Something Good
is Happening in Colombia
By Ana Maria Rodriguez
During the last few weeks I visited my home country Colombia, after more than two years since my last visit. Although I was aware that the situation in the country was much better now, I was truly amazed with the positive changes I found in Colombia! I stayed most of the time in Bogotá and also travelled to towns close to it, and everywhere it was evident that the country is growing, projects are being developed everywhere. This is a complete different situation from the one from past years when the growth of guerrilla blocked the growth of the country. I have to say that something good is happening in Colombia, mainly due to the effort of its president Alvaro Uribe.
Alvaro Uribe was first elected as president of Colombia in 2002; then, the country was covered by fear due to the high levels of violence from guerrillas and paramilitary groups. The economy was having a minimum growth, unemployment was reaching 17% of the population, 10% of the population had emigrated. Very little foreign investment was present in the country, and beautiful places like the Caribbean beaches or the Amazon Jungle have been pulled out of all tourist plans for overseas visitors; Colombian citizens were also scared of travelling through their country. This was all due to the critical security issues and to the very high levels of kidnapping. The national self -esteem was destroyed.
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Ana Maria Rodriguez
PM World Today Correspondent
Ms. Ana Maria Rodriguez is an International Correspondent for www.pmforum.org, based in Rosario, Argentina. Ms. Rodriguez manages CDS Project, a division of NETCDS, a leading IT, project and business services company in Argentina, and is an adjunct professor of project management at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. She is actively engaged in teaching and promoting project management best practices in Argentina. Ms. Rodriguez is also an active member of PMI in Argentina. Additional information about Ms. Rodriguez can be found at www.pmforum.org/pm forum team
Ms. Rodriguez can be contacted at
arodriguez@netcds.com.ar
More information can be found about NETCDS at
www.netcds.com.ar
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Recent National Elections in Nigeria
By O. Chima Okereke, PhD
The general elections have been held in Nigeria in April. The results have met with conflicting receptions in the different parts of the country. They are reportedly unacceptable to the international community, especially the Western observers. Hopefully, a handover may take place on the May 29th. This will be epoch-making if it goes through because it will be the first time a civilian government hands over to another in our country.
I think it is being unrealistic to condemn it completely without taking cognizance of the normal conduct and practices in our country. It is indeed being overly optimistic and idealistic to expect a free and fair election without the inbuilt and institutionalised systems to deliver it. It takes a country with the checks and balances to ensure and achieve accountability and transparency in its normal political and business activities to achieve a free and fair election.
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O. Chima Okereke, PhD
PM World Today Correspondent
Dr. O. Chima Okereke, Ph.D. is an International Correspondent for www.pmforum.org in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Dr. Okereke is also Managing Director of Total Technology Consultants, Ltd., based in the UK. A registered engineer in Nigeria, Dr. Okereke has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Lagos, and a Ph.D. and MBA from the University of Bradford. Chima is also sponsor and president of the potential chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) in Port Harcourt.
Additional information about Dr. Okereke can be found at http://www.pmforum.org/pm%20forum%20team/index.htm#5.
Chima can be contacted at OkerekeOC@aol.com.
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The World of Project Management
in India
By Raju Rao
This is the first in the series of reports on the world of project management in India.
There are 7 Chapters of the Project Management Institute (PM®) in India – in New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Trivandrum. The International Project Management Association (IPMA) is represented in India by Project Management Associates at New Delhi which has one Chapter at Pune.
During end of March 2007, Mr. Chris Fristad (Past president – PMI Washington DC Chapter or PMI-WDC) visited India and PMI chapters in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Trivandrum .
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Raju Rao
PM World Today Correspondent
Mr. Raju Rao, PMP, is an International Correspondent for PMForum.org in Chennai, India. Mr. Rao is also principal consultant for Xtraplus Solutions, a PM consulting and training company based in Chennai. Mr. Rao has a B.Tech degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Madras, India; a Diploma in Management from the University of Bombay; an Advanced PM certificate from Stanford University; and a certificate from IIM Calcutta. Mr. Rao has over 30 years’ experience in engineering, process and project management and has been an active member of PMI for several years. He is currently a member of PMI’s OPM3 2008 Update project, and was a team member for development of several recent PMI standards. A founding member and vice president for the PMI Chennai Chapter, Raju is also a member of the PMI Pharmaceutical SIG, member and Chair of the Advisory Committee for the South India chapter of AACE International, and founder of the Indian Project Management Forum. Raju Rao lives in Chennai, India and can be contactedat rao.raju@gmail.com.
Additional information about Mr. Rao can be found at http://www.pmforum.org/pm%20forum%20team/index.htm#5.
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Overall Results of the
International Project Management Symposium
in Nizhny Novgorod
(13-17th of February 2007)
By Vladimir I. Voropaev PhD, Alexander S. Tovb,
Grigory L. Tsipes
Elaborating the programme of the symposium the organizers set a task to provide a maximum assistance to the real and mass formation of professional community of specialists in the field of project management in the regions of Russia. To accomplish this task, on the one hand, it was made an attempt to present in the programme of the Nizhny Novgorod symposium as many as possible directions and personalities of Russian and International project management. On the other hand, a maximum quantity of specialists representing Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and other regions of Russia had an opportunity to speak in public.
High interest of the regional government and governmental organizations was an important feature of the symposium. Taking this into account a lot of attention was paid to implementation of project management in state governance. The was a broad spectrum of issues in the reports – from general principles of formation and management of federal and objective programmes to specific tools, used in state projects, including aspects of professional training of state employees in the field of project management.
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Vladimir I. Voropajev, PhD
Contributing Author
Professor Vladimir Voropajev, PhD. is President and Chairman of the Board of the Russian Association of Project Management, SOVNET. Dr. Voropajev is a professor of Project Management at the State University of Management, Moscow, Russia. He is also Head of the Program and Project Management Faculty for the Russian State Academy’s Program for Professional Retraining and Professional Skill Development for Executives and Specialists in Investment Fields. He is a full member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences on Information Science and Cybernetics. From 1991 to 2001, he was Vice-president and a member of the Executive Board of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). During his 40 years of engineering, scientific, teaching and consulting activities, he has published over 250 scientific research works including 7 monographs and 5 textbooks about the organization and planning of construction, information systems, and project management. Vladimir was named a global advisor for PMForum.org in November 2006. Professor Voropajev can be reached at voropaev@sovnet.ru.
Alexander S. Tovb
Contributing Author
Mr. Alexander Tovb isa Deputy Team Leader and project manager on the TACIS Project for the Land and Property Policy Reform II Programme Office, Russian government, Moscow, Russia. Mr. Tovb is an experienced project manager with over 25 years experience in a variety of organizations and industries, primarily associated with information technology (IT) projects. He is currently a vice president of the Russian Project Management Association SOVNET. Alexander Tovb is a Certified Project Manager (IPMA Level B01) and an International Project Management Association (IPMA) assessor for professional PM certifications in Russia. He is a member of SOVNET, IPMA and the Moscow Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®). He has published numerous articles on project management in the Russian Chief Information Officer (CIO) magazine and presented papers at PM professional conferences, seminars and events in Europe, India and Russia. He is the co-author, with G. L. Tsipes, of the book “Project Management: Standards, Methods, Experience” (Olimp-Business, Moscow, 2003). Alexandre was Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the SOVNET project management symposium in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia in February 2007. Alex can be contacted at atovb@yandex.ru
Grigory L. Tsipes
Contributing Author
Grigory L. Tsipes, CPMS IPMA, is Chief Consultant of Information Business Systems (IBS), a leading business consulting firm in Russia, and a member of the Board of the Russian Association of Project Management, SOVNET. He is member of editorial board of CIO magazine (Russian edition) and Project and Program Management (Russia), is a frequent participant in PM conferences worldwide, chairman of Program committee of SOVNET International Symposiums. Grigory is author of several special seminars and training on corporate project management. During his 30 years of consulting, scientific and teaching activities, he has participated and managed over 30 large consulting projects, has published over 50 scientific research works including 2 monographs about information technologies, process and project management. Grigory was Chairman of the Program Committee for the SOVNET project management symposium in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia in February 2007. Grigory can be contacted at GTsipes@IBS.RU.
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The Regional Political Crisis and the State of Affairs for Project Management in Romania
Florin Gheorghiu, PMP
When Wall Street sneezes the rest of the World gets flu. It is an old known metaphorical view of how some apparently non related things can affect each other in various ways. This is true when we report over the regional political crisis that rules the Romanian political landscape during the last month. An endless string of allegations thrown by the parties have ultimately ended with a major political crisis affecting the entire social life, capital investors’ patience, and making the public observing the scandals in the newspapers rather than focusing on a serious problems.
The elected President was allegedly found responsible by the Special Committee appointed by the Parliament Chambers of overruling and exceeding the Constitutional limits of mandate. In return the acting President has tried to throw everything onto the Lower Chamber and Senate Representatives, accusing the political elite of corruption and of forming of groups of special interest which work against the citizens’ interest
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Florin Gheorghiu
PM World Today Correspondent
Mr. Florin Gheorghiu, PMP, is an International Correspondent for www.pmforum.org in Bucharest, Romania. Mr. Gheorghiu is also a professional project manager for UTI Group, a holding company engaged in the field of large public buildings, rehabilitation projects and complex security systems. Florin has experience working on large power plant projects financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction & Development (IBRD) and the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD), and for Parsons Power (Gilbert Commonwealth), Lahmeyer International and Pennsylvania Power & Light (PP&L) as a project Consultant. Florin is a graduate of the Technical University of Bucharest in Power Engineering and the National School for Political Studies and Administration in Management. Additional information about Mr. Gheorghiu can be found at http://www.pmforum.org/blogs/press/2006/11/pmforumorg-announces-addition-of.html Mr. Gheorghiu can be contacted at fgheorghiu2001@yahoo.com.
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The Impact of Project Management on Business Performance in the Portuguese Market
Alexandre Rodrigues
Project Management is nowadays a competitive advantage that no organization can spare, being recognised as the main factor influencing productivity in an increasingly global economy. But why is this emergent management discipline so important to countries like Portugal?
The answer is simple: modern business models are based on the on-going implementation and management of change. The Portuguese economy is composed by a small set of large economic groups, some of which of international origin, and by a large number of small-medium enterprises (SMEs), to whom it is mandatory – more than ever before – that they respond effectively to the challenges of change.
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Alexandre Rodrigues, CEng, PhD, PMP
PM World Today Correspondent
Alexandre Rodrigues is an International Correspondent for PMForum.org in Portugal. Dr. Rodrigues is also Executive Partner of PMO Consulting and a Senior Consultant with the Cutter Consortium. Alexandre holds a degree in Systems and Informatics Engineering from the University of Minho (Portugal) and a Ph.D. from the University of Strathclyde (UK). He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®), a Chartered Member of the Portuguese Association of Engineering (CEng), and a member of the British Association for Project Management (APM). Alexandre was founding president of the PMI Portugal Chapter and is currently a PMI Component Mentor for Central and Northern Europe. Additional information about Dr. Rodrigues can be found at (http://www.pmforum.org/pm%20forum%20team/index.htm#5).
Alex can be contacted at Alexandre.Rodrigues@PMO-Consulting.pt.
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