A project management competency framework for industrialised building system (IBS) construction

Abstract

The Malaysian government has been promoting the use of the industrialised building system (IBS) for construction projects since 2003. Worldwide, there are a number of project management competency standards available, but they are generic in nature. This study was conducted to devise a competency framework suitable for industrialised building system (IBS) construction projects. A three-pronged mixed research method comprising qualitative interviews, a quantitative questionnaire survey and face-to-face validation was adopted. The competencies generated were classified as primary and secondary, and assigned to the various initial, planning, implementation, monitoring and closing construction life cycle phases. The proposal fills a gap in the project management landscape by testing and combining academic and non-academic literature with the ‘emergent’ competencies from the interviews. These are used in conjunction with conventional project management wisdom. IBS is increasingly being applied worldwide, although under different terminologies; therefore, the framework could also potentially be of use beyond Malaysia.