1. By Cao Hao Thi - Fredric W. Swierczek
THE EFFECT OF HUMAN RESOURCE COMPETENCIES ON PROJECT PERFORMANCE IN VIETNAMESE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS By
Cao Hao Thi - Fredric W. Swierczek

2. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION
Introduction
Literature review
Hypothesis
Research methodology
Conclusions and recommendations

3. Introduction STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Question: Does Human Resource Competencies effect on Project Performance?
 The answers are still debatable
Many academics and practitioners have agreed that HR Competencies is one of the most crucial elements project success.
The results of the empirical studies conducted by Pinto and Prescott (1988) and Belout and Gauvereau (2004) contradict the above judgment.

4. Introduction OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
Attempts to respond to the controversial findings
Investigate the effects of human resource competencies on project performance of infrastructure projects in Vietnam
Consider key project factors of human resource competencies as they relate to project performance criteria

5. Literature Review PROJECT PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
Criteria may differ according to the assessors
 Common criteria:
+ Cost
+ Time
+ Technical performance / Quality
+ Customer satisfaction

6. Literature Review KEY PROJECT FACTORS
Belassi and Tukel (1996) grouped critical success factors into 4 areas related to:
+ External environment
+ Project manager and team members
+ Organization
+ Project
Pinto and Prescott (1988) and Belout and Gauvereau (2004) concluded the ‘Personnel factor’ did not have an impact on project success.

7. Literature Review SUMMARY
Many studies in project management have presented HR competencies factors including two main components of manager and team members of project
There is limited research on the strength of the relationship between the human resource competencies and project performance
Some results of the empirical studies concluded the ‘Personnel factor’ did not have an impact on project success. This contradicts the trend in project management in which the HR competencies usually plays important role in the success of organizations or in the performance of projects

8. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Manager Human Competencies Member Project
Performance
Human
Competencies
Manager
Member
Coordinate
Make
Decision
Negotiate
Delegate
Authority
Problem Solving
Trouble
Shooting
Goal
Commitment
Technical
Background
Cost
Customer
Satisfaction
Time
Technical
Performance

9. HYPOTHESIS
In a project, the higher the competencies of the project human resource the better the project performance

10. Research Methodology RESEARCH DESIGN
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Pilot
Survey
Final
Questionnaire
Reliability
Analysis
Exploratory
Factor Analysis (EFA)
Confirmatory
Factor Analysis
(CFA)
Structural
Equation Modeling (SEM)
Literature Review
Interviews
Initial
Back Translation
Revision
First Draft
The Research Process

11. Research Methodology OPERATIONALIZATION & MEASUREMENT
The indicators of project performance and project management factors will be mainly measured by the perception of project managers of infrastructure projects in Vietnam
Indicators of Project Performance:
+ Cost
+ Time
+ Technical performance
+ Customer satisfaction

12. Research Methodology OPERATIONALIZATION & MEASUREMENT
Indicators of HR Competencies factors are mainly based on the groups of factors developed by Belassi and Tukel (1996). These groups related to:
+ Project Manager Competencies
+ Team Member Competencies
In the conceptual framework, two factors of project manager competencies and team member competencies are considered as first order constructs; and HR competencies are treated as higher order construct.

13. Research Methodology SURVEY
Empirical research with quantitative approach
Self-administrative questionnaire
Informants: professionals in infrastructure projects in Vietnam
Number of questions: 25
Method: Mail + Direct interviews
Sample size: 239 (response rate: 24%)

14. DATA ANALYSIS Descriptive statistics Factor analysis
Structural equation modeling
Testing the conceptual model
Hypothesis testing

15. Data Analysis DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
Project background characteristics
Position of respondents
Ownership of project
Type of project
Number of activities
Total budget of project
Work experience of professionals
Organizational structure
Stage of project

16. Data Analysis DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
Assessment of non-response bias
Response from the survey were not significantly different from the pilot survey
Correlation between dependent variables and independent variables
The project factors are significantly correlated with performance criteria

17. Data Analysis FACTOR ANALYSIS
11 HR Competencies variables  2 factors
Manager Competencies ( 5  5)
Member Competencies ( 6  6)
Confirm factors developed by Belassi & Tukel (1996)
4 project performance variables  1 factor (4 variables)
Confirm project performance most used in previous research
Results of factor analysis confirm the appropriate scales for measuring the key projects factors of HR Competencies & Project performance

18. Data Analysis FACTOR ANALYSIS
HR Competencies
Member Competencies Manager Competencies
Problem solving
Trouble shooting
Commitment
Teamwork
Communication skills
Technical background
Ability to make decisions
Ability to coordinate
Ability to negotiate
Ability to delegate authority
Ability to perceive role and responsibility
Average of factor
Standard deviation of factor
Eigenvalues
Variance explained (%)
Cumulative variance explained (%)
Cronbach alpha

19. Data Analysis FACTOR ANALYSIS
Project Performance
Technical performance
Customer satisfaction
Cost
Time
Average of factor
Standard deviation of factor
Eigenvalues
Variance explained (%)
Cumulative variance explained (%)
Cronbach alpha

20. Data Analysis SEM ANALYSIS
Overall Fit Index
Critical values
Chi-square χ2
Smaller is better
p-value
p-value > 0.05
Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI)
Range from 0 to 1. Close to 1: good
Comparative Fit Index (CFI)
Normed Fit Index (NFI)
Range from 0 to 1. > 0.9: acceptable
RMSEA
< 0.05 : good fit : reasonable

21. Data Analysis SEM MODEL
Project
Performance
Human
Competencies
Manager
Member
Coordinate
Make
Decision
Negotiate
Delegate
Authority
Problem Solving
Trouble
Shooting
Goal
Commitment
Technical
Background
Cost
Customer
Satisfaction
Time
0.81
0.58
0.52
0.62
0.85
0.84
0.82
0.80
0.86
0.92
0.66
0.74

22. Data Analysis TESTING THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL
All of Overall Fit Index of CFA of key project factors and project performance fall into the acceptable range of goodness of fit criteria
This confirmed the validation of the proposed constructs as well as the overall fit of observed data
The SEM results supported the hypothesis of the relationships in the conceptual framework

23. Conclusions and Recommendations FINDINGS
There are 2 factors including Manager & Member Competencies had a significantly positive relationship with HR Competencies and finally impact on Project Performance
Provide confirmatory support to the HR Competencies variables developed by Belassi and Tukel (1996):
Project manager and
Team members
Confirm the important role of HR competencies in project performance that stated from management theory

24. Conclusions and Recommendations FINDINGS
Confirm 4 project performance most used in previous research:
Cost
Time
Technical performance
Customer satisfaction
 Project Performance can be considered a unidimensional construct

25. Conclusions and Recommendations FINDINGS
The results indicated that the criteria of technical background and customer satisfaction are more important than cost and time in the evaluation of the project success
Four variables including the abilities of project manager to make decisions, to coordinate, to negotiate, to delegate authority were significantly related to the Manager Competencies
Four variables including problem solving, trouble shooting, goal commitment, and technical background were significantly related to the Member Competencies

26. Conclusions and Recommendations MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
From the results, the Vietnamese project professionals as well as their peers throughout developing countries can recognize and insure the key human resource competencies needed for better project performance
Develop the competencies through more appropriate training for project managers and professionals may be very important for future success of projects.

27. Conclusions and Recommendations LIMITATIONS
A limitation concerns the use of subjective measurement
The present findings are only based on the sample of infrastructure projects in Vietnam

28. THANK YOU
FOR YOUR ATTENTION!