The Future of Project Management Qualifications in New Zealand
Background
NZQA invited the Project Management Institute of New Zealand (PMINZ) and the New Zealand
Industry Training Organisation (the NZ ITO), as national bodies representing project management in
New Zealand, to make a submission to NZQA about the need for specialist project management
qualifications on the NZQF.
Also invited to provide the perspective of their stakeholders were two tertiary providers, the New
Zealand Institute of Management (NZIM) and the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT), each
owners of one of the project management qualifications under review and providers of project
management training towards recognised qualifications.
Since the review began in 2012, these four organisations have been surveying their members /
students / other stakeholders about the strategic importance of project management for New
Zealand now and in the future; the current project management capability of New Zealand
organisations across the board; availability and accessibility of project management education and
training; and the place of New Zealand project management qualifications alongside industry
credentials such as the PMP, CAPM and PRINCE2.
This invitation to influence the next stage of the review comes from all four organisations – PMINZ,
NZ ITO, NZIM and SIT – who intend to present a unified view to NZQA on behalf of New Zealand’s
project management community.
New Zealand project management qualifications
The result of the four organisations’ collective research is that we believe that a role for New
Zealand project management qualifications at sub-degree level (levels 1-6) does exist. We believe
that building capability in project management is strategically highly important, if not critical, to New
Zealand’s continued growth and prosperity; and that there is a specific role for qualifications in
complementing industry credentials.
Evidence that supports this view
1. KPMG’s annual surveys 2010 and 2012 indicate a lack of project management capability
across both public and private sector organisations and consequently, a poor return on
investment. Key findings of 2010 were:
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60 percent of New Zealand companies are failing to measure the return on their
investments in projects.
More than a quarter of organisations surveyed do not undertake any form of strategic
review to track the benefits realised by the business.
Findings indicate that 70 percent of New Zealand companies have experienced at
least one project failure in the past 12 months.
Results show that projects undertaken by New Zealand companies often perform
poorly in at least one of the following areas – lack of timely delivery, cost (project runs
over budget), or inability to achieve the stated deliverables.
Over 50 percent of respondents stated that they do not consistently achieve stated
project deliverables.
Nearly 60 percent of New Zealand companies fail to consistently align their projects
with corporate strategy.
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In the past 12 months, 98 percent of those surveyed completed [fewer] than five
projects; however, the amount of money spent is significant with 44 percent of
companies spending more than $15 million on their projects over this period.
68 percent of companies do not always have an effective Sponsor to provide clear
direction for the project or to escalate problems when necessary.
Reference:http://www.kpmg.com/NZ/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Pages/projec
t-management-survey-2010.aspx
KPMG’s Director – Project Advisory, Gina Barlow, has informed us directly that the results of
the 2012 nationwide project management survey are currently being finalised. Gina says:
“…I absolutely agree that project management qualifications are strategically important on a
national basis, and the results this year show that a lack of maturity in terms of managing
projects is having a significant impact on delivering agreed outcomes. This is especially
noticeable in the Public Sector where projects are se-scoped to meet timeframes and
budgets and in the Financial Sector, where projects incur significant cost overruns.”
2. The NZ ITO is one of a number of industry training organisations established under the
Industry Training Act 1992 to facilitate training and assessment for employees, in a variety of
workplaces, towards national qualifications1.
The NZ ITO is accredited to assess students in the workplace for achievement against the
unit standards which make up the current National Certificate in Project Management (Level
4) and the National Diploma in Project Management (Level 5). Carl Ammon, General
Manager, reports that the NZ ITO is currently working with some of New Zealand’s biggest
companies in facilitating the practical development of project management skills on-the-job.
One such company is Fonterra, with over 90 employees currently signed up to training
agreements with the NZ ITO in the pursuit of workplace learning and assessment towards
the national diploma.
3. The SIT, based in Invercargill, is entering its third year of offering its locally developed
Diploma in Project Management (Level 6). Each year, the programme has had a marked
increase in demand from students all over New Zealand wanting to access a project
management-specific qualification at a high level without having to commit to a multi year
degree programme.
SIT staff member Teri McLelland reports that students come from all backgrounds and
industries with a variety of motivations to become qualified in project management.
4. PMINZ conducted a comprehensive survey on project management qualifications in 2012
which elicited 248 individual responses2. Of the total responses, 75.6% were from PMINZ
members while 39% were from the public sector and 61% from the private sector.
Respondents were a mix of C-level executives, senior executives, portfolio and programme
managers, project managers (111 or 45.1% of respondents), students, educators and other
project-related roles.
1 Note – all “national” qualifications, such as “national certificates” and “national diplomas”, will be progressively replaced by new “New
Zealand” qualifications on the NZ Qualifications Framework as a result of the mandatory reviews of qualifications.
2 Full survey results will be available by 30 June 2013 at www.pmi.org.nz
The industry most represented by survey respondents was Information Technology (70
respondents, or 28.5%), followed by education and training (29 respondents, or 11.8%), with
energy, construction, health, telecommunications and government also well represented.
Over 54% of respondents were PMP certified while 26.4% held PRINCE2 Practitioner and
20.7% held PRINCE2 Foundation. A total of 15 project management qualifications at levels
1-6 on the NZQF were held by respondents, with 6 qualifications at degree level and 15 at
postgraduate level.
61.1% of respondents answered yes to the question “Should Project Management be
represented in the new qualifications structure at framework levels 1 - 6 (sub-degree level)
by separate specialist qualifications?” while 38.9% said no. An emerging theme from those
who answered “yes” was the view that credentials alone do not ensure competence as a
project/programme manager, and that a gap exists for a practical, applied course or
qualification that builds competence on the job.
In response to the question “Why do we need these qualifications; who will be the
audience?” typical comments included:
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To provide both full-time students and employees seeking to move into PM with an
accessible and recognised training opportunity.
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We need these qualifications because as we're seeing, all too often now, people in
positions that can not manage projects or do not have the slightest idea what a good
project looks like or what info they should be receiving.
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To better ensure a level standard of project management, and a shared understanding
of what it entails. This is for all audiences, really.
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There is value in educating students in Project Management as a knowledge and skill
domain, just as there are specialities in the sciences, management studies etc.
Practical training for students - accompanied with practicum opportunities for live
industry exposure - would be the most beneficial. Project Management is difficult to try
to fully absorb from a textbook. There may be justification for separate streams for
those already in the workforce pursuing PM as a career; on the other hand it could be
a rich learning environment to mix both student and work streams.
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All sectors and industries use projects to achieve their strategy: whether this be in new
product development or business transformation projects. Normally, people are put in
charge of these projects without any training on how to run a successful project,
resulting in wasted money, time and not achieving all of the objectives required. OR,
they are required to "sponsor" a project without proper training on how to do so (proper
governance procedures). Therefore, PM training should be given to all students (both
full-time and graduates) as well as employees (both managers as well as the people
leading the projects), regardless of their credentials, current major or experience, so
that they are armed with a basic set of tools to for successful project completion in any
industry and any sector. It’s a fundamental set of skills liken to that of Accounting.
Marketing or Management Studies that can be applied in any situation. How a
company runs its projects will determine its success or failure.
NZQA reviewed initial submissions from PMINZ, NZIM, NZITO and SIT and has now invited us to
consolidate our views and make one final submission with a unified sector voice. This includes
providing further evidence demonstrating the strategic importance of project management to New
Zealand today and in the future, and how this justifies the development of one or more new project
management qualifications on the NZQF.
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Please access the link below to go directly to a short survey asking your opinion on these areas in
order to inform our final submission. The link will be active until Saturday 6 April 2013.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BUSQUALREVIEW
Thank you for taking part in this important exercise. We will keep our members, students and other
stakeholders informed of the outcome.
Yours sincerely,
Caroline Donovan, National Mentoring Programme Coordinator, PMINZ www.pmi.org.nz
Carl Ammon, General Manager, NZ ITO, http://www.nzito.co.nz/
Teri McLelland, XX Manager, SIT, http://www.sit.ac.nz
Jim Young, Lecturer, NZIM, http://www.nzim.co.nz/
Additional information on the existing project management qualifications under review
There are currently four project management qualifications on the NZQF at levels 1 - 6. There are
two national qualifications, the National Certificate in Project Management (Level 4) and the
National Diploma in Project Management (Level 5), both designed to be achieved in the workplace.
A description of these qualifications and the unit standards they are based on can be found at:
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/framework/explore/domain.do?frameworkId=1338713690
There are also two "provider developed" qualifications within scope of the review:
1. The Southern Institute of Technology Diploma in Project Management (Level 6):
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nzqf/search/viewQualification.do?selectedItemKey=ST5297
2. The New Zealand Institute of Management (NZIM) Diploma in Project Management (Level 5):
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nzqf/search/viewQualification.do?selectedItemKey=104987
To place these within context, if you do a search on NZQA's website for project management
qualifications you will find 13 qualifications in total (including the identified four at levels 1 - 6) that
are currently approved and registered on the NZQF:
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nzqf/search/results.do?
q=project+management&area=&searchSubject=All&type=&lvl=&credit=&status=Current
This list includes business qualifications with project management electives, and postgraduate
qualifications.
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