Many Seek to Demonstrate Their Projekt Management Skills Through Certification
The Project Management Institute (PMI) (2021a) estimates the number of project management-oriented employees in project-related industries worldwide at approximately 90 million. If a project team consists of an average of eight people (own assumption based on Harrin 2022), we can assume a total of approximately 11 million projects that can be worked on simultaneously, so that—assuming an even distribution—a project management certificate holder works on almost half (46 percent) of the projects. Between 57 and 66 percent of all companies use the PMBOK® Guide (T. K. HAMANN based on data in Project Management Solutions 2022), which is the standard for project management and the basis for the certification of traditional project management methods by the Project Management Institute. In addition, 71 percent (Wellingtone 2021) to 82 percent (Statista 2021) of organizations have established a Project Management Office (PMO) with nearly half of its employees certified as Project Management Professionals (PMP)®.
Nevertheless, according to a survey by 4PM (as cited in Kuuse 2019), 70 percent of projects in most organizations fail, and the main reason is poor project management. According to studies, as many as 75 percent of organizational change initiatives fail (Spencer & Watkins 2019); Burke (2024) reports that as many as 88 percent of business transformations fail to achieve their original goals. This means that many projects fail despite the involvement of project management certificate holders. Various scientific studies (e.g., Nazeer & Marnewick 2018; Dehghanpour Farashah, Thomas & Blomquist 2019) have not empirically demonstrated a relationship between certification and project management performance. According to Catanio, Armstrong & Tucker (2013), certified project managers are no better at managing project scope, time and cost than those without relevant certification. Blomquist, Dehghanpour Farashah & Thomas (2018) conclude in their study that the benefit of project management certification is more about appearing good than being good.
They add that while certification is still an important career step because it is so well established in the job market, one should be very aware of the need for other forms of training to become a truly good project manager. This fact is probably not known by many hiring managers and clients of consulting firms. In the hope of achieving the most efficient selection processes possible, they are increasingly using (voluntary) certificates as an indicator of the competencies and likely future performance of candidates or consultants, which increases the value of the certification for the holders and thus further drives the growth of the certification business (Dehghanpour Farashah, Thomas & Blomquist, 2019). Certified project managers also receive higher compensation. According to the Project Management Institute (2021b), the average salary of PMI-PMP®s in Europe is 14 percent higher than their counterparts without this certification, and 16 percent higher worldwide.
The most common project management certifications are those of the Project Management Institute (PMI) (see Exhibit 1). Of these 1,679,143 certifications, the Project Management Professional (PMP)® is the most common, with 1,496,758 awarded (see Exhibit 2), or 89.1 percent of all credentials awarded by the PMI. According to PMI’s self-promotion (n.d. a), “PMP is the gold standard in project management certification;” moreover, the PMI-PMP holder can “[d]emonstrate [his/her] ability to lead projects in any industry with this globally recognized certification.” To obtain the PMP® certification, you must meet certain eligibility requirements and successfully pass a 180-question exam (PMI n.d. a). There are two ways to prepare for the exam—either by taking the online self-learning prep course or by attending a live online or in-person training taught by an authorized provider (PMI n.d.; PS Consulting n.d.). The Project Management Institute’s (n.d. b) Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification, which will be examined in future blog posts, is intended for experienced practitioners with more than three years of work experience.
References
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