to the IT project manager (ranked #14).
An outstanding performance in this case calls for IT project managers to make a
systematic effort to obtain needed data or feedback, or in-depth investigation from
unusual sources (level 4). This competency was coded quiet often in the BEI analysis
with almost an even spread in the first four levels, leading to believe the importance of
this competency for IT project managers.
Table 5-14. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Information Seeking (INF)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green (1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking3
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking4
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking
Inform ation Seeking
(INF) (#14)
Interviewing3
(#2) Patience6
(#4)
Interviewing3
(#1)
Patience6 (#8)
Judging and
practical sense
(#2)
1 Information seeking was #14 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
: Interviewing and patience were ranked #2 and #4, respectively, in research conducted by Green
(1989).
3 Interviewing and patience were ranked #1 and #8, respectively, in research conducted by Jiang et ai.
(1998).
4 Judging and practical sense were ranked #2 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Interviewing defined as: asking the right questions in order to obtain the information needed.
‘Patience: Continually refining user requirements by requesting feedback; tolerating lack o f computer
literate and specificity.
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142
Analytical Thinking (AT). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of
performance: LI) breaks down problems; L2) sees basic relationships; L3) sees
multiple relationships; and L4) makes complex plans or analyses.
Analytical thinking skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989) and Jiang
et al. (1998) listening, Pettersen’s (1991) problem analysis and Posner’s analyzing
skills. The results of Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with
previous research in Table 5-15. Based on the results of CRQ the IT managers rated
analytical thinking to be very important competency (ranked #8). The CRQ results
indicated that for an outstanding performance the project managers should be able to
break down problems into smaller parts and analyze relationships among several parts
of a problem or situation (level 4). This was the top coded competency in the BEI
analysis. All of the levels were heavily coded leading to believe that IT project
managers posses the appropriate levels of skills.
Table 5-15. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Analytical thinking (AT)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green
(1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking1
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking4
Posner (1987)/
Ranking5
Analytical
Thinking (AT)
m
Listening6
(#9)
Listening6
(#5)
Problem Analysis
(#1)
Analyzing (#5)
1 Analytical thinking was #8 in the overall ranking of generic competencies as rated by the IT managers
on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 Listening was ranked #9 in research conducted by Green (1989).
3 Listening was ranked #5 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Problem analysis was ranked #1 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Analyzing was ranked #5 in research conducted by Posner (1987).
6 Listening defined as: paying attention to and concentrating on what is being said, and asking questions
that refine points about which one is uncertain.
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143
Conceptual Thinking (CT). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of
performance: LI) uses basic rules; L2) sees patterns; L3) applies complex concepts;
L4) clarifies complex data or situations; and L5) creates new concepts.
Conceptual thinking skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989) and Jiang
et al. (1998) speaking and writing and Posner’s (1987) project knowledge skills. The
results of Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with previous
research in Table 5-16. Based on the results of CRQ the IT managers rated conceptual
thinking to be a very important competency (ranked #10). Outstanding performance
calls for IT project managers to make complex ideas or situations clear, simple, and/or
understandable (level 4). This competency was coded very often (top 7) in the BEI
analysis. However, only levels 1 and 2 were coded very often, levels 3 and 4 were
occasionally coded, leaving room for improvement in this area.
Table 5-16. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Conceptual thinking (CT)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green (1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking3
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking4
Conceptual
Thinking (CT) (#10)
Speaking* (#7)
Writing6 (#8)
Speaking5 (#4)
Writing6 (#6)
Project
Knowledge
(#19)
1 Conceptual thinking was #10 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
: Speaking and writing were ranked #7 and #8, respectively, in research conducted by Green (1989).
3 Speaking and writing were ranked #4 and #6, respectively, in research conducted by Jiang et al.
(1998).
4 Project knowledge was ranked #19 in research conducted by Posner (1987).
s Speaking: presenting your ideas in a manner easily understood by your audience, both in-group
meetings and person-to-person.
6 Writing: preparing written documents that accurately communicate ideas in a manner easily
understood by intended readers.
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144
Personal Effectiveness Cluster
Self Control (SCT). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of performance:
LI) resists temptation; L2) responds calmly; L3) manages stress effectively; L4)
responds constructively; and L5) calms others.
Self-control skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989) and Jiang et al.
(1998) diplomacy, and Pettersen’s (1991) tolerance and emotional stability and
Posner’s (1987) patience skills. The results of Competency Rating Questionnaire
(CRQ) are compared with previous research in Table 5-17. Based on the results of
CRQ the IT managers rated self-control as an important competency. As per the
results of CRQ, for an outstanding level performance the IT project managers need to
control their emotions or other stress and take action to respond constructively to the
source of the problem (level 4). This competency was coded rarely in the BEI
analysis. Levels 1 and 2 were coded occasionally. Further development of skills in
this area is necessary.
Table 5-17. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Self control (SCT)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green (1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking1
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking4
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking3
Self-Control
(SCT) (#17)
Diplomacy
(#1)
Diplomacy
(#11)
Tolerance and
Emotional
Stability (#20)
Patience (#16)
' Self-control was #17 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT managers on
the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 Diplomacy was ranked #1 in research conducted by Green (1989).
} Diplomacy was ranked #11 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Tolerance and emotional stability were ranked #20 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Patience was ranked #16 in research conducted by Posner (1987).
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145
Self-Confidence (SCF). Associated behaviors and skills or levels of
performance: LI) presents self confidently; L2) acts independently; L3) states
confidence in own ability; L4) chooses challenges or conflicts; and L5) chooses
extremely challenging situations.
Self-confidence skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989) and Jiang et
al. (1998) leadership/managing, Pettersen’s (1991) self-confidence and maturity and
Posner’s (1987) persistency skills. The results of Competency Rating Questionnaire
(CRQ) are compared with previous research in Table 5-18. Based on the results of
CRQ the IT managers rated self-confidence to be a very important competency. An
outstanding performance calls for IT project managers to accept challenging
assignments and look for new responsibilities (level 4). This competency was one of
the highly coded (top 7) competencies in the BEI analysis. Levels I and 3 three were
highly coded. The level two behavior which calls for project managers to act
independently even when others disagree, make decisions without asking other and act
outside formal authority, was not fielded at all.
Table 5-18. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Self-confidence (SCF)
N am e o f
C o m p eten cy /
R a n k in g 1
G re e n
(1989)/
R a n k in g 2
Jia n g e t al.
(1998)/
R an k in g 1
P e tte rse n
(1991)/
R a n k in g 4
P o sn e r
(1987)/
R a n k in g 5
Self-confidence
(SCF) (#11)
Leadership/
M anaging
m
Leadership/
M anaging
m
Self-conftdence
and M aturity
(#18)
Persistence
(#17)
1 Self-confidence was #11 in the overall ranking o f generic competencies as rated by the IT manager on
the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
: Leadership/managing were ranked #6 in research conducted by Green (1989).
} Leadership/managing were ranked #9 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Self-confidence and maturity were ranked #18 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Persistence was ranked #17 in research conducted by Posner (1987).
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146
Organizational Commitment (OC). Associated behaviors and skills or level
of performance: LI) tries to fit in; L2) models loyalty; L3) supports the organization;
and L4) makes sacrifices for the organization.
Organizational commitment skills are closely associated with Green’s (1989)
and Jiang et al. (1998) organization communications, Pettersen’s (1991) loyalty,
honesty and integrity and Posner’s (1987) energetic/vision/positive skills. The results
of Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with previous research in
Table 5-19. Based on CRQ results for an outstanding performance the IT project
managers should support the organization’s missions and goals, make choices and set
priorities to meet organizational needs and fit with the organizational mission (level
3). Overall, bases on BEI analysis, the IT project managers were found to be
committed to organization’s mission and goals.
Table 5-19. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Organizational
commitment (OC)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green (1989)/
Ranking2
Jiang et al.
(1998)/ Ranking2
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking4
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking5
O rganization
com m itm ent
(O C ) (#15)
O rganization
Com m unications6
(#17)
O rganization
C om m unications6
(#14)
Loyalty,
honesty and
Integrity (#19)
Energetic #10
Vision #11
Positive #13
' Organization commitment was #15 in the overall ranking of generic competencies as rated by the IT
managers on the Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
: Organization communications were ranked #17 in research conducted by Green (1989).
1 Organization communications were ranked #14 in research conducted by Jiang et al. (1998).
4 Loyalty, honesty and integrity were ranked #19 in research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Energetic/vision/positive were ranked #10/#11/#13, respectively, in research conducted by Posner
(1987).
6 Organization Communication: having a broad view o f company goals and operations; knowing the
orientation o f senior management.
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147
Flexibility (FLX). Associated behaviors and skills or level of performance:
LI) accepts need for flexibility; L2) applies rules flexibility; L3) adapts tactics; and
L4) adapts own strategy.
Flexibility skills are closely associated with Pettersen’s (1991) flexibility and
cooperation and Posner’s (1987) flexibility skills. The results of Competency Rating
Questionnaire (CRQ) are compared with previous research in Table 5-20. Based on
the results of CRQ the IT managers rated flexibility to be a very important competency
(ranked #12). An outstanding performance calls for IT project managers to decide
what to do based on the situation and act to fit the situation or the person (level 3).
This competency was the lowest coded in the BEI analysis, leading to believe that
there is an extensive need for building skills in this area.
Table 5-20. Comparison with Previous Research Findings: Flexibility (FLX)
Name of
Competency/
Ranking1
Green (1989)/
Ranking
Jiang et al.
(1998)/
Ranking
Pettersen
(1991)/
Ranking2
Posner
(1987)/
Ranking2
Flexibility (FLX)
(#12)
Flexibility and
Cooperation
(#11)
Flexibility
(#14)
1 Flexibility was # 12 in the overall ranking of generic competencies as rated by the IT managers on the
Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ).
2 Flexibility and cooperation were ranked #11 by research conducted by Pettersen (1991).
5 Flexibility was ranked #14 by research conducted by Posner (1987).
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148
Table 5-21. Competency Rankings based on the IT Managers response to the CRQ
Ranking Competency
1 Teamwork and Cooperation
2 Achievement Orientation
3 Initiative
4 Developing Others
5 Concern for Quality and Order
6 Customer Service Orientation
7 Team Leadership
8 Analytical Thinking
9 Organizational Awareness
10 Conceptual Thinking
11 Self-Confidence
12 Flexibility
13 Interpersonal Understanding
14 Information Seeking
15 Organizational Commitment
16 Impact and Influence
17 Self-Control
18 Directiveness
19 Relationship Building
20 Technical Expertise
IT Project Managers Core Competency Model based on the findings
Based on the findings, the IT project manager core competency model has been
developed and displayed in Figure 5-1. The twenty competencies from the Just-
Noticeable-Difference (JND) Scaled Competency Dictionary have been rearranged
within each of six clusters in accordance to the findings. Further, each cluster is
displayed in detail in Figure 5-2 through Figure 5-7. The behaviors and skills which
are often exhibited in the BEI analysis by the IT project managers and the behaviors
and skills which are required for outstanding performance, based on results o f CRQ,
are identified in Figures 5-2 - 5-7.
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149
Figure 5-1. IT Project M anager C om petency M odel
Self-Confidence
‘Presents Self Confidently
•Acts Independently
•States Confidence in Own Ability
•Chooses Challenges or Conflicts
•Chooses Extremely Challenging
Situations
Flexibility
•Accepts Need for Flexibility
•Applies Rules Flexibility
•Adapts Tactics
•Adapts Own Strategy
Organizational Commitment
•Tries to Fit in
•Models Loyalty
•Supports the Organization
•Makes Sacrifices for the
Organization
Self-Control
•Resists Temptation
•Responds Calmly
•Manages Stress Effectively
•Responds Constructively
•Calms Others
Analytical Thinking
•Breaks Down Problems
•Sees Basic Relationships
•Sees Multiple Relationships
•Makes Complex Plans or
Analysis
Conceptual Thinking
•Uses Basic Rules
•Sees Patterns
•Applies Complex Concepts
•Clarifies Complex Data or
Situations
•Creates New Concepts
Information Seeking
•Asks Questions
•Personally Investigates
•Digs Deeper
•Docs Research
•Uses Own-On-Going Systems
Technical Expertise
•Answers Questions
•Applies Technical knowledge
to Achieve
Additional Impact
•Offers Technical Help
•Advocates and Spreads New
Technology
•Publishes New Technology
Achievement Orientation
•Wants to do Job well
•Creates Own Measures of Excellence
•Improves Performance
•Sets and Works to Meet Challenging Coals
•Makes Cost-Bencfit Analysis
•Takes Calculated Entrepreneurial Risks
Initiative
•Addresses Current Opportunities
•Is Decisive in Crises
•Acts 1-3 Months Ahead
•Acts 4-12 Months Ahead
•Acts Over a Year Ahead
Concern for Quality and Order
•Keeps an Organized Workspace
•Shows a General Concern for Order and Clarity
•Monitors Work
•Monitors Data or Project
•Develops Complex Systems
Achievement Clust
Personal
Effectiveness
Cluster
Helping/Servtc
Ouster
ogntttve Thtnktn
blent Solving
Ouster
Influence O uster
Managerial Oust
Teamwork and Cooperation
•Cooperates
•Expresses Positive Expectations o f Team
•Solicits Inputs
•Encourages Others
•Builds Team Spirit
Developing Others
•Expresses Positive Expectation of Person
•Gives How-to Directions
•Gives Reasons. Other Support
•Gives Feedback to Encourage
Docs Longer-Term Coaching or Training
Team Leadership
•Manages Meeting Well
•Keeps People Informed
•Promotes Team Effectiveness
•Takes Care of the Group
•Positions Self as the Leader
•Communicates a Compelling Vision
Directiveness
•Gives Directions
•Sets Limits
•Demands High Performance
•Maintains Visible Standards o f Performance
•Holds People Accountable for Performance
Customer-Service
Orientation
•Follows Up
•Maintains Clear
Communication
•Takes Personal
Responsibility
•Takes Action for the
Customer
•Addressing
Underlying Customer
Needs
•Uses a Long-Term
Perspective
Interpersonal
Understanding
•Understands Either
Emotion or Content
•Understands Both
Emotion and Content
•Understands
Meanings
•Understands
Underlying Issues
Organizational Awareness
•Understands Formal
Structure
•Understands Informal
Structure
•Understands Climate and
Culture
•Understands
Organizational Politics
•Understands Underlying
Organizational issues
Impact and Influence
•States Intention but Takes
No Specific Action
•Takes a Single Action to
Persuade
•Takes Multiple Actions to
Persuade
•Calculates the Impact of
One’s Actions or Words
•Uses Indirect Influence
•Uses Complex Influence
Strategies
Relationship Building
•Makes Informal Contacts
•Builds Rapport
•Makes Social Contacts
•Establishes Personal
Friendships
•Makes Strong Personal
Friendships
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150
Figure 5-2. IT Project M anager C om petency M odel (A chievem ent C luster)
Achievement Orientation: Acting to minimize errors and maintain high standards o f quality by
checking or monitoring data and work, and by developing and maintaining system for organizing work
and information.
•Wants to do Job well
•Creates Own Measures o f Escellence
•Improves Performance
•Sets and Works to Meet Challenging Goals
•Makes Cost-Bencfit Analysis*/**
•Takes Calculated Entrepreneurial Risks
Initiative: A concern for working well or for surpassing a standard o f excellence. The standard may be
one’s own past performance (striving for improvement); and objective measure (result orientation);
outperforming others (competitiveness); challenging goals one has set; or even what anyone has ever
done (innovation).
Addresses Current Opportunities
•Is Decisive in Crises*
•Acts l-J Months Ahead
•Acts 4-12 Months Ahead**
•Acts Over a Year Ahead**
Concern for Quality and Order:: Refers to: I) the identificationof a problem, obstacle or oppoitunity
and 2) taking action in light o f that to address current or future problems or opportunities. As such,
initiative can be seen in the context o f proactively doing things and not simply thinking about future
actions. The time frame of this scale moves from completing past or current projects to action on future
opportunities or problems.
•Keeps an Organized Workspace
•Shows a General Concern for Order and Clarity
•Monitors Work
•Monitors Data or Project*
•Develops Complex Systems**
*Level(s) of competencies or behaviors often exhibited by the IT project managers including the
lower levels
**Lcvel(s) of competencies or behaviors desired by IT managers for Outstanding Performance
Achievement Gusti
Helping/Servi.
Cluster
iognidve Thinking/
Problem Solving I
\ O uster /
Influence Clusti
Managerial Gusti
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151
Figure 5-3. IT P roject M anager C om petency M odel (H elping/S ervice C luster)
Customer-Service Orientation: Im plies a desire to help o r serve customers,
to m eet their needs. It means focusing one’s efforts on discovering and
m eeting the customer o r client’s needs.
•Follows Up
•Maintains Clear Communication
•Takes Personal Responsibility
•Takes Action for the Customer*
•Addressing Underlying Customer Needs**
•U ses a Long-Term Perspective
Interpersonal Understanding: Im plies w anting to understand other people.
It is the ability to accurately hear and understand the unspoken or partly
expressed thoughts, feelings, and concerns o r others. It m easures increasing
com plexity and depth o f understanding o f o ther and may include cross-
cultural sensitivity.
•Understands Either Emotion or Content
•Understands Both Emotion and Content
•Understands Meanings
•Understands Underlying Issues*/**
*Level(s) o f competencies or behaviors often exhibited by the IT project
managers including the lower levels
**Level(s) of competencies or behaviors desired by IT managers for
Outstanding Performance
Achievement Gusti
Helping/Servit
Cluster
Cognitive Thinking/
Problem Solving .
V O uster /
Influence Gusteri
Managerial Gusti
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152
F igure 5-4. IT Project M anager C om petency M odel (Influence C luster)
Achievement Clusu
' Personal X
Effectiveness
Ouster
Helping/Servici
Ouster
Cognitive Thinking/
Problem Solving .
V Ouster V
Influence Cluster/
Managerial Clusti
Organizational Awareness: The ability to understand and Organizational Awareness: The ability to understand and learn
the power relationship in one's own organization or in other
organizations (customers, suppliers, etc.). This includes the
ability to identify who are the real decision-makers and the
individuals who can influence them: and to predict how new
events or situations will affect individuals and groups within the
organization.
•Understands Formal Structure
•Understands Informal Structure
•Understands Climate and Culture*
•Understands Organizational Politics**
•Understands Underlying Organizational issues
Impact and Influence: Implies an intention to persuade,
convince, influence or impress others, in order to get them to go
along with or to support the speaker's agenda. It is based on the
desire to have a specific impact or effect on others where the
person has his or her own agenda, a specific type o f impression to
make, or a course o f action that he or she wants the others to
adopt
•States Intention but Takes No Specific Action
•Takes a Single Action to Persuade
•Takes Multiple Actions to Persuade
•Calculates the Impact o f One’s Actions or Words*
•Uses Indirect Influence**
•Uses Complex Influence Strategies
*Level(s) o f competencies
or behaviors often
Relationship Building: Builds or maintains friendly, reciprocal,
and warm relationships or networks of contacts with people.
•Makes Informal Contacts
•Builds Rapport*
•Makes Social Contacts*
•Establishes Personal Friendships**
•Makes Strong Personal Friendships
exhibited by the IT project
managers including the
lower levels
**Level(s) o f competencies
or behaviors desired by IT
managers for Outstanding
Performance
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153
Figure 5-5. IT Project M anager C om petency M odel (M anagerial C luster)
Achievement Gusti
Personal \
Effectiveness
Ouster
lelping/Servii
Ouster
[ognitive Thinkini
Problem Solving
\ Ouster
Influence Cluster!
igerial Ouster
Teamwork and Cooperation: Implies a genuine intention to work cooperatively with others, to be part
of a team, to work together as opposed to working separately or competitively. For this competency to
be effective the intent should be genuine. Teamwork and Cooperation may be considered whenever the
subject is a member of a group o f people functioning as a team. "Team," as is the case with Team
Leadership, is broadly defined as any task or process-oriented group o f individuals.
•Cooperates
•Expresses Positive Expectations o f Team
•Solicits Inputs*
•Encourages Others
•Builds Team Spirit**
Developing Others: Involves a genuine intent to foster the long-term learning or development o f others
with an appropriate level o f need analysis and other thought or effort. Its focus is on the development
intent and effect rather than on a formal role o f training.
•Expresses Positive Expectation of Person
•Gives How-to Directions
•Gives Reasons, Other Support
•Gives Feedback to Encourage
Does Longer-Term Coaching or Training*/**
Team Leadership: The intention to take a role as a leader of a team or other group. It implies a desire
to lead other. Team Leadership is generally, but certainly not always, shown from a position o f formal
authority. The “team" here should be understood broadly as nay group in which the person takes on a
leadership role.
•Manages Meeting Well
•Keeps People Informed
•Promotes Team Effectiveness*
•Takes Care o f the Group
•Positions Self as the Leader**
•Communicates a Compelling Vision
Directiveness: Implies the intent to make others comply others comply with one’s wishes where
personal power or the power o f one’s position is used appropriately and effectively, with the long-term
good o f the organization in mind. It includes a theme or tone of "telling people what to do." The tone
ranges from firm and directive to demanding or even to threatening.
•Gives Directions
•Sets Limits*
•Demands High Performance
•Maintains Visible Standards o f Performance**
•Holds People Accountable for Performance__________________________
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154
Figure 5-6. IT Project Manager Competency Model (Cognitive Thinking/Problem
Solving Cluster)
Achievement Clust
Personal
Effectiveness
Cluster
Helptng/Servic
Ouster
ogninve Thinking/
I cm Solving
Cluster
Influence Ouster
Managerial Clust
Analytical Thinking: Understanding a situation by breaking it apart into
smaller pieces, or tracing the implications o f a situation in a step-by-stem
way. Analytical Thinking includes organizing the parts o f a problem,
situation, etc.. in a systematic way; making systematic comparisons of
different features or aspects; setting priorities on a rational basis: identifying
time sequences, causal relationships o f If-Then relationships.
•Breaks Down Problems
•Sees Basic Relationships
•Sees Multiple Relationships*
•Makes Complex Plans or Analysis**
Conceptual Thinking: The ability to identify patterns or connections
between situations that are not obviously related, and to identify key or
underlying issues in complex situations. It includes using creative,
conceptual or inductive reasoning.
•Uses Basic Rules
•Sees Patterns*
•Applies Complex Concepts
•Clarifies Complex Data or Situations**
•Creates New Concepts
Information Seeking: Driven by an underlying curiosity and desire to
know more about things, people or issues. It implies beyond the questions
that are routine or required in the job. It may include "digging” or pressing
for exact information: resolution of discrepancies by asking a series of
question: or less-focused environmental “scanning" for potential
opportunities or miscellaneous information that may be o f future use.
•Asks Questions
•Personally Investigates
•Digs Deeper
•Does Research*/**
•Uses Own-On-Going Systems
Technical Expertise: The motivation to expand and use technical
knowledge or to distribute work-related knowledge to others.
•Answers Questions
•Applies Technical knowledge to Achieve
Additional Impact
•Offers Technical Help
•Advocates and Spreads New Technology*/**
•Publishes New Technology
*Level(s) of
competencies or
behaviors often
exhibited by the IT
project managers
including the lower
levels
**Level(s) o f
competencies or
behaviors desired by IT
managers for
Outstanding
Performance
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155
Figure 5-7. IT Project M anager C om petency M odel (P ersonal E ffectiveness C luster)
Self-Confidence: Expressing belief in one’s ability to accomplish a
task and select an effective approach to a task or problem. This
includes confidence in one’s ability as expressed in increasingly
challenging circumstances and confidence in one's decisions or
opinions.
•Presents Self Confidently
•Acts Independently
•States Confidence in Own Ability*/**
•Chooses Challenges or Conflicts
•Chooses Extremely Challenging Situations
Flexibility: The Ability to adapt to and work effectively within a
variety o f situations, and with various individuals or groups.
Flexibility entails understanding and appreciating different and
opposing perspectives on an issue, adapting one’s approach as the
requirements o f a situation change, and changing or easily
accepting changes in one's own organization or job requirement.
•Accepts Need for Flexibility
•Applies Rules Flexibility
•Adapts Tactics*/**
•Adapts Own Strategy
Organizational Commitment: The ability and willingness to align
one's own behavior with the needs, priorities and goals of the
organization. It involves acting in ways that promote
organizational goals or meet organizational needs. It may appear as
putting an organizational mission before one's own preferences.
•Tries to Fit in
•Models Loyalty
•Supports the Organization*/**
•Makes Sacrifices for the Organization
Self-Control: Acting to keep one’s emotions under control and
restrain negative behaviors when provoked, when faced with
opposition or hostility from others, or when working under
conditions o f stress.
•Resists Temptation
•Responds Calmly*
•Manages Stress Effectively
•Responds Constructively**
•Calms Others
*Level(s) o f competencies
or behaviors often
exhibited by the IT project
managers including the
lower levels
**Level(s) of competencies
or behaviors desired by IT
managers for Outstanding
Performance
Achievement Gust
Personal
Effectiveness
Ouster
Helping/Scrvi
Ouster
ognitive Tntnkin
lem Solving
Ouster
Influence Ouster
Managerial O
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156
Implications and Recommendations
Implications of this research extend to several groups of people both at SCE
and outside of SCE. For some, the specific content could offer insight into future
decisions. These groups o f people could include: the IT project managers and potential
IT project managers; staffing professionals; IT managers; and IT training managers or
educators. For others, the methodology utilized in this research could serve as a guide
for an effective approach to qualitative research.
IT Project Managers and Potential IT Project Managers
AT SCE the project managers consider working in information technology
field after working in a technical position either within SCE, or bringing experience
with them from similar settings in other industries (e. g., airspace, petroleum,
environment & safety, etc.). Their first task should be to assess one's own skills,
abilities and characteristics. This assessment can lead to three separate conclusions:
not suited for this work, suited for this work but need to develop or improve certain
abilities, or suited for this work. The second task is to fine-tune the abilities identified
in the assessment phase. Finally, in searching for a potential employer, the individual
should request a realistic job preview and meet and interact with enough employees to
glean information about what is required of him or her in the project manager position.
The decision to accept a particular job offer, then, is an informed decision based on an
assessment of what the IT managers’ expectations are and individuals’ own distinct
abilities and attributes.
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157
Staffing Professionals
Staffing professionals serve as a link between the potential IT project manager
and SCE. The IT project manager’s position has the potential to play a critical role in
recruiting, which begins the process of IT project manager working for SCE which can
develop the right mix of attributes to be successful. Several findings from this study
point to potentially helpful actions by the staffing professionals. First, the staffing
service library should be updated to remove misleading information about a profession
of by-gone days and replace the information with current information. For example,
SCE’s Intranet site “EDNA” which provides continuously updated information could
be prepared and included in the library of resources. Second, staffing professionals
can personally share with potential IT project managers their knowledge of the
attributes demanded by SCE’s IT managers. Third, the staffing professionals could
collaborate with IT Training Institute which is preparing IT professionals for project
management careers so that each group of IT professionals can share their knowledge
and contribute to a more complete knowledge base from which to advise IT
professionals.
IT Managers
IT managers stand to gain from the findings o f this study. First, the results of
the CRQ will provide them with information regarding their own perceptions of
knowledge, skills and attributes (KSAs) that their subordinates or in this case, the
project managers, should have to perform effectively. Second, based on the BEI
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158
findings the IT managers can put together a formal developmental plan to enhance the
KSAs of IT project managers. Third, based on KSAs deficiencies the managers can
set up a mentoring plan for IT project managers’ rapid growth and their productivity.
Although there was no consensus as to the superiority of an informal or a formal
mentoring program, the general concept of mentoring is definitely a cheap and
effective tool to continue to encourage with SCE’s culture.
Finally, IT managers often serve as career advisors, either formally or
informally. In this role, IT managers should assist IT project managers in identifying
key attributes, such as those highlighted in this study, which contribute to success in
project management. Informing the IT project managers o f these key attributes will
require the IT managers to acquire knowledge about these attributes.
IT Training Manager(s) or Educator(s)
The IT training managers) or educator(s) assume three roles to IT project
managers: curricula development, course content development and provide training
and development input toward the career developmental plans which are part of the
Performance Partnership Agreement (PPA) between the IT project managers and their
supervisors or the IT managers. The IT training manager can utilize the findings of
this study to develop curricula for IT project manages. Based on the competency
model depicted in Fig. 5-1 it can be observed that IT project managers would welcome
training and developmental opportunities to further develop their following
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159
competencies, listed in order of importance to promote effectiveness in IT project
managers:
• Teamwork & Cooperation
• Initiative
• Concerns for Quality and Order
• Customer-service Orientation
• Team leadership
• Analytical Thinking
• Conceptual Thinking
• Self-control
• Directiveness
• Relationship Building
In this case the complexity of the course content (difficult/advanced to
simple/fundamental) within a competency can be set based on the importance of that
competency to IT project manager’s job function. For example, teamwork &
cooperation are critical competencies to the function o f IT project management, the
course(s) designed in this area should be o f advanced level as opposed to a course(s)
being offered in the competency called directiveness. Based on the findings there does
not seem to be an immediate need for training under the following competencies:
• Achievement Orientation
• Interpersonal Understandings
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160
• Organizational Awareness
• Impact and Influence
• Developing Others
• Information Seeking
• Technical Expertise
• Organizational Commitment
• Flexibility
• Self-confidence
At this time it appears that the IT project managers posses the appropriate
levels of the above mentioned competencies, however, as mentioned earlier,
technologies, changing environment, and the changing roles o f information technology
management are various forces driving change in the knowledge and skills area for
information technology professionals. For example, on the desktop side, just this year
Southern California Edison has decided to change it’s mail/scheduling platform from
MS Exchange/Scheduler to Lotus Notes. Along with this major change comes
Microsoft Office 2000 which is replacing Microsoft Office 1995 and the Netscape
Internet browser is being replaced with Internet Explorer. Next on the agenda is to
replace Microsoft Windows ’95 with Microsoft Windows 2000. In this case, the
desktop IT project managers may not require in-depth or the advanced level of
understanding of how each o f these technologies function, however, they need to
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161
know the fundamentals of Lotus Notes, Microsoft Office 2000, Internet Explorer and
Windows 2000.
The above mentioned scenario regarding the need for technical training for
desktop IT project managers due to major shift in desktop technology could be applied
to any other facet of change(s) that may occur within an organization. For example, in
case a company is bought-out by an another company which happens quiet often now
days, then training in the organizational awareness and organizational commitment
could become essential not only for IT project managers but for all other employees
within the company. Similarly, in a rapidly changing environment of IT where the
product life cycle is shrinking all the time, achievement orientation or superior goal
setting becomes very important. So, the IT project managers should continuously
keep their skills sharpened in this area.
Many IT project managers that were interviewed emphasized the importance of
career development to their moral, their productivity, and sometimes even their
intentions to stay. Although there were no consensus on informal or a formal career
development program, the general concept of career development and progression at
SCE is very important to the IT project managers.
Finally, to further develop IT project managers careers the IT training manager
could work with these project managers and their managers or supervisors to lay out
an individualized training plan which could be part o f IT project managers
Performance Partnership Agreement (PPA).
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162
Future Research Suggestions
Opportunities for research on productivity in the field of IT project
management will not wane in the foreseeable future, especially because the IT industry
is experiencing so many changes. Certain research topics emerge from this study
which are listed here. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies may be
appropriate in pursuing the research.
IT project managers within the different fields of IT such as desktop services,
telecommunication services and application services may require different skill sets
and different personal characteristics. Project managers from desktop services tended
to be more customer service oriented, where as the project managers from the
telecommunication services were more technical oriented and the project managers
from the application services exhibited a lot of business and technical skills. As IT
professionals choose their specialty, or staffing professionals recruit IT project
managers, or IT managers hire IT project managers, or IT training managers or
educators develop curriculum, they will need to determine if different abilities are
required of these project managers based on area of responsibilities. Qualitative
research similar to the current study would be useful in identifying these differences.
In general, success in class work is typically measured by mastering technical
skills. The educational community needs to continue its search for appropriate
pedagogies and effective advising approaches designed to prepare IT graduates for the
changing IT environment. Future research, similar to the current study, on the specific
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business functional and interpersonal/management knowledge and skills required of
the IT graduates could assist educational institutions to develop their curriculum and
course contents to meet the needs o f changing IT environment.
Finally, a qualitative study comparing, in depth, the details of the attributes
demanded of IT project managers working in settings other than SCE would extend
the findings of this study so that IT professionals faced with these choices have a more
complete picture of where they fit.
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Appendix A
Letter to Candidates
Greetings,
As you know, we are in the process of developing a competency model, which will
provide us with specific "Knowledge," "skills," "abilities," and other “Characteristics"
(KSAC) describing the behaviors, which contribute to superior performance. You
have been selected to participate in this two-step development process. The first step
is for you to fill out and return the attached Position Description Questionnaire (PDQ).
This questionnaire is designed to gather information for the purpose of defining duties
and responsibilities of MPP roles in IT.
Please return the completed questionnaire by Date.
In the second step o f this process you will participate in a Behavioral Event Interview
(BEI), also called a Knowledge Elicitation Interview. During the BEI, you will be
asked to discuss the following:
• A brief overview of your duties and responsibilities in your current role
• Describe in detail, four to six important events which you have experienced in the
job, during the last 18 to 24 months - including two or three "high points"
(successes) and two or three "low points" (failures)
• Characteristics needed by someone to perform the job effectively.
There is no need to do any preparation prior to your interview. The sole purpose of
the interview is to develop a clear understanding of your role, not to evaluate you.
The interview will last approximately two hours. All interviews will be taped
recorded so that the interview can be thoroughly analyzed and coded. All interview
information will be kept strictly confidential and will not be shared with anyone else in
your organization. The data you provide during your interview will be used for the
purpose of developing a customized, valid competency model with specific "KSAC
indicators" describing what it takes to do your job.
Your interview will be scheduled shortly after we receive your completed PDQ.
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172
Appendix B
Position Description Questionnaire (PDQ)
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
EDISON
An EDISON INTERNATIONAL Company
Instructions • This questionnaire is designed to gather information for the purpose of
defining duties and responsibilities of management roles in IT. It is not an evaluation or
description of job performance. Please answer each question carefully and thoroughly. If
any question does not apply to the position, mark “ N/A" (Not Applicable) in the space
provided. Do not be concerned with the writing style of the answers. Answers need not
be typewritten.___________________________________________________________
Incumbent’ s Name:________________________ PAX:
Current Job Title:
Reports to: ________________________________________________________
(name) (job title)
DepUDivision Name: ______________________________________________
Work Location:
Position Purpose • Briefly describe the primary purpose of this position.
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173
Responsibilities • Ust key responsibilities of this position (Emphasize
WHAT is done—supervision, makino decisions, strateaic Dlannina and
forecasting- and WHY it is done. Do not emphasize HOW it is done.
Responsibilities listed should be limited to those actually performed by
this position). Indicate how much time is devoted to working on each
responsibility as an approximate percentage of the total job. When
complete, all percentages should add to 100%.
Responsibility %
Total=100%
Major Challenges - Describe two or three of the most difficult problems
or challenges encountered in this position, and the available resources
(e.g., policies, procedures, strategies, etc.) to help solve them. This may
include, but not limited to, “ no policy exists," etc. The frequency of
occurrence may be listed as weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually or an
estimate of two to three years in duration.
Challenge/Problem Frequency
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174
Decision Making - Describe the nature of the recommendations and/or decisions that
are generally made in this job (e.g., Does this position have the final authority to
implement decisions, and to participate in the decision making process? Does this
position have responsibility for conducting business/contract negotiations? What impact
levels do such recommendations, decisions, and/or negotiations have on the work unit,
department, business unit, company, or industry?) Provide examples of the types of
reasoning and decisions and/or recommendations completed in this position.
Decisions Expected Recommendations Expected
Job Knowledge- List general areas of knowledge required for this position to be a
contributor to the organization. Do not include knowledge that you may individually
possess, but which is not required to perform this job.
Knowledge - Acquired information or concepts that relate to a specific discipline (e.g.,
engineering principles, accounting theory, investigation techniques.)
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175
Education, Experience & Additional Requirements • Indicate the minimum education
required to perform this job effectively, and its application to the responsibilities of the
position. - What type and length of experience is required to perform the minimum
requirements of this job? Note additional requirements, including licenses, certifications,
and registrations. Please do not list your personal experience or qualifications; instead,
delineate the normal minimum and preferred requirements if one were looking fora
replacement employee.
Comments - Other aspects of this position that should be included in this questionnaire
that would be helpful in the analysis of this position.
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Appendix C
Competency Clusters
Twenty Competencies Most Often Found to Predict Success in Technical Professional
and Managerial Jobs. Adopted from Hay McBer’s JND Scaled Competency
Dictionary 1996.
I Achievement Cluster: Achievement Orientation; Concern for Quality
and Order; and Initiative.
II Helping/Service Cluster: Interpersonal Understanding and Customer-
Service Orientation.
III Influence Cluster: Impact and Influence; Organizational Awareness;
and Relationship Building (Networking).
IV Managerial Cluster: Directiveness; Teamwork and Cooperation;
Developing Others; and Team Leadership.
V Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster: Technical Expertise;
Information Seeking; Analytical Thinking; and Conceptual Thinking.
VI Personal Effectiveness Cluster: Self-Control; Self-Confidence;
Organizational Commitment; and Flexibility.
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1 7 7
I. Achievement Cluster (ACH)
Achievement Orientation (AO)
Achievement Orientation: A concern for working well or for surpassing a standard of
excellence. The standard may be one's own past performance (striving for improvement);
and objective measure (result orientation); outperforming others (competitiveness);
challenging goals one has set; or even what anyone has ever done (innovation). Thus a
unique accomplishment also indicates ACH.
This Person:
1. Wants to do job well: Tries to do the job well or right. May express frustration at
waste or inefficiency (e.g., gripes about wasted time and wants to do better) but does
not cause specific improvements.
2.
Creates own measures of excellence: Uses own specific methods of measuring
outcomes against a standard of excellence not imposed by others. May focus on new
or more precise ways of meeting goals set by management. (Code specifically for
spontaneous interest in measuring outcomes or performance excellence).
3. Improves Performance: Makes specific changes in the system or in own work
methods to improve performance (e.g., does something better, faster, at lower cost,
more efficiently, improves quality, customer satisfaction, morale, revenues), without
setting any specific goal. (The improvement must be noticeable and could be
measurable. Code even if outcome is still unknown, or if it is less successful than
hoped).
4. Sets and Works to Meet Challenging Goals: “Challenging” means there is about a
30-50 chance of actually achieving the goal-it is a definite stretch, but not unrealistic
or impossible. OR refers to specific measures of baseline performance compared
with better performance at a later point in time: e.g., “When I took over, efficiency
was 20%-now it is up to 85%.” (Goals which are not clearly both challenging and
achievable should, however, be coded at level 2 - as evidence of competing against a
standard of excellence. If scoring for level 4, don’t score for 3 for the same actions or
activity in story).
5. Makes Cost-Benefit Analyses: Makes decisions, sets priorities or chooses goals on
the basis of calculated inputs and outputs. Makes explicit considerations of potential
profit, Retum-on-lnvestment or cost-benefit analysis. Analyzes for business
outcomes. (To code, the person must show: 1) specific mention of costs and 2)
specific benefits and 3) a decision based on the balance between them.
6. Takes Calculated Entrepreneurial Risks: Commits significant resources and/or
time (in the face of uncertainty) to increase benefits, (i.e., improve performance,
reach a challenging goal, etc.). In scoring for level 6, you should also code for
evidence of lower levels as they occur to capture the richness and depth of ACH
thinking.
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I. Achievement Cluster (ACH)
Concern for Quality and Order (CO)
Concern for Quality and Order: Acting to minimize errors and maintain high standards of
quality by checking or monitoring data and work, and by developing and maintaining system
for organizing work and information.
This Person:
1. Keeps an Organized Workspace: Maintains an orderly workspace with desk, files,
tolls, and so on in good order.
2. Shows a General Concern for Order and Clarity: Works for clarity - wants roles,
expectations, tasks, data crystal-clear and preferably in writing.
3. Monitors Work: Monitors quality of work, checks to ensure that procedures are
followed. OR keeps clear, detailed records of own or others’ activities.
4. Monitors Data or Project: Monitors progress of a project against milestones of
deadlines. Monitors data, discovers weaknesses or missing data, and seeks out
information to keep order; general concern for increasing order in existing system.
5. Develops Complex Systems: Puts new, detailed, complex systems in place to
increase order and improve quality of data. OR deduces new needs (not having to do
with order) from perceived disorder.
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I. Achievement Cluster (ACH)
Initiative (INT)
Initiative: Refers to: I) the identification of a problem, obstacle or opportunity and 2) taking
action in light of that to address current or future problems or opportunities. As such,
initiative can be seen in the context of proactively doing things and not simply thinking about
future actions. The time frame of this scale moves from completing past or current projects
to action on future opportunities or problems. Formal strategic planning is not included in
this competency.
This Person:
1. Addresses Current Opportunities or Problems: Recognizes and acts upon present
opportunities, overcomes obstacles to address present problems, usually within a day
or two.
2. Is Decisive in a Crises: Acts quickly and decisively in a crises (where norm is to
wait, “study,” hope problem will resolve itself).
3. Acts 1-3 Months Ahead: Creates opportunities or minimizes potential problems by a
unique extra effort (new program, special travel, etc.) occurring within a one- to
three- month time frame.
4. Acts 4-12 Months Ahead: Anticipates and prepares for a specific opportunity or
problem that is not obvious to others. Takes action to create an opportunity or avoid
future crises, looking ahead 4-12 months.
5. Acts Over a Year Ahead: Anticipates situations 1-2 years ahead or more and acts to
create opportunities or avoid problems that are not obvious to others.
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II. Helping/Service Cluster
Interpersonal Understanding (T U )
Interpersonal Understanding: Implies wanting to understand other people. It is the ability
to accurately hear and understand the unspoken or partly expressed thoughts, feelings, and
concerns or others. It measures increasing complexity and depth of understanding of other
and may include cross-cultural sensitivity.
This Person:
. Understands Either Emotion or Content: Understands either present emotions or
explicit content, but not both together.
2. Understands Both Emotion and Content: Understands both present emotions and
explicit content.
3. Understands Meanings: Understands current, unexpressed or poorly expressed
meanings: understands current unspoken thoughts, concerns or feelings. OR gets
others to willingly take actions desired by the speaker; that is, uses understanding to
get others to act the way you want them to.
4. Understands Underlying Issues: Understands other people's underlying problems;
understands the reason for someone’s ongoing or long-term feelings, behavior, or
concerns. OR presents a balanced view of others’ specific strengths and weaknesses.
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1 8 1
II. Helping/Service Cluster
Customer-Service Orientation (CSO)
Customer-Service Orientation: Implies a desire to help or serve customers, to meet their
needs. It means focusing one’s efforts on discovering and meeting the customer or client’s
needs.
This Person:
1 . Follows Up: Follows through on customer inquiries, requests, complaints. Keeps
customer up-to-date about progress of projects (but does not probe customer’s
underlying issues or problems.
2. Maintains Clear Communication: Maintains clear communication with customer
regarding mutual expectations, monitors client satisfaction. Distributes helpful
information to clients. Gives friendly, cheerful service.
3. Takes Personal Responsibility: Takes personal responsibility for correcting
customer-service problems. Corrects problems promptly and undefensively.
4. Takes Action for the Customer: Makes self fully available, especially when
customer is going through a critical period. For example, gives customer a home or
vacation phone number or other means of easy access, or may spend extra time at the
customer’s location.
5. Addressing Underlying Customer Needs: Knows the customer’s business and/or
seeks information about the real underlying needs of the customer, beyond those
expressed initially. Matches these to available (or customized) products or services.
6. Uses a Long-Term Perspective: Works with a long-term perspective in addressing a
customer’s problems. May trade off immediate costs for the sake if the long-term
relationship. Looks for long-term benefits to the customer. Acts as a trusted advisor;
becomes involved in customer’s decision-making process. Builds an independent
opinion on client needs, problems, or opportunities and possibilities for
implementation. Acts on this opinion (e.g., recommends approaches which are new
and different form those requested by the client).
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182
III. Influence Cluster
Impact and Influence (IMP)
Impact and Influence: implies an intention to persuade, convince, influence or impress
others, in order to get them to go along with or to support the speaker’s agenda. It is based on
the desire to have a specific impact or effect on others where the person has his or her own
agenda, a specific type of impression to make, or a course of action that he or she wants the
others to adopt.
This Person:
1 . States Intention but Takes No Specific Action: Intends to have a specific effect or
impact; expresses concern with reputation, status, appearance, etc., but does not take
any specific actions.
2. Takes a Single Action to Persuade: Uses direct persuasion in a discussion or
presentation (e.g., appeals to reason, data, others’ self-interest; uses concrete
examples, visual aids, demonstrations, etc.). Makes no apparent attempt to adapt
presentation to the interest and level of the audience.
3. Takes Multiple Actions to Persuade: Takes two or more steps to persuade without
trying to adapt specifically to level or interest of an audience. Includes careful
preparation of data for presentation. OR making two or more different arguments or
points in a presentation or a discussion.
4. Calculates the Impact of One’s Actions or Words: Adapts a presentation or
discussion to appeal to the interest and level of others. Anticipates the effect of an
action or other detail on people’s image of the speaker. OR takes a well thought-out
dramatic or unusual action in order to have a specific impact. Anticipates and
prepares for others’ reactions.
5. Uses Indirect Influence: Uses chains of indirect influence: “get A to show B so B
will tell C such -and-such.” Takes two steps to influence, with each step adapted to
the specific audience. Anticipates and prepares for others’ reactions. Uses experts or
other third parties to influence.
6. Uses Complex Influence Strategies: Assembles political coalitions, builds “behind-
the-scenes” support for ideas, gives or withholds information to have specific effects,
uses “group process skills” to lead or direct a group.
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183
III. Influence Cluster
Organizational Awareness (OA)
Organizational Awareness: The ability to understand and learn the power relationship in
one’s own organization or in other organizations (customers, suppliers, etc.). This includes
the ability to identify who are the real decision-makers and the individuals who can influence
them; and to predict how new events or situations will affect individuals and groups within
the organization.
This Person:
1. Understands Formal Structures: Recognizes or uses the formal structure or
hierarchy of an organization, “chain of command,” positional power, rules and
regulations. Standard Operating Procedures, etc.
2. Understands Informal Structures: Understands (uses) informal structures
(identifies key actors, decision-influencers, etc.). Applies this knowledge when
formal structure does not work as well as desired.
3. Understands Climate and Culture: Recognizes nonspoken organizational
limitations-what is an is not possible at certain times or in certain positions.
Recognizes and uses the corporate culture and the language, etc., that will produce
the best response.
4. Understands Organizational Politics: Understands, describes (or uses) on-going
power and political relationships within the organization (alliances, rivalries), with a
clear sense of organizational impact.
5. Understands Underlying Organization Issues: Understands (and addresses) the
reasons for on-going organizational behavior or the underlying problems,
opportunities or political forces affecting the organization, (e.g., current market
trends, demographic changes, trade union policies, national or historical issues that
affect market opportunities, etc.)
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III. Influence Cluster
Relationship Building (RB) (Networking)
Relationship Building (Networking): Builds or maintains friendly, reciprocal, and warm
relationships or networks of contacts with people.
This Person:
1 . Makes Informal Contacts: Makes informal contacts with others in addition to
contacts required in the course of work. Includes unstructured chats about work-
related issues, or about children, sports, news, etc.
2.
Build Rapport: Builds or maintains rapport with a wide circle of friends and
acquaintances. May pursue friendly relationships with associates, customers, or
others at clubs, restaurants, sports events, etc.
3. Makes Social Contacts: Mentions initiating parties, outings, or special gatherings
designed to improve or strengthen relationships with others. Includes inviting people
hove or going to the home of others. OR participates actively in on-going social
relationships.
4. Establishes Personal Friendships: Establishes friendships, including making
personal disclosures as part of establishing or maintaining rapport. Acknowledges
that a friend provided information or a contact that was helpful in attaining a business
goal.
5. Makes Strong Personal Friendships: Makes strong friendships as demonstrated by
the fact that a friend testifies on behalf of, supports, or goes with the person in
attaining a business goal.
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185
IV. Managerial Cluster
Directiveness (DIR)
Directiveness: Implies the intent to make others comply others comply with one’s wishes
where personal power or the power of one’s position is used appropriately and effectively,
with the long-term good of the organization in mind. It includes a theme or tone o f‘ 'telling
people what to do.” The tone ranges from firm and directive to demanding or even to
threatening. Attempts to reason with, persuade or convince others to comply are Impact and
Influence (IMP, not Directiveness.
This Person:
1. Gives Directions: Gives adequate directions, makes needs and requirements
reasonably clear. Explicitly delegates details of routine tasks in order to free self for
more valuable or longer-range considerations.
2.
Sets Limits: Firmly say " ‘ No” to unreasonable requests, or sets limits for others’
behavior. May manipulate situations to limit others’ options., or to force them to
make desired resources available.
j. Demands High Performance: Unilaterally sets standards, demands high
performance, quality or resources; insists on compliance with own orders or requests
in a “no-nonsense” or “put my foot down” style.
4. Maintains Visible Standards of Performance: Intrusively (or publicly) monitors
performance against clear standards (e.g., posts sales results next to individual goals
with shortfalls circled in red).
5. Holds People Accountable for Performance: Consistently compares performance
against standards. States consequences and confronts others openly and directly about
performance problems.
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186
IV. Managerial Cluster
Teamwork and Cooperation (TW)
Teamwork and Cooperation: implies a genuine intention to work cooperatively with others,
to be part of a team, to work together as opposed to working separately or competitively. For
this competency to be effective the intent should be genuine. Teamwork and Cooperation
may be considered whenever the subject is a member of a group of people functioning as a
team. 'Team,” as is the case with Team Leadership, is broadly defined as any task or
process-oriented group of individuals.
This Person:
1 . Cooperates: Participates willingly - supports team decisions, is a “good team player,”
does his/her share of the work. As a member of a team, keeps other team members
informed and up-to-date about the group process, individual actions, or influencing
events; shares all relevant or useful information.
2.
Expresses Positive Expectations of Team: Expresses positive expectations of others
in terms of their abilities, expected contributions, etc.; speaks of team members in
positive terms. Shows respect for others' intelligence by appealing to reason.
3. Solicits Inputs: Genuinely values others' input and expertise, is willing learn from
others (including subordinates and peers). Solicits ideas and opinions help form
specific decisions or plans. Promotes team cooperation.
4. Encourages Others: Publicly credits others who have performed well. Encourages
and empowers others, makes them feel strong and important.
5. Builds Team Spirit: Acts to promote a friendly climate, good morale and
cooperation (holds parties and get-togethers, creates symbols of group identity).
Resolves team conflicts. Protects/promotes group reputation with outsiders.
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IV. Managerial Cluster
Developing Others (DEV)
Developing Others: Involves a genuine intent to foster the long-term learning or
development of others with an appropriate level of need analysis and other thought or effort.
Its focus is on the development intent and effect rather than on a formal role of training.
This person:_______________________________________________________________
1. Expresses Positive Expectation of Person: Makes positive comments regarding
others’ developmental future: Current and expected future abilities and/or potential to
learn even in ‘’difficult” cases. Believes others want to and can leam or improve their
performance.
2. Gives How-to Directions: Gives detailed instructions and/or on-the-job
demonstrations, tells how to do the task, makes specific, helpful suggestions.
3. Gives Reasons, Other Support: Gives directions or demonstrations with reasons or
rationale as a training strategy. Gives practical supporter assistance to make job
easier for subordinate (i.e., volunteers additional resources, tools, information, expert
advice, etc.). Asks questions, gives tests, or uses other methods to verify that others
have understood explanation or directions.
4. Gives Feedback to Encourage: Gives specific positive or mixed feedback for
developmental purposes. Reassures others after a setback. Gives negative feedback
in behavioral rather than personal terms, and expresses positive expectations for
future performance or gives individualized suggestions for improvement.
5. Does Longer-Term Coaching or Training: Arranges appropriate and helpful
assignments, formal training, or other experiences for the purpose of fostering a
person’s learning and development. Has people work out answers to problems
themselves so they really know how, rather than simply giving them the answer.
This does not include formal training done simply to meet corporate requirements.
May include identifying a training and developing need and establishing new
programs or materials to meet it.
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T V . Managerial Cluster
Team Leadership (TL)
Team Leadership: The intention to take a role as a leader of a team or other group. It
implies a desire to lead other. Team Leadership is generally, but certainly not always, shown
from a position of formal authority. The "team” here should be understood broadly as nay
group in which the person takes on a leadership role.
This Person:
1. Manages Meeting Well: States agendas and objectives, control time, makes
assignments, etc.
2. Keeps People Informed: In a leadership role, lets people affected by a decision now
what is happening, even if they are not required to share such information. Makes
sure the group has all the necessary information. May explain the reason for a
decisions.
3. Promotes Team Effectiveness: As a leader uses complex strategies to promote team
morale and productivity (hiring and firing decisions, team assignments, cross-training,
etc.). OR may include acts intended to build team spirit as long as intent is to increase
team effectiveness.
4. Takes Care of the Group: Protects the group and its reputation. Makes sure the
practical needs of the group are met: obtains needed personnel, resources, and
information for the group.
5. Positions Self as the Leader: Ensures that others buy into leader’s mission, goals,
agenda, climate, tone, and policy. "Sets a good example,” models desired behavior.
Ensures that group tasks are completed. Is a credible leader.
6. Communicates a Compelling Vision: Has genuine "charisma,” communicates a
compelling vision that generates excitement, enthusiasm and commitment to the group
mission.
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V. Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
Technical Expertise (EXP)
Technical Expertise: The motivation to expand and use technical knowledge or to
distribute work-related knowledge to others.
"his Person:
1. Answers Questions: Distributes current information in role as expert.
2. Applies Technical Knowledge to Achieve Additional Impact: Goes beyond
simply answering a question (i.e., to influence a client); or helps resolve others’
technical problems.
3. Offers Technical Help: Acts as a ’ ’floating consultant,” offering personal expertise
to improve performance, or resolve others’ technical problems.
4. Advocates and Spreads New Technology: Actively goes out as a technically
missionary or change agent to spread new technology within the company.
5. Publishes New Technology: Publishes articles on new technology or new methods
in professional or technical journals.
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190
V. Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
Information Seeking (INF)
Information Seeking: Driven by an underlying curiosity and desire to know more about
things, people or issues. It implies beyond the questions that are routine or required in the
job. It may include “digging” or pressing for exact information; resolution of discrepancies
by asking a series of question; or less-focused environmental “scanning” for potential
opportunities or miscellaneous information that may be of future use.
This Person:
1. Asks Questions: Asks direct questions of the people who are there, or who are
supposed to answer questions about the situation, such as people who are directly
involved even if not physically present. Uses visible information, or consults other
available resources.
2.
Personally Investigates: Gets out to personally investigate the problem or situation,
when normally would not do so. Finds and questions those closest to the problem.
Asks “What happened?”
3. Digs Deeper: Asks a series of probing questions to get at the root of a situation or a
problem, or potential opportunity below the surface issues presented. Calls on others,
who are not personally involved, to get their perspective, background information,
experience, etc. Does not stop with the first answer, finds out why something
happened.
4. Does Research: Makes a systematic effort over a limited period of time to obtain
needed data or feedback, or in-depth investigation from unusual sources. OR does
formal research through newspapers, magazines, computer search systems, or other
resources. This may include market, financial, computer research.
5. Uses Own On-Going Systems: Has personally established on-going systems or
habits to get information (“management by walking around,” regular informal
meetings, or the scanning of certain publications etc.), including setting up
individuals to do regular information gathering for him or her.
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191
V. Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
Analytical Thinking (AT)
Analytical Thinking: Understanding a situation by breaking it apart into smaller pieces, or
tracing the implications of a situation in a step-by-stem way. Analytical Thinking includes
organizing the parts of a problem, situation, etc., in a systematic way; making systematic
comparisons of different features or aspects; setting priorities on a rational basis; identifying
time sequences, causal relationships of If-Then relationships.
This Person:
1. Breaks Down Problems: Breaks problems into simple lists of tasks or activities,
without assigning values. Makes a list of items with no particular order or set of
priorities.
2.
Sees Basic Relationships: Takes apart problems into pieces. Links together pieces
with a single link: A leads to B; can separate into two parts: pros and con. Sorts out a
list of tasks in order of importance.
3. Sees Multiple Relationships: Breaks down a problem into smaller parts. Makes
multiple causal links: several potential causes of events, several consequences of
actions, or multiple-part chains of events (A leads to B leads to C leads to D).
Analyzes relationships among several parts of a problem or situation. Anticipates
obstacles and thinks ahead about next steps. (Code level 2 as a default if you are
unsure about the complexity of the problem or situation broken down by
interviewee).
4. Makes Complex Plans or Analyses: Uses several analytical techniques to break
apart complex problems into component parts. Uses several analytical techniques to
identify several solutions and weighs the value of each. (This is more than the linear
breaking sown of problems in level 3. Code level 4 for multiple causal leading to
more than one possible solution).
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V. Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
Conceptual Thinking (CT)
Conceptual Thinking: The ability to identify patterns or connections between situations that
are not obviously related, and to identify key or underlying issues in complex situations. It
includes using creative, conceptual or inductive reasoning.
This Person:
1. Uses Basic Rules: Uses simple rules (“rules of thumb’ '), common sense, and past
experiences to identify problems. Recognizes when a current situation is exactly the
same as a past situation.
2. Sees Patterns: When looking at information, sees patterns, trends, or missing pieces.
Notices when a current situation is similar to a past situation, and identifies the
similarities.
3. Applies Complex Concepts: Uses knowledge of theory or of different past trends or
situations to look at current situations. Applies and modifies complex learned
concepts or methods appropriately; e.g., statistical process control, TQM
demographic analysis, managerial styles, organizational climate, etc. This is
evidence of more sophisticated pattern recognition.
4. Clarifies Complex Data or Situations: Makes complex ideas or situations clear,
simple, and/or understandable. Assembles ideas, issues, and observations into a clear
and useful explanation. Restates existing observations or knowledge in a simpler
fashion.
5. Creates New Concepts: Concepts that are not obvious to others and not learned
from previous education or experience to explain situations or resolve problems.
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193
VI. Personal Effectiveness Cluster
Self-Control (SCT)
Self Control: Acting to keep one’s emotions under control and restrain negative behaviors
when provoked, when faced with opposition or hostility from others, or when working under
conditions of stress.
This Person:_______________________________________________________________
1. Resists Temptation: Resists the temptation to engage in inappropriate involvement
or impulsive behavior.
1. Responds Calmly: Feels strong emotions, such as anger, extreme frustration, or
stress; controls these emotions and continues discussion or other process fairly
calmly.
2. Manages Stress Effectively: Uses stress management techniques to control
response, prevent burnout, and deal with ongoing stresses effectively.
3. Responds Constructively: Controls strong emotions or other stress and takes action
to respond constructively to the source of the problem.
4. Calms Others: In very stressful situations, calms others as well as controlling own
emotions.
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194
VI. Personal Effectiveness Cluster
Self-Confidence (SCF)
Self-Confidence: Expressing belief in o n e ’s ability to accom plish a task and select an
effective approach to a task or problem . This includes confidence in one’s ability as
expressed in increasingly challenging circum stances and confidence in one’s decisions or
opinions.
This Person:
1. Presents Self Confidently: W orks w ithout needing supervision, appears confident in
person, presents se lf strongly.
2. Acts Independently: Even when others disagree, m akes decisions without asking
others; acts outside form al authority.
3. States Confidence in Own Ability: D escribes s e lf as an expert, som eone who m akes
things happen, a prim e m over, or a source. Sees s e lf as better than others. Explicitly
states confidence in own judgm ent.
4. Chooses Challenges or Conflict: Likes challenging assignm ents, is excited by a
challenge. Looks for and gets new responsibilities. Speaks up when disagrees with
m anagem ent, clients, o r others in pow er, but disagrees politely, stating ow n view
clearly and confidently, even in a conflict.
5. Chooses Extremely Challenging Situations: C onfronts m anagem ent or clients
bluntly o r rudely. O R takes on extrem ely challenging (i.e., very risky, personally)
tasks w illingly: “T hey told m e it w as career su icid e...b u t 1 knew I could turn it
around, so I took the jo b anyw ay.”
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195
VI. Personal Effectiveness Cluster
Organizational Commitment (OC)
Organizational Commitment: The ability and w illingness to align o n e’s ow n behavior with
the needs, priorities and goals o f the organization. It involves acting in w ays that prom ote
organizational goals o r m eet organizational needs. It m ay appear as putting an organizational
m ission before on e’s ow n preferences.
This Person:____________________________________________________________________________
I. Tries to Fit in: Tries to fit in, dress appropriately, respects the w ay things are done in
the organization, and does w hat is expected. “ People around here dress
conservatively, so I do too.”
2. M odels L oyalty: W ants to help others get their jo b done, respects and accepts what
authorities see as im portant. M ay express affective ties to the organization, or
express concern about the im age o f the organization.
3. Supports the Organization: A cts to support the organization’s m issions and goals.
M akes choices and sets priorities to m eet organization’s needs and fit w ith the
organizational m ission. C ooperates w ith others to achieve organizational objectives.
Publicly acts to fit the m ission.
4. Makes Sacrifices for the Organization: Puts organizational needs before on e’s
own, which m ay include on e’s professional identity, preferences, and fam ily
concerns. O R stands by decisions that benefit the w hole organization even if they are
unpopular or undercut o n e’s departm ent’s short term good.
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196
VI. Personal Effectiveness Cluster
Flexibility (FLX)
Flexibility: The A bility to adapt to and w ork effectively w ithin a variety o f situations, and
w ith various individuals or groups. Flexibility entails understanding and appreciating
different and opposing perspectives on an issue, adapting o n e 's approach as the requirem ents
o f a situation change, and changing or easily accepting changes in on e’s ow n organization or
jo b requirem ent.
T his Person:
I. Accepts Need for Flexibility: W illingness to change ideas or perceptions based on
new inform ation or contrary evidence. U nderstands other people’s points o f view.
2.
Applies Rules Flexibly: Bends the rules o r alter norm al procedures to fit a specific
situation to get a jo b done and/or m eet com pany goals.
3. Adapts Tactics: Decides w hat to do based on the situation. Acts to fit the situation
or the person.
4. Adapts Own Strategy: C hanges the overall plan, goal, or project to fit the situation.
M ay even m ake sm all or tem porary changes in own or client com pany to m eet the
needs o f a specific situation.
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197
Appendix D
Competency Rating Questionnaire (CRQ)
IT Managers Assessment
Purpose: The purpose o f this CR Q is to assess the perceptions o f IT D epartm ent M anagers
concerning the key characteristics that should be present am ong IT Project M anagers to
prom ote effectiveness.
Step One - Importance to the Job
Rate the im portance o f the com petency to overall effectiveness in the jo b . Y ou will
note that the com petencies m ay have various degrees o f relevance to overall jo b
effectiveness for various jobs. This scale is designed to ascertain the relative
im portance o f each com petency for the jo b being rated.
Importance Rating Scale
1 = N ot Im portant Com pared to other com petencies this one has little o r no
im portance for effective perform ance o f the job.
2 = Som ew hat Im portant Com pared to other com petencies this one is helpful but not
necessary for effective perform ance o f the jo b .
3 = Im portant Com pared to other com petencies this one is often necessary
for effective perform ance o f the jo b .
4 = Very Im portant Com pared to other com petencies this one alw ays necessary
for effective perform ance o f the job.
5 = C ritical C om pared to other com petencies this one is essential for
outstanding perform ance o f the job.
Step Two - Rating Minimally accepted Level of Performance
For the IT Project M anager’s jo b , check o ff the level o f perform ance that is m ost
descriptive o f m inim ally accepted jo b perform ance. M inim ally acceptable
perform ance is at a level that w arrants neither prom otion nor discharge.
Step Three - Rating Outstanding Level of Performance
Again, for the identified jo b , check o ff the level o f perform ance that is m ost
descriptive o f outstanding, o r superstar, perform ance. O utstanding perform ance is at a
clearly superior level - the best that you have ever seen in this jo b .
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198
Competency Clusters and the Associated Characteristics
Twenty Competencies Most Often Found to Predict Success in Technical Professional
and Managerial Jobs. Adopted from Hay McBer’s JND Scaled Competency
Dictionary 1996.
I Achievement Cluster: Achievement Cluster: Achievement Orientation;
Concern for Quality and Order; and Initiative.
II Helping/Service Cluster: Interpersonal Understanding and Customer-
Service Orientation.
III Influence Cluster: Impact and Influence; Organizational Awareness;
and Relationship Building (Networking).
IV Managerial Cluster: Directiveness; Teamwork and Cooperation;
Developing Others; and Team Leadership.
V Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster: Technical Expertise;
Information Seeking; Analytical Thinking; and Conceptual Thinking.
VI Personal Effectiveness Cluster: Self-Control; Self-Confidence;
Organizational Commitment; and Flexibility.
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I. Achievement Cluster (ACH)
Achievement Orientation (AO)
Achievement Orientation: A concern for working well or for surpassing a standard of
excellence. The standard may be one’s own past performance (striving for improvement); and
objective measure (result orientation); outperforming others (competitiveness); challenging
goals one has set; or even what anyone has ever done (innovation). Thus a unique
accomplishment also indicates ACH.
im portance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very 5. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this job, IT Project Managers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For
Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This competency is not shown in this job.
1. W ants to do job well: Tries to do the job well or right. May express
frustration at waste or inefficiency (e.g., gripes about wasted time and
wants to do better) but does not cause specific improvements.
2. C reates own measures of excellence: Uses own specific methods of
measuring outcomes against a standard of excellence not imposed by
others. May focus on new or more precise ways o f meeting goals set
by management.
3. Improves Perform ance: Makes specific changes in the system or in
own work methods to improve performance (e.g., does something
better, faster, at lower cost, more efficiently, improves quality,
customer satisfaction, morale, revenues), without setting any specific
goal.
4 . Sets and W orks to Meet Challenging Goals: “Challenging” means
there is about a 50-50 chance of actually achieving the goai-it is a
definite stretch, but not unrealistic or impossible. OR refers to
specific measures of baseline performance compared with better
performance at a later point in time: e.g., “When I took over,
efficiency was 20%-now it is up to 85%.”
5. Makes Cost-Benefit Analyses: Makes decisions, sets priorities or
chooses goals on the basis of calculated inputs and outputs. Makes
explicit considerations of potential profit, Retum-on-Investment or
cost-benefit analysis. Analyzes for business outcomes.
6. Takes Calculated Entrepreneurial Risks: Commits significant
resources and/or time (in the face o f uncertainty) to increase benefits,
(i.e., improve performance, reach a challenging goal, etc.).
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200
I. Achievement Cluster (ACH)
Concern for Quality and Order (CO)
Concern for Quality and Order: A cting to m inim ize errors and m aintain high standards o f
quality by checking o r m onitoring data and w ork, and by developing and m aintaining system
for organizing w ork and inform ation.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For
Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. N ot Shown: This competency is not shown in this job.
I . Keeps an Organized Workspace: M aintains an orderly
w orkspace w ith desk, files, tolls, and so on in good order.
2. Shows a General Concern for Order and Clarity: W orks
for clarity - w ants roles, expectations, tasks, data crystal-clear
and preferably in writing.
3. Monitors Work: M onitors quality o f w ork, checks to ensure
that procedures are followed. O R keeps clear, detailed
records o f ow n or others’ activities.
4. Monitors Data or Project: M onitors progress o f a project
against m ilestones o f deadlines. M onitors data, discovers
w eaknesses o r m issing data, and seeks o ut inform ation to
keep order, general concern for increasing order in existing
system .
5. Develops Complex Systems: Puts new, detailed, com plex
system s in place to increase o rder and im prove quality o f
data. O R deduces new needs (not having to do w ith order)
from perceived disorder.
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201
I. Achievement Cluster (ACH)
Initiative (INT)
Initiative: Refers to: 1) the identification o f a problem , obstacle or opportunity and 2) taking
action in light o f that to address current or future problem s o r opportunities. As such,
initiative can be seen in the context o f proactively doing things and not sim ply thinking about
future actions. The tim e fram e o f this scale m oves from com pleting past o r current projects to
action on future opportunities or problem s. Form al strategic planning is not included in this
com petency.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very 5. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not shown in this jo b .
1. Addresses Current Opportunities or Problems:
Recognizes and acts upon present opportunities, overcom es
obstacles to address present problem s, usually w ithin a day
or tw o.
2. Is Decisive in a Crises: A cts quickly and decisively in a
crises (w here norm is to w ait, ’‘study,” hope problem w ill
resolve itself).
3. Acts 1-3 Months Ahead: C reates opportunities or
m inim izes potential problem s by a unique extra effort (new
program , special travel, etc.) occurring within a one- to
three- m onth tim e fram e.
4. Acts 4-12 Months Ahead: A nticipates and prepares for a
specific opportunity or problem that is not obvious to others.
Takes action to create an opportunity or avoid future crises,
looking ahead 4-12 m onths.
5. Acts Over a Year Ahead: A nticipates situations 1 -2 years
ahead or m ore and acts to create opportunities or avoid
problem s that are not obvious to others.
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202
II. Helping/Service Cluster
Interpersonal Understanding (IU)
Interpersonal Understanding: Im plies w anting to understand other people. It is the ability
to accurately hear and understand the unspoken or partly expressed thoughts, feelings, and
concerns or others. It m easures increasing com plexity and depth o f understanding o f other
and m ay include cross-cultural sensitivity.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For
Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not show n in this job.
1 . Understands Either Emotion or Content: U nderstands
either present em otions or explicit content, but not both
together.
2. Understands Both Emotion and Content: U nderstands
both present em otions and explicit content.
3. Understands Meanings: U nderstands c u rre n t unexpressed
or poorly expressed m eanings: understands current
unspoken thoughts, concerns or feelings. O R gets others to
w illingly take actions desired by the speaker, that is, uses
understanding to get others to act the w ay you w ant them to.
4. Understands Underlying Issues: U nderstands other
people's underlying problem s; understands the reason for
som eone’s ongoing o r long-term feelings, behavior, or
concerns. O R presents a balanced view o f oth ers’ specific
strengths and w eaknesses.
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203
II. Helping/Service Cluster
Customer-Service Orientation (CSO)
Customer-Service Orientation: Im plies a desire to help or serve custom ers, to m eet their
needs. It m eans focusing on e’s efforts on discovering and m eeting the custom er or client’s
needs.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very 5. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
T o do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For
Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not shown in this jo b .
1 . Follows Up: Follows through on custom er inquiries,
requests, com plaints. K eeps custom er up-to-date about
progress o f projects (but does not probe custom er’s
underlying issues or problem s.
2. Maintains Clear Communication: M aintains clear
com m unication with custom er regarding m utual expectations,
m onitors client satisfaction. D istributes helpful inform ation
to clients. G ives friendly, cheerful service.
3. Takes Personal Responsibility: Takes personal
responsibility for correcting custom er-service problem s.
C orrects problem s prom ptly and undefensively.
4. Takes Action for the Customer: M akes se lf fully available,
especially when custom er is going through a critical period.
For exam ple, gives custom er a hom e or vacation phone
num ber or other m eans o f easy access, or m ay spend extra
tim e at the custom er’s location.
5. Addressing Underlying Customer Needs: Knows the
custom er’s business and/or seeks inform ation about the real
underlying needs o f the custom er, beyond those expressed
initially. M atches these to available (or custom ized) products
o r services.
6. Uses a Long-Term Perspective: W orks w ith a long-term
perspective in addressing a custom er’s problem s. M ay trade
o ff im m ediate costs for the sake if the long-term relationship.
Looks for long-term benefits to the custom er.
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204
I I I . In flu e n c e C lu ste r
Im p a c t a n d In flu en ce (IM P )
Im p a c t a n d In flu en ce: im plies an intention to persuade, convince, influence or im press
others, in order to get them to go along w ith o r to support the speaker’s agenda. It is based on
the desire to have a specific im pact o r effect on others w here the person has his or h er own
agenda, a specific type o f im pression to m ake, o r a course o f action that he or she w ants the
others to adopt.
Im p o rta n c e o f T h is C o m p eten cy :
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For
Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This competency is not shown in this job.
1. States Intention but Takes No Specific Action: Intends to have a
specific effect or impact; expresses concern with reputation, status,
appearance, etc., but does not take any specific actions.
2. Takes a Single Action to Persuade: Uses direct persuasion in a
discussion or presentation (e.g., appeals to reason, data, others’ self-
interest; uses concrete examples, visual aids, demonstrations, etc.).
Makes no apparent attempt to adapt presentation to the interest and
level o f the audience.
3. Takes Multiple Actions to Persuade: Takes two or more steps to
persuade without trying to adapt specifically to level or interest of
an audience. Includes careful preparation o f data for presentation.
OR making two or more different arguments or points in a
presentation or a discussion.
4. Calculates the Impact of O ne’s Actions o r W ords: Adapts a
presentation or discussion to appeal to the interest and level of
others. Anticipates the effect o f an action or other detail on
people’s image of the speaker. OR takes a well thought-out
dramatic or unusual action in order to have a specific impact.
Anticipates and prepares for others’ reactions.
5. Uses Indirect Influence: Uses chains o f indirect influence: ‘’get A
to show B so B will tell C such -and-such.” Takes two steps to
influence, with each step adapted to the specific audience.
Anticipates and prepares for others’ reactions. Uses experts or
other third parties to influence.
6. Uses Complex Influence Strategies: Assembles political
coalitions, builds “behind-the-scenes” support for ideas, gives or
withholds information to have specific effects, uses “group process
skills” to lead or direct a group.
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205
III. Influence Cluster
Organizational Awareness (OA)
Organizational Awareness: The ability to understand and learn the pow er relationship in
one’s ow n organization o r in other organizations (custom ers, suppliers, etc.). This includes
the ability to identify w ho are the real decision-m akers and the individuals w ho can influence
them ; and to predict how new events or situations w ill affect individuals and groups w ithin the
organization.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very 5. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For
Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not shown in this job.
1. Understands Formal Structures: Recognizes or uses the
form al structure o r hierarchy o f an organization, “chain o f
com m and," positional pow er, rules and regulations, Standard
O perating Procedures, etc.
2. Understands Informal Structures: Understands (uses)
inform al structures (identifies key actors, decision-influencers,
etc.). A pplies this know ledge w hen form al structure does not
work as w ell as desired.
3. Understands Climate and Culture: Recognizes nonspoken
organizational lim itations-w hat is and is not possible at certain
tim es o r in certain positions. R ecognizes and uses the
corporate culture and the language, etc., that will produce the
best response.
4. Understands Organizational Politics: Understands,
describes (o r uses) on-going pow er and political relationships
within the organization (alliances, rivalries), w ith a clear sense
o f organizational im pact.
5. Understands Underlying Organization Issues: U nderstands
(and addresses) the reasons for on-going organizational
behavior o r the underlying problem s, opportunities o r political
forces affecting the organization, (e.g., current m arket trends,
dem ographic changes, trade union policies, national or
historical issues that affect m arket opportunities, etc.
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206
III. Influence Cluster
Relationship Building (RB) (Networking)
Relationship Building (Networking): Builds o r m aintains friendly, reciprocal, and warm
relationships or netw orks o f contacts w ith people.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For
Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not shown in this jo b .
1. Makes Informal Contacts: M akes inform al contacts with
others in addition to contacts required in the course o f work.
Includes unstructured chats about w ork-related issues, or
about children, sports, new s, etc.
2. Build Rapport: Builds or m aintains rapport w ith a wide
circle o f friends and acquaintances. M ay pursue friendly
relationships w ith associates, custom ers, o r others at clubs,
restaurants, sports events, etc.
3. Makes Social Contacts: M entions initiating parties, outings,
o r special gatherings designed to im prove o r strengthen
relationships with others. Includes inviting people hove o r
going to the hom e o f others. O R participates actively in on
going social relationships.
4. Establishes Personal Friendships: E stablishes friendships,
including m aking personal disclosures as part o f establishing
o r m aintaining rapport. A cknow ledges that a friend provided
inform ation or a contact that w as helpful in attaining a
business goal.
5. Makes Strong Personal Friendships: M akes strong
friendships as dem onstrated by the fact that a friend testifies
on behalf of, supports, o r goes with the person in attaining a
business goal.
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207
IV. Managerial Cluster
Directiveness (DIR)
Directiveness: Im plies the intent to m ake others com ply w ith o n e ’s w ishes w here personal
pow er or the pow er o f on e’s position is used appropriately and effectively, with the long-term
good o f the organization in m ind. It includes a them e o r tone o f “telling people w hat to do.”
The tone ranges from firm and directive to dem anding or even to threatening. A ttem pts to
reason with, persuade or convince others to com ply are Im pact and Influence (IM P, not
D irectiveness.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
T o do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not shown in this job.
1. Gives Directions: G ives adequate directions, m akes needs
and requirem ents reasonably clear. Explicitly delegates
details o f routine tasks in order to free se lf for m ore valuable
or longer-range considerations.
2. Sets Limits: Firm ly say “N o” to unreasonable requests, o r
sets lim its for others’ behavior. M ay m anipulate situations
to lim it others’ options., or to force them to m ake desired
resources available.
3. Demands High Performance: Unilaterally sets standards,
dem ands high perform ance, quality or resources; insists on
com pliance w ith ow n orders o r requests in a “no-nonsense”
or “put m y foot dow n” style.
4. Maintains Visible Standards of Performance: Intrusively
(o r publicly) m onitors perform ance against clear standards
(e.g., posts sales results next to individual goals with
shortfalls circled in red).
5. Holds People Accountable for Performance: C onsistently
com pares perform ance against standards. States
consequences and confronts others openly and directly about
perform ance problem s.
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208
IV. Managerial Cluster
Teamwork and Cooperation (TW)
Teamwork and Cooperation: im plies a genuine intention to w ork cooperatively w ith others,
to be part o f a team , to w ork together as opposed to w orking separately o r com petitively. For
this com petency to be effective the intent should be genuine. T eam w ork and C ooperation may
be considered w henever the subject is a m em ber o f a group o f people functioning as a team .
“T eam ,” as is the case with Team Leadership, is broadly defined as any task or process-
oriented group o f individuals.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
T o do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For
Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This competency is not shown in this job.
1. Cooperates: Participates w illingly - supports team decisions,
is a “good team player,” does his/her share o f the work. As a
m em ber o f a team , keeps other team m em bers inform ed and
up-to-date about the group process, individual actions, or
influencing events; shares all relevant o r useful inform ation.
2. Expresses Positive Expectations of Team: Expresses
positive expectations o f others in term s o f their abilities,
expected contributions, etc.; speaks o f team m em bers in
positive term s. Show s respect for others' intelligence by
appealing to reason.
3. Solicits Inputs: G enuinely values others' input and expertise,
is w illing learn from others (including subordinates and
peers). Solicits ideas and opinions help form specific
decisions or plans. Prom otes team cooperation.
4 . Encourages Others: Publicly credits others who have
perform ed well. Encourages and em pow ers others, makes
them feel strong and im portant.
3 . Builds Team Spirit: A cts to prom ote a friendly clim ate,
good m orale and cooperation (holds parties and get-togethers,
creates sym bols o f group identity). R esolves team conflicts.
Protects/prom otes group reputation w ith outsiders.
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209
IV. Managerial Cluster
Developing Others (DEV)
Developing Others: Involves a genuine intent to foster the long-term learning or development
of others with an appropriate level of need analysis and other thought or effort. Its focus is on
the development intent and effect rather than on a formal role of training.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this job, IT Project Managers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This competency is not shown in this job
I . Expresses Positive Expectation of Person: Makes positive
comments regarding others’ developmental future: Current and
expected future abilities and/or potential to learn even in
'‘difficult” cases. Believes others want to and can leam or
improve their performance.
2. Gives How-to Directions: Gives detailed instructions and/or on-
the-job demonstrations, tells how to do the task, makes specific,
helpful suggestions.
3. Gives Reasons, O ther Support: Gives directions or
demonstrations with reasons or rationale as a training strategy.
Gives practical supporter assistance to make job easier for
subordinate (i.e., volunteers additional resources, tools,
information, expert advice, etc.). Asks questions, gives tests, or
uses other methods to verify that others have understood
explanation or directions.
4. Gives Feedback to Encourage: Gives specific positive or mixed
feedback for developmental purposes. Reassures others after a
setback. Gives negative feedback in behavioral rather than
personal terms, and expresses positive expectations for future
performance or gives individualized suggestions for improvement.
S. Does Longer-Term Coaching o r Training: Arranges appropriate
and helpful assignments, formal training, or other experiences for
the purpose o f fostering a person’s learning and development. Has
people work out answers to problems themselves so they really
know how, rather than simply giving them the answer. This does
not include formal training done simply to meet corporate
requirements. May include identifying a training and developing
need and establishing new programs or materials to meet it.
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210
IV. Managerial Cluster
Team Leadership (TL)
Team Leadership: The intention to take a role as a leader o f a team or other group. It im plies
a desire to lead other. Team Leadership is generally, but certainly not always, show n from a
position o f form al authority. The “team ” here should be understood broadly as nay group in
w hich the person takes on a leadership role.
Im portance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very 5. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
T o do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For
Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not show n in this job.
I . Manages Meeting Well: States agendas and objectives,
control tim e, m akes assignm ents, etc.
2. Keeps People Informed: In a leadership role, lets people
affected by a decision now w hat is happening, even if they are
not required to share such inform ation. M akes sure the group
has all the necessary inform ation. M ay explain the reason for
decisions.
3. Promotes Team Effectiveness: A s a leader uses com plex
strategies to prom ote team m orale and productivity (hiring and
firing decisions, team assignm ents, cross-training, etc.). O R
m ay include acts intended to build team spirit as long as intent
is to increase team effectiveness.
4. Takes Care of the Group: Protects the group and its
reputation. M akes sure the practical needs o f the group are
m et: obtains needed personnel, resources, and inform ation for
the group.
5. Positions Self as the Leader: Ensures that others buy into
leader's m ission, goals, agenda, clim ate, tone, and policy.
“Sets a good exam ple,” m odels desired behavior. Ensures that
group tasks are com pleted. Is a credible leader.
6. Communicates a Compelling Vision: Has genuine
“charism a,” com m unicates a com pelling vision that generates
excitem ent, enthusiasm and com m itm ent to the group m ission.
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211
V. Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
Technical Expertise (EXP)
Technical Expertise: T he m otivation to expand and use technical know ledge or to distribute
w ork-related know ledge to others.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not shown in this jo b .
1. Answers Questions: D istributes current inform ation in role
as expert.
2. Applies Technical Knowledge to Achieve Additional
Impact: G oes beyond sim ply answ ering a question (i.e., to
influence a client); or helps resolve others’ technical
problem s.
3. Offers Technical Help: A cts as a “ floating consultant,”
offering personal expertise to im prove perform ance, or
resolve others’ technical problem s.
4. Advocates and Spreads New Technology: A ctively goes
out as a technically m issionary or change agent to spread new
technology w ithin the com pany.
5. Publishes New Technology: Publishes articles on new
technology or new m ethods in professional or technical
journals.
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212
V. Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
Information Seeking (INF)
Information Seeking: D riven by an underlying curiosity and desire to know m ore about
things, people o r issues. It im plies beyond the questions that are routine or required in the job.
It m ay include “digging” o r pressing for exact inform ation; resolution o f discrepancies by
asking a series o f question; or less-focused environm ental “scanning” for potential
opportunities or m iscellaneous inform ation that m ay be o f future use.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For
Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This competency is not shown in this job.
1. Asks Questions: Asks direct questions o f the people who are there,
or who are supposed to answer questions about the situation, such as
people who are directly involved even if not physically present.
Uses visible information, or consults other available resources.
2. Personally Investigates: Gets out to personally investigate the
problem or situation, when normally would not do so. Finds and
questions those closest to the problem. Asks “What happened?”
3. Digs Deeper: Asks a series o f probing questions to get at the root of
a situation or a problem, or potential opportunity below the surface
issues presented. Calls on others, who are not personally involved,
to get their perspective, background information, experience, etc.
Does not stop with the first answer, finds out why something
happened.
4. Does Research: Makes a systematic effort over a limited period of
time to obtain needed data or feedback, or in-depth investigation
from unusual sources. OR does formal research through newspapers,
magazines, computer search systems, or other resources. This may
include market, financial, computer research.
5. Uses Own On-Going Systems: Has personally established on-going
systems or habits to get information (“management by walking
around,” regular informal meetings, or the scanning of certain
publications etc.), including setting up individuals to do regular
information gathering for him or her.
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V. Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
Analytical Thinking (AT)
Analytical Thinking: U nderstanding a situation by breaking it apart into sm aller pieces, or
tracing the im plications o f a situation in a step-by-stem way. A nalytical T hinking includes
organizing the parts o f a problem , situation, etc., in a system atic w ay; m aking system atic
com parisons o f different features or aspects; setting priorities on a rational basis; identifying
tim e sequences, causal relationships o f If-Then relationships.
Importance of This Competency:
I. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not shown in this job.
I. Breaks Down Problems: B reaks problem s into sim ple lists
o f tasks or activities, w ithout assigning values. M akes a
list o f item s with no particular order or set o f priorities.
2. Sees Basic Relationships: Takes apart problem s into
pieces. Links together pieces w ith a single link; A leads to
B; can separate into tw o parts: pros and con. Sorts out a list
o f tasks in order o f im portance.
3. Sees Multiple Relationships: Breaks down a problem into
sm aller parts. M akes m ultiple causal links: several
potential causes o f events, several consequences o f actions,
or m ultiple-part chains o f events (A leads to B leads to C
leads to D). A nalyzes relationships am ong several parts o f
a problem or situation. A nticipates obstacles and thinks
ahead about next steps. (C ode level 2 as a default if you
are unsure about the com plexity o f the problem o r situation
broken dow n by interview ee).
4. Makes Complex Plans or Analyses: Uses several
analytical techniques to break apart com plex problem s into
com ponent parts. U ses several analytical techniques to
identify several solutions and w eighs the value o f each.
(T his is m ore than the linear breaking sown o f problem s in
level 3. Code level 4 fo r m ultiple causal leading to m ore
than one possible solution).
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214
V. Cognitive Thinking/Problem Solving Cluster
Conceptual Thinking (CT)
Conceptual Thinking: The ability to identify patterns or connections between situations that
are not obviously related, and to identify key or underlying issues in com plex situations. It
includes using creative, conceptual o r inductive reasoning.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this job, IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not show n in this job.
1. Uses Basic Rules: Uses sim ple rules (“rules o f thum b”),
com m on sense, and past experiences to identify problem s.
Recognizes when a current situation is exactly the sam e as
a past situation.
2. Sees Patterns: W hen looking at inform ation, sees patterns,
trends, or m issing pieces. N otices w hen a current situation
is sim ilar to a past situation, and identifies the sim ilarities.
3. Applies Complex Concepts: Uses know ledge o f theory or
o f different past trends or situations to look at current
situations. A pplies and m odifies com plex learned concepts
or m ethods appropriately; e.g., statistical process control,
TQ M dem ographic analysis, m anagerial styles,
organizational clim ate, etc. T his is evidence o f m ore
sophisticated pattern recognition.
4. Clarifies Complex Data or Situations: M akes com plex
ideas o r situations clear, sim ple, and/or understandable.
A ssem bles ideas, issues, and observations into a clear and
useful explanation, Restates existing observations or
know ledge in a sim pler fashion.
S. Creates New Concepts: C oncepts that are not obvious to
others and not learned from previous education or
experience to explain situations o r resolve problem s.
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215
VI. Personal Effectiveness Cluster
Self-Control (SCT)
Self Control: A cting to keep one’s em otions under control and restrain negative behaviors
when provoked, w hen faced w ith opposition or hostility from others, o r when w orking under
conditions o f stress.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very 5. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not shown in this jo b .
1 . Resists Temptation: R esists the tem ptation to engage in
inappropriate involvem ent or im pulsive behavior.
2. Responds Calmly: Feels strong em otions, such as anger,
extrem e frustration, o r stress; controls these em otions and
continues discussion o r other process fairly calm ly.
3. Manages Stress Effectively: Uses stress m anagem ent
techniques to control response, prevent burnout, and deal
with ongoing stresses effectively.
4. Responds Constructively: Controls strong em otions or
other stress and takes action to respond constructively to
the source o f the problem .
5. Calms Others: In very stressful situations, calm s others
as w ell as controlling ow n em otions.
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216
VI. Personal Effectiveness Cluster
Self-Confidence (SCF)
Self-Confidence: Expressing b elief in on e’s ability to accom plish a task and select an
effective approach to a task o r problem . This includes confidence in on e’s ability as expressed
in increasingly challenging circum stances and confidence in on e’s decisions or opinions.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very 5. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
T o do this job, IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For
Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not show n in this jo b .
1. Presents Self Confidently: W orks w ithout needing
supervision, appears confident in person, presents se lf
strongly.
2. Acts Independently: Even w hen others disagree, m akes
decisions w ithout asking others; acts outside formal
authority.
3. States Confidence in Own Ability: D escribes se lf as an
expert, som eone who m akes things happen, a prim e m over,
o r a source. Sees se lf as better than others. Explicitly
states confidence in own judgm ent.
4. Chooses Challenges or Conflict: Likes challenging
assignm ents, is excited by a challenge. Looks for and gets
new responsibilities. Speaks up w hen disagrees with
m anagem ent, clients, o r others in pow er, but disagrees
politely, stating ow n view clearly and confidently, even in a
conflict.
3. Chooses Extremely Challenging Situations: C onfronts
m anagem ent or clients bluntly o r rudely. O R takes on
extrem ely challenging (i.e., very risky, personally) tasks
w illingly: “They told m e it w as career su icid e...b u t I knew
I could turn it around, so I took the jo b anyw ay.”
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217
VI. Personal Effectiveness Cluster
Organizational Commitment (OC)
Organizational Commitment: The ability and w illingness to align o n e’s ow n behavior with
the needs, priorities and goals o f the organization. It involves acting in w ays that prom ote
organizational goals or m eet organizational needs. It m ay appear as putting an organizational
m ission before o n e’s ow n preferences.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very S. Critical
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not show n in this job.
1. Tries to Fit in: T ries to fit in, dress appropriately, respects
the w ay things are done in the organization, and does w hat
is expected. “ People around here dress conservatively, so I
do too.”
2. Models Loyalty: W ants to help others get their jo b done,
respects and accepts w hat authorities see as im portant.
M ay express affective ties to the organization, o r express
concern about the im age o f the organization.
3. Supports the Organization: A cts to support the
organization’s m issions and goals. M akes choices and sets
priorities to m eet organization’s needs and fit w ith the
organizational m ission. C ooperates w ith others to achieve
organizational objectives. Publicly acts to fit the m ission.
4. Makes Sacrifices for the Organization: Puts
organizational needs before o n e’s own, w hich m ay include
o n e’s professional identity, preferences, and fam ily
concerns. O R stands by decisions that benefit the w hole
organization even if they are unpopular or undercut o n e’s
departm ent’s short term good.
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218
VI. Personal Effectiveness Cluster
Flexibility (FLX)
Flexibility: The A bility to adapt to and w ork effectively w ithin a variety o f situations, and
with various individuals o r groups. Flexibility entails understanding and appreciating
different and opposing perspectives on an issue, adapting on e’s approach as the requirem ents
o f a situation change, and changing or easily accepting changes in one’s ow n organization or
jo b requirem ent.
Importance of This Competency:
1. Not 2. Somewhat 3. Important 4. Very 5. Critical
V
Important Important Important
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
To do this jo b , IT Project M anagers typically:
Check one box in each
column
For Minimally
Accepted
Performance
For
Outstanding
Performance
0. Not Shown: This com petency is not shown in this job.
1. Accepts Need for Flexibility: W illingness to change ideas
o r perceptions based on new inform ation or contrary
evidence. U nderstands other people’s points o f view.
2. Applies Rules Flexibly: Bends the rules or alter norm al
procedures to fit a specific situation to get a jo b done
and/or m eet com pany goals.
3. Adapts Tactics: D ecides what to do based on the situation.
A cts to fit the situation or the person.
4. Adapts Own Strategy: Changes the overall plan, goal, or
project to fit the situation. M ay even m ake sm all or
tem porary changes in ow n o r client com pany to m eet the
needs o f a specific situation.
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219
Appendix E
BEI Questions from PDQ
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM01CC
Q l. What is your process to gather information?
Q2. How do you know that the information you gathered is accurate?
Q3. What do you do keep your management, your team, or the PMO, informed about
what is going on?
Q4. What you do to develop budget estimate?
Q5. What do you do to establish project plans and schedules?
Q6. What is it that you do a to control the project?
Q7. What do you do to build team environment?
Q8. What is an operation or procedural decision that you had to make in your
position?
Q9. What is an example of in negotiations session that went very well for you?
Q10. What is the challenge in working with cross-functional teams?
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM02KD
Q l. What is your role in looking for new products?
Q2. What do you do to find new ways o f delivering products?
Q3. As product manager you meet with the vendors and own Edison business units
what is the challenge in this?
Q4. What is the most difficult part for you in gathering requirements?
Q5. How do you validate users requirements?
Q6. How do you go about developing your staff or meeting their career goals?
Q7. What are your responsibilities in regards to architectural design?
Q8. What is your process for gathering information and then for disseminating it?
Q9. What training needs do you perceive that you and your staff may require?
QIO. What do you to acknowledge your subordinates acknowledgments?
Ql 1. What type of negotiation do you perform your current position?
BEI Questions form PDQ: ITPM03MF
Q l. What is your process to gather information?
Q2. What is your process to see the accuracy of the information?
Q3. What you do to develop tools for implementation and process, project
methodology?
Q4. What is your style of communication with the other departments?
Q5. What are the things that you do with respect to the special projects?
Q6. Where do you think you could benefit most enhancing your skill development
needs?
Q7. What do you do to establish project plans and schedules?
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220
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM04WH
Limited information provided on the PDQ.
Q l. What are your current responsibilities?
Q2. What is your management style?
Q3. What do you to keep a high morale in your group?
Q4. What do you do to get people in your group to work together?
Q5. What is your communications style as far as informing people your own
subordinates peers and your upper management is concerned?
Q6. What training do you believe you and your staff need to be able to work more
efficiently?
Q7. On Day to day bases what are some of the decisions that you have to make?
Q8. Are there any negotiations that you do?
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM05JH
Q l. What is it you do when you provide project-planning consultation to a project or a
team?
Q2. How do you make sure that the requirements are stated correctly?
Q3. What sort of knowledge and skill level you have to have in order to make sure that
the requirements reconcile with the IT infrastructure?
Q4. On day-to-day basis what is the challenge for you as a systems engineer?
Q5. What sort of skills you need to bring to the table for requirements and what sort of
skills you need to bring to the table for the project management side of the House?
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM06LK
Q l. How do you go about software development and project management aspects of
the software development in your organization?
Q2. What do you look for to make sure that the business requirements are defined?
Q3. What is your process o f communicating information?
Q4. What training do you think is needed to meet the skill area of this position?
Q5. What you do to maintain or control the schedule of a project?
Q6. What is your role in the software process improvement effort?
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM07TK
Q l. How do you allocate resources?
Q2. How do you perform budget analysis?
Q3. What is your role in doing the root cause analysis for a given problem?
Q4. What training do you believe that you will need?
Q5. What do you do to communicate with your team members?
Q6. How do you acknowledge the accomplishments of your team?
Q7. What you do to build teams?
Q8. How do you formulate the strategic planning process for communication services?
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221
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM08LM
Q l. What is your leadership style?
Q2. What is your approach to building teams?
Q3. What is it that you do to keep your team focused?
Q4. How do you acknowledge the accomplishments of your team?
Q5. What is the nature of the decision-making in your current position (regarding
Tivoli)?
Q6. What is your communication style to inform your management?
Q7. As far as training issues of concern what do you feel that your needs are as far as
training in the area o f project management?
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM09LMc
Q l. What do you do to support the facilities project?
Q2. What you do when you manage the budget?
Q3. What do you do to balance the resources available to you?
Q4. How do you maintain schedule and control o f a given project?
Q5. What you do to build team spirit and coach people?
Q6. Where is the biggest challenge in communications for you in this position?
Q7. What is your process of gathering information?
Q8. How do you know that the information is accurate?
Q9. In a given project what is it that you do to keep everybody informed?
QIO. From the training perspectives what do you feel there is one thing that you would
really like to have?
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPMlOLMe
Q l. What it is you do to establish systems engineering discipline?
Q2. What do you do to provide oversight of project management and technical
consultation?
Q3. What obstacles do you encounter in the role where you actually do the work of
systems engineering for the business units?
Q4. What is the communication challenge you face?
Q5. What is your involvement in the development of the architecture?
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM11NP
Q l. What it is that you do with respect to project management?
Q2. To ensure performance and the integration of IT systems, what is the discipline
that you employ to make that happen?
Q3. What sort of technical research you provide to the business units?
Q4. How do you communicate ideas to management?
Q5. When you evaluate various projects what are you looking for and how did you
communicate that information back to the project leader or team?
Q6. What is it that you do to go about the process o f estimation?
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222
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM12MS
Q l. What is your typical day like or what tasks do you in a typical day?
Q2. Where is the challenge in supervising your staff?
Q3. What is your style of communication to your peers, subordinates and upper
management?
Q4. What do you do to foster teamwork with your subordinates?
Q5. What is your process to gather information?
Q6. What is your process for clarifying the information that you gathered?
Q7. What any other challenges that he could think of in your current position?
Q8. As far as training is concerned, what do you feel that your needs are for training in
the project management area?
Q9. Where is the challenge in inventory reporting?
QIO. What is your role in the CDE project?
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM13SS
Q l. What is your process to make sure the accuracy of the information?
Q2. What is it that you do tract budgets?
Q3. What type of negotiations do you do?
Q4. What do you do when you provide direction to the cost and scheduling engineer?
Q5. From the training prospective what do you feel are the two or three most
important things for yourself and your staff?
Q6. What do you do to keep your team, your management, and others informed?
Q7. What do you do to communicate with upper management?
Q8. What types of decisions do you make on daily basis?
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPMI4AV.
Q l. Want is so unique about to position as a project manager.
Q2. What is your process for gathering information?
Q3. With the respect to accuracy of the information how do you know that the
information is accurate?
Q4. What you do to keep your peers subordinates and upper management informed?
Q5. What is your leadership style?
Q6. What you do to acknowledge team accomplishments?
Q7. What you do to establish product plans and budgets?
Q8. What is your process to monitor the FCC rulings?
Q9. As far as training is concerned is there any specific training need in the technical
field?
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM15GW
Q l. Where is the challenge in this particular job?
Q2. What you do when something conflicts with the (CDE) schedule?
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Q3. Where is the challenge in managing or supervising the CDE team?
Q4. What you do to the mentor your team?
Q5. What tool did you have to bring to the table to implement C D E in terms of
getting that rolled out in a timely fashion and keep it on track, and on schedule.
Q6. What do you like best about your administrative type duties?
Q7. What is your process of gathering information?
Q8. What you do to communicate with your teams?
Q9. What you do to communicate with upper management?
QIO. What you do to foster teamwork?
BEI Questions from PDQ: ITPM16SW.
Q l. What is your process for improving process application development through
implementation defined and repeatable Systems Engineering practices?
Q2. What you do to develop enterprise architecture, IT architectures, etc.?
Q3. With respect to the IT architecture how are you supporting that?
Q4. When you do technical reviews for IT projects, what is that like?
Q5. What is your role in performing business case analysis?
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Dutta, Sanjay Kumar (author)

Core Title Assessing the critical behavioral competencies of information technology (IT) project managers at Southern California Edison

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag business administration, management,education, business,education, vocational,OAI-PMH Harvest,psychology, industrial

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Kazlauskas, Edward (committee chair), [illegible] (committee member), Baker, R.L. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c16-76618

Unique identifier UC11326992

Identifier 3018074.pdf (filename),usctheses-c16-76618 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 3018074.pdf

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Document Type Dissertation

Rights Dutta, Sanjay Kumar

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA