Challenges and competencies for project management in the Australian public service

• Date: 10 April 2017
• Pages: 286-300
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-08-2016-0132
• Published date: 10 April 2017
• Author: Carley Blixt,Konstantinos Kirytopoulos
• Subject Matter: Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management

Challenges and competencies for

project management in the

Australian public service

Carley Blixt

School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia,

Adelaide, Australia, and

Konstantinos Kirytopoulos

School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia,

Adelaide, Australia and

National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

Abstract

Purpose –Public sector projects still fail to meet delivery expectations, and the lack of significant project

management experience in the Australian public service (APS) has been identified as a contributing factor.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of competencies required for delivering public

sector projects, as well as challenges faced by the project managers when operating in a public context.

Design/methodology/approach –Qualitative semi-structured interviews were used to enlighten the social

and operating construct in APS. In parallel, a quantitative survey was used to determine the relative

importance of various competencies to effective project delivery.

Findings –The research concludes that communication, accountability, business alignment, scope and

deliverables, change, and project and program orientation are the most important competencies in

APS project delivery. Furthermore, there is evidence that the operating environment acts as a barrier to

successful project delivery, noting that it does not let project management practice deploy its full potential for

increased effectiveness and efficiency.

Practical implications –The research findings noted that the specific needs, values and functions of

project management in the APS are not well defined, and therefore there were limited criteria against which

public sector project management competencies could be designed and measured.

Originality/value –This empirical research contributes to the open dialogue of improving efficiency in

project management within the APS context. The findings point to the conflict between the operational nature

of APS agencies and their project activities, and how they struggle to define themselves as project

organizations rather than lack of appreciation to individual competencies.

Keywords Project management, Barriers, Competences, Challenges, Public service organizations

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

In the last 20 years, the public service has changed its approach to program delivery to

respond to the increasing and evolving expectations of government and the public. Known

as new public management (NPM), this changed approach borrows heavily on private sector

financial and management practice, shifting away from a traditional stewardship focus

toward performance based on outcomes and efficiency (Halligan, 1997). In the same way

that commercial entities realize change through projects, the delivery of the key policies of

Government has become projectized. In recognition of this and building on lessons learned

by relevant transformation efforts in Europe ( Jones, 2006; Maddock and Morgan, 1998), the

Australian public service commission (APSC) added project management to the suite of

skills required of public service leaders (Australian Public Service Commission, 2014a).

Despite the focus on project delivery, for more than a decade and greater than $100 billion in

investment, public projects are failing to meet delivery expectations (Young and Grant,

2015; Young et al., 2012). To mediate this, the APSC supports a nationally recognized

qualification, BSB41513 Certificate IV in project management practice, to improve the skills

International Journal of Public

Sector Management

Vol. 30 No. 3, 2017

pp. 286-300

© Emerald PublishingLimited

0951-3558

DOI 10.1108/IJPSM-08-2016-0132

Received 16 August 2016

Revised 29 December 2016

Accepted 12 February 2017

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0951-3558.htm

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