Drivers of Project Management (PM) Education in India - A Research Study

Drivers of Project Management (PM) Education in India
A Research Study
For More info visit www.pmi.org.in
Authors
Dr. M.G. Korgaonker
Dr. Mona N. Shah
Dr. J. K. Koner
Prof. M.V. Madurwar
Prof. Smruti Sanjeevani
Sponsored by
Project Management Institute®
, India
October 2010
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND
RESEARCH, PUNE, INDIA
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Balewadi, Pune – 411 045
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to the Project Management Institute®
(PMI®
) India for their sponsorship of the pioneering study at the National Institute of
Construction Management and Research, Pune, India. We would like to specifically
acknowledge the overwhelming support and encouragement received from Mr. Raj Kalady,
Country Director, Project Management Institute®
(PMI®
) India, throughout the duration of the
study. We thank him for his unlimited patience, in accepting the somewhat inevitable time
overrun in the completion of the study and finalization of the report.
The study team deeply acknowledges the valuable guidance provided by Dr. M.G.
Korgaonker, Director General and Project Director, whose extensive experience in the area of
project management as a researcher and pioneer of the 2 years fulltime course on Project
Engineering and Management in India at NICMAR, helped the team gain appropriate
perspectives about the field of Project Management. His keen interest and leadership
throughout the study enabled us to remain on track.
We remain indebted to all the respondents to our survey who gave us huge amounts of time
unselfishly, helped us to patiently complete the in-depth questionnaires, and hosted our
research team with warmth and concern. If the study has seen a successful completion, it is in
no small measure due to the vital inputs provided by each one of our institutional
respondents.
We wish to place on record the valuable assistance provided by Dr. Jonardan Koner,
Prof. Mangesh Madurwar and Prof. Smruti Sanjeevani who as members of the investigating
team worked with enthusiasm and dedication to complete the survey of institutions,
executives and human resource managers and collate it for analysis. We thank Mr. A.R.
Jadhav, Sr. Librarian at NICMAR, whose unstinted and cheerful support was always
forthcoming throughout the study. We thank Mr. Rajanikant Sagwekar who helped in the
page-setting and layout.
Dr. Mona N. Shah
Principal Investigator
October, 2010
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This study is an initial attempt, to investigate the factors that are responsible in driving the
growth of Project Management Education in India. The study throws light on specific factors
that emerge after studying the available literature on the subject as well as the responses
compiled from a cross-section of the primary stakeholders namely the Government,
Academic Institutions, Practising Executives and Human Resource Managers connected with
project management education and training.
We begin with a discussion on the need for PM education to take root and grow in India in
the interest of its major stakeholders and users like the government, and industry – both of
whom have enormous investments tied up in a range of mega, major and medium sized
projects. As per Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI), in the year
2009 alone, a total outlay of 607,188 crores ( 6072 billion) was tied up in 941 Central
Government projects alone. In the private sector, the investment value tied up in projects
stood at over 100 trillion. As per CMIE data, the aggregate employment in projects sector
stood at over 160 million persons.
In chapter 2, we review the literature using journals and reports that assess the current status
of project management education at a global level as well as in India. The European, North
American countries, and Australia show tremendous progress in establishing PM in almost all
realms of activity –governmental, industrial, academic, research and societal, through myriad
initiatives. In case of China, India’s closest comparable country, PM appears to have taken
firm roots since the 1990s decade, using a systematic ‘top down’ approach. In India, efforts to
promote PM education in a structured mode appear to have only just begun.
Chapter 3 of the study explains the design of the research study, the hypotheses formulated,
the scope and methodology. The study has made use of primary and secondary data and was
carried out within India. It covered a cross section of faculty/heads of departments of leading
technical and management academic institutions from eighty one institutes from all over
India. Data was collected using the Personal Interview Technique. The next set of
respondents was the practising executives from project based organisations. Eighty eight
executives responded to a comprehensive survey questionnaire that had questions ranging
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from work experience and value of projects previously engaged in or currently working, to
their perception on the inclusion of subjects that enabled them to perform better on projects
and in the careers, as well as other gains that accrued to them after undergoing PM training.
The study raised questions about the factors that they perceived were important in influencing
the growth of PM in India.
The third set of respondents was drawn from a pool of select and leading project based
companies from a cross section of construction, power, engineering and IT industries. The
respondents were twenty human resource managers with considerable experience in
designing training programmes for their companies. Care was taken to ensure that the
respondents were geographically distributed, over India. Statistical tools used in compiling
and analysing the results were Pie charts, Bar and Column Diagrams, Correlation and
Regression Analysis, Factor Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis.
Chapter 4 presents findings of the survey emerging from responses received from Academic
Institutions. Significant results were obtained in this analysis. There is a clear case for strong
promotion of PM education in technical and business schools, with faculty emphatically
admitting that the employability of the students who undergo the PM courses is significantly
improved. Overall the faculty has advocated a broad based project management subject
curricula to be taught in technical, business, architectural, planning and infrastructure
institutes. However their clear preference was for the core PM subjects of i) Operations
Management, ii) Project Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Control iii) Statistical Methods
for Project Analysis, iv) Health, Safety and Environment, v) Operations Research and vi)
Accounting and Control Systems. The faculty suggest that subjects like Macro Economic
Policy, Project Strategy, Risk Management, Project Financing, Legal, Commercial and
Taxation Aspects in projects should be considered important for curriculum at the post
graduate level. The subject in the Behavioural Sciences Area, deemed most important was
Managerial Skills. All subjects in the Information Technology Area like Prima Vera,
Microsoft Projects (MSP), engineering software, SPSS etc were considered to be uniformly
important in PM education. The faculty respondents considered the coverage of sector
specific issues in the curriculum to be very important, but appeared unsure about the relative
importance of the sectors of economic activity where PM teaching should be directly focused.
The correlation analysis provides very good basis for structuring courses in all the subject
areas considered in the study. In the Technology and Management area, the results indicate
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that the subjects Project Site and Equipment Management, Project Procurement and Materials
Management, Contract Management, Facilities Engineering and Management and Process
Design / Engineering / Testing / Commissioning are correlated. This is expected since these
issues arise during project execution and have to be dealt with in a coordinated manner.
Similarly correlation among the subject areas Logistics and Supply Chain Management,
Transportation Management, Facilities Engineering and Management are also quite expected
and in most projects, these would be dealt with together. The correlation between subject
areas Operations Management and Operations Research, and also between Project
Formulation and Appraisal and Project Engineering are also along expected lines. There is
also good correlation between Quality Management and HSE subjects and therefore
combining these into a single course would be quite appropriate. It is not surprising that in
the project management fraternity, the precise differences among these subject areas are not
very clear.
While most of the subjects grouped in these subject areas are found to be very important,
there is a case for combining some of these together, in order to emphasize the importance of
managing projects in a coordinated and integrated manner. A direct outcome of the
correlation analysis is that in institutions and curricula where it is difficult to introduce
several execution oriented courses, it will be quite adequate if a single course emphasizing
project execution is included.
In the Economics and Strategy area, the subject Social Cost benefit Analysis is most heavily
correlated with other subjects including Macroeconomic Policy, Project Strategy, Project
Financing, Legal, Commercial and Taxation Aspects. Thus if this course is included as a
separate course, care must be taken to ensure that the content is not duplicated in other
courses. Alternately the course need not be included, if other courses reflect the content.
There is a case for combining the courses Project Financial Management and Project
Financing, courses Project Strategy and Macroeconomic Policy, and courses Legal,
Commercial & Taxation Aspects and Project Joint Ventures, Strategic Alliances & Special
Purpose Vehicles. The correlation analysis provides very good guidelines on the way courses
in this subject area could be grouped and introduced in the PM curriculum.
In the Behavioural Sciences area, three subjects are correlated to each other, namely
Industrial/ Labour Relations, Conflict Management and Diversity Management. So from the
point of view of the respondents, these subjects reflect some common issues and concerns
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and there is a case for combining these together to achieve an integrated approach to deal
with these issues and concerns. The other courses may be taught independently.
The correlation analysis results provide a useful way of structuring courses in IT area in the
PM curriculum. For instance, ERP and e – Business Applications courses could be combined
into a single course. Similarly Specialized Engineering Software and Common Software such
as Excel, SPSS, DBMS could also be structured as a single course, in case there is difficulty
in offering these as separate courses. Only Project Management Software needs to be taught
as a separate course.
Majority of the sample felt that resources were generally easily available in the institutes in
terms of library, course materials, classrooms, laboratories, computer labs, qualified faculty
and availability of research facilities. The respondents also strongly endorsed the existence of
management vision to support PM endeavours. It takes on average about a year to build the
necessary physical resources. On average, the faculty recruitment and training process takes
14.7 months. The research involvement of the institutions is found to be quite low and only
about 20% institutions reported funded research.
Chapter 5 presents findings of the survey of practicing executives from leading project based
organisations in India. The respondents offered their responses on a variety of issues such as
their first systematic exposure to PM training, the ideal PM curricula, from their perspective,
the gains from PM training and the factors that they consider important to improve PM
training at graduate level. Majority of the practising executives responding to the
questionnaire were from the middle management cadre, from technical institutions with no
prior exposure to PM training. Most of these were working on projects with value between
200–300 crores using very elementary PM techniques such as PERT/CPM.
It is interesting to note that ratings assigned to practically all the subjects in the Management
and Technology area by executives are higher than the corresponding ratings assigned by the
institutions. The courses rated as ‘extremely important’ include Planning, Scheduling,
Monitoring and Control Techniques; Project Quality Management; Health, Safety and
Environment Management; Cost Estimation and Budgeting; Quantity Surveying and
Estimation; Project Site and Equipment Management; Project Procurement and Materials
Management; Contract Management. Furthermore, some courses are considered far more
important by executives compared to the institutions. These are : Contract Management;
Project Procurement and Materials Management; Quantity Surveying and Estimation; Cost
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Estimation and Budgeting; Health, Safety and Environment Management. One possible
explanation is that these courses have a strong ‘execution’ and ‘practical’ bias. Naturally
executives seem to realize their importance far more than the institutions.
In the Behavioural Sciences area, the overall ratings for all subjects in the area averaged
‘Very Important’, except for Managerial Skills subject rated ‘extremely important’. This
subject is rated much higher by the executives, while the other subject ratings in this area are
comparable to those assigned by the institutions. In the IT area, PM Software, ERP and
Excel/DBMS/SPSS are rated ‘extremely important’ and the other subjects are rated ‘very
important’. The ratings assigned to these subjects are very comparable to those assigned by
institutions, although executives have assigned slightly lower ratings to Engg Software.
The coverage of all the specific sectors is considered ‘very important’ by the executives.
Sectors like Roadways, Railways, Urban Infrastructure, Civil Aviation and Mega Property
Developments are considered relatively more important than others. Chemical Engineering
and Defence sectors have received relatively lower ratings. The executives’ ratings are
generally similar to the institutions’ ratings. However the executives have assigned somewhat
higher ratings to the Technology, Roadways, Railways, Civil Aviation, Urban Infrastructure
sectors.
In terms of gains derived in developing a better strategic overview of projects, PM training
‘helped immensely’ in the area of Work Breakdown Structure and Responsibility Mapping.
At the direct project level, training ‘helped immensely’ in Project Planning, Scheduling,
Monitoring and Control. Training ‘helped substantially’ in other areas including Contract
Management, Costing, HSE, Quality Management and Communication Skills. The gains
derived in Project Planning, Scheduling, Monitoring and Control are particularly noteworthy.
Thus the executives affirmed that training has helped them to acquire an integrated view of
the project, role clarity, understand work breakdown structures and responsibility mapping on
projects, and envision the exact fit of a project in the overall corporate strategy.
In individual career enhancement, executives saw improvement on two factors, namely
improved decision making ability and improved understanding of human related factors i.e.
interpersonal relations and conflict resolution. Some experienced higher responsibility
coming their way after completion of PM training. On the whole there appear to be
significant gains in terms of the enrichment and enlargement aspects of the job. The
executives shed light on their perception of the factors they consider important for the growth
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of PM education in India. According to them, the most important factors inhibiting growth of
PM education, in order of priority are i) the lack of awareness amongst the students and
educators about PM, ii) lack of trained instructors at the undergraduate and post graduate
level and iii) being a practical field PM cannot be taught in the classroom, iv) mastery comes
only from practical experience and v) prior knowledge is not a prerequisite for working in
this field.
Chapter 6 presents findings of the in depth survey of twenty Human Resource (HR) managers
of leading project based organisations on issues such as; the training design, types of PM
training, costs of training, factors affecting PM training, cadres to whom PM training is to be
imparted, and training efficacy. The HR managers chosen had substantial exposure and
expertise in conceiving, designing and organising PM related training for executives within
their organisations. On the average, most of the companies have taken steps to initiate PM
training in the past five years. The companies generally prefer to deploy employees in the
managerial cadre for training. Within this section of employees, the most frequently chosen
are the middle and senior managers for receiving PM training. The important objective in
organising PM training is to prepare the executives with key skills in planning, controlling,
execution, contracts and such other areas that would enable them to contribute directly to
project success.
For deputing executives for training, the companies are found to particularly emphasize the
following factors: perceived gains from PM training, employee retention, career
development, ability to execute complex projects, ability to monitor and control projects,
ability to plan projects, ability to manage contracts in projects, ability to deliver projects in
right time, costs and quality. Thus project planning, monitoring & control; execution of
complex projects and employee retention & career development emerge as the key areas for
seeking training inputs.
‘In house Training’, ‘On the Job Training’ and ‘On the Job with Classroom Training’ are the
most preferred methods of training. Given that both skills and knowledge are key components
of competencies, training must clearly aim at improving skills and knowledge base of
executives. The training levels most preferred for various grades of executives are:
elementary for Operatives, basic for Supervisory, Advanced for Middle level managers,
Strategic for Senior Level executives. These findings highlight a planned approach for PM
training. Overall the perception amongst the HR managers is that PM training is quite
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expensive on various counts such as trainees’ salaries and time, materials for training,
expenses for trainers, expenses for trainees, facilities and equipment, lost productivity.
However HR managers do not mind the loss of productivity of executives during their
absence, which they feel will be more than compensated by the large scale benefits expected
from training.
HR managers view training to be ‘quite benefitial’ on all the factors considered including :
increase in production/ performance, reduction in errors and improvement of safety
standards, employee retention, lesser supervision, ability to use new skills and capabilities,
improved delivery performance, attitude changes, and growth of business oportunities. HR
managers strongly endorse the benefits derived from Attitude changes. One factor - Increase
in production / performance, is not viewed as benefitial as other factors. One interpreation is
that they look for direct benefits from training in ‘process improvement’ rather than ‘output
improvement’.
Certified franchisee trainers are considered most efficacious training providers, followed by
internationally certified trainers, independent trainers and academic institutions. This may be
attributed to the flexibility and highly focussed approach of these trainers. However HR
managers highly value the highly qualified faculty, specialised competence, research
experience, reasonable cost of academic institutions, which they believe are a great advantage
for developing good training content, even though they may not be able to deliver highly
custom designed training.. The most frequent academic institutions for PM related training
appear to be the management institutions together as group, followed by in house trainers and
NICMAR. Considering that NICMAR is a single entity, its share of 11.43% in PM training is
most enviable by comparable industry standards. It is reassuring to know that the HR
managers consider international accreditation to be of value. But the managers may not be
fully aware of the benefits of international accreditation with respect to their organisation.
Chapter 7 presents the results of the factor analysis. The analysis reveals that only 6 subjects
(factors) included in the Management and Technology Area namely (i) Operations
Management for Projects, (ii) Planning/ Scheduling/ Monitoring and Control Techniques, (iii)
Statistical Methods for Project Analysis, (iv) Operations Research for Projects, (v) Project
Quality Management, (vi) Health Safety and Environment in Projects account for the highest
proportion of the subjects (factors) that are absolutely essential to be included in PM curricula
(i.e. 74%). The correlation analysis carried out earlier helped establish that Operation
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management and Operations Research, Quality Management and HSE are strongly
correlated. Therefore in effect, only four subject areas, suitably combined account for the
courses that are ‘absolutely essential’.
Alternatively this means that the balance 25 subjects account for only a small fraction of the
total PM curricula (26%). Therefore for the sake of simplification, this can be interpreted to
mean that the top six subjects (four combined) that emerge from the analysis of academic
institutions, are considered most crucial for inclusion in PM curriculum by the academics.
Similar results are found in other subject areas also.
An intriguing fact is that only a limited number of subjects (factors) continue to describe the
whole scope of PM curricula amongst academics in institutions. This could be attributed to
Indian institutions being in the early development stages of PM. It may also imply that except
in the well recognized Management and Technology Area, in which the above subjects have
been grouped, other subject Areas (and individual subjects contained therein) such as
Behavioural Sciences and IT, are not yet considered pivotal to PM education in the Indian
technical and management education system. Viewed with the actual ratings awarded by the
respondents to the Strategy, Economics and Finance Area, it shows that almost the whole
sample has rated subjects in this Area as ‘Extremely Important’ and ‘Very Important’.
Multiple regression analysis suggests that the three types of institutions wherein PM
education is essential are Technical, Management, and Planning & Design. The remaining
two namely architectural institutions and infrastructure management institutions were not
explained by the available data and may require some other data. Generally Architectural
institutions, barring a few exceptions, are not known to emphasize PM in their curriculum.
Similarly there is probably lack of critical mass of institutions in infrastructure management
capable of providing full fledged, comprehensive curriculum with enough emphasis on PM.
The infrastructure related to library, availability of course material, classrooms and qualified
faculty are found to be important variables in imparting PM education although these factors
alone are not enough. This means that some other factors are required to explain the
relationship of PM education and the institutes’ infrastructure. Majority of the institutions
were AICTE, university affiliated and accredited institutions. They are bound by the
structured processes of approval which may take protracted periods of time from government
agencies in the form of receiving sanctions to introduce courses. Therefore the type of the
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infrastructure currently prevailing is more dictated by the regulatory requirements rather than
the targeted requirements of PM education.
Further multiple regression analysis suggests that two other factors namely introduction of
PM courses and effect on employability are also having some impact on the rating of PM
education in India. Thus the type of institutions, the availability of infrastructure,
management support in introduction of PM courses and employability of graduates emerge as
significant factors impacting the PM education in India.
In summary, we find that there is a supply gap in capacity for PM training in the country. The
causes can be attributed to the disinclination of technical and business academic institutions
to introduce and attract students exclusively in the area of PM. Only a handful of elite
institutions in India appear to have taken concerted steps in this direction. Executives
working in project based companies enter with little or no prior orientation of project
requirements that are special to project environments. Thus training them to be ‘project
ready’ is an imperative for project based organisations. HR managers are charged with the
responsibility of designing training modules that would bring direct gains to the project and
companies. Currently the options to choose experts are relatively less and therefore the
training costs are high. Only limited cohorts of ‘project ready’ personnel available adversely
affect the ability of the organisations to deliver consistently on projects. This affects the
projects industry as a whole and ultimately the national economy.
Chapter 8 concludes the study by identifying the barriers to the growth of PM education. The
main barriers are; i) the lack of awareness amongst managements of technical and business
management institutions about the importance and relevance of teaching PM, ii) lack of
systematic curriculum development with a focussed view to develop PM competencies, iii)
low interest in researching PM related subjects amongst faculty, iv) lack of trained
instructors, v) long winding procedures for regulatory approvals for introducing approving
PM courses, vi) provision of qualified faculty and infrastructure and vii) the costs of training
that have to be borne by organisations.
Finally we make some recommendations to ensure a more sustained growth of PM education
in India. Concerted efforts in the area of curriculum development, research, creation of
awareness regarding the application of PM techniques to the project business are
recommended, even resorting to mass media support. Sustained advocacy at all levels of
government is also strongly recommended. In conclusion we propose some Model Curricula
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for PM education and training in technical and business management institutions as well as
for executives in project based organisations.
CONTENTS
Sr. No. TOPIC Page No.
A Acknowledgements 2
B Executive Summary 3
Chapter 1 - Introduction
1.1 The Government Imperative 16
1.2 Key Questions raised in the Study 19
1.3 The Private Sector Imperative in PM 20
1.4 Key India Level Statistics Of Project Announcements By Indian
Corporations
21
1.5 Initiatives of Indian Government and Industry, in the
Promulgation of PM Education
23
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Chapter 2 - Literature Review of Project Management education on a global scale
2.1 Introduction 25
2.2 PM Education in America and Europe 27
2.3 PM In Academia – A Global Snapshot 28
2.3.1 PM in other European Countries 28
2.4 Indian PM Growth 29
2.4.1 Specific Cases in India 31
a) Indian Institutes of Management, MBA Institutions,
Engineering Colleges
31
b) National Institute of Construction Management and Research 32
c) Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management 32
d) National Institute of Technology and Industrial Engineering 32
2.5 PM in Research 33
2.5.1 PM Research in India 35
2.6 PM in Industry 36
2.6.1 Training and Development Expenditure in Indian Projects
Industry – A Bird’s Eye View
37
2.7 India and China: Comparison of PM Education 40
Chapter 3 - Research Design
3.1 Basic Approach to the Study 42
3.2 Objectives of the Study 42
3.3 Scope of the Study 43
3.4 Hypotheses 43
3.5 Methodology 44
3.6 Academic Institutions 45
a) Sources of Data 45
b) Data Collection Instrument - Schedules (Questionnaires) 45
c) Data Collection Method - Direct Interview Method 45
d) Sampling Procedure 46
d.1) Sampling Area 46
d.2) Sample Size 46
d.3) Sample Unit 46
d.4) Sampling Technique 46
e) Statistical Tools and Techniques 46
f) Analytical Software 46
g) Multiple Regression Model 47
3.7 Practicing Executives of Project Based Companies 48
b) Data Collection Method – Indirect Method 48
c) Data Collection Instrument 48
d.2) Sample Size 49
d.3) Sample Unit 49
3.8 Human Resource Managers of Project- Based Companies 49
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b) Data Collection Method 49
c) Data Collection Instrument 50
d.2) Sample Size 50
d.3) Sample Unit 50
Chapter 4 - Data Analysis of Survey of Technical and Business Institutions in India
4.1 Introduction 52
4.2 PART I : Respondent’s Particulars And Details 53
4.3 PART II: General Opinion On Existing State Of PM Education
In India
55
4.4 Part III: Curriculum Development 61
4.5 PART IV – Infrastructure, Management Support, Regulatory
Factors And Current Status Of PM Research In Institute
74
Chapter 5 - Data Analysis Of Survey Of Working Executives Employed In Project
Based Companies In India
5.1 Introduction 91
5.2 PART I – A & B : Respondents’ Particulars And Project Details 93
5.2.1 PART I – A 93
5.2.2 PART I – B 95
5.3 Part II: Project Management Curricula 96
A Management and Technology Area 96
B Behavioural Sciences Area 98
C Information Technology Area 98
D Sector Specific Area 99
5.4 PART III: Changes And Work Performance After Completion
Of PM Programme
100
5.5 PART IV: Current Position Of Project Management In India 103
Chapter 6 - Data Analysis of Survey of Human Resource Managers employed in
Project-based Companies in India
6.1 Introduction 108
6.2 PART I : Respondents’ Particulars 109
6.3 PART II: Dimensions Of Project Management Training Design 111
Chapter 7 – Interpretations Of Data Analysis And Findings Of PMI Survey
7.1 Introduction 122
7.1.2 Commentary on the Extent and Depth of PM Education and
Research in India
123
7.2 Institutional Data Analysis and Inferences 125
7.2.1 Results and Interpretation of Factor Analysis for Subjects rated
by Faculty from Academic Institutions
128
7.3 Multiple Regression Analyses of the Factors Affecting
Introduction of PM course
132
7.3.1 Findings from Multiple Regression Analysis of Significance of
PM Education in Technical/ Business/ Specialised Academic
Institutions
132
7.4 The Practising Executives Data Analysis and Inferences 138
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7.5 Human Resource Managers’ Data Analysis And Interpretation 144
7.6 Synthesis of Stakeholders of PM Education – Academic
Institutions, Practising Executives and Industry
147
7.7 Limitations Of the Research 148
7.8 Scope For Future Research 148
Chapter 8 - Conclusions and Recommendations
8.1 Conclusions 150
8.1.1 Barriers 151
8.2 Recommendations 152
BIBLIOGRAPHY 154
ANNEXURES 159
Annexure 1
A List Of Respondents Participating In Institutional Survey 159
B List Of Respondents Participating In Working Executives
Survey
164
Annexure 2
a (DEC - 2005) 168
b (DEC - 2006) 169
c (DEC - 2007) 170
d (DEC - 2008) 171
Annexure 3
Questionnaire For Institutions 172
Annexure 4
Correlation Matrix Of Factors (Subjects) Contained In
Questionnaire For Academic Institutions (Part III A)
187
Annexure 5
Questionnaire For Executives 190
Annexure 6
Questionnaire For Human Resource Managers 203
Annexure 7
Model Course Curriculum Designs In Undergraduate
Programmes Of Technical And Business Management Schools
210
Annexure 8
Master Database File Of Primary Data 215
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Government Imperative
The promulgation of Project Management education in India has assumed great significance
considering the position in which India finds herself in this millennium. From the pursuit of
economic liberalization, aligning with the global economy, and embarking on ambitious
projects with the help of privatisation, India is committed to fulfil the economic growth
15

targets, fast and furiously. This is seen in the launch of mega and major projects by the
Central Government departments to cover the historical gap between what is available and
what is required. In addition, the State Governments and Local Government agencies too,
have been given project targets in order to improve infrastructure and aid development under
various programmes such as Bharat Nirman Scheme. The estimated investment plan for
infrastructure development stands at $ 514 billion during the Eleventh Plan. This is more than
twice that of $ 217.86 billion allocated during the Tenth Plan. In the Twelfth Five Year Plan
(2012- 2017), it is slated to rise to $ One Trillion (www. planningcommission.nic.in/plans).
The country faces a challenge in bridging the existing infrastructure gaps, imperative to
maintain the economic growth rate of around 9%. India plans to increase the gross capital
formation in infrastructure from 5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 9% by 2012, in
order to be on par with, more advanced economies in Asia1
According to the reports of McKinsey Consulting Group (Reports 2001, 2010), it is the
consistent lack of responsiveness of Indian government, industry as well as the people to
solve the infrastructure bottlenecks that are retarding India’s momentum. According to the
2010 report, due to the global financial crisis, and the funds that could have entered the
country, being withdrawn, India currently faces a deficit of between $150 billion and $190
billion in infrastructure funding. The government is looking at 25% of the infrastructure
investment to be funded through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Out of the total target
that has been set for investment in infrastructure ($514 billion), $430 billion is earmarked
only for the transport and utilities sector. In the Twelfth Five Year Plan, the investment
through Public Private Participation (PPP) route is sought to be raised to the extent of up to
50% of the Plan outlay (ET, 2010).
Sustained pursuit of the twin objectives of the government, namely, (i) ensuring a steady
GDP growth rate of around 9% and (ii) elevating the major section of India’s populace from
poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy and unemployment, remains the greatest challenge for
administrators and stakeholders alike. In any country, the government itself is a huge sponsor
and initiator of projects, initiating mega and major development projects in various sectors.
Because of this, the government too assumes the role of a key stakeholder (owner) and
therefore is affected by any project related problems and issues. Table 1 indicates the number
of mega and major projects under the aegis of the Central Government in the year 2009
1
(www. planningcommission.nic.in/plans)
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alone. There were 941 such projects and involved a total outlay of Rs. 6,07,188 crores
(MOSPI, 2009). The table indicates that majority of the projects (466) are in the delayed
mode with 195 projects not having any clear indicated Date of Completion (DOC).
Table 1 Sector –Wise Implementation Status of Central Government
Projects 2009 (Status as on 30.06.2009)
(Number of Projects)
Sector
Ahead On Schedule Delaved Without DOC
Original
Lates
t
Original
Lates
t
Original
Lates
t
Original Latest
ATOMIC ENERGY 0 0 2 2 3 3 0 0
CIVIL AVIATION 1 1 4 4 22 22 0 4
COAL 7 8 49 52 55 51 5 18
I & B 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
MINES 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
STEEL 0 0 11 11 37 37 0 6
PETROLEUM 2 2 24 24 33 33 0 1
POWER 0 0 50 51 33 32 3 2
HEALTH & FW 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
RAILWAYS 1 1 6 24 67 65 131 122
ROAD TRANSPORT &
HIGHWAYS 2 2 26 26 159 159 0 9
SHIPPING & PORTS 3 3 10 11 24 23 3 15
TELECOMMUNICATIONS 0 0 6 6 27 27 0 11
URBAN DEVELOPMENT 0 1 10 9 12 12 3 5
WATER RESOURCES 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0
Total 16 18 200 222 474 466 146 195
Source: Quarterly Project Implementation Status, MOSPI, Government of India
The Table 2 shows the most important causes for delay of projects as listed by MOSPI.
Table 2 Causes of Delay of Projects
Sr.
No. Factors No. of Projects
1 Fund Constraints 31 (28 projects are of Railways, 1 Coal and 2 projects in Power sectors)
2 Land Acquisition
Problems
20 (12 Railways, 6 Coal, 1 Petroleum and 1 in Power sectors)
3
Slow Progress in
Works other than
Civil Works
78 (63 in Railways, 6 Petroleum, 5 Power, 3 Coal and 1 in Power
sectors)
4 Law and Order 11 (5 in Railways, 4 Power and 2 in Coal sector)
5 Delay in Supply
of Equipment
5 (2 Petroleum, 2 Power and 1 in Railway sectors)
17

6 Environmental
clearance
1 (Railways sector)
7 Others
47 (these include the problems of technology selection, award of
contract, delay in civil work, geo mining, court cases, inadequate
infrastructure, bad weather and Govt. clearance)
Source: Quarterly Project Implementation Status, MOSPI, Government of India
In addition, the same report attributes the causes of delay to the following
1. Lack of supporting infrastructure facilities
2. Delay in finalisation of detailed engineering plans, release of drawings and delay in
availability of fronts
3. Changes in scope/delay in finalisation of the scope
4. Industrial relations and law and order problems
5. Delay and uncertainty in feedstock supply
6. Pre commissioning teething troubles
7. Technology problems
8. Geological surprises
The severity of the lack of project management expertise is now being felt at the highest level
of governance in India. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation ( MOSPI )
has felt a strong need to introduce a full time MBA type programme in Project Management.
The National Institute of Construction Management and Research (NICMAR), has had the
longest running pioneering Post Graduate Programme in Advanced Construction
Management (focussing on construction project management) in the country. This was
followed by another pioneering two year full time Post Graduate Programme in Project
Engineering and Management for all types of mega and major projects and their
management. The Institute has further innovated and introduced another two year Post
Graduate Programme, the first of its kind in the country, in the field of Real Estate and Urban
Infrastructure Management. Another programme, the two year full time Post Graduate
Programme in Infrastructure Finance, Development and Management is due to be launched
from the next academic session in 2011. This programme too devotes substantial attention to
managing projects in these sectors.
1.2 Key Questions Raised In The Study
18

In view of the burning intensity of this problem, the key questions that are sought to be
investigated and reported in this study relate to the factors that are affecting the growth of PM
education and training in our country. The study specifically aims to explore issues from the
perspectives of academic institutions, industry users and industry sponsors of executive
training and development. For instance, we would like to know :
• At present what is the role that educational institutions are playing in the technical and
business education domains to create capacity?
• How is the industry overcoming the problem of skills and competency deficiency in PM?
• To what extent the recipients of PM training and education find it useful and are able to
apply their skills and knowledge in the real world of managing and executing projects?
• Further, do we have adequate human resources to undertake and see a series of mega
projects through? Is the PM human resource base expanding?
• Is research in PM adequate and of the kind that would help the industry? Is it solutions
driven? Is it helping the creation of theoretical precepts and is it integrative in its nature?
Globally the demand for Project Management professionals is increasing and as a result there
is a growing interest as well as availability of PM education at all levels i.e. undergraduate,
postgraduate, advanced / doctoral level programmes with developed regions like North
America, Europe, Australia and some advanced nations in Asia leading the race (Turner &
Heumann, 2001). The maximum growth in project management education in the near future
is foreseen in the world’s two most significant countries, namely India and China, with the
objectives of both countries being the same, i.e. to alleviate poverty through economic
development. More discussion on China’s efforts in spreading PM education is contained in
the next chapter of the report.
1.3 The Private Sector Imperative In PM
A hypothesis may be offered, that the Private Sector has a better track record in building PM
competency as against Public Sector enterprises, as the former are often contractors to many
governmental projects, face intense competitive pressure arising out of tight bidding
frameworks like ‘lowest bid’ acceptance criteria, etc. and therefore would require use of
latest and best techniques of managing and completing projects on time and within the
19

stipulated costs and quality parameters, to ensure better project returns. Also of importance is
the industry’s desire to be awarded projects that would fetch them high value and high
visibility while conceptualising and executing complex projects. Inevitably this would be
achieved only under conditions wherein the companies have developed prior capabilities in
bidding and executing such complex projects. Therefore it was felt relevant to study the
extent of the effort taken by these industries in preparing the personnel and staff through
training to meet the above challenges and narrow the existing competency gaps.
The economic growth model adopted by the Indian government involves greater use of
Public Private Participation in infrastructure and other development projects, which has
resulted in Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model and other variants such as Build, Own,
Operate, Transfer, (BOOT); Build, Own, Lease, Transfer (BOLT); or Build, Own, Operate
and Maintain (BOOM) being increasingly adopted to award projects to companies. Such
companies or ‘concessionaires’ therefore find that adoption of superior project management
techniques is fundamental to their success. Any delays in project completion could result in
delayed revenue realisation for the companies, resulting in future losses and hamper their
business opportunities. According to the Planning Commission’s targets, public private
infrastructure projects are being made monitorable and achievement oriented, especially for
sectors like roads, power and ports. Thus the private sector views project management skills
as a necessity.
1.4 Key India Level Statistics Of Project Announcements By Indian Corporations
Traditional industries credited with PM practices include: construction, manufacturing, power
and heavy engineering. Added to these are the IT/ITES/ Telecom companies and service
sector companies. Besides a significant number of large social development oriented schemes
of Government such as in health, nutrition, family welfare, rural employment, etc. are
implemented through Project / Programme mode. In order to find out the overall “projects”
activity of Indian companies in the public and private sector, the CMIE database was used.
The Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy – Capex Data, (CMIE- Capex) is an authentic
information database which catalogues industry information of Indian companies obtained
largely through companies’ financial reporting. In the basic search conducted to list the total
number of projects announced by Indian companies in the year 2010, it was revealed that a
total of 16,145, projects had been listed in different stages of development, viz. 1)
20

announcement stage, 2) under implementation, or 3) stalled for some reason. Data for 385
projects was ‘Not Available’, though the project name and company were listed. Refer
Exhibit 1.
Exhibit 1
Project Announcements/Under Implementation/Employment
Year 2010
Category Project
Announcements
Projects Under
Implementation
Projects
Implementation
Stalled
Total
Projects
Employment
Construction 472 1372 29 1873 7,695,272
Power 1050 827 43 1920 37,390
Manufacturin
g 1844 1561 121 3526 1,077,380
Mining 222 350 16 588 53,691
Services 3612 4112 129 7853 7,306,096
Total 7200 8222 338 15760* 1,61, 69,829
CMIE Capex Database, 2010
* Data for 385 projects appeared ‘Not Available’ in the database
Exhibit 1 offers a quick view of the magnitude of the project industry in India as whole. More
than one hundred and sixty million persons are currently employed in this sector. Though the
data is by no means complete, due to the limitations faced in capturing the full data, it serves
as a good indicator of the current potential of the projects industry.
Project Announcements were to the tune of 7200 in the year 2010 alone, with the most
projects being announced in the Services sector. This sector consists of Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) projects, shipyard expansion, hotel and tourism, outlets, IT parks, SEZ,
malls, etc. Project Announcements in manufacturing sector, comprising electrical machinery,
iron products, plants installation, exploration, diesel engines etc. were to the tune of 1844. In
case of services, 3612 projects have been announced in the year 2010. The total projects in
Services sector account for more than 50% of the projects announced. The second highest
employment is seen in this sector with 73, 06, 096 persons being employed in Service sector
21

projects. Power projects consist of activities in the area of thermal power projects,
transmission lines, hydro electric, gas based, coal based, and renewable power projects.
Announcements in the year 2010 were as high as 1050. Construction projects included
townships, residential, industrial parks, SEZs construction, processing and logistics;
commercial, etc. Very few projects in construction were in the ‘stalled’ category. The
employment generated in this sector is the highest with almost 76, 95,272 persons employed.
The majority of the projects by value were in the range of less than Rupees 1000 crores,
numbering 9454, followed by project value in the range of Rs. 1001- 2000 crores. Refer
Exhibit Nos. 2 a and 2 b, in which the number of projects and their sector wise value (at cost)
are shown in the select sectors of Construction, Power, Manufacturing, Mining and Services.
The figures provide an idea of the enormous importance of these sectors to the national
economy.
The data in both the Exhibits 2a and 2b suggests that over one hundred trillion rupees
remains invested in 11,187 of the 16145 projects for the year 2010, mentioned in the CMIE
Capex Database. Though the data is only indicative in nature, it is presented with a view to
draw attention to the significance of this sector and its sensitivity to the investment and
economic growth of the country. Any delays, due to time or cost would only result in direct
losses to the national exchequer as well as retard planned economic growth.
Exhibit 2 A
Number Of Projects Sector-Wise By Cost
Year 2010, ( Crore)
Project Cost in
Crores
Construction Power Manufacturing Mining Services Total
Less than 1000 713 805 2363 291 5282 9454
1001 to 2000 74 91 133 27 272 597
2001 to 3000 28 97 60 9 87 281
3001 to 4000 14 84 27 8 39 172
4001 to 5000 8 84 16 5 38 151
above 5001 45 251 125 15 96 532
NA* 992 523 1059 237 2147 4958
Total 1874 1935 3783 592 7961 16145
G.T. 16, 145
CMIE Capex Database, 2010
*Data for 4958 projects appeared as ‘Not Available’
22

1.5 Initiatives Of Indian Government And Industry, In The Promotion Of PM
Education
A series of initiatives to promote PM education have been undertaken by the government as
well as industry, in the form of individual company led initiatives, and/or industry
associations such as Project Management Institute®
, (PMI®
), International Project
Management Association®
(IPMA®
) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (FICCI). All the entities mentioned are actively involved with key government
departments such as the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government
of India (MOSPI, GoI), the Planning Commission of India, etc. to expedite the efforts in
training and education of PM practices. Recent initiatives by the government include the
expressed need by MOSPI to organise certification level programmes for persons working at
lower and middle levels within the project industry, as well as full time advanced project
management courses in leading institutions. The Planning Commission has made project
targets ‘monitorable’ to various ministries and departments of the government, which are
linked to the performance and future fund disbursements to the latter. Chapter 2, covers this
is greater detail.
In order to accurately gauge the current and future efforts made by stakeholders in the
projects industry, a need was felt to support the secondary data sources with primary studies
covering academic institutions, industry and the recipients of PM education. In this chapter,
the government’s desire and seriousness to play an active role in ensuring the contribution of
the project sector in expediting national development goals was sought to be described. The
23
Exhibit 2 b
Sector – wise Project by Value (at cost)
Year 2010,
Rs ‘000 crs
Category Construction Power Manufacturing Mining Services Total
< Rs.1000
crs
1,91,915 1,63,251 3,93,963 61,643 7,53,092 15,63,863
Rs.1001 to
Rs. 2000 crs
1,19,111 1,33,556 2,03,261 38,907 4,03,785 8,98,620
Rs.2001 to
Rs3000 crs
71,163 2,65,437.30 1,52,872 22,514 2,20,427 7,32,413
Rs.3001 to
Rs. 4000 crs
50,916 2,74,151.74 98,531 27,611 1,38,370 5,89,581
Rs.4001 to
Rs.5000 crs
38,100 3,88,757.60 73,399 21,708 1,78,508 7,00,472
> Rs. 5001
crs
6,93,172 26,26,671 18,47,308 1,93,014 12,28,236 65,88,402
Total 11,64,378 38,51,825 27,69,334 3,65,397 29,22,418 1,10,73,351
Grand
Total
2,21,46,703

next chapter takes a closer view of the efforts made by Indian stakeholders and similar
initiatives in other countries as well.
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT EDUCATION
ON A GLOBAL SCALE
2.1 Introduction
An indicator of the maturity of any profession is the availability of quality academic
programmes that provide the advantages of research backed teaching and learning. The
greater the research, the better the replication and standardisation of the process of learning
so that Knowledge, Skills and Attitude – the trinity of any learning are easily transferred to
the student in a systematic manner. This helps the recipient of training to perform and deliver
much faster on the job.
With the rapid growth of ‘projectised’ and project led companies, organizations are found to
be replacing their traditional management structures, like the corporate divisional or
departmental structures with those that are leaner and more objective oriented (Bergrenn and
24

Soderlund, 2008). Earlier works based on a survey, documented the widespread growth of
project management and its rising interest amongst the top managements of companies
(Soderlund, 2004). From being a mere ‘add-on’ to a system engineer’s or civil engineer’s
role, project management has grown as a deliberate choice of career, in many countries. This
is reflected in the growth of the leading professional association of project management –
Project Management Institute (PMI®
), USA which had less than 15,000 members in 1993 has
well over 500,000 members in 2010 (AMA Handbook 2005, PMI, 2010). The AMA quotes
that this membership is growing at the rate of approximately 5000 per month indicating the
‘mainstreaming’ of the project manager’s role in the industry. In formal bidding processes
related to contractual services, client organizations call for certified project professionals,
thus reaffirming project management’s growing importance as a discipline.
Globally, apart from academic institutions, four major bodies are engaged in the provision of
standardised instruction in project management namely PMI®
in North America and other
countries, the Project Management Association in England (PMA), with over 9000 certified
project managers), the International Project Management Association (IPMA) representing
over 24 countries in Europe and over 5000 certified project managers and lastly the
Australian Institute of Project Management with over 1000 certified project managers (AMA
Handbook, 2005). In 2010, according to the PMI®
, there were over 500,000 qualified Project
Management Professionals®
(PMPs®
), (PMI, 2010) worldwide. In 2004, a large scale survey
of around 1000 Registered Education Providers (REPs) of PMI®
worldwide revealed that in
2004 alone, over 500,000 individuals participated in some form of PM training or education
offered by the REPs and other educational institutions. The same report asserted that this was
slated to increase in the coming years.
The Figure 1 below depicts the share of Registered Education Providers of PMI®
worldwide
in the year 2005. As is seen, the Asia/Pacific region accounts for the second highest share of
Registered Education Providers of PMI®
next only to North America,. Also seen is the huge
gap in the proportion of REPs®
between the two regions.
Figure 1: Worldwide R.E.P. Distribution (2005)
25

Source: Price et al, 2006
However there has been huge growth in degree programmes being offered in this area, from a
mere 10 in 1994 to over 185 in 2006 in the USA and Europe. Most of these programmes are
tailored to suit the IT industry (73.1%) as compared to sectors like Financial, Business
Management, Construction, etc (Michael Price et al, 2004). There are over 65 degree
programmes in more than 25 academic institutions currently accredited by the Global
Accreditation Centre for Project Management Programmes of the PMI®
in North America.
Several other programmes are at various stages of the accreditation process (PMI®
, 2010).
In contrast in India, one finds a huge demand for training in PM primarily for Information
Technology as well as in Construction Industry. However the number of listed REP®
s in
India is merely 70 in all2
. In China, PM education is more widespread in sectors like
construction, oil and gas, power and so on. The financial services sector in both countries is
yet to fully utilise the importance of PM training. The status of PM education and skill
building in these countries is further discussed later in this section.
The growth of PM education and training in Asia and Pacific regions suggests that it is
spreading in newer geographies; it has also been spreading into newer areas of application. In
fact PMI®
’s own publication titled Project Management Circa 2025, looks at newer
applications of PM in such emerging and diversified fields like nanotechnology and future
energy, new frontiers like earth sciences, monitoring of planet, extreme weather response and
climate control. It also gives an insight into the emerging countries where PM will take roots
such as in India, Spain, China, Asia Pacific and Arabian regions3
.
2.2 PM Education In America And Europe
2
(https://ccrs.pmi.org/Search.aspx)
3
(www.pmi.org/PM2025)
26

Scientific PM education has its earliest origins in the well known discipline of Operations
Management. Therefore one can say that the bases of early development can be found in the
works of Frederick Taylor and Henry Gantt, (1915 - 40). Since the 1950s, the advances in
PM as an organised discipline within management took root in these regions. PM as a
discipline has grown from these roots and is now well entrenched in the business and
research realms worldwide. The extent and depth of PM education is witnessed more in these
continents than in other parts of the world. In these regions, PM education has attained such
recognition, as to be made mandatory, and a prerequisite in the procurement and management
of large scale and complex projects either within the country or internationally. Most of the
literature records the systematic development of this discipline as experienced in these
advanced regions.
In case of developing countries and emerging economies, especially in India and China, use
of formal PM techniques to acquire and execute projects in an organised manner, appears to
have taken roots only over the last one and a half decade. A survey of the relevant literature
in international journals focussing on PM reveals relatively less work emanating from
countries like India and efforts to initiate PM programmes in academics and research.
2.3 PM In Academia – A Global Snapshot
The introduction of project management courses in the universities and business schools in
North America, Europe and leading Asian countries is on the rise. In 1993, it is documented
that there were only 5 universities that offered degree programmes in Project Management in
North America. Ten years later, there were 33 such programmes in USA and Canada alone.
In their research, Professors Thomas Mengel, Janice Thomas (2008), Bill Zwerman (2004),
Kent Crawford (2006), Dinsmore and Cabanis – Brewin (2006) have tried to find answers to
the question of systematizing the study of project management to offer it as a preferred career
option. The ultimate aim of the Project Management Programmes is to induce three major
competencies in the student – project management skills, leadership and technical skills.
According to Turner and Huemann (2001), a study of mature project management societies,
such as UK, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, revealed that around 10% of the universities
offered Masters’ degrees in Project Management. PM education began ‘top down’ in case of
United Kingdom, through existing Masters’ degree or Doctoral programmes in concerned
disciplines. For instance, it is observed that in the United Kingdom, the Master’s Programme
27

in Science or Business Administration exists with PM as a speciality. It also exists as a
specialist degree like in Construction Project Management. Also it was observed that in the
case of degree courses in Information Technology, no course by the name ‘Information
Systems Project Management’ existed, even though PM subjects are covered within courses
such as Information Systems Management. Later educational programmes emerged focusing
on Project Management. Further, these ‘percolated’ down from higher level education into
the secondary and even the primary level education.
2.3.1 PM In Other European Countries
In case of other countries in Europe, Turner and Huemann (2001) observe that in Austria,
Switzerland and Germany, different ways are being adopted to reach a common goal of
making all these into ‘project oriented societies’. In Austria, PM education began first with
taught masters’ degrees, either as programmes specialising in project management, or with
project management as an essential component of wider programmes. From there, it spread
upwards and downwards to other levels. Austria has also embarked upon a project to
popularise the use of PM in industries and then take it to the municipalities, students and
families under the ‘Programme 1 Austria’ to raise awareness of project management as a
profession. Austria and Germany also offer doctoral level programmes in PM. Certificates
and Diplomas are offered by professional or other bodies. Vocational qualifications such as in
the UK are not available in these countries. Switzerland has set a goal of becoming a quality
competence centre in PM.
2.4 Indian PM Growth
In India, there does not appear to be any clear evidence of studies covering the growth of PM
education and research, in the public domain. Unlike its European and American
counterparts, there appears to be less focussed attention in this area of study as compared to
Operations Management wherein Indian academic programmes and research are in an
advanced state. This study attempts to find out the current state of this emerging field in
India.
The scope is limited to the technical and management education institutions. Given below is
the state wise table, listing the number of approved institutions offering business
engineering/administration/management courses in India. The list is that of the All India
28

Council of Technical Education (AICTE) which is an apex government body formed to
regulate technical, professional and management education providers. A total of 3904 AICTE
approved institutions offer afore mentioned degrees in India. Apart from this, there are many
Central, State and ‘Deemed to be Universities’ as well as autonomous ones that offer degrees,
diplomas and certificates in management and technical education. (Refer Table No. 3). Table
No. 4 describes the Number of Proposals received for the establishment of New Technical
Institutes for the Academic year 2009-2010, upto 31.12.200
The data in Tables 3 & 4, point towards a rapid growth of technical and business schools in
India. With the increase in such institutions, PM education could be suitably emphasized to
secure a better share of coverage with a rapid rate of growth. Almost all technical schools
include within their syllabi, a subject matter that covers PERT/CPM techniques under a
variety of nomenclatures. In case of business schools, these techniques are included under the
typical heading of Operations Management as a compulsory base course, and also as a
specialisation in the second year under the same head with more advanced exposure to the
subject. One finds very few instances in the country wherein a course with the title “Project
Management” is included or is taught in full time programmes of technical/business
institutions. A general search on the Google search engine titled ‘project management courses
in India’ showed up 12,057 results only for India4
. A more detailed description obtained from
the website of important and specific cases covering institutes such as IIMs, NITIE and
SIOM is covered in the section below.
Table 3 : Statewise List Of Institutions Offering Management Degrees
As On 31/08/2008
Sr. No. States/UTs Engg & Tech. MBA PGDM
1 Madhya Pradesh 161 56 7
2 Chhatisgarh 41 7 2
3 Gujarat 55 51 11
4 Mizoram 1 0 0
5 Sikkim 1 1 0
6 Orissa 68 29 15
7 West Bengal 71 27 2
8 Tripura 3 0 0
9 Meghalaya 1 0 0
10 Arunachal Pradesh 1 0 0
11 Andaman & Nicobar 0 0 0
12 Assam 7 5 1
13 Manipur 1 1 0
4
(www.emagister.in, Site accessed on Aug, 2010)
29

14 Nagaland 1 0 0
15 Jharkhand 13 4 3
16 Bihar 15 11 1
17 Uttar Pradesh 241 125 88
18 Uttaranchal 19 23 2
19 Chandigarh 5 0 1
20 Haryana 116 56 10
21 Jammu & Kashmir 7 9 0
22 New Delhi 19 13 24
23 Punjab 70 55 4
24 Rajasthan 81 49 15
25 Himachal Pradesh 9 8 0
26 Andhra Pradesh 527 231 24
27 Pondicherry 9 1 0
28 Tamil Nadu 352 154 4
29 Karnataka 157 109 15
30 Kerala 94 37 7
31 Maharashtra 239 168 48
32 Goa 3 1 1
33 Daman & Diu, Dadar,
NH
0 0 0
Total 2388 1231 285
Gr. Tot 3904
Source: www.aicte.ernet.in/ApprovedInstitute.htm
Table 4 : Number Of Proposals Received By AICTE To Establish New Institutions
Region State Engg. PGDM MBA
Central Madhya Pradesh 50 16 63
Chhattisgarh 10 2 7
Gujarat 43 8 67
East Orissa 53 10 24
Assam 9 0 5
Meghalaya 0 0 0
Manipur 0 0 0
Mizoram 0 0 0
West Bengal 23 3 7
Nagaland 0 0 0
Jharkhand 2 3 1
Sikkim 1 0 0
Arunachal Pradesh 0 0 0
Tripura 1 0 0
Andaman &
Nicobar
1 0 0
North Uttar Pradesh 83 84 130
Uttranchal 13 3 14
Bihar 12 2 3
Chandigarh Chandigarh 0 0 1
Delhi 1 3 2
Haryana 38 11 36
Himachal Pradesh 11 0 6
J&K 0 0 0
Punjab 16 1 30
Rajasthan 49 12 65
30

South Tamil Nadu 144 3 38
Pondicherry 4 0 0
Andhra Pradesh 176 31 178
South West Karnataka 32 18 26
Kerala 29 1 8
West Maharashtra 85 37 123
Goa 0 2 0
Daman & Diu 0 0 0
Total 886 250 834
Grand Total 1970
Source: www.aicte.ernet.in/ApprovedInstitute.htm
2.4.1 Specific Cases in India
a) Indian Institutes of Management, MBA Institutions, Engineering Colleges
Practically all the IIMs offer some elective courses either directly named “Project
Management” or some other titles dedicated to the coverage of important themes in project
management. In general management oriented, Master’s in Business Administration (MBA)
programmes, PM related subjects are included in almost all curricula of management
institutions, but do not always appear specifically in the form of full length courses. Usually
the Operations Management courses, cover selective subject matter from the PM domain.
Only specialist courses cover a wider gamut of PM subject content and emphasis, but these
are not commonly found in MBA programmes. Similarly almost all the courses covered in
technical colleges, especially those covering construction, engineering and information
technology include project management, within their ambit at introductory level, usually in
the form of a module.
b) National Institute Of Construction Management And Research
The National Institute of Construction Management and Research (NICMAR), offers the Post
Graduate Programmes in Advanced Construction Management and Real Estate and Urban
Infrastructure that have a host of dedicated subjects covering the PM domain; yet the term
‘Project’ does not always appear distinctly in the nomenclature of the said programmes.
However, the institute’s Post Graduate Programme in Project Engineering and Management,
has clear descriptions of subjects in project domain as defined in the Project Management
Body of Knowledge®
(PMBOK®
)5
. This two year full time programme is arguably India’s
only course of its type, and combines subject matter from all the major domain areas i.e.
5
The PMBOK® includes 5 Process Groups and 12 Knowledge Areas that are covered in the domain of PM, PMI, 4th
Edition 2008.
31

General Management, Project Management, Behavioural Sciences, Engineering and
Technology and Information Technology.
c) Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management
In case of Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management (SIOM), a specialist degree, the
Masters in Business Administration in Operations Management (MBA Operations
Management) is offered, which covers subjects such as Operations, Projects and Resource
Planning6
.
d) National Institute of Technology and Industrial Engineering
The National Institute of Technology and Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai, runs the
Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Engineering (PGDIE), Post Graduate Diploma in
Industrial Safety and Environmental Management (PGDISEM), Post Graduate Diploma in
Information Technology Management (PGDITM), and Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial
Management (PGDIM)7
. The PGDIE has such subjects that are of core importance to
industrial operations such as Operations Planning and Control, Project Management, Work
System Design, Operations Research, Systems Engineering, etc., in addition to other subjects.
In India, as is observed in the United Kingdom, most of the post graduate management
courses covering the PM domain are seen sans the ‘Project’ term included in the title of the
course, though the curriculum adequately reflects to varying degrees the subject matter
related to the same.
The exception however, is noticed in the Post Graduate Programme in Project Engineering
and Management offered by NICMAR, wherein the entire ‘Project’ term is explicitly included
in the title of the programme, and provides the most comprehensive coverage of all the
relevant knowledge domains.
2.5 PM in Research
Project Management (PM) has evolved since the sixties as an area of interest for researchers
and academicians alike. Up until then, PM existed more in the realm of practice than as a
pursuit of systematic study and research. The early evolution of the discipline could be
attributed to the works of Frederick Taylor and Henry Gantt (1900s – 1920s) which
6
(www.siom.in/mba_operations.aspx Site accessed as on August 2010)
7
(http://www.nitie.edu Site accessed as on August 2010)
32

emphasised the organisation of work in such a way that would be amenable for scientific
analysis, measurement and improvement as well as its systematic planning and scheduling.
In the decades following World War II, massive reconstruction work had to be undertaken in
the hugely affected areas of Europe and Japan. Simultaneously the newly independent
countries especially in Asia, began the path of economic development. In this, businesses and
organizations saw great opportunity to undertake projects which were complex, unique and
very large in scope. The growing use of energy, fed by growing economies everywhere, was
on the rise, fuelling strong demand for petroleum products, natural gas, and electric power.
The need for production, processing, and transportation facilities increased dramatically. New
projects began getting bigger and more venturesome. This was also the time for nations to
prove their prowess over others by launching space flights, submarines, constructing high rise
buildings, building dams and laying high altitude rail lines and roads. Obviously the mainstay
of all such ventures was the proper deployment of technology, manpower and resources in a
way that the financial resources committed by the governments could derive optimum
leverage in the face of given constraints. ‘Managing by Projects’ became a term that gained
prominence at this time. With the protracted success of PM as a useful discipline in
implementing projects, there was interest amongst researchers to study projects and the
processes adopted that made some projects successful while others failed to add to the return
on investment (Thomas and Mullaly, 2008). From the early decades of the twentieth century,
the private sector had begun the widespread use of sophisticated means of deployment of
resources to obtain high levels of productivity in their markets. Thus PM emerged and was
developed as a sub discipline of industrial engineering and operations management
(Crawford et al, 2006).
In the 1960s, the formation of Project Management Institute®
(PMI®
), in USA, International
Project Management Association (IPMA) in Europe and Australian Institute of Project
Management (established in 1976), gave further impetus to the study and practice of PM.
These associations collaborated with research scholars and launched publications dedicated to
the theory and practice of PM. It was in the 1960s that researchers commenced a systematic
study of how projects are conceived and managed and an attempt began to be made to
organise the practice as a discipline. Empirical studies commenced either as research pursuits
of doctoral students or commissioned research from these associations. Journals such as the
‘International Journal of Project Management’ (IPMA), the ‘Project Management Journal®
’
33

(PMI®
), the ‘Project Management Journal’ of Soviet Russian Project Management
Association -SOVNET8
, ‘Project Manager’ of Australian Institute of Project Management,
are some examples of the rapid growth and dissemination of PM related literature. The fast
developing Asian countries have to ‘catch up’ in this area.
Research in the area of PM has continued to evolve steadily over the past 30 decades. A study
was commissioned by the UK government in 2003, (UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC)) on “Rethinking Project Management”. It was a bid to extract PM
research from mere theoretical paradigms and relate it to empirical practice. Thus the study
sought to define a research agenda aimed at enriching and extending the subject of project
management beyond its current conceptual foundations (Crawford et al, 2006). The
objectives of this study were the following :
1) To research Theory about practice of PM. This meant the effort towards the
development of new models and theories which recognise and illuminate the
complexity of the project and PM at all levels.
2) To develop Theory for practice which meant understanding projects as a social
process, creation of value as the prime focus of its existence and a broader
conceptualisation of projects to include multi disciplinary approach, existing for
multiple purposes instead of very narrow definitions of scope and purpose.
3) To develop Theory in practice which meant the creation of training for PM in such a
way as not to restrict the practitioners to merely following detailed procedures and
techniques, as prescribed by PM methods and tools but to create ‘reflective
practitioners’.
Anbari and Young (2009) mention the work of Kloppenberg and Opfer whose research
identified project management research published in articles, papers, dissertations, and
government research reports since 1960. They found that the emphasis has moved from
development and use of automated project management software and tools to risk
management, earned value management and then to human resource aspects. They also
determined that research focus moved from large government defence projects to commercial
applications in construction, information systems, and new product development. They
concluded that project management has extensive current opportunities and a bright future. In
8
(www.pmforum.org/library/journals.htm Site accessed as on August 2010)
34

the same paper, Anbari and Young (2009) mention Bredillet’s conclusions that PM is
becoming increasingly linked with the implementation of organizational strategy.
2.5.1 PM Research In India
The quantum of research generated in India in relation to PM in its present state remains
miniscule. A study of the publications appearing in one of the most acclaimed journal
showcasing PM dedicated studies and literature i.e. the International Journal of Project
Management (IJPM®
) was carried out. A search was run of the articles contained in this
journal to develop an idea about the number of articles that included India-centric studies in
the period ranging from 1988 – 2010. The Graph 1 shows that the search yielded a total of
only 101 results, in which India features either in the main title of the article or at times in its
contents too. (IJPM®
, 1988-2010).
Graph 1: Articles In IJPM Containing India – Centric Content
An advanced search was done to arrive at the ‘affiliations’ data i.e. how many of these
research papers originated from India. The search has revealed that only 26 papers in the
same period (1988-2010) have been published by academics and occasionally by industry
practitioners in the journal from India.
2.6 PM In Industry
A study conducted by the Centre for Business Practices of 53 practitioners at Toronto,
Canada, revealed that in 62 - 91% of organizations, project management training resulted in
moderate to extreme improvement in employee knowledge and skills, on the job
performance, and on schedule performance (Michael Price et al, 2004). Though the number is
too small to be an indicator of the larger universe, other statistics help to prove the point.
35

The growth of PM training could be attributed to the formation of the PM associations that
took great initiative to replicate the formal learning and training of practitioners to enhance as
well as standardise project performance while ensuring favourable project outcomes
(Soderlund, 2004). Through the formation of the Bodies of Knowledge along with their
associated certification programmes, these associations have tried to propagate PM education
around the world.
However in the same paper, Soderland argues that the field of project management has a
narrow focus and that though a number of teaching programmes have been developed,
commensurate research in these areas is found wanting. Shenhar and Dvir (1996) continued
in the same vein maintaining that PM suffers due to a limited theoretical basis and lack of
concepts. The duo has been credited with the ‘Diamond Framework’ for strategic project
management. Other researchers have raised concerns regarding the level and quality of
research that has been produced in the area of PM. Bibliometric analyses of the type of
research articles and papers published in leading PM journals such as International Journal of
Project Management (IJPM), Project Management Journal (PMI®
) and a host of conference
presentations etc, lament the depth and variety of research in this area. A study by Crawford
et al (2006) revealed the trends in PM research and the emphasis of articles in the period
1993-2003 and found that these are changing. According to her, project management is
regularly facing new challenges as a field of study, as the tools, methods and approaches to
management that comprise the discipline are applied to different areas, for different ends, and
in different cultures.
Another decade wise bibliometric analysis following the one by Crawford (2006) by Turner
in 2010, revealed that in 1987, the most popular topics of research were engineering and
construction, computer support, time, execution and control. Operation and maintenance
followed next in importance. Topics such as life cycle cost, operation and maintenance were
not covered in the next two decades till 1997 or 2007. Interest in Construction Sector grew,
with the number of papers covering the subject going up to 36% of the article contribution.
The next most popular subjects in 1997 were in the area of computer support, time
management and risk management. Risk Management continued in importance in 2007, but
a growing interest in partnerships and alliances; interest in human resource management and
developing individual competence gained ground by 2007. The interest in Program
Management appeared in 1997 and Portfolio Management in 2007. The study helps to
36

understand that the scope of PM study and research interests has become more diverse and
now encompass many more areas that cover the field of enterprise management as a whole.
2.6.1 Training And Development Expenditure In Indian Projects Industry – A Bird’s
Eye View
The American Society for Training has estimated training spend to be in the range of 2-2.5
per cent of company turnover on employee skill development programmes (Rao, 2009).
Some companies are known to spend up to five per cent of their turnover on training. In the
previous chapter, there was an attempt to arrive at the magnitude of project industry by
presenting a cross sectional data on the employment figures and amount of capital invested in
this industry in the year 2010 alone. It is necessary to understand the industry’s efforts in
capacity building and development of human resources. Once again, CMIE Database –
Annual Reports 2005-08 data was used to estimate the training and development budgets of
project companies.
In order to find out the current state of affairs regarding the allocation of funds by companies
to Training and Development (T&D) of its personnel, a full search of the annual reports of
project based companies, i.e. construction, manufacturing, power generation, mining,
petrochemicals, railways etc. was made. The objective was to obtain the budgetary
allocations made by project based companies in PM related training. An advanced search was
conducted to find out whether the companies had budgets earmarked for ‘training and
development’ or ‘staff training’ expenses so as to draw some meaningful conclusions about
the size of training budgets of project based companies in India. From among the 16, 145
companies, the search showed up only a total of 1761 companies who had a category named
‘staff training’ in their annual financial statements. In the period between 2005- 2008, though
there was a minor increase in the number of companies who had some allocation under the
‘Staff Training’ or ‘Training and Development’ (T & D) category, the overall record appears
too minor to mention. In 2008, only around 59.42 crores were spent by 42 CMIE listed
project companies on T&D, a moderate improvement over the 2005 spend of 31.59 crores
by 22 CMIE listed companies (Refer Annexure 2, a, b, c and d).
This data is insufficient to arrive at any meaningful conclusion regarding the training budgets
of project based companies related to PM training. However the data helps to explain some of
the difficulties in capturing T&D figures of project companies. A closer look at the above
tables reveals the anomalies wherein the typical industry leaders known for their training
37

impetus like HCC Ltd., GMR, Simplex Ltd., Reliance Industries, Gammon, L&T, GVK, JP
Group, and so on, are consistently missing from the list. These companies have full fledged
training departments and are known to conduct training at almost all levels of project activity.
To understand the reason behind the inadequate data, the issue was followed up with a few
human resources /training managers of these companies, and an industry association expert
using the personal discussion method (reference, pp 139). Most HR managers of project
companies corroborated the point that T & D expenses of project based companies are not
reflected in annual reports but are added primarily in the following ways :
1) Added to the general ‘staff welfare’ expenses and not listed separately under clear
training and development head in the annual reports. Thus it is difficult to isolate the
exact and actual budgets that are dedicated by project based companies to this activity
(FICCI, HCC)
2) Added to the overall project expenditure and billed within the ambit of Project related
expenses (Gammon, Simplex)
3) Billed separately in case of in house training, as most of the resource persons used are
from within the organisation (Gammon, Simplex, HCC)
In software project companies also, the picture is similar. The most training intensive
software companies like Infosys and Wipro Technologies do not have ‘T&D’ or ‘Staff
Training’ as heads of expenses in their financial statements (Refer Box No.1).
38

It is a well known fact that Training and Development investment contributes to an improved
quality of human resource which in turn contributes to customer satisfaction and improved
financial performance. Senior management’s role in providing sufficient resources including
training, leads to a high degree of customer satisfaction (Feuss et al, 2004).
Despite the fact that the literature related to the use of PM by the heavy engineering industry
in India is very sparse, some literature is available for the Information Technology sector.
This again is not surprising, as it is strongly linked to international client requirements and is
based almost entirely upon acquisition and execution of software projects. However, as found
in the former case, no dedicated training budgets appear in the financial statements of the
companies. Barring a few exceptions, it can be concluded that there is a lack of clear statistics
in the public domain with respect to the training and development of PM competencies of the
public and private sector. Thus the need for a primary survey of HR managers was considered
essential.
2.7 India and China: Comparison of PM Education
India and China are considered important as the economic development plans in these two
countries require the launch and successful completion of mega, major and a host of medium
39
Box No.1 INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES LTD.
A case in point is that of INFOSYS Ltd., the largest software development transnational
organisation in the country. A section in the annual report, containing ‘Human Resources
Valuation’ attempts to list out the value addition made by the company’s human resource,
in the form of a ratio (Annual Report, 2009).
The human resource value addition ratio was pegged at 0.19 in 2009, an increase from the
earlier year (2008) of 0.15 as value addition to the company. Also the return on human
value as a percentage of the cost of human resources (welfare/salaries/wages etc.) grew
from 4.7% to 5.9%. A study of Infosys annual reports from 2005-09, reveals there is no
separate category or head under which training is listed.
However the company is known as the most training intensive company in the industry.
The company boasts of the best corporate training infrastructure in the country, with a
capacity to train 13,500 software project personnel simultaneously, under one roof at
Bangalore, apart from huge exclusive training facilities in every campus of the company.
Source: Infosys Annual Reports 2005-09

sized projects to cover the historical gap in Infrastructure. In case of India, the growth of PM
education in the form of certifications is clearly rising, as very often project terms and
conditions mandate certified professionals. According to PMI®
, which is the most active and
vigorous organisation in this arena, in the year 2006, there were around 6000 PMPs®
in India .
In the year 2010, this number has grown to 20,000 PMPs®
in management and technical
fields (Source: PMI®
, India Office).
In the case of China, the effort to introduce PM was very systematic and ‘top-down’. It began
with the World Bank giving a grant for training followed by the PMI®
stepping in, in the
early 1990s. Other entities like IPMA®
etc. followed suit. One such monumental instance of
this initiative was that of the Ministry of Construction (MOC). One hundred and forty
educational institutions or training centres had been accredited by MOC as project
management training providers up to the end of 1995. During the same period, 321,983
project managers took the training courses and 297,774 of them were certified by the MOC.
By 2004, 500,000 project managers in total, were certified by the MOC. Other ministries in
China such as Nuclear, Defence, and Oil & Gas etc too have made mandatory, the PM
certification even to apply for a job with them (Lu et al, 2004).
Another initiative was undertaken in 1998 by the State Administration of Foreign Experts
Affairs along with the Project Management Institute®
. The first REP®
was established in
1999, the BMMTEC International Education Group became the first subsidiary in China
certified by PMI providing Project Management Professionals®
(PMP®
) certification training
and examination services as well as other training and education on project management. By
the year 2004, there were 46 REPs in China, and about 70,000 people had participated in
PMP®
training, 4000 persons had been certified as PMPs®
by the REPs®
.
PMI®
has had a longer and stronger presence in China in promoting its project management
standards and certifications with regional offices in both Beijing and Hong Kong. PMI®
had
signed a cooperative accord with the China National Steering Committee of Professional
Education of Master of Engineering (SCME) on 7 March, 2008. The SCME oversees a
national consortium of 103 higher education institutions that have been authorised by the
Chinese government to offer Master of Engineering degree programmes in project
management. Due to the huge projects that China has launched in the construction,
information technology, manufacturing and aeronautics industries, the government has
committed significant resources to this effort. According to SCME, more than 14,000
40

students are enrolled in dedicated engineering master’s degree programmes in project
management in China (Pells, 2009).
In this Chapter, it is seen that the growth of PM towards being recognised as a discipline has
been systematically driven through the efforts of the government, academic institutions and
associations in the developed nations like UK, USA, Germany, Australia and Canada. In
other nations such as Russia and China, a lot of structured emphasis has been given to
popularise PM education. In India, modest efforts have begun in this direction. The next
chapter discusses the research design, scope and methodology adopted to collect primary data
from the stakeholder respondents of PM education.
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1 Basic Approach To The Study
The study is mostly based on primary data and the basic purpose is to find out the factors
inhibiting the wide spread initiation of Project Management Education in Indian technical and
business academic institutions and to suggest ways to broaden its present scope in India. The
study is restricted to India, and includes only leading technical/ business educational
institutions. It seeks to find the factors that aid, and those that inhibit the acceptance of
project management education in such academic institutions.
It simultaneously includes active executives who at graduation, had not undergone PM
education but have subsequently done so in the course of their employment. The aim is to
obtain their views on the extent of the added benefits of PM training, in fast tracking their
41

career growth. Lastly, we have covered a cross section of the select recruiters (Human
Resource Managers) in our study sample and obtained their views on the efficacy of PM
education in enhancing their executives’ ability to manage projects.
3.2 Objectives Of The Study
The main objectives of the research study are as follows:
1. To find the awareness and current state of PM education in the country amongst the
technical and business academic institutions, human resource managers and the recipients
of PM related training among active executives.
2. To determine the nature and depth of PM education prevalent in technical and
business schools in India.
3. To understand the degree of importance assigned to PM subjects for overall
competency development and employability in PM.
4. To investigate the subjects considered important by executives as essential to the
practice of PM.
5. To determine the personal and professional gains obtained from undergoing formally
taught courses in PM by practicing executives.
6. To find out factors considered most important in inhibiting the growth of PM
education in India.
7. To determine the extent of existing institutional support for the growth of PM
teaching and research.
8. To investigate the nature of training imparted to employees in PM competencies by
human resource departments of project based companies.
9. To find out which factors are the most important to companies for allocating time and
budgets for PM related training.
10. To identify the type of training that is most preferred by the PM based companies.
3.3 Scope Of The Study
The study covers the whole of India except the North –East in case of academic institutions.
Working executives are also from different parts of India across project based companies. Human
resource managers were drawn from construction, heavy engineering, IT and services sectors.
3.4 Hypotheses
42

We formulate the following hypotheses:
1) H0 = Overall the current status of PM education in India is poor.
H1 = Overall the current status of PM education in India is not poor.
2) H0 = The necessity of PM education in engineering/technical schools in India is very
high.
H1 = The necessity of PM education in engineering/technical schools in India is not
very high.
3) H0 = The necessity of PM education in management schools in India is very high.
H1 = The necessity of PM education in management schools in India is not very high.
4) H0 = The necessity of PM education in architecture/planning schools in India is very
high.
H1 = The necessity of PM education in architecture/planning schools in India is not
very high.
.
5) H0 = There exist regional differences in the establishment of PM education in India.
H1 = There exist no regional differences in the establishment of PM education in
India.
6) H0 =There exist faculty wise differences in the establishment of PM education in
India.
H1 = There exist no faculty wise differences in the establishment of PM education in
India.
7) H0 =There exists a difference in the establishment of PM education in India at the
under graduate and post graduate levels.
H1 = There exists no difference in the establishment of PM education in India at the
under graduate and post graduate levels.
43

8) H0 = There exists a difference in the understanding of the strategic role of projects in
the overall business context, after undergoing PM related training.
H1= There exists no difference in the understanding of the strategic role of projects in
the overall business context, after undergoing PM related training.
9) H0 = There exists a difference in the overall understanding of the project context.
H1 = There exists no difference in the overall understanding of the project context.
10) H0 = There exists a difference in the level of remuneration, enhancement of work
related responsibilities, and conflict resolution ability of individuals.
H1 = There exists no difference in the level of remuneration, enhancement of work
related responsibilities, and conflict resolution ability of individuals.
11) H0 = Training in Project Management helps to build the employee’s competencies.
H1 = Training in Project Management does not help to build the employee’s
competencies.
12) H0 = PM training results in greater accrual of benefits as against costs incurred on the
training.
H1 = PM training results in lesser accrual of benefits as against costs incurred on the
training.
13) H0 =PM training offered by certified trainers is more efficacious than that of others.
H1 = There is no difference in the efficacy of PM training offered by certified trainers
and others.
3.5 Methodology
The research covers a comprehensive search of secondary literature available in the public
domain to determine the efforts of all stakeholders in promoting PM education. This is
followed by a primary research of academic institutions, HR managers and active executives
44

of PM based companies. The analysis is based on statistical tools and techniques. We have
relied more on primary data, a widely accepted technique of analysis for the purpose of the
study. The study is based on cross sectional data and therefore has made use of the multiple
regression analysis technique to arrive at conclusions. The main purpose of this technique in
some cases, is to find out the factors necessary to promote the wide spread initiation of
Project Management (PM) Education in technical and business schools in India. Cases of six
institutions where PM is being taught are described separately in Chapter 4, Section A
covering Academic Institutions’ Analysis, (Refer Chp. 4). A case of an executive who has
undergone PM training while in active service is included in Chapter 5.
The study is divided into three sections. In section One, we analyze and discuss the state of
PM education in academic institutions offering technical and management education. In
sections Two and Three, the findings from the segments of practicing executives and human
resource managers respectively, have been discussed. The period in which the survey and
primary research work was carried out was March – May, 2010.
3.6 Academic Institutions
a) Sources of Data: The study uses primary sources of data obtained from academic
institutions.
b) Data Collection Instrument - Schedules (Questionnaires) : A questionnaire was
prepared as a research instrument and was administered by two means 1) personal in depth
interviews 2) by correspondence (email/courier). A total of 120 questionnaires were printed.
The bulk of the survey was conducted through the personal interviews administered to faculty
employed in engineering and management institutions in India.
c) Data Collection Method - Direct Interview Method : A total of 81 units of responses
were obtained of which 5 were received by mail/courier. In the southern region, of the 29
institutions approached, 19 interview responses were obtained. In the central and eastern
zones, a total of 25 institutions were approached and 18 responses were received. In the
northern region, 21 institutions were approached and 16 interview responses were received.
In the western region, a total of 25 institutions were approached and the responses received
were 21.
Questionnaires were also sent via email and 2 questionnaires by courier. Of the 15
questionnaires sent by email, responses for 7 were received. Thus a total of 81 responses
45

were received from a mix of government aided, autonomous and ‘deemed to be university’
institutions.
d) Sampling Procedure: The key features of the sampling procedure are stated below.
d.1) Sampling Area: All India, as per 5 Zones within India (given below)
d.2) Sample Size: 81 [Eastern India-05, Western India-21, Northern India-16, Southern-26
and Central India-13.]
d.3) Sample Unit: Academic Institutions
d.4) Sampling Technique: The survey was conducted based on zone wise proportionate
sampling of technical schools in India. In case of management institutions, it was based on
proportionate as well as convenience sampling technique. Thus in the sample, western and
northern regions have a greater representation of the business institutions due to their density
as well as the easy access of the researchers to the same.
e) Statistical Tools and Techniques: Pie Charts, Bar Diagrams, Column Diagrams,
Correlation & Regression Analysis, Factor Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis have
been used.
Using the responses in selected areas such as experience of faculty, their perceptions of the
state of PM education in India, the essentiality of teaching PM in technical and management
academic institutions, their ratings of subjects and levels to be included in the PM curricula,
impact on employability, etc. the percentage share of respondents who opted for a particular
rating was derived. This was presented in the form of graphs. Thereafter the numerical
averages were calculated to arrive at the overall rating assigned by the respondents.
f) Analytical Software: The software used included MS - Excel, SPSS and EVIEWS
The study uses descriptive statistics like pie charts, bar diagrams wherever a simple
descriptive data is being sought. For e.g. in case of the type of academic institutions; years of
service of faculty respondents, their personal PM related research pursuits, the funding of PM
related research in their institutions or whether the faculty has published papers in the same,
and such type of questions, the data have been presented using the above mentioned methods.
In order to find out the extent of interrelationship within the factors, the Correlation Matrix
(Multi-Colinearity) was used, like in the case of subjects that are necessary to be included in
46

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