Project Management Theory 2.0

Abu Fofana

• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781638603559
• eBook ISBN: 9781638603573
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This book is recommended for business and project management leaders interested in applying the Project Management Methodology Selection Intelligence (PMMSI) and the best outcome from managing the multi-dimensional and complex impact of projectification, programmification, globalization escalation (PPGE) on the fields of project management. The book showcases the extent to these complexities on the construction, education, health care, IT, management, pharmaceutics, and transportation sectors.

Dr. Abu Fofana provides thought-provoking and game-changing ideas that have helped business and project management leaders deliver business and project services when customers' demands require them. These complex projects are often mismanaged and fraught with a superficial understanding of the environmental and cultural differences, cost estimate errors, project cancellations, grafts, delays, and increasing stakeholder dissatisfactions worldwide.

Dr. Abu Mohammed Fofana has written numerous articles, including Practical application of Project Management Theory, The Effects of Learning Curve on Your Project, Development of A Code of Ethics: Information Technology Challenges, How to Mitigate the Future Risks of a Project, How a Thorough Project Plan Assists an Effective Project Execution, Contrasting Project Portfolio Management, and Multiple Projects Project Control Process Evaluation.

Dr. Fofana is a founder of the Project Management Solution University and its prestigious PMSU Research Institute dedicated to researching and training the next generation of PM leaders poised and capable of taking on the challenges beyond the 20th First Century.

He served as a judge of the PMO Global Alliance Global Awards 2018 and 2019. In 2019, the PMO world body nominated Dr. Fofana for the prestigious PMO influencer award. He is an inducted member of the National Society of Leadership and Success. He lives in East Orange, New Jersey, United States.

Abstract

PM is considered the catalyst for worldwide infrastructural development, everyday work organizational format, and a panacea to bureaucracy, lack of productivity, and time mismanagement. PM is estimated to contribute $20.2 trillion USD to the world GDP in 2027. Despite its luring demand, PM’s track record remains unabatedly mediocre. PM domain expansion due to PPGE efforts has coalesced temporary and permanent organizational functions, intensified PM’s complexity, uncertainty, chaos, nonlinearity, and limited PM theory’s ability to describe, explain, and predict in full. The purpose of this multiple-case study was to develop a new PM theory compatible and aligned with what the PM domain has become due to PPGE efforts and to compare the existing and emergent theories. The study gathered data from open-ended online survey questionnaires, seminal works, face-to-face interviews, peer review articles, and archival documents. I selected one hundred and twelve (112) PMP certified professionals from Africa (N = 5), Asia (N = 9), Europe (N =19), Middle East (N = 9), North America (N = 61), and South America (N = 9) from the construction, health care, information technology, education, management, pharmaceutical, and transportation industries to participate in the study. Seven propositions, along with seven questions, were posed. The research study results confirmed the PM domain’s enlargement and supported developing PM theory 2.0. The PPGE impact has made it more challenging to complete projects on time, within budget, and without compromising quality. Four key ideations will impact PM theory and practice: PPGE has become the zeitgeist and disruptive innovation. It has manifold infrastructural, governance, theoretical, and management implications. PM training programs should focus on PPGE phenomena. In-depth knowledge of PPGE constructs changes the game between PM mortality and immortality. Good PM theory is significant to PM success.

Acknowledgments

When I began my doctoral research studies at Northcentral University (NCU), which inspired me to write this book, I penned down many goals that I wanted to achieve. I wanted to add significant value to business and project management by helping project and business leaders to fully understand PPGE-based projects and providing them the proper tools they need to manage complex projects most effectively. I also wanted to expand my project management consulting business worldwide. Whether I have achieved what I wanted to become or none, writing these acknowledgments shows that I have come a long way in achieving my goals. But I have never been alone. God has blessed me with encouraging, loving, and generous parents and friends without whom I will have attained none of what I wanted to become. First, I would like to thank my parents, Mohammed Vermunya Nyei-Fofana and Massa Sherif, for instilling a love for education in me. May their souls rest in peace.

Second, a most sincere thank you goes to my friend, Dory Morris, for her unconditional love and support and for sacrificing time to proofread my manuscript. Third, thanks to the NCU staffers, the School of Business and Technology Management, my academic advisors, mentors, and professors for their support, thoughtful advice, and understanding. Fourth, I would like to thank the 112 PM practitioners who voluntarily participated in the research study. I owe immense gratitude to the many strangers who volunteered to propagate the study research flyers on their internet echo chambers. Fifth, it would be remiss if I did not also thank Mohammed Kiawu, Mr. and Mrs. Siaka Sherif, and Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Jimmeh Jr. for the moral support.

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List of Figures

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Chapter 1

Introduction

A good theory describes, explicates, and provides practitioners with the contextual, intellectual, and conceptual underpinnings to make logical predictions. It gives an intervention mechanism or corrective actions concerning project management (PM) phenomena. Its raison d’être explains the who, why, when, how, and where about the phenomena (Ellis and Levy, 2008; Gelso, 2006; Wacker, 1998). The who and what outline the conceptual and theoretical constructs or variables and define the contextual boundaries. Why and how state the purpose and mission of the theory (Gelso, 2006). The constructs or variables must interconnect and interdepend to effectively predict the success and failure and establish a logical internal consistency and reliability. Since a theory operates in a milieu and not in a vacuum, it must be compatible and aligned with its boundary and contextualization. Studies show that a theory that remains infecund and non-heuristic is bound to become stagnant, nebulous, and inutile (Gelso, 2006).

The projectification, programramification, and globalization escalation (PPGE) have transformed the PM domain and expanded its theoretical linchpin beyond its capacity to fully explain, describe, and predict these manifold realities (Godenhjelm, Lundin, and Sjoblom, 2014; Rijke, Herk, Zevenbergen, Ashley, Hertogh, and Heuvelhof, 2014). In 2010, the Project Management Institute (PMI) predicted that the PM sector would create approximately 15.7 million new jobs in every decade due to PPGE efforts (Nasir, Sahibuddin, Ahmad, and Fauzi, 2015). Projectification changes private and public organizations into project-based entities and coalesces the operation of a permanent organization, establishing long-term strategic relationships and alliances with customers, and the implementation of PM’s temporary tools and practices (Artto, Valtakoski, and Karki, 2015; Lindsey, Mears, and Cochran, 2016). Programmification integrates program and project portfolio management tasks and PM tactical functions in managing projects and performing semi-permanent or permanent organization functions (Rijke et al., 2014). Godenhjelm et al. (2014) explained that the upsurge in the number of projects that enterprises undertake globally created the need for programmification, an innovative way to manage multiple projects under the auspices of a steady or permanent organization. Project-based organizations (PBOs) integrate an enterprise’s management tasks and manage the relationships between project units and their internal and external environments (Kwak, Sadatsafavi, Walewski, and Williams, 2015). Muller et al. (2016) added that PBOs centralize PM activities within the enterprise and balance PM functionalities and its strategic responsibilities. Globalization expands the market horizons, drives innovation, toughens the competition, and increases stakeholders’ engagement and interdependencies across borders (Bodislav, Bran, and Iovitu, 2015; Vongprasuth and Choi, 2014). These expansion and convergent efforts have equally augmented the complexity, chaos, uncertainty, and nonlinearity (CCUN) of the PM domain. Unfortunately, the extant PM theory has not kept...

Table of contents

• Abstract
• Acknowledgments
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Research Method
• Findings
• Implications, Recommendations, and Conclusions
• Conclusion
• References
• Appendices