Welcome to the March
issue of PM World Today

The Editor’s Perspective on the Current Issue is intended to provide a short overview of the various articles and contributions included in the current edition.  It is also intended to provide some perspective on why the articles should be of interest or why they are included in the first place.  Whether this is read before or after the articles, we hope it is useful.

This month’s Editorial is entitled “Project Management Advisory Panels – An Idea Whose Time Has Come!” A PM Advisory Panel is an executive level or board level committee established to provide oversight or feedback to senior executives on project management related issues.  Closely associated with program and corporate governance, I argue that every mega project or program, every global program, and every large project-oriented organization should have one.  At little cost, these strategic advisory panels could save millions and add tremendous value for most large programs and projects.  Please read my editorial and let me know your reaction.

We received one Letter to the Editor this month from Ben Voivedich, project management executive with offices in Colorado and Texas.  Ben offers a positive response and reinforcement to Paul Giammalvo’s February article and provides some additional perspective on the value of Earned Value for project management.

Our one Viewpoint article this month was provided by David Baccarini, Associate Professor in Project Management at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia. In his article “The accidental project manager is alive and kicking!”, he reports on the results of a recent survey on the subject.  Those who have been in the project management business for many years should find his article very interesting.  It may not lay the argument to rest, but it will provide some new fodder for thought and discussion.  This article was provided with assistance from the Australian Institute of Project Management, where the survey has been published.

The two Featured Papers this month are both continuations of two series of articles on program management and agile PM.  We are happy to include another paper on the subject of Program Management by Russ Martinelli and Jim Waddell.  Their series, based on their recently published book entitled Program Management for Improved Business Results (ISBN: 0-471-78354-4), was introduced in the January issue of PM World Today.  The series will continue during 2007.  Their paper this month is entitled “The Program Management Maturity Model ™: A Framework for Change”.  In their paper, they introduce a framework for introducing and growing program management within an enterprise.

Mark Kozak-Holland returns this month with his ninth installment in his interesting and popular series on “Churchill the Agile Project Manager”, taking another lesson from history for today’s PM.  Entitled “Aftermath of Dunkirk”, this installment discusses some of the issues facing Winston Churchill and his leadership actions in the Spring and early Summer of 1940, including his historic June speech to the British Parliament . 

Our PM Tips & Techniques papers provide a convenient and useful opportunity for project management consultants, experts, trainers and vendors to contribute to the eJournal, with helpful suggestions.  In most cases, these papers are general enough to apply to most projects in most industries.  In some cases, however, they are related to specific PM applications, methodologies or tools.  We offer two such papers in this issue.  Mr. Curt Finch, CEO of Journyx corporation in Austin, Texas, provides some useful performance metrics for consulting companies in his paper “Key Performance Indicators for Consultancies: How to Use Per-Project Labor Cost Data to Analyze KPIs for Your Consulting Company”.

Mr. J. Ajith Kumar, currently head of the Project Services Department for WorleyParsons in the Sultanate of Oman, offers some interesting advice in his paper “Client - Contractor Relations: How changing from “Master – Slave” to a “Master – Master” relationship can lead to more successful project delivery!”.   This seems like good advice.  Why not recognize the need for better communications, relationships and teamwork all up and down the supply chain?

We include seven Regional Reports this month from our international correspondents in France, Greece, Nigeria, Spain and the United Kingdom.  PMF correspondent in France, Thibaut Goupil, introduces our readers to the new French Society for the Advancement of Project Management (SMAP), formed in July 2006, in his report entitled “SMAP takes place in the French Project Management associative sector.”  Thibaut’s report is in both English and French, continuing our efforts to provide more articles in dual languages.  Theofanis Giotis, International Correspondent in Athens, reports that the “Greek government demands Project Management skills for managing European Union Funds!”  This is an interesting and positive development based on strong promotion of project management now by the European Parliament. Alcides Santopietro elaborates on "What Happens in Brazil after the Carnival" in his report from Sao Paulo.

Chima Okereke, PhD, PMF correspondent in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, provides another interesting report on major developments affecting the projects environment in his country.  In his paper “Major Factors & Recent Developments affecting Projects & Project Management in Nigeria,” Dr. Okereke briefly reviews a recent Global Development Briefing on corruption in the Nigerian oil sector, the emerging Sino-Nigerian relationship, and the West African Power Scheme.  Alfonso Bucero provides an interesting report on AEDIP and PMI activities in Spain, in both English and Spanish, in his “Project Management in Spain: a Status Report”. Miles Shepherd, past president and chair of both APM and IPMA and now our British correspondent, provides another broad update on project management in the UK, in his report entitled “UK Project Management Roundup.” Jose Machicao in Lima offers an end of February status report on project management in Peru, in both English and Spanish.

We thank these correspondents for sharing news, information and personal perspectives from these important regions of the World of PM.  Regional reports are intended to provide a snapshot of the PM profession in various parts of the world.  This section of PM World Today will continue to grow as correspondents are added in more cities and countries around the world.  This section will also provide a more global picture of conditions, development, trends and opportunities in the world of professional project management.

The balance of this month’s PM World Today features news, announcements, information and stories that have been featured over the last 30 days as breaking news articles on www.pmforum.org.  We hope the inclusion of those stories is helpful, especially those announcing future PM events and Calls for Papers.

I want to welcome Mr. Louis Mercken, past Chair of the Project Management Institute, to the PMForum Global Advisory Panel this month.  Mr. Mercken is currently International Partner and Chairman of the Threon Group, a leading international Project Management Services organization, with facilities in most major countries in Europe. Threon specializes in delivering Project Management Excellence Education and Coaching to large international companies worldwide.  His addition continues our process of adding global leaders from the project management profession to this illustrious panel of advisors.

I also want to welcome Roberto Sbragia, PhD, professor of management and director of the MBA in project management at the University of Sao Paulo, Fundação Instituto de Administração, in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Rajat K. Baisya, PhD, Professor of Management Marketing, Strategic Management and International Business & Project Management at the Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi, India; Sebastian Green, PhD, Professor & Head of the Department of Management & Marketingat University College Cork in Cork, Ireland; and Mr. James Joiner, Director of the graduate program in project management at the University of Texas at Dallas, USA, to PM World Today’s International Editorial Advisory Council (IEAC).  The IEAC for PM World Today was announced on 5 January 2007 and is intended to expand our association with and connection to both educational institutions (with graduate programs in project management) and students of project management around the world.  This team will continue to grow throughout 2007. 

We also extend a warm welcome to Mr. Thibaut Goupil, our new International Correspondent for France, who lives in Evreaux near Paris; and Mr. Raju Rao, new International Correspondent in Chennai, India.  You can see the stories about these professional leaders who will be representing us in their respective countries and regions under PM Community News in this issue.

We want to thank our sponsors this month, which include the International Project Management Association (IPMA), iWorld Projects & Systems, Inc. and Journyx, Inc.  Please visit their websites for some exciting PM products, publications and services.  Sponsors receive visibility and publicity in the PM World Today e-Journal that is emailed to thousands of PM practitioners and professionals worldwide, and on the new PMWT home page.  If your organization is interested in sponsoring an issue of PM World Today please contact editor@pmforum.org.

Thank you for your subscription, and for reading the articles submitted by our authors and contributors.  We are excited about the future of this online publication.  Please send this to a friend or sign up for a free subscription at:

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 We really are “Connecting the World of Project Management.”  Good luck with your projects!

 

David L. Pells
Managing Editor
PM World Today