Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Project competence in product development

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Research in Engineering Design Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper presents and discusses the individual competence particularly required to work in project-organized product development. Individual competence encompasses the knowledge, skills and abilities to deal with issues related to organizational, social and technological factors involved in projects. The purpose has been to explore the competence required for project members at the operational level, and to explore the conditions for developing such competence. The study is based on a qualitative approach, with interviews as the tool for data collection. The study group comprised 54 respondents working in R&D departments within five large Swedish manufacturing companies. The findings reveal the need for project co-workers to be skilled in both practical and psychosocial aspects of co-ordination, time planning and control. The findings of the study demonstrate the importance of being able to cope with prescribed as well as unpredictable processes. They also indicate the effect of time on experience transfer.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The term project members is here used for project co-workers that are a part of the operational team, having no formal management responsibilities.

References

  • Amelingemeyer J, Kavelage A (1999) Inter-project learning in new product development. 6th International Product Development Management Conference, Cambridge, UK

  • Argyris C (1991) Teaching smart people how to learn. Harvard Bus Rev May–Jun:99–109

  • Beard D (1993) Learning to change organizations. Pers Manage Jan:32–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Björkegren C (1999) Learning for the next project—Bearers and barriers in knowledge transfer within an organisation. Licentiate thesis, Department of computer and information sciences, Linköping University, Sweden

  • Boudès T, Charue-Duboc F, Midler C (1998) Project management learning: A contingent approach. In: Lundin RA, Midler C (eds) Projects as arenas for renewal and learning processes. Kluwer, The Netherlands

  • Briner W, Geddes M, Hastings C (1990) Project leadership. Gower, Aldershot, UK

  • Brousseau KR, Driver MJ, Eneroth K, Larsson R (1996) Career pandemonium: Realigning organizations and individuals. Acad Manage Exec 10(4):52–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheung CC, Chuah KB (1999) Conflict management styles in Hong Kong industries. Int J Proj Manage 17(6):393–399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper KG, Lyneis JM, Bryant BJ (2002) Learning to learn, from past to future. Int J Proj Manage 20:213–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies A, Brady T (2000) Organizational capabilities and learning in complex product system: Towards repeatable solutions. Res Policy 29:931–953

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drucker PF (1999) The management challenges of the 21st century. Harper Collins, New York

  • Ellström PE (1997) The many meanings of occupational competence and qualification. J Eur Ind Train 21(6):266–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Frame JD (1999) Project management competence: Building key skills for individuals, teams and organizations. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Gersick CJG, Davis-Saeks MD (1990) Task forces. In: Hackman JR (ed) Groups that work (and those that don’t): Creating conditions for effective teamwork. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco

  • Grant RM (1996a) Prospering in dynamically-competitive environments: Organizational capability as knowledge integration. Organ Sci 7:375–387

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant RM (1996b) Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strateg Manage J (winter special issue) 17:109–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Guetzkow H (1968) Differentiation of roles in task-oriented groups. In: Cartwright D, Zander A (eds) Group dynamics: Research and theory. Harper Row, New York, pp 512–526

  • Hackman JR (1992) Group influences on individuals in organizations. In: Dunnette MD, Hough M (eds) Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology, vol 3, 2nd edn. Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA, pp 199–267

  • Hartman F, Skulmoski G (1999) Quest for team competence. Int Proj Manage J 5(1):10–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones ER, Deckro RF (1993) The social psychology of project management conflict. Eur J Oper Res 64:216–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jörgensen PS (2001) Kompetence—Overvejelser over et begrep (Competence—Reconsidered as a theoretical concept). Nordisk Psykologi 53(3):181–208

    Google Scholar 

  • Katzenbach JR, Smith DK (1994) The wisdom of teams—Creating the high performance organization. McKinsey and Company Inc, USA

  • Kerzner H (1998) Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling and controlling. Van Nostrand, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kezsbom DS (1992) Re-opening Pandora’s box: Sources of project conflict in the 1990s. Ind Eng May:54–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Kogut B, Zander I (1992) Knowledge of the firm, capabilities and the replication of technology. Organ Sci 3(3):383–397

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindh JI, Skärvad PH (1998) Nya team i organisationernas värld (New teams in the world of organisations). Liber ekonomi, Malmö, Sweden

  • Lindkvist B (2001) Kunskapsöverföring mellan produktutvecklingsprojekt (Knowledge transfer between product development projects). Doctoral thesis, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden

  • Lindkvist L (2001) Det projektbaserade företaget (The project-based company). In: Berggren C, Lindkvist L (eds) Projekt: Organisation för målorientering och lärande (Project: Organization for goal orientation and learning). Studentlitteratur, Lund, Sweden

  • McDonough EF III (1993) Faster new product development: Investigating the effects of technology and characteristics of the project leader and team. J Prod Innov Manage 10:421–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Meredith J, Mantel S (1995) Project management: A managerial approach. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Nonaka I, Takeuchi H (1995) The knowledge-creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. Oxford University Press, New York

  • Packendorff J (1995) Inquiring into the temporary organization: New directions for project management research. Scand J Manage 4:319–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto J, Covin J (1989) Critical factors in project implementation: Comparison of construction and R&D projects. Technovation 9:49–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PMBoK Guide (2000) Project Management Institute. http://www.pmi.org

  • Seers A (1989) Team-member exchange quality: A new construct for role-making research. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 43:118–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Senge PM (1990) The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Doubleday and Currency, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Shenhar A, Dvir D (1996) Toward a typological theory of project management. Res Policy 25:607–632

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shenhar AJ (1993) From low- to high-tech project management. R&D Manage 23(3):199–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens MJ, Campion MA (1994) The knowledge, skill, and ability requirements for teamwork: Implications for human resource management. J Manage 20(2):503–530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Svensson L, Von Otter C (2000) Projektarbete: Teori och Praktik (Project work: Theory and practice). Santérus Förlag, Stockholm, Sweden

  • Tell F, Söderlund J (2001) Lärande mellan projekt (Learning between projects). In: Berggren C, Lindkvist L (eds) Projekt: Organisation för målorientering och lärande (Project: Organization for goal orientation and learning). Studentlitteratur, Lund, Sweden

  • Thamhain HJ, Wilemon DW (1975) Conflict management in project life cycles. Sloan Manage Rev 17(2):31–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner JR, Chochrane RA (1993) Goals-and-methods matrix: Coping with projects with ill-defined goals and/or methods of achieving them. Int J Proj Manage 11(2):93–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner JR (1999) The handbook of project-based management: Improving the processes for achieving strategic objectives. McGraw-Hill, London

  • Turner JR (1993) The handbook of project-based management. McGraw-Hill, London

  • Weingart LR (1992) Impact of group goals, task component complexity, effort and planning on group performance. J Appl Psychol 77:682–693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West MA (1996) Reflexivity and work group effectiveness: A conceptual integration. In: West MA (ed) Handbook of work group psychology. Wiley, New York

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Machine Design, Royal Institute of Technology, 100-44 , Stockholm, Sweden

    Annika Zika-Viktorsson & Sofia Ritzén

Authors
  1. Annika Zika-Viktorsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sofia Ritzén
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Annika Zika-Viktorsson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zika-Viktorsson, A., Ritzén, S. Project competence in product development. Res Eng Design 15, 193–200 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00163-004-0051-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00163-004-0051-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation