Project managers as senior executives

Abstract

Over the past five decades in the evolution of modern project management there has been little research regarding the career paths of persons working in this field: project planning and control specialists, project managers, program managers, and executives in charge of the project management function within business, industrial, and governmental organizations. Since its founding 40 years ago, the Project Management Institute (PMI®) has been a leader in fostering and conducting the development and application of the project management discipline and related methods, tools and techniques, plus the publication and acceptance of related standards, advanced academic degrees, training, and certification programs. Over the same period of time a number of other professional associations, including the International Project Management Association (IPMA) and others, have contributed to the development of this management field. The PMI® has always worked on the definition of the project management profession and its required skills, in recent years with the research work coordinated by John T. Roecker as shown by his "PMI's Career Framework: The Case for Project Management Career Path" . The PMI® has a pyramid of all specializations in project management, their definitions, their respective hierarchies and related orderings. But what about the apex of the pyramid where project/program management stops and where strategic management begins? The purpose of this present research study is to focus on this interface from a career development point of view.