"Crisis" and "Recession" are the prominent buzzwords echoing nowadays in business houses around the globe! Setting aside the ongoing debates as to whether the media coverage or `hype' on recession really represents the actual scenario or not and accepting the fact there is a serious mess-up happening around us, let us review the effects of recession on projects around the globe and project management. The first question to be asked in this context is whether project management in crisis is different from the project management during boom or under normal circumstances. Another question worth asking is whether any specific `crisis oriented' PM philosophy or tools are to be used (or is it available?) for this phase in global economy. This article attempts to review the concerns and effects of global financial crisis on the project management profession.

News of the recent recession sent shock waves among all leaders of business houses. They became more cautious and started following a conservative approach. Various agencies reported continuous decline in customer demands from major markets. Following the principle of `elasticity of demand', production houses needed to become more `productive' to sustain profits as demand declines. Cutting down the staff size by freezing recruitments and laying off of unproductive and excess staff was considered the first step taken by a CEO since human resource is the biggest contributor to cost of production after cost of raw materials. In the case of service oriented industries, human resources occupy first position. The second action would be in improving process efficiency and reduce waste. However, this cannot be done easily and needs systematic study and evaluation before implementation.

Companies start placing `on hold' expansion plans to tackle the foreseen decline in customer demand. Many companies would have to forego growth plans for existing businesses or alongside eying investments in new business opportunities. Fearing a decline in demand, projects were getting chopped or postponed worldwide. Sectors like Infrastructure, Downstream and Upstream Petroleum, Automobiles, Electronics and Chemicals were canceling both Growth and Greenfield projects. Several ongoing projects worldwide have come to a halt or announced revised deadlines.

Projects & Profits Magazine, Project Management, Global Financial Crisis, Global Economy, Gulf Cooperation Council, Industrial Projects, Financial Investments, Service-based Industries, Project Management Systems, Earned Value Management, Lean Project Management.