The development of a contextual training and career management framework for ICT project managers

Abstract

Projects in the information and communication technology (ICT) domain fail at an alarming rate, due to the inability of project managers to deal with complexity. This inability starts with the inadequate training that many project managers receive. A thesis was developed arguing that a framework is needed that will facilitate the training and development of ICT project managers in a specific country. As point of departure, this research was undertaken in South Africa. It took an interpretivist view and set as its aim the development of a framework that will help to interpret the current reality on ICT project management and the training and career management of project managers better. The training and career management framework was developed for ICT project managers through documentary analysis and constructed through the addition of elements and components at the end of each chapter. The theoretical framework that was developed, together with its description, suggests that ICT project managers need to be trained and developed by considering a framework that contains the following components and elements:  The training and development legislative framework of a specific country  The ambit of professional bodies, as well as the certifications and qualifications that they offer (in this case Project Management)  How projects and programmes, as well as the inclination to manage them from a portfolio perspective, can contribute to the execution of the strategy  How the organisational design can contribute to the definition of roles and functions in a projectised organisation  How the grouping of these roles and functions, within the concept of a job family, can contribute to the achievement of competence in ICT project managers The entire framework is presented at the end of the study.