Project Management: profession, system, process or job?

A particular topic of conversation and controversy raises its head from time to time. It is all about whether or not project management (PM) can actually be considered a profession.

Gary R. Heerkens (consultant, trainer, author), one of the presenters at the Project Management Institute (PMI) Global Congress in Orlando in October 2009, alluded to this question in a thought-provoking session during which he hypothesised that, “Project managers as well as the profession of PM has suffered a significant loss of respect over the last 15 to 20 years”.

Many will ask if it has ever been seen as a profession and if the respect was ever there in the first place. Others, certainly from some of the project-driven industries such as construction, may wonder if there was ever a time it was not considered a profession.

If we consider that a project, according to the PMI and other authorities, is a temporary undertaking to create a unique product and has a definite start and a finish, then many remarkable human endeavours can be considered projects, from the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Wall of China to the moon landing and our own power stations. Surely, if it has been around since 3000BC, it must by now be a profession?

In a recent presentation at a Project Management South Africa (PMSA) Tshwane Branch event fittingly held on International Project Management Day on 5 November, Professor Les Labuschagne, director of Business Computing at Unisa and past president of PMSA, examined the traditional criteria for a discipline to be called a profession and aligned these to findings of research into which of these apply to project management, particularly in South Africa.

There are certainly different schools of thought regarding what constitutes a profession.

According to Labuschagne, primary criteria of a profession include the following: duties require advanced studies in a recognised field; one’s instruction, study or work is original and creative; the job requires consistent exercise of discretion and judgment; and the job is predominately intellectual and varied
in character.

Most project management practitioners would probably agree that their work meets these criteria.

Additional criteria include the professional making a contribution to society; participating in a lifelong training programme; keeping abreast of developments in the field; and helping develop other professionals. These criteria are largely dependent on the individual, and the prevalence of such would be difficult to measure without surveying a representative segment of the PM population.

In addition, Labuschagne quoted Crawford (2004), Charters (2006), Eve (2007) and Morris et al (2007) who said that a profession has:

* A professional body with a Code of Ethics;
* A core of professional practitioners;
* A formal education process;
* Codes of Practice (how it is done);
* Standards (what to do); and
* A substantial Body of Knowledge.

These six elements are underpinned by licensing, which is linked to legislation.

Alex S. Brown, PMP, adds a few others to the mix in a presentation he made to a group of mostly information technology (IT) professionals back in 2001.

In addition to those mentioned above, he adds initial professional education, accreditation, skills development, licensing and organisational certification.

If we group together these traditional criteria, and evaluate which are present in project management, we can start to build a picture about how far we are, and how far we have yet to go to call project management a profession.

This quick summary of what exists shows that legislation and licensing are major missing elements. But, there is also a set of non-traditional or intrinsic criteria that should be considered.

Based in Indonesia, Dr Paul D. Giammalvo (CDT, PMP, CCE, MScPM) is senior technical adviser at PT Mitratata Citragraha. He tackled this much-debated subject in his doctoral thesis, and presented a paper on his early findings at the PMSA’s conference in 2004.

Recently, he wrote an article that reflected the final outcome of his research, which included the views of some 400 respondents across the globe.

This article begins with the hypothesis that there is no simple yes or no answer, but that determining a profession is a matter “of perceptions and degrees”.

His research looked at both traditional and non-traditional (intrinsic) criteria of a profession, some of which have been covered above, which totalled 22 attributes.

He asked survey respondents to weight the 22 attributes of a profession according to their perception of its importance. The box below indicates how it played out, from most to least important.

Keeping in mind Giammalvo’s emphasis on perception, I posed some questions that gauge those of five senior South African project managers, all of whom are professional members of PMSA. Their responses reflect not only perception, but refer to what they have observed or experienced in their particular industries or areas of operation.

Is project management considered a profession in your industry/working environment, a function or an extension to your ‘real’ job?

Wessel Lourens, who works in the building industry, says, “Project management is definitely an undisputable profession of the modern building industry. In this environment, project management has all the characteristics of any other profession in the construction industry, such as quantity surveying, architecture, engineering, et cetera.”

According to Dr Peter Tobin, who works in the tertiary education sector, the answer to the question is “yes” to all the options: “Certainly it can be considered a profession in terms of the type and range of educational offerings, which are in line with the recognition of the importance of project management.

“Project management is also recognised in terms of being a functional activity, although not always performed on a full-time basis. In many cases, project management is definitely seen as an extension to the more regular functional, day-to-day activities in the organisation.

“Project management is definitely a priority in terms of managing the implementation of a wide range of projects, and given the nature of the capital investments being made by many organisations, particularly in information technology related activities.”

Peter Raw, who works in the construction environment, says it is considered an extension to one’s ‘real’ job.

Danie de Waal, representing the financial/consulting environment, sees it as a work in progress. “PM is slowly gaining ground in recognition as a profession.

There are still, however, many professionals who see it as the ‘accidental’ profession; and in many instances have the opinion that no special skills, training and expertise are needed to be a PM.”

Pascal Mabelo, from Transnet Capital Projects, provides a company perspective: “Traditionally, project management was not recognised as a profession in its own right in our industry; although Transnet has always had ‘project management departments’, these were largely resourced with engineers with no or inadequate project management training – similar organisations were probably no different.”

What, in your mind, are characteristics of a profession and do you think PM has these characteristics?

“As a minimum, a profession needs to have the following: Body of Knowledge (i.e. principles, methods, practices, tools, systems, et cetera); Standards; Code of conduct; Ethics; Career Path; and Development and Maturity Models. Furthermore, because of the nature of their activities and their impact on socio-economic life, some professions will also require a degree of legislated framework,” says Mabelo.

“Project management indeed possesses these characteristics – and the legislative aspects are covered for the Build Environment through the SACPCMP. The proper recognition, however, is thus far still lagging,” he adds.

Raw gives a perspective from the construction environment. “The characteristics in my mind are the presence of systems and procedures that combine with job knowledge and experience. These must be such that they can be measured.

“They must also provide a ‘fail safe’ process that if used, will prevent failure. I think the characteristics are there. It is, however, a large shift in the construction industry to accept the principles involved. It is also difficult to ‘measure’ the success or to apportion blame for failure,” he says.

“A profession comprises an academic requirement, skills/experiential requirement, and certification,” says De Waal.

“We have not yet reached the point where any of these three aspects are considered vital before you can call yourself a project manager. The result is that PM still does not have the same status as other professions,” he says.

Tobin says, “I recognise that this subject matter has been discussed on a number of occasions, at PMSA conferences (I believe in 2004 and 2006) and has even been the subject of one or more doctoral dissertations.”

Here Tobin refers to Giammalvo’s research, and the 22 characteristics presented earlier in this article. “My own view is that I would differ, and include [these] characteristics” (see below).

Code of Ethics                                        Title restrictions

Body of knowledge                                  Liability insurance

Professional and organisational standards   Continuing professional development requirements

Fiduciary responsibilities                          Methods and tools

Undergraduate degree as an entry point     Compulsory membership of an industry body


Recognised levels of achievement in the industry body of calling to clearly defined criteria

Should it be seen as a profession? What may be preventing it from being a profession?

“There is no doubt that project management is growing as a profession, even here in South Africa,” says Mabelo. “What is preventing it from being recognised as such is threefold:

(a) “The lack of a proper training and development framework that will result in increased realisation of the value of proper project management – and the current litany of project failures is not helping the situation at all.

(b) “The lack of a Career Path reflecting project management as a separate discipline from ‘engineering’ so that it is no longer perceived as an ‘add-on’ to it. How many matriculants can enrol in project management without going the ‘engineering’ route first?

(c) “The fact that project management mainly consists of processes applicable in improving performance and efficiency extending itself in all organisation’s departments and all levels involving humans means project management is being promoted as a ‘generic’ competency needed by any employee. This perception is largely flawed as by comparison, everyone is expected to know about legal matters but this will never turn all of us into lawyers.

“Calling for ‘legislation’ can only be welcome once the value has been duly established in the industry, or else nobody will be interested in enforcing such,”
says Mabelo.

Tobin believes it can be a profession. “Yes, I believe it should be seen as a profession. I believe what is holding it back from being viewed as a profession is a lack of control in terms of the requirements for registration with the generally recognised, and widely accepted national or even global standard, backed by legislation and regulation.

“If we take the example of other professions, such as the medical and accounting and legal professions, they have clear evidence of controlling bodies, and well-defined entry and continuing professional development requirements.”

Raw says the measurement of success as well as the measurement of compliance is keeping it from being seen as a profession. “In construction at the moment, the requirement is really only on mega projects, and PM is not recognised on smaller projects. Due to the tight financial constraints, often the site engineer is required to do everything as there needs to be an engineer on site. Often there is not the budget to have a PM and an Engineer so the PM is kicked out.”

De Waal agrees that it should and can be a profession. “The lack of a legislative (South African legislation) framework is detracting from PM being recognised for what it should be.”

What has assisted the view of PM as an emerging profession?

“Associations like PMSA that market the profession,” says De Waal.

“The extent to which the management of projects is seen to be a key component in driving organisational success,” says Tobin. “The more the discussion around project management moves beyond the simple mechanistic approach of delivering projects in line with the scope, time, cost and quality parameters and moves into a strategic alignment with the organisation as a whole, the better will be the status of the profession.”

Mabelo believes it is the continued maturing of the Body of Knowledge pertaining to project management and (quite incidentally) the high frequency and costs of project failures that have brought both about the growing realisation that such risky investments as project initiatives should not be left to any ‘fool with a tool’.

Another contributor, says Mabelo, is “the emerging tendency to increasingly lean towards finding the ‘right man for the job’ (e.g. with proper qualification, expertise, experience, professionalism and maturity) – or else order a coffin as big as your company’s strategy”.

According to Raw, “The requirements on mega projects have certainly exposed the need for PM in construction”.

Lourens adds, “One aspect for sure is the insistence of financial institutions that project managers should be involved on certain projects financed by them”.

What has worked against it?

“The fact that the profession has not been endorsed in the formal legal regulatory framework in most countries,”
says Tobin.

Mabelo alludes to the lack of appreciation for the discipline being a detractor from its development as a profession, saying, “Many organisations are still keen on cutting down project management by way of appointing the guy sitting idle in office, if not simply hiring the cheapest candidates without due consideration of their competence – the fool’s garden!

“To make it worse, government (i.e. the biggest employer in the country) is offering such unattractive salary packages to project managers and associated positions that young graduates might think twice before embracing project management.

Only project managers with a primary degree (e.g. engineering, architecture, quantity surveying, finance) are in the money – no wonder project management is seen as an add-on,” he adds.

Raw says the “bad press” about IT project failures which are managed by project managers is working against it.

In addition, “the smaller projects manage to achieve success using conventional contracting methods without the formal/structured PM systems”.

Who are the role-players in a profession and what responsibility should each bear in developing PM as a profession?

The combined responses produced the following list of perceived role-players:

* Employers/Industry environment (collection of industries where the profession applies);
* PM professionals/In-service project managers;
* Legal and regulatory (government);
* Clients;
* Regulators (professional council or institute or association and statutory bodies e.g. Council of Higher Education, Setas, etc);
* Education and training providers;
* General public;
* New entrants into the field of project management; and
* National and international professional bodies.

“National and international professional bodies should develop and maintain the Body of Knowledge, Code of Ethics and so on much in the way that the Project Management Institute and other bodies currently do,” says Tobin.

He continues, “Legal and regulatory role-players must enact the necessary formal controls to establish a professional framework.

Customers for the services of the project manager, in turn, should recognise the extent to which the profession is regulated formally. Education institutions should be developing educational offerings in line with the standards in force in the profession and the evolution of the appropriate Body of Knowledge.

New entrants into the field of project management should see the attainment of professional certification as a desirable objective towards recognition of their professional status.

Finally, in-service project managers must seek to maintain their professional status through continuing professional development.

Mabelo provides a matrix to illustrate where each role-player can provide input in accordance with their areas of jurisdiction and mandates (see above).

Considering how comprehensive his research is, the final word should be given to Giammalvo and what is possibly the most telling piece of data on this controversial topic.

In one of his survey questions, he asked respondents to rank order eight definitions, according to which most represents the respondents’ own “definition, understanding or interpretation of project management as it is practised by you or in your organisation”.

One is the best definition and eight the least appropriate.

This is what emerged:

Definition           Ranking

Discipline            5

Method               2

Procedure           4

Occupation         7

Profession          6

Vocation (Trade) 8

System               3

Process              1

Considering that a little more than half the respondents to Giammalvo’s survey listed their job title as project manager (with the next highest proportion being “other” and the third highest being trainers, mentors or consultants in project management), the feedback is telling.

All things considered, what we can say is that at worst, project management is a process, method or system; at best, it is an emerging profession. As people in project management, let us all take on the appropriate responsibility to make it what it is intended to be.

Several of the concepts raised in this article require further explanation and it is important that we introduce the reader to work done around the world to explore the nuances and interpretations of meanings associated with these concepts. We will therefore continue the theme in the coming editions of The Project Manager. 

To read more about Dr Paul Giammalvo’s research, visit: www.maxwideman.com/guests/pm_profession/intro.htm

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