The effects of project management certification and project complexity on project quality in information technology projects: an organisational information processing perspective

The demand for professionally certified project managers in information technology projects has grown significantly since the mid-1980s, and managers associate certification with project manager competence. However, there is little evidence that certification is related to the project quality. We therefore focus primarily on testing whether there is a positive relationship between project management certification and project quality. We also consider how project quality is related project complexity, and we employ organisational information processing theory to examine contingent relationships between these variables. Our results from a sample of 1,444 information technology projects in an international consulting firm show that contrary to expectations, certification was significantly related to poorer project quality. Complexity, as hypothesised, was negatively related to project quality. What was more surprising was a finding that project management certification amplified the negative relationship between project complexity and project quality. We conclude with a discussion of implications for practitioners and researchers.