‘Job-ready’ project managers

Are Australian Universities preparing project managers for the impact of AI, ML and Bots?

Abstract

Synopsis

Society stands on the threshold of the 4^th Industrial Revolution, a change that will see Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Robotisation (bots) take a central role in global economic and labour markets. The profession on project management must be impacted by these changes, and this research explores whether Australian Universities are preparing project managers to be 'job-ready' in this light of this

Relevance for Research and Education

This research explores the current project management education offerings in Australian Universities and compares these to current and/or future developments project management AI, ML and Bot technology.

Research Design

This research uses a Grounded Theory methodology. Two data were collected and analysed. The first data were gathered from current project management courses offered by Australian Universities. These were categorised by the subjects offered and the duration of each course. The second data were gathered from project management “Educators”, “Developers” and ‘Practitioners” and explored the types of knowledge and skills these groups expected would be required in the coming 1,3,5 and 10-year time horizons. The data from each analysis was reviewed using a comparative assessment of education offerings against current and future project management skills.

Main Findings

This research concludes that the field of project management will see AI, ML and Bots having a significant impact on both ‘hard skill’ and ‘soft skill’ based tasks and processes within the next five - ten years. The research finds conclude that Australian Universities have, at best, 3 ‘teaching cycles’ to make the necessary changes, and that a failure to change project management curricula within the next five years will result in university graduates who are not ‘job-ready’ for the profession of project management

Research Implications

Our research has implications for both project management educators and practitioners. We found the impacts of the 4^th industrial Revolution have the potential to significantly change the requirements for project management education and practice

Keywords

artificial intelligence, machine learning, bots, education, Australian Universities.