Globalization is placing pressure on firms to gain competitive advantages. As firms become agile, it is important that they become agile quicker than other firms. More sooner have firms improved processes and gained efficiencies and so have other firms. Firms are in a race to be better or are at risk of becoming less competitive. Firms have embarked on business process management (BPM) initiatives to gain competitive advantages. BPM initiatives have received much attention, however little work has been done in attempting to make the BPM initiatives themselves efficient. When firms invest in resources such as people, time, money, newer technologies, etc., they expect to see returns on these benefits in realistic time periods; however in most cases, BPM initiatives have been criticized to take too long. A hybrid soft and hard systems approach is proposed to allow early extraction of critical business process, which when improved, will lead to quicker benefits. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The objectives of this research are to: a) compare project management assessments (PMAs) from four firms across four industry sectors (75 PMAs are evaluated using known statistical techniques); b) validate the results through an expert panel; c) apply Pearson's correlation analysis to find links in the PMA constructs and see how these links relate to the overall project result; and d) identify areas for further research. Three hypotheses are tested, and reveal differences and similarities in project management practices. The results provide interesting opportunities for researchers and for project management practitioners. Finally, a discussion, the limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research are presented. OPSOMMINGDie doelwitte van hierdie navorsing is eerstens om projekbestuurassesserings van vier firmas in vier industriesektore te vergelyk (vyfen-sewentig projekbestuurassesserings is evalueer met bestaande statistiese ontledingstegnieke). Tweedens is die doel om die resultate deur ʼn kennerpaneel te valideer en derdens om Pearson se korrelasie analise toe te pas om ooreenstemminge in die projekbestuurassesserings op te spoor en om te sien hoe hierdie dit verband hou met die algehele projek uitslag. Laastens word areas van verdere navorsing identifiseer. Drie hipotese is getoets en toon ooreenkomste en verskille in projekbestuurpraktyke. Die resultate lewer interessante geleenthede vir navorsers en projekbestuurders. Ten slotte word ʼn bespreking, die beperkings van die studie en voorstelle vir verdere navorsing voorgehou. INTRODUCTIONThe aim of this research is to make a contribution to knowledge by providing empirical evidence on project management assessments (PMAs). Seventy-five PMAs are used to compare project management practices between four firms and four industry sectors. The research is significant in that it shows that there is a need for an industry-wide project management assessment (PMA) tool that can be used by project management practitioners. The results of the research show similarities and differences between industry sectors. From the four industry sectors it is shown that the electronics and electrical engineering, and information and communication technology (ICT ) industries show significant differences in their means for the overall project result, whereas the services and consulting engineering industries show no significant differences between the means for the overall project result. Comparisons are also drawn between the different PMA constructs.To understand the need for empirical PMA research better, the need for project management needs to be understood better.Given the rapid pace of business evolution, firms are expected to become increasingly competitive.Siriram [1] states that old ways of doing business are becoming obsolete, and that the rules of the game change at a bewildering rate. Some firms (buyers) expect firms (sellers) to become more competitive than other firms (other suppliers) in the production of goods and services. Siriram [2]

Systems' thinking has received considerable attention over the last several decades; however, the adoption of systems thinking as an approach to creating competitive advantages is still lagging. The objective of this research is to test whether the adoption of systems thinking leads to an organization's competitive capabilities and the quality of the products produced. An investigative model linking the organizational factors of systems thinking (i.e., institutional efficacy, self‐efficacy, organizational and environmental evolution, and organizational culture and climate) to the organization's competitive capabilities and quality of the products is proposed. Structural equation modelling is used to test the model. Thirteen hypotheses are tested, of which seven are accepted. The sample consists of 130 organizations. Six constructs (i.e., institutional efficacy, self‐efficacy, organizational and environmental evolution, organizational culture and climate, competitive capabilities, and the quality off products) are tested, providing important lessons for managers and researchers in systems thinking.

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