Competence Model of Construction Project Manager in the Digital Era—The Case from China

Abstract

With the digital development of the construction industry, a new competence model of CPM (construction project manager) to meet the new requirements is highly needed. However, there is still a paucity of research on CPM competences in the new era, and no new CPM competence model has been constructed. To address this problem, this study uses data mining method to collect 2387 big data of recruitment advertisement in the Chinese construction market between August 2020 and October 2021 to construct a competence model of CPM in the digital era, which is called the Diamond model. The Diamond model consists of nine key competences, among which digital capability is a newly emerging one. The digital capability for CPMs is identified and classified into three levels, i.e., technology, knowledge and management. The requirements from the industry for the digital capability of CPM are mostly at the technology and knowledge levels. The results of the study provide a clear reference for both the demand and supply sides of CPM talents. Based on this, construction enterprises can formulate more accurate recruitment strategies, practitioners can dynamically benchmark themselves to the ever-changing industry needs and education, and training parties can better bridge the talent gap. Furthermore, the introduction of digital capability into the CPM competence system also provides a solid departure point for further follow-up research.