Abstract
Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a stark contrast between the project management tools and techniques taught in schools and those actually used in industrial settings. This exploratory study provides evidence of those differences in the form of qualitative data collected from project managers in the information technology areas of major firms from the banking, cosmetics, and electronics manufacturing industries. Evidence suggests that there is a significant variation in which the formal project management processes taught in traditional project management curricula are used, if any. The study explores the reasons behind these differences and suggests possible approaches to ease the strain for new hires and current employees.
Highlights
As the art and science of formal project management (PM) grows in importance and stature, a large and growing percentage of the literature is concerned with the match, or mismatch, of PM education with the needs of industry
Though many of the participants are provided with state of the art PM software and sufficient computing platforms to utilize these tools, they are often unable to see the value in using these tools during the project planning or execution process
The respondents who felt this way were more experienced managers and had not received formal PM training during their education. Those with some formal PM training, which was a small segment of the participant group, were more inclined to embrace the PM tools in use, though this receptive attitude was modulated by organizational culture and standard procedures
Summary
As the art and science of formal project management (PM) grows in importance and stature, a large and growing percentage of the literature is concerned with the match, or mismatch, of PM education with the needs of industry. Much has been written about how the techniques of PM taught in universities must align with the techniques utilized by various industries and, most recently, how PM students must be able to harness both technical and “soft” skills in order to be effective project managers. These are important issues to address and the results of these inquiries will only increase the skills and capabilities of current and future project managers. This research follows [4,5] as one of the few analyses to inquire into the manner in which industry applies these processes to the projects they manage
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