Influence of Project Management Maturity on Projects’ Costs

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the link between reaching a certain level of Project Management Maturity by the company and its projects cost performance. Design/methodology/approach: The world-wide study was conducted in order to measure the influence of the Project Management Maturity level on the cost of projects. The survey was questionnaire based. As a result 194 cases were analyzed. Findings: We found that an increasing level of maturity in Project Management can have an influence on the reduction of costs of projects managed by the company. However, the strength of this influence depends on various factors which are discussed in the paper. Research limitations/implications: Research limitations are mostly connected with a limited range of industries available. Thus, limited representation led to a restricted cross-comparative study. Practical implications: Companies assess their maturity levels in Project Management. The findings of this paper demonstrate to them the potential benefits they can gain by increasing their maturity level. Originality/value: There is a limited number of world-wide studies on Project Management Maturity in companies. Moreover, the studies examining the influence of a certain maturity level on projects’ key performance indicators are limited to single case studies. Therefore, the paper fills an important gap of knowledge in that area.