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Project Manager's Behavioral Competencies Required to Successfully Deliver Projects Using a Weak Matrix Structure
Over the past several years, the South African government through its public sector entities has struggled to operationalize their strategic objectives due to a multitude of project failures. Seeing as it is commonly acknowledged that there is a strong link between Project Manager's competency level...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Department of Construction Economics and Management
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613263439593472 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Chabalala, Shidumo |
| author2 | Massyn, Mark |
| author_browse | Chabalala, Shidumo Massyn, Mark |
| author_facet | Massyn, Mark Chabalala, Shidumo |
| author_sort | Chabalala, Shidumo |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Over the past several years, the South African government through its public sector entities has struggled to operationalize their strategic objectives due to a multitude of project failures. Seeing as it is commonly acknowledged that there is a strong link between Project Manager's competency level and project success, it is thus imperative to understand the competencies that a Project Manager must possess in order to successfully deliver projects in the South African public sector with the ultimate aim of increasing the probability of project success and thus aid the government in delivering its strategic objectives. Also, it is acknowledged that project management behavioural competencies have become more important to project success when compared to technical competencies. This study aims to explore what are the behavioural competencies that are essential for a Project Manager to successfully deliver projects in the South African public Sector. To answer the research question, a survey and personal interviews were conducted where project management practitioners in the South African Public Sector participated. It was hypothesized that Leadership was the essential behavioural competency that is essential to successfully deliver projects in the South African Public Sector. However, the study found that there are seventeen (17) essential behavioural competencies for a Project Manager to successfully deliver projects. The research concluded that there is no single behavioural competency, but rather established five (5) Foundational Behavioural Competencies (i.e., Communication, Teamwork, Professionalism, Leadership, Emotional intelligence), five (5) Core Behavioural Competencies (Adaptability & agility, Conflict & crisis management, Engagement & motivation, Inter-personal skills, and Results orientation), and seven (7) Supporting Behavioural Competencies (i.e., Negotiation, Consultation, Empathy, Organized, Managing, Reliability, Efficiency & effectiveness). The study also concluded that these behavioural competencies are applicable irrespective of the industry and project management structure employed to undertake a project. Additionally, the study showed that the perspective of project success in the South African Public Sector has evolved to be more holistic in line with the rest of the Western countries where the definition of success has broadened beyond the bounds of a project and considers how a project is viewed by stakeholders. South African Public Sector entities can improve the probability of project success by recruiting Project Managers who possess these competencies and can train their existing project Managers to develop these competencies. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42060 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:21.255Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Department of Construction Economics and Management |
| publisherStr | Department of Construction Economics and Management |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42060 Project Manager's Behavioral Competencies Required to Successfully Deliver Projects Using a Weak Matrix Structure Chabalala, Shidumo Massyn, Mark Project management South Africa Public sector Over the past several years, the South African government through its public sector entities has struggled to operationalize their strategic objectives due to a multitude of project failures. Seeing as it is commonly acknowledged that there is a strong link between Project Manager's competency level and project success, it is thus imperative to understand the competencies that a Project Manager must possess in order to successfully deliver projects in the South African public sector with the ultimate aim of increasing the probability of project success and thus aid the government in delivering its strategic objectives. Also, it is acknowledged that project management behavioural competencies have become more important to project success when compared to technical competencies. This study aims to explore what are the behavioural competencies that are essential for a Project Manager to successfully deliver projects in the South African public Sector. To answer the research question, a survey and personal interviews were conducted where project management practitioners in the South African Public Sector participated. It was hypothesized that Leadership was the essential behavioural competency that is essential to successfully deliver projects in the South African Public Sector. However, the study found that there are seventeen (17) essential behavioural competencies for a Project Manager to successfully deliver projects. The research concluded that there is no single behavioural competency, but rather established five (5) Foundational Behavioural Competencies (i.e., Communication, Teamwork, Professionalism, Leadership, Emotional intelligence), five (5) Core Behavioural Competencies (Adaptability & agility, Conflict & crisis management, Engagement & motivation, Inter-personal skills, and Results orientation), and seven (7) Supporting Behavioural Competencies (i.e., Negotiation, Consultation, Empathy, Organized, Managing, Reliability, Efficiency & effectiveness). The study also concluded that these behavioural competencies are applicable irrespective of the industry and project management structure employed to undertake a project. Additionally, the study showed that the perspective of project success in the South African Public Sector has evolved to be more holistic in line with the rest of the Western countries where the definition of success has broadened beyond the bounds of a project and considers how a project is viewed by stakeholders. South African Public Sector entities can improve the probability of project success by recruiting Project Managers who possess these competencies and can train their existing project Managers to develop these competencies. 2025-10-30T07:59:51Z 2025-10-30T07:59:51Z 2025 2025-10-30T07:57:55Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42060 en eng application/pdf Department of Construction Economics and Management Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Project management South Africa Public sector Chabalala, Shidumo Project Manager's Behavioral Competencies Required to Successfully Deliver Projects Using a Weak Matrix Structure |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Project Manager's Behavioral Competencies Required to Successfully Deliver Projects Using a Weak Matrix Structure |
| title_full | Project Manager's Behavioral Competencies Required to Successfully Deliver Projects Using a Weak Matrix Structure |
| title_fullStr | Project Manager's Behavioral Competencies Required to Successfully Deliver Projects Using a Weak Matrix Structure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Project Manager's Behavioral Competencies Required to Successfully Deliver Projects Using a Weak Matrix Structure |
| title_short | Project Manager's Behavioral Competencies Required to Successfully Deliver Projects Using a Weak Matrix Structure |
| title_sort | project manager s behavioral competencies required to successfully deliver projects using a weak matrix structure |
| topic | Project management South Africa Public sector |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42060 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chabalalashidumo projectmanagersbehavioralcompetenciesrequiredtosuccessfullydeliverprojectsusingaweakmatrixstructure |