Project manager performance and the decision to backsource the project management office

This paper reviews a management decision of an Information Technology Outsource (ITO) provider to backshore the management oversight of its Project Management Office (PMO) after only one year of offshore operations. Governance is a term used in project management to refer to management oversight. The review is a quantitative analysis of existing project manager performance surveys taken over a two year period. As a closing phase for all projects, customers and internal team members are requested to complete a survey detailing the project managers performance throughout the project. Project team setting for all projects is a virtual environment where project manager and subject matter experts work remotely from each other and the customer. The survey's reviewed covered the 12 month period the governance function was managed offshore and the 12 months that immediately followed the backshoring. The ITO provider management team reversed itself based on client feedback at an annual symposium and persistent performance complaints from clients over the previous two quarters. A number of methods are used to compare and contrast data for the two periods, including two-way ANOVA, chi-square, and t test. Research question 1 was noted as the primary question and was concerned with comparing project manager performance for the period governance was offshore and the immediate 12-month period following the repatriation of the governance function. The findings indicate that there were significant differences between the two periods for both customers and internal survey respondents. However, internal team member results were much more noteworthy. Several other research questions provided additional insight into the performance concerns. These questions were related to the experience and location of the surveyed project manager.