Posted: November 16th, 2022

Future Need for Project Managers

Future Need for Project Managers
For this MGMT 424 course you are required to perform a research project. You have the choice of producing a research paper or research presentation. You will be required to prepare 10 pages due at the end of Module 9. The topic chosen must relate to a topic discussed in the assigned reading material, but also take a holistic view of the concepts learned throughout the course.

Approved topics: Future need for project, program or portfolio managers

Paper Requirements:

8 pages of body (not including title and reference pages)
At least six supporting citations
Supporting material from the Hunt Library databases or other online or textbook resources is highly recommended
Follow APA Guidelines
Introduction
The business world is advancing in many aspects. Some of which are an increase in competition, advancement in technology, international projects, complexity in project management, and sustainability management among other diversified factors. Visionary papers have addressed the future of project management (Adri et al., 2012). In 2000 at the 15th International Project Management Association (IPMA) World Congress on Project Management, Eraso and Gorrino-Arriaga projected on the future of project management (Kidd, 2009). The duo identified the growing need for project managers to help in understanding the business within the context of the projects and deliberated on new competencies and process that would be needed to cope with. Their proposals were substantiated with thorough literature review. The aspects of the dynamics and diversity of business already mentioned above are very significant in project management and these aspects for future needs of projects managers. The papers thus explore on each of the aspects.
Sustainability
Sustainability may be viewed in various perspectives. According to Tam (2017), sustainability in project management is defined as the promotion of positive and minimization of negative of economic, environmental, and social impacts. The projects are planned, defined, controlled, monitored, and deliberated such that agreed benefits are achieved and contribute to a sustainable society. The current ways of production, organizing, consumption, and living may or will attributes the negative impacts on the future (Adri et al., 2012). By contributing negatively to the future means that we are threatening the lives of the future generations. It is not ethical if the projects being conducted today will lead to global warming and health problems. Therefore, something needs to be done to ascertain for the realization of a solution.
For the achievement of sustainable projects, there is a need for project managers. A sustainable society requires projects for the realization of sustainable change (Adri et al., 2012). A study conducted by Eid in 2009 showed that the incorporation of sustainable development into the process of project management has failed in addressing the sustainability agenda (Adri et al., 2012). It is thus obvious that if integration of sustainability in the management process, then there is need to introduce project managers to run the projects. The population of the world is currently on the rise, and available resources may not satisfy their needs. Therefore, innovations are seen as the alternatives for the survivals. However, with well-trained projects managers everything can be managed and properly evaluated with the aim of benefiting the society and protecting the environment for the future generation. And this calls for future need of project managers.
Technology advancement
Technology finds a large role in the projects of today, and its expansion will continue. Technology is vital in areas such as collection and formatting of data, communication with the team members and other stakeholders involved in the project, and storage of relevant data for the ease and quick retrieval when the need for use (Ireland & Cleland, 2006). Technology advancement is useful since it contributes to the growth and support in project management. Technology is utilized in resource selection, allocation and tracking with the aim of mitigating the wastage of human resources assigned to the projects (Ireland & Cleland, 2006). Technology is also crucial in the acquisition of information related to risk management and project risks. It is hence significant to embrace technology in project management.
There are increase and demand for performing the remote work and security policies. The way to achieve this is by devoting the application of technology. The business of today is becoming more elaborate hence the workforce is extensively disbursed and mobile. And this is what attributes to the increasing demand for tools and labor necessary for managing the remote projects. Adoption of the right technology would be suitable for breaking projects schedules, budgets and evaluating the overall success of the project. Remote projects are trending, and thus it calls for remote project management (Larson, 2011). For the realization of the success of the remote projects, security policies, as well as procedures, need to be established and implemented so as to ensure the customer data is secure particularly when the employees and vendors apply their mobile gadgets in transacting the business.
For these activities to be deliberated upon without putting the company or the project under jeopardy, project managers are needed. The project managers would ensure the system shift with the current and most secure technology that would not expose the company or undermine the project.
International projects
There is a need for speedy change as the controlled situations command for projects as well as inherent management of those projects that will ensure the proper laying of the foundation for driving the need for better and newer techniques and projects for executing the work, as stated by Ireland and Cleland (2006). Rapid initiation and decision making in proceeding with the projects can be anticipated that places that require more highly skilled labor management practitioners. The mantra of “cheaper, quicker and faster” is always the driving force for senior managers in companies and firms for the achievement of strategic goals. Survival in a global economy whereby more and more international projects are perceived as the solutions to border the spanning interest will be a common place (Ireland & Cleland, 2006).
The cost of production is essential to every organization. Selection of less expensive human resources in the realization of organizational objectives also drives the conception and implementation either as international projects or as projects of foreign suppliers of project components (Ireland & Cleland, 2006). In making such decisions, it is predictable that global projects will experience new encounters as the expansion is growing across the world. The developing nations which have a plentiful source of cheap labor will get involved and establish their project management competencies. In this way, they will seek to be good partners with the international projects. Also, they will seek to be good providers of both services and goods within their national borders. It will thus be the obligation of the leading organization in the international projects to play the role of nurturing and growing the developing countries’ project management competencies.
Therefore, from the description of the international project, it is evident both the developed and developing countries need management capabilities to deliver on these projects. However, there is no magic in achieving the results if project managers with the qualifications are not available to perform the necessary duty. Hence, there is no shortcut but to train and fill in the position of project managers.
Complexity of projects
Complexity in management demands for a project manager to undertake relevant activities of the project in the form of management. According to Tam (2017), in any project activities, a project manager is required to monitor the incoming and the outgoing impacts under the categorization of environmental, economic and social nature. Many other activities require being performed by a project manager. The activities are classified under a broad term called project management office. As organizations begin to realize all profitability resulting from project management, the focus shifted to getting professionalism in project management. Therefore, a project management office (PMO) was established (Girard, 2015).
PMO refers to an organizational unit that entails guidelines and principles of project management that are useful to the project teams and project managers as well. It coordinates every single activity within an organization. PMO is also essential in involvement in collecting best practices meant for management, selection of techniques, and choosing of tools used in project management. The conception of PMO can be traced back to the mid-twentieth century, a time when the defense industry was coordinating large and complex contracts (Kerzner, 2013). .the main concern of the principle management office is to ascertain that policies, methodologies, and standards for the project management are adhered to (Girard, 2015). The PMO thus entails the activities related to project from the beginning to the end.
The PMO is mandated with the responsibilities of reporting to the highest management office the challenges and requirements of the project. In this way, it is seen as a strategic tool for decision making oriented in line with business goals. So the PMO acts as a store in which knowledge is accumulated, and it improves knowledge management in projects. In the absence of project management office, the project manager becomes the center of knowledge in managing the project activities (Girard, 2015). In this scenario, the project manager must establish a project environment as a source of knowledge. The knowledge must be created, shared, and utilized in the generation and realization of the desired results with an organization.
Studies which have been performed regarding project management office has focused on the PMO acting as a potential source of knowledge through which knowledge or information is broken between top management and projects. The commonest way of doing this is the lesson learned. The lessons learned after completion of a project is a useful source of creating knowledge since it reveals the successes and failures of the methodologies and techniques used. The information from the lessons learned is documented with along other files so as to help in the adjustment of the policies and guidelines regarding the project management (Kerzner, 2003). Research is still ongoing on the matters concerning project management because it plays a crucial role within organizations.
Competition
Firms and organizations are currently experiencing unprecedented global competition. One of the solutions that have come out is the formation of the alliance. The alliance involves the cooperation with other partners worldwide so that there can be sharing of resources, rewards, and resources. The partners form a strategic alliance that is responsible for many purposes. The purposes include sharing of design product and the processes involved, marketing and manufacturing facilities, and sharing both financial rewards and risks (Girard, 2015). The rate at which technology is changing is too fast to assemble the resources that can keep an organization ahead of the competition. The only viable option is the formation of a cooperative competition and currently it the standard for success in the global market.
The establishment of an alliance begins with the opportunity for a strategic alliance. A joint project team is appointed and given the mandate to start analyzing and working on the alliance. The project team develops the rationale and provides recommendations for the choosing of partners. The team then initiates and establishes suitable working terms among the partners. Some of the essential issues to consider are objectives, goals, mission, and strategies of the cooperate competition. The alliance will then begin the process of institutionalization. A lot of projects are becoming global. A good example to show that cooperate competition is increasing is that IBM has joined hundreds of strategic alliance with many organization both in the United States and abroad (Girard, 2015). Hence, it can only be seen how serious is today.
With the increasing competition, every organization needs will need a project manager for ensuring that they join the relevant and viable alliance after careful Assessment. The future thus needs project managers because organizations without project managers will be competed out of the market.
Trends in project management
The ways of approaching management are changing with all the aspects discussed above. So the project managers will have to approach things differently for the success of the organizations. Competition, internal and external environment factors, limited resources, and constraints in time and finances are far affecting businesses around the world. Focus managers when in place will transform the project teams and PMOs in concentrating the effort in the realization of the organizational goals. Some of the issues to be embraced are the training of project managers and certification of project management as a profession. Above all, there is embracing of softer skills in project management (Kidd, 2009). A large proportion of project management involves people. Therefore by project manager interacting with the people and other stakeholders involved in the project activities, the project manager can achieve much for the organization. The personnel can employ the use of soft skills that include potentiality in resolving conflict, encourage the use of diplomacy and confidentiality, and handling ambiguity which is all useful in reaching overcoming the cultural values.
Conclusion
Today, projects are approaching the central focus of businesses both in government and private sectors. The projects demands for the project management that can only be performed successfully with the position of project managers. The profession of project management is thus needed to help in solving the problems and challenges that are facing project management. The project manager will enhance their expertise through training and experience within the relevant areas of interpersonal skills and project management. Through the training, experience, and certification much will be achieved by the project managers. The discussion has focused on the aspects of the business dynamics that are leading to the future need for project managers

References
Adri, K., Silvius, G., Brink, J., Schipper, R., & Planko, J. (2012). Sustainability in Project Management. Gower Publishing Ltd.
Girard, J. (Ed.). (2015). Strategic Data-Based Wisdom in the Big Data Era. IGI Global.
Ireland, L., & Cleland, D. I. (2006). Project management: Strategic design and implementation. McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing.
Kerzner, H. (2003). Strategic planning for a project office. Project Management Journal, 34(2), 13-25. – dissertation writers
Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kidd, T. T. (Ed.). (2009). Handbook of Research on Technology Project Management, Planning, and Operations. IGI Global.
Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2011). Project management: The managerial process.
Tam, G. C. K. (2017). Managerial Strategies and Green Solutions for Project Sustainability. IGI Global.

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Tags: Approved topics: Future need for project, Future Need for Project Managers, program or portfolio managers