| This quantitative correlational study was an examination of the effects of workplace empowerment in project management to determine if the integration of empowerment into project management would have a significant effect on improving project outcomes. Both project management and workplace empowerment are proven independent methodologies for accomplishing work effectively, efficiently, and thoroughly. However, senior managers lack a data-based quantitative model to guide them on empowering project managers and teams with decision-making authority and accountability. This may be a contributing factor in the limited success of projects and cost overruns, schedule delays, missed opportunities, products that fail to meet customer expectations, and terminated projects. The research methodology used in this study enabled an examination of the perceived level of certain workplace empowerment attributes and project success by project managers to determine if there was a correlation, how strong the relationship was, and if a Project Management Empowerment Model (PMEM) accurately reflected this effect. The resulting data was analyzed using regression analyses and structural equation modeling that indicated a statistically significant correlation between the model attributes and project success. The data indicated that the presence of workplace empowerment in project management correlated with an increase of project success. However, additional qualitative and quantitative studies are required to refine the PMEM, and studies with an experimental research design are required to ascertain if this is a causal effect. |
