Project management assets and project management performance outcomes : Exploratory factor analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine characteristics of project management assets and project management performance outcomes as a step towards exploring the link between assets being valuable, rare, inimitable, and having organizational support and the achievement of competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach – This paper analyzes data from responses to an online survey by 198 North American Project Management Institute ® members. Exploratory factor analysis is used to identify characteristics of project management assets and project management performance outcomes. Findings – In total, six factors that comprised the characteristics of project management assets, three factors that comprised organizational support for project management assets, and two factors that comprised the project management performance outcomes were extracted. Research limitations/implications – Limitations of this study include sample size, response rate, and self‐report bias, calling for a larger sample in ongoing research. This study is a step towards making the link between project management assets and performance outcomes. Practical implications – This study draws managerial attention to project management assets as sources of competitive advantage, applying the resource based view of the firm that assets are sources of competitive advantage if they add economic value, are rare, are difficult to imitate, and have organizational support. Originality/value – Few papers have applied the resource based view of the firm to examine project management capabilities as a source of competitive advantage. This paper contributes to the literature on the resource based view of the firm and contributes to an improved understanding of project management as a source of competitive advantage.