Hungarian Quality Journal

Project Management Competencies for Digital Transformation – Innovation, Sustainability, and Digital Readiness for European SMEs

Metadata

Author(s): Shahbaz Ahmad Saadi, Dunay Anna

DOI: https://doi.org/10.65513/MaMi.2025.9.18

Publisher: Nemzetközi Oktatási és Kutatási Központ Alapítvány

Volume: 2025. szeptember

Volume number: 34

Issue number: 9

Journal: Hungarian Quality Journal

ISSN (Print): ISSN 1416‑9576

ISSN (Online): ISSN 1789-5510

Pages: 18–32

Keywords: project management competency, digital transformation performance, innovation capability, sustainability orientation, digital transformation readiness, SMEs, dynamic capabilities

Abstract

Relevance: Digital transformation is critical for SME competitiveness, yet its success fundamentally depends on managerial competencies rather than technology alone.
Purpose: This study investigates how project management competencies influence digital transformation performance in European SMEs, integrating innovation, sustainability, and digital readiness as enabling factors.
Methods: A quantitative-led mixed-methods design was applied, analyzing survey data from 120 SME project professionals using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), supported by interpretive qualitative insights.
Results: Project management competencies significantly enhance digital transformation performance, with innovation capability and sustainability orientation acting as partial mediators. Digital transformation readiness strengthens the competency–performance relationship, indicating that managerial capability produces the highest impact within digitally prepared environments.
Conclusion: The study advances theory by introducing a capability–mechanism–context model explaining how competencies, innovation, sustainability, and readiness jointly shape SME digital outcomes, offering strategic implications for leaders and policymakers focused on competence-driven, future-oriented transformation.

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