Investments in project management are profitable: A case study-based analysis of the relationship between the costs and benefits of project management

•Combining qualitative and quantitative benefits of PM in relation to costs of PM•Used data for costs and benefits from an insurance company over a nine-year period•Found strong correlation between costs and quantitative and qualitative benefits

Project management (PM) has progressed through several evolutionary stages and has become established as a well-known management method. Despite its increasingly widespread use in all industry sectors, a central question remains: what demonstrable economic benefit does PM provide? Because past research does not conclusively answer this question, we developed a model to determine the return on investment (ROI) of PM and to unite the costs and benefits of PM. As a case study, the necessary cost and benefit data were obtained from an insurance company over a nine-year period. The relationships between various aspects of costs and benefits were analyzed. The results show clear relationships both between the costs of and investments in PM as well as between the qualitative and quantitative benefits of PM.