The Influence Path of Project Manager Competency on the Performance of Area Development Projects

The competence of a project manager is pivotal in influencing the success of construction projects and significantly affecting project performance. To explore the influence mechanism of project manager competency on the performance of area development projects, this study adopted a combination of structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze 392 valid questionnaires. The results of SEM show that organizational communication plays a partial mediating role between project manager competency and project performance. Meanwhile, project scale positively moderates the relationship between project manager competency and project performance. To further reveal the complex interactive relationships among multiple factors, this study employed fsQCA. This method identified two paths of antecedent configurations that trigger high performance, namely the organizational communication-driven configuration and the knowledge-management-driven configuration. These findings indicate that high performance in area development projects results from the synergistic effect of multiple factors rather than a single factor. The results of the study expand the research scope concerning the relationship between project manager competency and project performance, providing theoretical references for the selection and cultivation of project managers. Furthermore, they offer scientifically grounded and effective recommendations to help construction units enhance the performance of area development projects.