Five Years, Vision and Value Revisited
David Pells
Managing Editor
Addison, Texas, USA
Welcome to the July 2017 edition of the PM World Journal (PMWJ), the 60th monthly edition. This five year anniversary edition continues to reflect the international nature of this publication: 30 original articles, papers and other works by 34 different authors in 14 different countries. News articles about projects and project management around the world are also included. Since the primary mission of this journal is to support the global sharing of knowledge, please share this month’s edition with others in your network, wherever in the world they may be.
Since last August, on the recommendation of several international advisors, I have used this opportunity to mention important trends or issues that I see as journal editor. This month, however, on the occasion of the publication’s five year anniversary, I wanted to reflect on some of the original objectives for the journal, perhaps the most important of which I was reminded about by Neil Robinson in his letter to the editor this month. That is, where can professionals share their experiences and knowledge? In the paragraphs below, here are the main reasons WHY the PMWJ was and is published.
Reason 1: So professionals can get published more easily
When I was about 10 years into my professional career, I began to consider authoring a paper for presentation at a PMI conference. By then I had worked on several large energy and defense projects, initially as a project controls analyst using earned value management systems and processes, then as the manager of a company-wide project management improvement program. My motivation for authoring a paper was to advance my career; this was common practice then. Published papers could go onto one’s professional CV. Publishing was also to share knowledge and to contribute to the PM profession. No one authored a paper to receive professional development units (PDUs).
At that time, PMI (Project Management Institute) offered three primary options for anyone to publish a paper about project management: at their annual seminars/symposium (now called global congress), in the Project Management Quarterly (PMQ – now their monthly PMNetwork Magazine), and through PMI chapters (newsletters and local/regional events). That was 30+ years ago.
There were other options at the time, of course, including through the American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE – now the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International, AACEi) and the Performance Management Association (PMA – now the College of Performance Management, CPM). In Europe, there were opportunities to publish or present an article or paper in publications or at events sponsored by APM in UK, INTERNET (now the International Project Management Association, IPMA) in Europe, AIPM in Australia, and several others.
So I started authoring papers in 1985 for presentation at PMI conferences, first regional events in Seattle and Vancouver, BC, then at the big annual PMI Seminars/Symposium, then at INTERNET congresses beginning in 1990. I continued to author papers and make presentations for the next 15 years.
For the last 10 years, however, the opportunities for beginning or mid-career professionals to publish an article or paper seem to have dried up, have many strings attached or have hoops to jump through. PMI has turned to professional writers for PMNetwork; opportunities to author papers at global congresses have required forms, formats and compliance (and may actually be ending completely); publishing on pmi.org or projectmanagement.com is promoted for PMI members or for obtaining PDUs. APM in UK still offers great opportunities for APM members via specific interest groups and national publications. AACEi offers opportunities for AACEi members, etc. There are also many blogs and commercial websites looking for content, but the real or implied association with the promoter can be problematic.
AACEi, AIPM, APM and other conferences still offer good opportunities to author a paper but often require sometimes expensive registration, travel and attendance at the conference. Regional conferences such as the annual UT Dallas PM Symposium also offer opportunities for publication, although conference proceedings are not always widely distributed or available after the event.
The PMWJ provides a simple way for professionals at any level to share knowledge, experience and information, and to get published. You don’t have to be a member of AACE, APM, IPMA, PMI or any other organization; you can be located anywhere in the world. And the process is simple. Just email your article or paper to me; if written professionally, without commercial intent/content and without too many grammatical errors, we will normally publish it.
Reason 2: So researchers can publish their works more easily
Several years ago I was referred to a paper in which the author declared “the death of refereed journals.” The future, he declared, was open-source journals, posting on websites and freely sharing research results. No more submitting papers to academic journals, waiting weeks or months for acceptance, then waiting weeks or months for publication…
More…
To read entire paper, click here
About the Author
David L. Pells
Managing Editor, PMWJ
Managing Director, PMWL
David L. Pells is Managing Editor of the PM World Journal (https://www.pmworldjournal.net/) and Managing Director of the PM World Library (http://www.pmworldlibrary.net/). David is an internationally recognized leader in the field of professional project management with more than 35 years of experience on a variety of programs and projects, including engineering, construction, energy, defense, transit, technology and nuclear security, and project sizes ranging from thousands to billions of dollars. He occasionally acts as project management advisor for U.S. national laboratories and international programs, and currently serves as an independent advisor for a major U.S. national nuclear security program.
David Pells has been an active professional leader in the United States since the 1980s, serving on the board of directors of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) twice. He was founder and chair of the Global Project Management Forum (1995-2000), an annual meeting of leaders of PM associations from around the world. David was awarded PMI’s Person of the Year award in 1998 and Fellow Award, PMI’s highest honor, in 1999. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Association for Project Management (APM) in the UK; Project Management Associates (PMA – India); and Russian Project Management Association. Since 2010 he is an honorary member of the Project Management Association of Nepal.
Former managing editor of PM World Today, he is the creator, editor and publisher of the PM World Journal (since 2012). David has a BA in Business Administration from the University of Washington and an MBA from Idaho State University in the USA. He has published widely and spoken at conferences and events worldwide. David lives near Dallas, Texas and can be contacted at [email protected].
To see other works by David Pells, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/david-l-pells/
Corruption goes through the big door
COMMENTARY
By Germán Bernate
Bogota, Colombia
The new Romanian government chaired by Prime Minister Sorin Grindeaunu, who had been in office only a few months ago, promulgated his first Decree. Decriminalize cases of corruption when the amount stolen is less than $ 50,000 (fifty thousand dollars). That is, it is presented in Society to corruption and is accepted to have its own legitimacy. This decree is new: it legalizes the robbery and exempts from all responsibility those who infringe the Laws.
Many Colombians are surprised by this novel way of governing. Some, ironically, wonder when the Executive will consider these lessons from Romania to proceed in a similar way. Or, maybe, it’s not necessary?
Specialists in Project Management observe the so-called ‘Best Practices’. These include, among others: appropriate training for all stakeholders, information management, generation of ideas for improvement, lessons learned from other projects, comparison with work done in other countries with different cultures, audits, observing standards, and many more .
In parallel there are the so-called ‘Bad Practices’. These are not found in the Procedural Manuals of any company, but all citizens know them well. Among the most famous are some used by sellers: a) lie to the customer with false promises about the benefits of the products and services promoted. B) hide from the client: never appears, refuses to answer phone calls. C) delivering poor quality products. D) non-realistic advertising.
But there are other ‘Bad Practices’ that are also present in Romania: bribery and corruption. These are presented most notably in construction and infrastructure. For the award of contracts mechanisms are designed to present the requirements to the proponents and emphasis is placed on transparency. After the elaboration of the contract comes a mandatory management: the obtaining of authorizations of the most varied requirements. Complex and not always useful operation.
Risk appears. This is an important complement to the project’s governance. This, the Risk, provides a series of ‘Best Practices’ that has the mission to control the action and prevent complex situations. Controls include documentation, monitoring and control, communications, monitoring of contracts, among many.
Risk is generous in its support. Your first contribution is the definition of the corresponding procedure: that is, what should be done and what is not allowed. Then it is in charge of identifying them, understanding what is involved and setting priorities. Qualitative and quantitative analyzes are then performed. This to establish the true impact they have. A guideline is established to know what to respond to each risk and how its management is controlled.
More…
To read entire report, click here for (English) or (Spanish)
About the Author
Germán Bernate
Bogota, Colombia
Germán Bernate is an Electronic Engineer (Universidad Distrital – 1962) and Master in Project Management (UCI University of Costa Rica 2009). He worked 31 years for IBM in Colombia in managerial and technical positions. He was work with NCR Colombia and served as Program Manager and Project Manager. Founder and CEO of Almagesto (2004), a company dedicated to consulting and training in the areas of strategic planning and project management. In 1992 he won the first prize in the fourth edition of Doctor Zumel Literary Contest in Madrid Spain. President of the Board of Teatro Colón for five years (2007-2011). Led the Project Management program at Universidad Piloto August 2008 to December 2009. Parquesoft Director during the period from August 2010 to March 2011. Professor at universities Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas, Nacional, Javeriana, Pamplona, Tecnológica de Bolívar, Andes, Externado, America and Piloto. Co-founder Colombia Chapter PMI (Project Management Institute) and its president for three terms. Co-founder of the Colombian Association ACGePro Project Management IPMA Member Association (International Project Management Association). He has published several books, including ‘El año 2000 al acecho. La crisis del Y2K afectará a su computador, aprenda a controlarla’on the issue of the change of the millennium. In February 2013, published as the book ‘Gerencia de Proyectos: aplicaciones en salud’. Computerworld Editorial Board Member since 1996 and international correspondent for PM World Today eJournal and PMForum.org from 2007-2011. Contact email: [email protected]
To view other works by this author, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/german-bernate/
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