Project Manager Profile Characterization in the Construction Sector in Bogotá, Colombia
Within the Colombian academic and entrepreneurial media, special importance is granted to education and training in the fields of project development and project management because of the clear recognition of their relevance to the country's human, economic, and social development as well as the influence of those fields in successful project execution. This paper aims to describe and evaluate the characteristics (educational background, training, skills, and experience) that make up the project manager profile in the construction sector in Bogota, Colombia. The focus of the study was mainly the following subsectors: the construction of residential buildings, construction of non-residential buildings, and construction of civil engineering works (housing, infrastructure, and roads). It is based on a project management literature review, expert interviews, and surveys with a group of project managers in the construction sector, and comparisons between them. This paper presents the conceptual and methodology framework used in this research and reports the specific results. The conceptual framework of the research includes two stages: a qualitative analysis with interviews from 14 experts from the construction and academic sectors, and a quantitative analysis in which a questionnaire was developed and sent to selected project managers. This evaluation aims to contribute to the development of a clearer definition of the project manager profile in the Colombian context. The identified project manager profile satisfies the essential desired characteristics with some particular weaknesses related to education and training in project management. The paper concludes with recommendations and future work prospects.