Interest in project management is growing significantly. Yet, projects continue to fail at an astonishing rate. At the same time, the role complexity, chaos and uncertainty play within our projects ...and project environments is gaining recognition in both research and practice. Hence, it is time to review our understanding of project management education and reflect about how we develop project managers to deal with the increasing level of complexity, chaos, and uncertainty in project environments.
In this paper, we discuss new perspectives and concepts for an advanced level of project management education that may help develop the abilities necessary to confidently navigate the dynamic organizational environments and complex projects facing project managers today. First, we describe the evolution of project management and project management education. In particular, our review of the literature and of project management training programs demonstrates the focus on standardization of the field and on preparation for the professional designation of project managers. Next, we discuss the impact of taking complexity seriously on the requirements for professional development of project managers. We lay out the requirements for preparing project managers to deal with complexity and present a comprehensive model of project manager development. Finally, we discuss the characteristics of an appropriate framework of project management education that does embrace uncertainty and unknown possibilities. In particular, we examine how distance-based education in project management may help develop a learning community that collaboratively questions existing theory and practice and develops innovative approaches as well as caters to the needs of project management practitioners for extensive learning opportunities within a flexible learning environment.
This study extends the debate surrounding the components of IS project success by reviewing success factors from the perspective of their interdependency and influence on each other. This research ...utilises interpretive structural modelling as the methodology and framework to develop the relationships between the selected factors. This approach is presented as a mechanism that can provide greater insight to the underlying causal interrelationships associated with IS project success and the successful transition to operations. The findings identify a number of key outcomes that have significant driving influence on other interconnected factors in the final model. This study highlights the benefits of an interpretive approach where IS factor interrelationships can be modelled to demonstrate potential influence on other connected factors thereby, increasing the chances of project success.
How relevant is ethics to project management? The book - which aims to demystify the field of ethics for project managers and managers in general - takes both a critical and a practical look at ...project management in terms of success criteria, and ethical opportunities and risks. The goal is to help the reader to use ethical theory to further identify opportunities and risks within their projects and thereby to advance more directly along the path of mature and sustainable managerial practice. Project Ethics opens with an investigation of the critical success factors in project management. It then illustrates how situations can arise within projects where values can compete, and looks at how ethical theories on virtue, utility, duty and rights can be used as competence eye-openers to evaluate projects. The reader is challenged to think of their project management experiences where questions of competing values surfaced, and mirror them in short vignettes taken from real practice from all round the globe. Finally, a new method is introduced, based on classical ethical theory, which can help project owners, project managers, project teams and stakeholders, to identify, estimate and evaluate ethical opportunities and risks in projects.
Contents: Introduction; The critical path of project ethics; Outcome-oriented ethics: virtue ethics; Outcome-oriented ethics: utility ethics; Process-oriented project ethics: duty ethics; Process-oriented project ethics: rights ethics; Project evaluation and (ethical) risks; Conclusions; References; Index.
Haukur Ingi Jonasson (Cand. theol., University of Iceland; STM, PhD, Union Theological seminar); clinical training in pastoral counselling, Lennox Hill Hospital; psychoanalytical training, Harlem Family Institute New York City; is an assistant professor at the Reykjavik University School of Science and Engineering. He heads the MPM (Master in Project Management) programme at the university. He is a psychoanalyst in private practice and a management consultant at Nordica Consulting Group ehf; As a consultant, his clients have included the energy companies, banks, hospitals, the government and other public and private organisations. Mr Helgi Thor Ingason holds a PhD in process metallurgy from the Norwegian Institute of Technology and an MSc in mechanical and industrial engineering from the University of Iceland. He is Professor in industrial engineering at the University of Iceland and lectures in project management, quality management, facilities planning and process metallurgy. He is the head of the Master in Project Management (MPM) program at the university and a main lecturer in the program. Helgi Thor is a co-founder and chairman of Alur, alvinnsla hf, a recycling company that works with the aluminium industry in Iceland.
There is a gap between what education providers are offering and what is needed to deal with projects in today's complex work environment. This paper explores how education and training institutions ...can educate and prepare great project managers for the future by evaluating project management development from the perspective of working project managers. The authors report on a qualitative study of project managers working in the oil and gas sector in Calgary. This paper formulates three main areas which educational institutions should consider in developing and preparing future project managers: 1) developing critical thinking for dealing with complexity, 2) developing softer parameters of managing projects, especially interpersonal skills and leadership as opposed to just technical skills, and 3) preparing project managers to be engaged within the context of real life projects. The authors argue that the education and training systems must do more to prepare project managers on their journey from good to great.
•Project management education was examined from the perspective of working managers.•The process of project management education and training was evaluated.•A model for better training and development of project managers is proposed.
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