Volume X - Issue VI - April 2008
Editor's Perspective
April 2008 Welcome to the April 2008 edition of PM World Today. This is the fourth edition of Volume X, the ten year anniversary of PM World Today as an online publication. PM World Today was one of the first newsletters published and delivered via the Internet and we continue our efforts to transform it into one of the world’s leading monthly e-publications for project management. We are happy to say that PM World Today continues to evolve and grow, as this month’s edition reflects. Each month the Editor’s Perspective on the Current Issue provides a short overview of the articles and contributions included in the current edition. This edition of PM World Today again contains articles, news, papers and stories from around the world of project management (PM), including several in Spanish. PM World Today is an educational resource for PM professionals. It is also a resource (and service) for PM experts, leaders and practitioners who want to share knowledge and gain more visibility in the PM world as authors and contributors. This month’s Editorial is entitled “Project Management Conferences Revisited: My recent experience in Tokyo!” I recently attended the International Project and Program Management Tokyo 2008 Symposium in Tokyo, Japan. It was a long way to journey for a project management conference. But it was very worthwhile, for a number of significant reasons. Because it is fresh on my mind, I thought it might be interesting and useful to revisit my editorial of one year ago on this topic and to share some my recent experiences with readers. With a real example, perhaps it will be easier to explain the value of participating in international PM conferences, which I believe are significant. I look forward to receiving some comments on this month’s editorial. Five Letters to the Editor are included this month. Tom McCabe in Connecticut corrects some information in a previous article “On the history of project management”. Robert Youker in Virginia also sends some comment on the history of PM. Getachew Alemu in Ethiopia sent a passionate response related to my March editorial on the subject of “New frontiers for project management – nanotechnology.” And Russ Archibald in Mexico send two emails to me on the subjects of “research on IT project failures” and “PM at NASA”. I want to thank these four individuals for their positive and useful feedback this month. Three Viewpoint articles are included again this month. Quentin Fleming and Joel Koppelman of Primavera are back with an important article on earned value entitled “Performance Base Payments (PBPs): If it walks, talks and quacks like EVM … it must be EVM!” According to the authors, “In October 1995, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR subpart 32.10) was revised to create a new category of payments to suppliers on fixed-price contracts. They were called Performance-Based Payments (PBPs)…. The concept of performance based payments is in fact a simple form of earned value management (EVM). But interestingly, nowhere in the FAR clause or any of the government’s supporting guidance documents is the term “earned value” ever mentioned.” Please read the article to see what these EVM experts say about new US government requirements that may just be earned value in disguise. Paul Giammalvo in Indonesia is back with a Viewpoints article entitled “What does the future of hold for project management? An update!” According to Paul, “On 8 January, Gartner released a set of projections that I found extremely interesting, as at least a few of them will or at least SHOULD, affect or impact the future of project management.” Read Paul’s article where he addresses the trends discussed in the Gartner article and how they will, or should, affect the projects and PM worlds. Please let us know what you think of these projections in a letter (email) to the editor. The third Viewpoints article this month provided by Ammar Mango, PMForum’s international correspondent in Amman, Jordan, is entitled “Project Management – beyond the formal definition.” According to Ammar, “To me, Project Management is simply: Leading projects to a successful conclusion by leading, planning, organizing, and controlling the project stakeholders, resources and the project environment…. Defining project management is one thing, but the real value is in its proper application, which is not as easy as many assume it is. However, the value reaped form its application makes it all worthwhile.” Please read Ammar’s article for some personal perspective, then let us know what you think. Our Featured Interview this month is with Osvaldo Ucha, president of the PMI Buenos Aires Chapter, provided by our correspondent in Argentina, Ms. Ana Maria Rodriguez. Mr. Ucha was recently elected to the chapter presidency in Buenos Aires, the large PMI chapter in Argentina that is now sponsoring regional branches in other cities. Ana Maria asks him about his plans for the chapter this year, and challenges facing PM in their country. Thanks to Ana Maria, the interview is provided in both English and Spanish. Featured Papers are serious professional contributions to the PM literature or papers of significant interest. Some are highly entertaining as well. This month we include four such papers from authors in Canada, India and the USA. This month we feature a paper by Robert Prieto, senior vice president for Fluor Corporation, entitled “Evolution of Owners Role under Program Management.” As project management has matured and more organizations embrace program management, new models are needed in the marketplace. This is especially true in the engineering and construction industry where relationships must evolve between owners and contractors. According to Bob, “Implementation of major capital facility programs requires Owner organizations to undergo change in several dimensions. Each of these dimensions involves a significant departure from the established management, operating, commercial and cultural patterns which have typically characterized the Owner’s capital delivery programs and processes.” We think this is an important addition to the PM literature and encourage all to read it. Mark Kozak-Holland in Canada, frequent and popular contributor to PM World Today, is back with part 20 in his series on “Winston Churchill, the Agile Project Manager.” Mark also uses “Lessons from History” to teach modern PM. His paper this month is entitled “RAF Fighter Command.” According to Mark, “This article looks at … how the clever use of emerging technologies and reengineered processes could better maximize the effectiveness of pilots/fighters in an integrated air defense or sense-and-respond system.” Based on information from “the summer of 1940”, this is another fascinating look back with lessons still to be learned! Mr. T.D. Jainendrukumar in India is back with a featured paper entitled “Six Sigma vs. PMBOK.” Mr. Jainendrukumar has conducted an interesting study comparing Six Sigma methodology with the project management process oriented contents of PMI’s Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®). This is an interesting and revealing article that we hope readers and professionals will appreciate. The final featured paper this month is by Quang Ton, project management professional and newest International Correspondent for PMForum in Houston, entitled “Martial Arts: The Essence of Project Management”. According to Quang, “The Chinese People have many longstanding traditions, some of which incorporate techniques and concepts applied in project management. Two of these, Hung Gar, a form of Kung Fu, and the Lion Dance, a traditional costumed dance form, will be used to draw parallels with modern project management,” This is a unique and fascinating look at project management, using martial arts as the instructional parallel. in Personal Stories this month, we include a fascinating story by Alexander Matthey in Switzerland, entitled “How Project Management contributed and still contributes to realizing the dreams of my early twenties!” Alexander tells the story of his life in project management, a very challenging, interesting and rewarding adventure story reaching from Europe to Australia and back. We applaud Alex for sharing this personal story, for revealing his dreams and realities to the world of project management. Please read his story, then send us one of your own. Personal stories are intended to entertain and inform on a personal level – these are the human experiences of project managers and PM professionals. We want to welcome a new sponsor, The APM Group in the UK, and thank our continuing sponsors this month, which include the ESC Lille, IPMA,Journyx, Keller Graduate School of Management, The Graduate Program in Project Management at theUniversity of Texas at Dallas,Threon Group and The World Bank. Please click on their logos and visit their websites. Sponsors receive visibility and publicity in the PM World Today e-Journal that is emailed to thousands worldwide, and on the PM World Today home page at www.pmworldtoday.net. 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 correspondents. We are excited about the future of this online publication and the world of project management. Please send this to a friend or colleague. Free subscriptions are available at http://www.pmworldtoday.net/subscribe/subscribe.htm. Read complete editor's perspective in English
Good luck with your projects!
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