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INTERVIEW
Perhaps in about 10 years or so, process management may be given more importance than
project management, and a company that imbibes a culture of process-oriented thinking in terms of
improving the efficiency of each process step and at the same time reducing the total number of
process steps needed to deliver a product or a service, may emerge as the winner amongst the competitors.
-- O Arivazhagan, CEO,
IIPM, Chennai.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
SPECIAL ISSUE
An Emerging Path Towards "Knowledge-oriented Groups" in Project Settings
-- Monica De Carolis and Saverino Verteramo
Recent studies on Knowledge Management in project settings have emphasized the difficulties of learning from
and across projects. To overcome these difficulties, several authors suggest designing organizational solutions, in
which project teams and Knowledge-oriented Groups (KOGs) like communities of practice coexist. This article aims
to investigate the critical issues in designing and implementing these innovative organizational solutions.
© 2010 Monica De Carolis and Saverino Verteramo. All Rights Reserved.
SPECIAL ISSUE
Managing Deviations in Projects
-- Markus Hällgren
Deviations or unexpected events are especially common and hard to manage in complex, tightly coupled
projects. In such projects, the margins for error are low and project activities demand a high level of integration
and interdependence among the resources.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
SPECIAL ISSUE
Projects and Profits
-- Timothy L Wilson, Tomas Blomquist and Nancy Saxman
Multi-project firms exist to make a profit from their project activities. This article addresses issues associated
with profits and projects, which we acknowledge is undoubtedly the `primary' concern of multi-project organizations.
Independent, academic studies in the area would be most welcome. The main reason they are probably
not available is that standard accounting treatment does not capture information at the project level.
Nevertheless, there are reasons to believe that profitability of projects would conform to an 80-20 rule, and longitudinal
studies might show that firms become less, rather than more, profitable with age. Further, first time projects may be
a nemesis for firms. Of course, empirical verification of these observations could lead to more effective
management of multi-project firms.
© 2010 Timothy L Wilson, Tomas Blomquist and Nancy Saxman. All Rights Reserved.
SPECIAL ISSUE
Why Estimate? It's Agile!
-- John C Goodpasture
Next to requirements, estimates are probably the most influential factors, bearing on the predictability of
the project outcomes. In the agile methodologies, estimating is a team endeavor, set within a framework established
by the project charter or business case. The
author shows how agile estimates are developed from an understanding
of the complexity of the requirements backlog, and the throughput capabilities of agile performance teams.
Estimating becomes an altogether different paradigm than is customary; estimating becomes an exercise in allocating
user stories to time boxes, and then applying a calibrated time-box team performance parameter called velocity to
derive cost and schedule duration.
© 2010 John C Goodpasture. All Rights Reserved.
SPECIAL ISSUE
Back to Basics for Global Project Team Leaders
-- Russ Martinelli, Tim Rahschulte and Jim Waddell
There exists a prevalent and growing problem for many project managers today _ their companies are choosing
to globalize their businesses in order to survive and remain competitively relevant. In this process of
globalization, project managers who are proficient in managing domestic and often co-located teams, can suddenly
feel unprepared and inadequately trained when they are given their first project with a global or highly distributed team.
The most frequently asked question among these individuals is, "How do I effectively lead global, or
highly distributed, teams to achieve the business results needed to compete in today's market?" This article answers
this question and is aimed to help the global leader.
© 2010 The Program Management Academy. All Rights Reserved.
SPECIAL ISSUE
Earned Schedule: Schedule Performance Analysis from EVM Measures
-- Walt Lipke
Earned Value Management (EVM) is a wonderful management system, integrating, in a very intriguing way,
cost, schedule, and technical performance. It is a system, however, that causes difficulty to those just being introduced
to its concepts. EVM measures schedule performance not in units of time, but rather in cost, i.e., dollars.
After overcoming this mental obstacle, we later discover another quirk of EVM _ at the completion of a project which
is behind schedule, Schedule Variance (SV) is equal to zero, and the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) equals
unity. This article discusses the dilemma with the EVM schedule indicators, SV and SPI. A method for resolving
the problem is presented in the article.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
SPECIAL ISSUE
Shades of Gray?
Ethics in Project Management
-- Wayne Turk
While it sounds simple to say always be ethical, it's not easy. This article provides some definitions and
history related to ethics and business ethics. It also covers why simplistic ethical guidance doesn't cover all real
world situations. While the article cannot give readers guidance in every situation, it does set some guidelines.
© 2010 Wayne Turk. All Rights Reserved. | 
