Towards Sustainable I4.0: Key Skill Areas for Project Managers in GCC Construction Industry

Abstract

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) grew from and is guided by smart manufacturing. The fourth industrial revolution’s I4.0 would induce radical changes and transformations in the everyday operations of businesses and people’s life. Due to these major changes impacting all sectors and industries worldwide, the sustainability of the new future systems and operations is pertinent. The current research literature points out that the social (human factor) aspect is relatively underrepresented in the I4.0 sustainability-related studies. The few studies related to the social aspect usually investigate the so-called ‘techno-centric’ approach to the subject. This study aimed to investigate the I4.0 construction project management (PM) profession from the socially sustainable ‘worker-centric’ approach. Five key assets of the new I4.0 project managers role, specifically in the construction industry, were explored to achieve this goal. This was conducted through a survey questionnaire aimed at 100 construction project managers based in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The overall research results showed that academic and professional qualifications were found to be key factors in the process of adapting to the new I4.0 methodologies.

Differences between Public-Sector and Private-Sector Project Management Practices in Hungary from a Competency Point of View

“…Although researchers have identified various competencies that are needed for successfully managing projects, most of them identify these as lexical knowledge and skills. Moreover, these skills can be applied to both sustainability-focused and traditional projects, although in some cases, they should be enhanced with sustainability principles [42]. However, researchers all agree on the key role played by a project manager in achieving project success.…”

“…Following Finn's [71] input competencies, numerous researchers have found that there may be two categories within project management competency: lexical knowledge and skill [2,8,79,109]. This can be valid for projects requiring special attitudes as well, such as sustainability [16,39,42,110]. Due to their popularity, we accepted the Project Management Institute's knowledge areas [111] and used them for further analysis.…”

“…Zaman and co-authors [41] found that a supportive leadership style might increase the chances for sustainable project success. At the same time, these authors have pointed out that, although project management mostly relies on those tools and techniques which are identified by frameworks or standards, sustainability deeply enhances them [42][43][44][45]. These authors emphasized that a sustainability-oriented attitude (or capability elements related to it) is crucial to achieving sustainable project success.…”

Sustainability of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Marketing Insights on the Critical Success Factors for the Sales Sector of Oman

“…The improved sales sector indication unfolds the communication for the customs or automated messages with data accessibility for the customers (Al Balushi et al, 2019). The marketing control and sales strategies implies for the altered sales growth which is to evaluate the strategies in a timely manner (Al Amri et al, 2021). The in-depth product services, experiences and the benefits are the realization of a SMEs relationship, which is reassuring the choice of customer in a reliable manner (Aljuwaiber, 2021).…”

The Success of Technology Transfer in the Industry 4.0 Era: A Systematic Literature Review

“…It is extremely beneficial to businesses in this technological era. Consequently, company collaboration may spur creativity and innovation, as well as develop novel ideas and concepts [44].…”