Page 87 - Global Project Management Handbook

THE FUTURE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT 3-19

Information systems applications and projects (ERP, BPR) are still an area of interest, and
this is reinforced by the cluster infrastructure in quadrant 2, demonstrating a growing impor-
tance of the issues of integration, connectivity, supply-chain management, and platform
management. A confirming trend since 1996–2001 is the stronger importance of the cluster
training and the attached concepts (education, organizational learning, knowledge manage-
ment, leading, coaching) as of strategic importance.
Besides these continuous trends, we can note new possible areas of interest while con-
sidering quadrant 2:
● The link between strategy and project
● Governance
● The importance of maturity (organizational performance and metrics, control)
● Change management

The link between strategy and project becomes clear within the field through the
cluster planning, and there is here a strong connection with the development of an inter-
est in maturity (cluster capability). The importance of organizational performance is
reinforced by the cluster metrics and the integration of concepts coming from the quality
management and control discipline. On the softer side, change and the role of teams as
change agents and keys for success are also clearly new concerns within the field.
The field seems to be gaining in maturity, although it is very dynamic and focused
around the role of project in such strategic issues as management, organizational
issues, effective management, and/or use of resources and cost. The contextualization
of the applications and the creation of value for the stakeholders seem to be another
main trend. Furthermore, clarification of the theme professional seems to be a major
issue. As part of the weak signal detected, the threat of having project management
become a part of general management may be considered. It reinforces the need to
clarify the former theme. Another trend is that the more “technical” aspects of project
management are no longer appearing as strategic for the field. Project management is
becoming more focused on implementation of organization strategy.
There are some important consequences regarding the strategies of the actors (profes-
sional bodies). Generally speaking, the field is growing rapidly (number of papers writ-
ten), is in a process of construction/deconstruction, and is very dynamic, demonstrating its
preparadigmatic nature. This reinforces the former analysis of the games of the actors and

their competing/cooperative strategies in the development of standards and certifications.

Comparisons with Other Studies
It is interesting at this point to briefly compare our factual findings with the main
results of some other recent studies addressing in one way or another some predictions
about the future of project management. These results derive from different approaches
and different methods: research based on literature review since 1960 (Kloppenborg
and Opfer, 2002), expert questioning (Archibald, 2003), and longitudinal case study
and personal experience (Tanaka, 2004). The conclusion is that the main trends appear
to be identical whatever the approach and the method are, even if the proposed conclu-
sions and views offered by the various authors are presented from different perspec-
tives. The main (selected) findings are summarized below:

Kloppenborg and Opfer, 2002. The most important trend commonly observed is
the increase in literature on project management issues. The dominant application
areas described in the project management literature are the construction, informa-
tion systems, and utilities industries. The authors found numerous articles about the