And then came complex project management (revised)

Article

Whitty, Stephen Jonathan and Maylor, Harvey. 2009. "And then came complex project management (revised)." International Journal of Project Management. 27 (3), pp. 304-310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2008.03.004
Article Title

And then came complex project management (revised)

ERA Journal ID3498
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsWhitty, Stephen Jonathan (Author) and Maylor, Harvey (Author)
Journal TitleInternational Journal of Project Management
Journal Citation27 (3), pp. 304-310
Number of Pages7
Year2009
PublisherElsevier
Place of PublicationOxford, United Kingdom
ISSN0263-7863
1873-4634
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2008.03.004
Abstract

The subject of management is renowned for its addiction to fads and fashions. Project Management is no exception. The issue of interest for this paper is the establishment of standards in the area, specifically the 'College of Complex Project Managers' and their 'competency standard for complex project managers'. Both the college and the standard have generated significant interest in the Project
Management community. Whilst the need for development of the means to manage complex projects is acknowledged, a critical evaluation show significant flaws in the definition of complex in this case, the process by which the College and its standard have emerged, and the content of the standard. If Project Management is to continue to develop as a profession, it will need an evidence-based approach to the generation of knowledge and standards. The issues raised by the evaluation provide the case for a portfolio of research that extends the existing bodies of knowledge into large-scale complicated (or major) projects. We propose that it would be owned by the practitioner community, rather than focused on one organization. Research questions are proposed that would commence this stream of activity towards an intelligent synthesis of what is required to manage in both complicated and truly complex environments. This is a revised paper previously presented at the 21st IPMA World Congress on Project Management Cracow, Poland.

Keywordscomplex project management; competency standards; major projects
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020350710. Organisational behaviour
390114. Vocational education and training curriculum and pedagogy
330202. Building construction management and project planning
Public Notes

2008 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved. Deposited in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.

Byline AffiliationsUniversity of Queensland
Cranfield University, United Kingdom
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