Report on the PM-04 Project Management Conference
organized in Chios, Greece from 29-31 May 2008

Reported by Professor John-Paris Pantouvakis in Athens

The PM-04 > 4th SCPM and 1st IPMA/MedNet Conference on Project Management, held on the Greek Island of Chios during 29-31 May 2008 has been completed successfully last week. The Conference was organized by the Centre for Construction Innovation (www.innovation.view.gr/) National Technical University of Athens & the Dept. of Financial & Management Engineering (http://www.fme.aegean.gr/fme_en.htm), University of the Aegean. The Conference was officially sponsored by the profPM (http://cem.civil.ntua.gr/profpm/index.en.php) project (Network of Project Managers in Greece – Sustainable Professional Development) and a number of industrial sponsors. PMForum was the official Media Partner.

More than 150 participants and 60 speakers from 20 countries contributed to the Conference. The 500+ pages Conference ISBN proceedings are offered free of charge to the PM-Forum’s readership. They can be downloaded at http://cem.civil.ntua.gr/pm-04-proc.rar in compressed format [20 MB]. Also, printed copies of the proceedings for concerned organizations & libraries in Europe and the Mediterranean are available by contacting Dr. J.P. Pantouvakis at jpp@central.ntua.gr.

Selected papers from the PM-04 conference will also be published in a revised form in the International Journal of Engineering and Management and the Journal of Studies in Regional & Urban Planning. In addition, PMForum will publish selected papers in future editions of the popular monthly PM World Today eJournal (www.pmworldtoday.net).

The pre-conference activities included a seminar on “Best value practices from the USA” given at the Hellenic American Union (http://www.hau.gr/) in Athens on the 27th of May. Professor Kashiwagi of Arizona State University addressed an audience of 20+ participants and explained his innovative ideas and practices.

The pre-conference activities also included a project management standards workshop organized in Chios on May 29. During this workshop, the new ELOT-1429 Greek standard related to the managerial capability of organizations implementing public interest projects took place.

Prof. P. Fitsilis (TEI Larissa) explained the new standard. Prof. Nino Grau, Vice President of IPMA responsible for standards informed the audience about global project management standardization initiatives (esp. those of ISO) and IPMA’s involvement whereas Prof. J.P. Pantouvakis and Prof. K. Kirytopoulos joined the speakers in answering the audience’s questions and concerns. The two-hour event was actively attended by more that 60 delegates.

The Conference itself started in early afternoon on May 29. The event has been saluted by the Prefecture of Chios, the Mayor of the City of Chios, Prof. M. Mimikou, Dean of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Prof. I. Karkazis, Dean of the Business School, University of the Aegean and Prof. A. Loizos, Director of the Department of Construction Engineering & Management, National Technical University of Athens. Salutations by the Technical Chamber of Greece and the Union of Hellenic Scientists for Protypation and Standardization have also been made.

Following the salutations, the first three keynote speakers addressed the Conference. Prof. M. Kagioglou, University of Salford, spoke on “Benefits realization – Bringing back the purpose of Project / Programme Management”. Why manage projects? To achieve benefits! Should we manage the projects as such or the benefits accrued from them? The talk contributed to finding the answer on this basic question.

Prof. Dean Kashiwagi, Arizona State University, questioned the applicability of project management itself. Do we really need to manage projects or should we create the structural framework by which they can run by themselves? New controversial ideas were presented at an audience that some accepted the principle and some opposed it as non-applicable.

The keynote speeches were completed by Gilles Caupin, PMAmbassador™ and Secretary General of MedNet who spoke on “Certification of Project Management Competences in the Mediterranean”.

For a full report on the 2008 PM-04 Project Management Conference in Chios, Greece, click here.

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Report from happy projects 2008 in Vienna

Reported by Martina Huemann in Austria

From May 29th to 30th 2008 Vienna hosted happy project's 08 (former pm days) - the annual international conference organized by ROLAND GAREIS CONSULTING (RGC) and PROJECT MANAGEMENT GROUP (PMG), WU-Wien. About 300 PM experts and students were present when Roland Gareis (A) opened the conference with a presentation on Sales Processes and Sales Projects. His presentation and the keynote of the marketing expert, Barbara Stöttinger (A), professor for international marketing at WU-Wien provided the framework for happy projects'08: PROJECTS & SALES.

 

 

 

 

Speakers from well-known national and international organizations and universities delivered presentations, case studies, workshops, and panel discussions about this year’s topics:

• Sales processes and methods

• Sales projects and programs

• Sales tasks of project owner teams and project managers

• "Selling" project, program and project portfolio management

As a plenary keynote the international student paper award winner Barry Rodgers (F), ESC Lille gave a presentation on his winning paper "Selling a PMO to Management as a Centralized Repository of Project Expertise".

During the two conference days there were many very interesting presentations, split into two practitioners streams and a researcher stream. To just briefly mention a few presenters in the practitioners stream: Francis Hartman, Quality Enhanced Decisions,(CAN) showed how project success should be sold with mind and heart. Mary McKinlay, Mary Mc Kinlay Projects Ltd. (UK) talked about the sales tasks of the project owner and the project manager. Mark Engelhardt, PMI Chapter Austria (A) presented the challenges of selling projects overseas. Pau Lian Staal-Ong, (NL) a project and quality manager from AT Osborne reported on the project marketing of the new north south metro line in historic Amsterdam and gave insights in marketing tools and techniques applied in this amazing case study. In the research stream Pernille Eskerod, South Denmark Business School (DK) gave insights on the project manager as a project marketer, and Dov Dvir, Ben Gurion University (Israel) talked about the future of project management research.

In parallel to the presentations, several workshops took place. In the workshop held by Dagmar Zuchi, RGC and Brigitte Sachs-Schaffer (A) the workshop participants tried out a systemic constellation to analyze a project team conflict. One traditional highlight of happy projects conference is the panel discussion of four well known professors on an interesting topic. This year Roland Gareis invited Rodney Turner, University of Limerick (IR), Christophe Bredillet, ESC Lille (F), and Lynn Crawford, Bond University (AUS) to report on their sales success and sales flops. As usual the audience was listing with a lot of smiles to the professor's panel.

At the evening of the first conference day the audience enjoyed a clubbing event in the Tech Gate sky scarper with good music and a wonderful view on Vienna.

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Diversity up for Discussion at Project Management Conference

Reported by Brenda Treasure in Melbourne, Australia

Leading Project Management practitioners from across the Asia Pacific region will gather in Singapore in October to share and explore approaches in a region made up of many diverse cultures and economies.

The Project Management Asia Conference (PMAsia) will be held at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore from 14 – 17 October 2008. It will feature an interactive program of both local and international speakers, tailored to the unique and varied conditions of Pacific Asia.

The conference is a PMGlobal event, lead by the Conference Chairman, Andrew Leicester. ‘PMAsia aims to offer a long term commitment to the advancement of the project management profession and industry in the Asia Pacific region,’ said Andrew.

‘The conference will provide a forum for education, knowledge transfer and the development of new skills and professional development of all sectors within the industry,’ he said.

Several high profile keynote speakers will set the tone of the conference, including Gerard Bagnara from KBR in Singapore. Gerard assisted on the F1 in Singapore and will discuss his experiences on this recent, multifaceted project.

Keith Pickavance, Senior Vice President of Hill International will also present his approaches to Project Management. Keith has over 40 years of experience in construction management, project planning, risk management, delay and disruption analysis throughout the world.

The conference is supported by a number of major industry bodies in the Asia Pacific region. Mr Seah Choo Meng, the President of the Society of Project Managers is enthusiastic about what the conference will offer the region.

‘We believe the PM Asia conference program planned for 2008 will contribute significantly to the practice, science and professionalism of Project Management in Asia and we encourage active participation,’ said Mr Meng.

The event is also supported by the Chartered Institute of Building. ‘We believe the conference program planned for 2008 will provide a valuable opportunity for those in the built environment,’ said Fabio Casula, Head of International CIOB.

The conference will focus on the theme ‘Succeeding in Diversity’. This theme will address how to adapt project, program and portfolio management practices developed in Europe and the USA to function effectively in this complex, dynamic and exciting region. It will focus on three key streams including successful construction, mining and engineering projects, successful business and ICT projects and successful organisations.

PMAsia is now inviting academics and researchers, practicing project managers, senior managers and practitioners working in PMO’s and consultancies to submit abstracts and participate in the event. For more information please visit www.pmasia.net.

PM Asia 2008
The PM Asia conference will gather Project Management practitioners from across the Asia Pacific Region. Several high profile Keynote speakers will set the tone and a full interactive program will ensure two days of learning, gaining shared knowledge and professional development. The program will appeal to academics and researchers, practicing project managers, senior business managers and directors, and practitioners working in PMO’s and consultancies.

Where: Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore
When: 14-17 October 2008
Web: www.pmasia.net
Contact: pmasia@eventcorp.com.au

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Techint Chair Gianfelice Rocca to keynote
IPMA Congress in Rome

The project management team for the 22nd IPMA World Congress on Project Management - ROMA 2008 Project Management to Run - has announced that Dr. Gianfelice Rocca will be a keynote speaker for the November congress. Dr. Rocca is Chairman of the Techint Group of Companies, Vice President of Confindustria and on the boards of directors of a number of other Italian and international organizations.

After graduating from the University of Milan with a degree in physics, Gianfelice Rocca completed his studies at Harvard Business School in Boston. He joined the Techint Group in 1974 and in 1981 he was appointed managing director of Techint SpA with sole responsibility for the company’s activities in Europe and Mexico. In 1997 he became president of the holding company owning the Techint Group.

The Techint Group is a world leader in steelmaking, energy and infrastructures, working with more than 100 companies the world over, controlling assets worth more than 26 billion dollars, and employing 60,000 people. The principal companies in the group are:

• Tenaris, a world leader in the production of steel pipes and a supplier of related services for the petroleum and natural gas, automotive and large-scale plants industries;

• Ternium, a leader on the American continent in the production of flat steel products;

• Techint E&C, concerned with design and construction of electrical power stations, pipelines, petrochemical plants, transmission lines and large-scale infrastructure projects; and

• Tenova, a world-wide steelmaking technologies company engaged in exploration, extraction and distribution of oil & gas in Latin America.

Alongside industry, the Group started working in healthcare in the ’nineties. Gianfelice Rocca founded Humanitas, the clinical institute of which he is president. Humanitas is a case chosen for study by Harvard Business School students and is the first polyclinic in Italy to be accredited by Joint Commission International. This hospital is flanked by a research and teaching centre employing Italian and international scientists which hosts the University of Milan’s degree programmes in medicine, surgery and biotechnologies.

Gianfelice Rocca is also vice president of Confindustria, where he is responsible for Education. He sits on the board of a number of other companies. At the international level, he is a member of the Trilateral Commission, Harvard Business School’s European Advisory Board, the Aspen Institute’s executive committee and the Advisory Board of the Allianz Group.

At the 22nd IPMA World Congress in Rome, as the key-note speaker, Dr. Rocca will speak on the topic of “Project Management of human resources in a globalised group.”

According to the abstract, “Quality human resources are becoming increasingly rare and expensive, just like energy and raw materials. A highly globalised international group with more than 60,000 employees therefore needs to plan its resources and their training sufficiently in advance on the basis of the organization’s strategic requirements. For a number of years the Techint Group has had a policy of hiring talented young people on the basis of a curve which anticipates growth in the group’s lines of business and which draws on the cultural diversity of the countries in which the Group works. A strong focus on local culture and a global business strategy requiring managers who have attended postgraduate programmes in an international context are the two key aspects or goals of the human resources project. This way of proceeding permits preparation of training plans to ensure that the Group has well-prepared, strongly motivated human resources available exactly when they are required by business plans.”

The IPMA 22nd World Congress on Project Management will be held in Rome, Italy during 9-11 November 2008. According to the “ROMA 2008 – Project Management to Run” project team, with keynote speeches and 12 streams of presentations over three days, as many as 200 presentations on important project management topics can be anticipated.

The congress is expected to attract leading project management authorities and over 1,000 participants from the 45+ countries represented by IPMA membership. The Roma 2008 World Congress will be one of the largest project management events in the world this year. The 22nd IPMA World Congress and Exhibition will be held at the Palazzo dei Congressi near the heart of downtown Rome. For registration, schedule and other information, visit the conference website at www.ipmaroma2008.it.

The local hosts for the ROMA 2008 World Congress are the Italian Project Management Academy and the Italian National Association of Industrial Plant Engineering (ANIMP). The President of ANIMP is Fabrizio Di Amato; the President of the Italian PM Academy is Roberto Mori; the Congress Chairman is Luigi Iperti; and the Project Manager for IPMA 2008 is PierMarco Romagnoli.

Founded in 1967 and registered in Switzerland, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) is is an international federation of more than 40 national PM societies in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Local societies serve each country in its national language. IPMA provides an umbrella organization at the international level. IPMA’s internationally acclaimed 4 Level PM Certification Programme continues to grow worldwide. The IPMA annually presents awards to teams that achieve great feats in project management. IPMA maintains its continuous presence in the global PM arena through regular International Symposia, Expert Seminars and its Annual World Congress. The president of IPMA for 2008 is Veikko Valila. Additional information is available at www.ipma.ch.

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General Colin Powell to Keynote PMI Global Congress
North America in October

The Project Management Institute (PMI) has announced that retired US General Colin Powell, former head of the US military and former US Secretary of State, will be the featured keynote speaker at the PMI Global Congress - North America 2008. The conference will be held in Denver, Colorado during 19-21 October 2008. General Powell will speak on Sunday evening, October 19, during the opening session.

General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), former U.S. Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, and Four-Star General will share his insight about leadership, project management and social responsibility at PMI Global Congress in Denver, Colorado USA. One of the most admired men in the United States, General Colin Powell has been a leader for most of his life. But General Powell believes a leader is more than just his or her title.

Drawing on examples garnered from experience as both a leader on the world stage and as eyewitness to leadership in action, General Powell illustrates precisely what it takes to be a leader, providing strategies for “taking charge” during times of great change and great crises. General Powell demonstrates how to remain focused, take responsibility and work towards improving processes, organizations and people.

General Powell’s accomplishments as a leader, project manager, and advocate for economic and social development worldwide are inspirational. You’ll bring home meaningful concepts that will help you in your personal and professional endeavors. General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) became the 65th Secretary of State on January 20, 2001, bringing extensive experience with him to his office. Before becoming Secretary of State, Colin Powell served as a key aide to the Secretary of Defense and as National Security Advisor to President Reagan. He also served 35 years in the United States Army, rising to the rank of Four-Star General and serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989 – 1993). During this time, he oversaw 28 crises including the Panama intervention of 1989 and Operation Desert Storm in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

That experience served him well, both before and particularly after the events of 11 September 2001. A fervent purveyor of democratic values, Colin Powell has stressed that fighting the war on terrorism is not just a military but also a diplomatic task – the two go hand in hand. He led the State Department in major efforts to solve regional and civil conflicts – in the Middle East, between Israel and its Arab neighbors; in Sudan, Congo and Liberia; in the Balkans, Cyprus, Haiti, Northern Ireland and elsewhere. He has been especially concerned with the peace and security of Afghanistan and Iraq, countries where winning the peace is as important as Coalition battlefield victories. In all areas, he used the power of diplomacy and the universal ideal of democracy to build trust, forge alliances and then begin to transform these once-unstable regions into areas where societies and cultures prosper. For additional background information about General Powell, visit : http://congresses.pmi.org/NorthAmerica2008/TheCongress/Keynote.cfm.

 

 

The PMI Global Congress – North America 2008 Project Management conference will be held during 19-21 October 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver, Colorado. Now one of the largest project management events in the world, PMI’s flagship North American Global Congress features three days of keynote speeches, professional presentations, panel discussions, networking events, and a vendor exhibition. The congress will be preceded by PMI leadership meetings and workshops, and followed by a week of seminars and training courses. For more information, visit http://congresses.pmi.org/NorthAmerica2008/

Four PMI Global Congresses are held each year, in the Asia Pacific region, Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) region, North America and Latin America. PMI Global Congresses are often the largest project management related events in the world and include educational seminars, professional paper presentations, vendor exhibitions, networking and social events, and professional meetings. PMI also conducts regional leadership meetings in connection with each Global Congress, at which leaders of PMI components, committees and operations staff meet on PMI business. For more information about PMI Global Congresses, visit: http://congresses.pmi.org/.

With more than 265,000 members in 170 plus countries, the Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI) is the world’s largest membership association for project management. As a leading advocate for the profession, PMI is actively engaged in setting professional standards, providing a professional career path for project managers and maintaining a family of professional credentials: Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM^®), Project Management Professional (PMP^®), Program Management Professional (PgMP)^® and PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)SM. The PMP is held by more than 267,000 project managers and professionals worldwide. PMI provides members with access to PM knowledge, skills, education, and networking opportunities. PMI is also highly regarded for its research, accreditation of colleges and universities, and Registered Education Provider program. PMI was founded in 1969. Please visit PMI.org for more information.

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International Approaches in Project Management PMI, IPMA, OGC and RGC - Differences and Commonalities - presented in Bucharest

Reported by Florin Gheorghiu in Bucharest

On June the 17th at Novotel Hotel in downtown Bucharest City, Roland Gareis Consulting challenged the Project Management community to a public debate and introspection into the various project management standards and methodologies placing the focus onto the main commonalities and differences between them.

Some seventeen guests took a seat in a luxury Paris Conference Room where Roland Gareis organized this gathering. The audience was attracted not only by the captioned issues but also by Roland Gareis who is a regular project management event keynote speaker, either in Romania or abroad. Professor Gareis managed in an extremely short period time from his company’s kickoff in Romania to make Roland Gareis Consulting a living presence within the community. RGC’s logo “Happy Projects” is almost a trademark of the Company!

With this new session called by organizers “PM Lecture”, in fact one milestone on a 2008 year string of planned events, Mr. Gareis brought to the same table reputed speakers from PMI and IPMA such Mrs. Dagmar Zuchi (pictured below left) - Trainer and Consultant of RGC Vienna and professor at university and colleges in Austria, and Mrs. Simona Bonghez (pictured below right), Acting President of PMI Romania Chapter.

The topics for discussion, very interesting and practical for those who are now taking steps towards a career in project management, were extensively debated by speakers in their attempt to unveil the “foggy” picture over the various approaches in today’s world.

A concise and well balanced analysis over what PMI and PMBoK in comparison to IPMA’s ICB Standard or British PRINCE2 methodology was delivered to the audience. The main commonalities which, beyond terms and vocabulary, in essence are dealing with the same context notwithstanding the different denomination given for the same process or document delivered under certain standard or methodology, were highlighted.

If easily digested by the old professionals in the field for the new on stage, it was probably a bit hard to perceive and absorb such an abundant stream of information pertaining to standards, methodologies, project life cycle phases and so on.

Nevertheless, for both experienced and less experienced or exposed to the project management, these events are welcomed and necessary. RGC, as reported in some other prior instances, has become extremely active and its endeavor to liaise the parts with their commonalities to a joint approach is simply laudable.

Actually, if looked more in depth, the differences are not at all irreconcilable and any individual preference for one or another approach becomes a matter of personal choice, driven off course by the ability of PMI (PMBoK), IPMA (ICB), OGC (PRINCE2) to attract new members.

While IPMA and OGC are doing well in Europe with a local presence in Romania as well, PMI is by far globally implemented and its addressability is worldwide rather than locally centered. Roland Gareis Consulting, a blend of Vienna University with a group of skilled trainers and Romanian project management consultants and trainers specialized in almost all knowledge areas, keeps playing a leading role in shaping the project management landscape in the country.

While other entities, ERPs’, independent companies seem to be focused on training at certification level, PMP, PgMP or IPMA A,B, C or D levels, RGC is doing more than that; they cover a broader spectrum ranging from certification preparation trainings to consultancy services in project management for companies at the turning point towards project management approach.

In fact while attending to the PM Lecture I experienced a strange feeling of being in the same room together with people having different religious orientation but praying at the same God. There is not at all a Great Divide in Project Management, it is simply the same image viewed from different corners. In fact everyone is looking at the same thing from a different distance or angle but the thing they are looking at is out there the same.

One thing is however disappointing: no official of IPMA Romania was present or invited whatsoever while PMI was represented by its acting President. This could be a challenge for RGC that at the next opportunity to round up PMI and IPMA at high level of representation for a joint workshop.

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Project Risk Management Symposium 2008
in Greece a great success!

Reported by Theofanis Giotis in Greece

The PMI Athens, Greece Chapter organized the first Risk Management event for Project Management ever. The event was titled “Project Risk Management Symposium 2008” and was held in Athens, Greece, on 19th of June 2008. More than 220 delegates attended the symposium.

The Project Risk Management Symposium 2008 commenced at 09:00 by Dr. George Diakonikolaou, PMI GREECE Vice President of Events & Special Projects and Symposium Chairman. Welcome speeches were given by Mr. Theofanis Giotis PMP, President of PMI GREECE and CEO of ITEC.

The main message of the Project Risk Management Symposium 2008 was the following: “If you don't Attack Risks, Risks will Attack You!”

Dr. David Hillson was the keynote speaker of this symposium. Dr. Hillson (www.risk-doctor.com is an international risk management consultant, and the Director of Risk Doctor & Partners. Many senior managers have benefited from his insights through personal coaching and mentoring, and he has assisted a wide range of organizations to develop effective in-house risk processes and successfully manage their risk. David has developed a number of innovations in risk management, which have been widely adopted.

He is best known for championing the inclusion of opportunity in the risk process, and has developed a practical approach to understanding and managing risk attitudes (see www.risk-attitude.com). David is an active member of the global Project Management Institute (PMI) and was a founder member of its Risk Management Specific Interest Group (SIG). He received the PMI Distinguished Contribution Award for his work in developing risk management over many years. He is a Fellow of the UK Association for Project Management (APM) and past Chairman of its Risk SIG. David is also a Fellow of the Institute of Risk Management (IRM), the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (RSA), and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

At the end of the Symposium a round table was held to discuss issues about Risk Management in Project Management. This round table was coordinated by Dr. Konstantinos Kirytopoulos, University of the Aegean. The participants at this round table were Dr. David Hillson, Director at Risk Doctors and Partners, and Mr. Harris Xanthopoulos, Project and Program Manager at Bovis Lend Lease Hellas. (In photo from left: Dr. David Hillson, Dr. Konstantinos Kirytopoulos and Mr. Harris Xanthopoulos)

For a complete report on the PMI Athens, Greece Chapter’s Project Risk Management Symposium 2008, including event photos, click here.

The PMI Athens, Greece Chapter was founded in 2004, is a non-for profit professional association and is operating as the Greek PMI Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI). PMI Greece has 360 members from 230 companies that represent all financial sectors in Greece (information technology, telecommunications, construction, banking, public sector etc). For more information, visit http://www.pmi-greece.org/.

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