The Psychological Contract and Project Management as a Core Competence of the Organization

This research paper analyses three concepts that are correlated with the phenomenon of developing project management as a core competence of organizations. Project management competence is the individual's capability to support the organizational stability objective, aligning the mission and vision and optimizing the resource allocation to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. This study reviews three concepts in relation to their assumptions and possible outputs: project management, competence management and psychological contracts. This discussion paper presents the thesis that these three concepts converge in an approach in which project management is, indeed, a core competence of the organization. To project-management-oriented enterprises, this concept can provide a fundamental research theme for business studies’ evolution. As the results of this reflexive paper, a series of possible research objectives are indicated, such as how the enterprise must stablish a psychological contract with subcontracted parties and employees in general, short-term hired professionals. Another concept concerns how companies should design a project management competence governance structure or system, using a framework of the International Project Management Association (IPMA), and how they can apply the ICB normative guide to develop project management as a core competence of Brazilian organizations.