How Project Managers Achieve Digital Competencies and Project Success

This report delves into the crucial digital competencies required for project managers to thrive in the era of Industry 4.0. It emphasizes the importance of both managerial and soft skills, defining competencies as a combination of knowledge, skills, and intent. The report identifies barriers to achieving digital competencies, including the need for retraining, financial constraints, standardization issues, data security concerns, and the challenges of technology integration and collaboration. It also explores how digital competencies influence project outcomes, highlighting the concept of digital intelligence and the importance of morally-based digital skills. The report emphasizes that digital competencies encompass technological, intellectual, and socio-emotional skills, ultimately leading to improved project success. Numerous references are provided to support the findings and concepts discussed.

How project managers can achieve the digital competencies?
Although the concept of competencies is not brand-new, it is helpful when analysing how well
project managers' abilities match the demands of industry 4.0 initiatives. While managerial skills
are occasionally important, sensitive skills are always important for project success (Müller et al.
2018).
A competency or skill is a person's main quality that is directly connected to effective
performance in a role or circumstance. In a variety of contexts and job responsibilities,
competence can forecast performance. A person needs competences, which are skills for
applying knowledge and moving things forward (Thames and Schaefer, 2017). Intent, or
qualities, reasons, self-concept, social roles, and knowledge, are always included in
competences. Consequently, the lack of intention in action does not indicate ability (Hopkins and
Bilimoria, 2008). Competencies call for both action and intent because they are described as a
capability or aptitude that consists of a group of alternative behaviours arranged around a central
concept. According to the same scholar, there are three clusters of skills include emotional
maturity as well as cognitive ones like system thinking and pattern identification. Competencies,
such as emotional self-control and self-awareness, as well as social intelligence competencies,
such as relationships, leadership and public understanding (Vazirani, 2010). Competencies are
thus a behavioural method of expressing psychological, cultural, and cognitive understanding.
Several standard, like the Individual Competence Baseline of the IPMA Standards and the PMI
Competence Development Framework, have been established over time. The global reach
attained by these guidelines shows the clear increase in awareness and understanding of the
necessity of formal project management techniques (Liikamaa, 2015).
According to Lynn Crawford's (1997) definition, "Competence is a term with multiple
interpretations for different individuals. But it is commonly acknowledged as a concept that
incorporates understanding, skills, behaviours, and actions that are causally related to
outstanding work performance" (do Vale et al., 2018). This definition is presented in the PMI
competence development framework, the PMCD (Project Management Competence
Development). According to PMI (2007), there are three ways to categorise competences when
used in project management: knowledge, performance, and personal traits (do Vale et. al., 2018).

What are all the potential barriers in achieving digital competencies?
The need to retrain employees to accommodate changing conditions is one of the biggest
obstacles to the application of Industry 4.0. Future workplaces will require new approaches,
which could impact workers in both positive and negative ways (Smit et al., 2016). Conflicts in
corporate organisations could result from altered working environment (Bauer et al., 2015).
Lack of financial resources is another major barrier to implementation. Low levels of
standardisation, a lack of knowledge of integration, and worries about data security, according to
Müller and Voigt (2016), may further prevent the adoption of Industry 4.0. According to Nagy
(2019), standardisation issues can arise in both intra-organizational interactions and the tools and
systems used by manufacturers.
Several studies gave aid for the concerns about data security (Kiel et al., 2017). These research
highlighted issues with data ownership and cybersecurity. Legal concerns relating to
cybersecurity were also covered by Weber and Studer (2016). As new technologies proliferated,
concerns over the secure management of personal data were predicted to grow. It is also crucial
to emphasise the significance of privacy-enhancing technologies, which seek to safeguard
personal information and privacy using technological means (Heurix et al., 2015). However,
there are certain dangers connected to these technology.
The growth of manufacturing systems also has a large impact on the risk of fragility, adding to
the ecosystem's existing uncertainties (Kovács, 2018). The requirement for technology
integration was the main barrier. Because the synchronisation of many languages, technologies,
and processes can present substantial obstacles, successful integration of components, tools, and
methods necessitates the construction of a flexible interface (Zhou et al., 2015). The systems'
dependability and stability must also be guaranteed, and this is essential for machine-to-machine
interaction (Kiel et al., 2017).
The difficulties of collaboration between organisational units may have a substantial impact on
the extensive communication needed for Industry 4.0 projects and thus the adoption of new
technologies. Many businesses haven't yet created the business cases and feasibility studies that
convincingly show why it's crucial to make investments in the information and system
architecture necessary to launch Industry 4.0 applications. This adds another obstacle to the

adoption of Industry 4.0. Basl (2017) came to similar results, noting that many businesses are
unclear about the advantages of utilising Industry 4.0 technologies.
How do the digital competencies of project managers influence the project outcomes?
The capacity to solve problems or create goods that are valued in one or more cultural or social
contexts is referred to as intelligence (Gardner, 1987). Seven intelligences are listed by Gardner
and Hatch (1989) as being able to be addressed by IQ and EQ. Logic-mathematical, verbal,
acoustic, geographical, and bodily-kinaesthetic intelligences are all included in IQ. Under EQ,
interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences are grouped. Digital intelligence is simply the
capacity for people to use information in a manner that enables significant and fruitful
interactions with their surroundings. This "ability" relates to the knowledge and abilities needed
to deal with issues in the digital ecosystem. The concept of digital intelligence was developed
since earlier academics on the concept of intelligence were unable to predict the digital
environment in which we now live and work.
The project manager should possess morally-based digital abilities and skills. The second is that
technology should not be used to oppress or damage people or communities, but rather to
develop mankind. Digital competencies are technological, intellectual, and socio-emotional skills
that help people overcome obstacles and adapt to the digital world (Na-Nan et al., 2019). The
focus is not solely on technology but also on how people use their intellect and emotional
development skills to deal with the effects and outcomes of technology. This supports the
assertion made by (Hirsch-Kreinsen et al., 2019) that cognitive and soft skills are still crucial.
The management of IT projects and enterprise systems, as well as the alignment of business and
IT strategy, are all components of the digital intelligence quotient. They think that project
managers could benefit by comprehending and utilising the potential of IT. Only a project
manager with strong digital competency will be able to take full use of this advantages.
According to Cismaru et al. (2018), "the ability to comprehend and saliently employ
digital/online concepts and solve technical, cognitive, and social communication online
difficulties" is what is meant by "digital intelligence." As opposed to previous definitions, this
one focus solely on online concepts and problem-solving. It ignores the possibility of human-
machine communication and the reality that technologies may also be employed offline
(Marnewick and Marnewick, 2020).

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