International Journal of Industrial Engineering, 22(2), 301-313, 2015 Establishing a Conceptual Model for Assessing Project Management Maturity in Industrial Companies Seweryn Spalek Faculty of Organization and Managementㅁ Silesian University of Technology Gliwice, Poland Corresponding author’s e-mail address: spalek@polsl.pl The number of projects undertaken by companies nowadays is significant. Therefore, there is a need to establish processes in the company supporting and increasing project management efficacy. In order to achieve this, the companies need to know how good they are at organizational project management, taking into consideration different perspectives. Knowing their strengths and weaknesses, they are able to improve their activities in challenging areas. In view of the critical literature review and interviews with chosen companies, the article proposes a conceptual model for assessing project management maturity in industrial companies. The model is based on four assessment areas. Three of them (human resources, methods & tools, and environment) represent the traditional approach to maturity measurement, whilst the fourth, knowledge management, represents a new approach to the topic. The model was tested in over 100 companies in the machinery industry to verify its practical application and establish valid results of implementation, which have not been previously explored. Keywords: project management, model, assessment, maturity, industry, knowledge management. (Received on November 15, 2011; Accepted on March 16, 2015) 1. INTRODUCTION The need for models that could be implemented in industry is recognized by authors of publications in different areas of expertise (Bernardo, Angel, & Eloisa, 2011; Jasemi, Kimiagari, & Memariani, 2011; Kamrani, Adat, & Azimi, 2011; Metikurke & Shekar, 2011). The importance of new product development from a different perspective was recognized, for example, by Adams-Bigelow et al. (2006) and measured by Metikurke & Shekar (2011) and Kahn, Barczak, & Moss (2006). New product development is a laborious endeavour that must be managed properly. Therefore, industrial companies are interested in having an efficient tool to measure how good they are when it comes to project management. That assessment must be done in different areas, including the set of best practices as the reference. Moreover, Kwak (2000) noticed that there is an influence on the company’s project management maturity level and the key performance indicators of projects. Furthermore, Spalek (2014a, 2014b), based on his studies in the industrial companies, shows that increasing the maturity level potentially reduces the costs and time of ongoing and new projects. In fact, industrial companies are managing an increasing number of projects every year (Aubry et al., 2010). Besides the typical operational representatives in the project-oriented environment like the IT and construction sectors, companies in other industries have increasingly embraced newer project management methods (Cho & Moon, 2006; Grant & Pennypacker, 2006; Liu, Ma, & Li, 2004; McBride, Henderson-Sellers, & Zowghi, 2004; C. T. Wang, Wang, Chu, & Chao, 2001). A good example is the machinery sector, which is very focused on the efficient development of new products that are then used by other industries. The products of machinery industry are divided into those of general purpose, heavy- industry machines and their elements and components, totalling more than 200 products (ISIC, 2008). Therefore, companies in the machinery industry are a kind of backbone of the entire economy and are located all over the world. However, the most significant production comes from the EU (European Union), ASEAN+6 (Japan, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, China (including Hong Kong), Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Vietnam, India, Australia, New Zealand) and NAFTA & UNASUR (Canada, Mexico, USA, Argentina, Bolivia, Brasilia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay, Venezuela) areas (Kimura & Obashi, 2010). The main customers of products of the machinery industry are companies from the following industries: construction, agriculture, mining, steelworks, food and textiles. ISSN 1943-670X  INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING