A Literature Review of Simulation-based Approaches to Train Managers in Waterfall and Agile Project Management

The use of specific knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to manage, control and track a project to deliver value to the customer is known as Project Management (PM). Managers with little to no prior PM experience or training have been known to struggle managing projects, especially those of a high monetary value with their attendant pressures. Given the increasing projectification of work in the modern workplace, projects of various sizes come with an intrinsic risk of failures such as cost overruns and project cancellation. Also, an inability to deliver a project on time and within budget could have serious consequences for the organization and the manager responsible for it. PM training that goes beyond just the tools of PM and focuses on enabling students to view the consequences of their choices as project managers is therefore required. This paper applies State-of-the-Art Matrix (SAM) analysis in combination with the PRISMA-P protocol to understand the trends in simulation-based approaches to training managers and identify opportunity areas for further research.