on a failed global project management
initiative in the 1990s
PERSONAL STORY
By Alan Stretton, PhD (Hon)
Sydney, Australia
INTRODUCTION
This short article is a personal recollection of a mid-1990s initiative undertaken within the global project management community, which was concerned with possibilities for forming an international federation of project management, or a broadly equivalent global body. This was a serious initiative which was supported by the most substantial project management representative bodies of the time. However, after over a year’s work, it eventually failed.
This initiative received little publicity, and I know of only one article in the literature which mentions it. That article was in South Africa’s ProjectPro, under the heading of International Federation of Project Management? (ProjectPro 1995). However, its main discussion covered only one meeting of the several undertaken during this initiative. Other meetings, and the initiation and fate of the global initiative, were not covered.
The purpose of this short article is to briefly present a broader coverage of the origins, meetings and fate of this global initiative, to help round out the picture for any future researchers or others who might be interested. I do not have any of the original documentation, so am relying partly on my own memory, partly on a broader personal chronicle which I maintain, and partly on ProjectPro 1995.
HOW THIS GLOBAL INITIATIVE ORIGINATED
I did not attend the June1994 INTERNET [now the International Project Management Association – IPMA] World Congress in Oslo, but many Australians were there, including the president of the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM), Brian Kooyman. Brian told me that he was invited to join the inter-society meeting between the Project Management Institute (PMI) and INTERNET which was held at every major seminar/ conference. At this particular meeting, PMI stated its desire to repudiate existing anti-poaching agreements – in particular, it wanted to set up PMI chapters in Europe. Rather naturally, INTERNET objected very strongly, and heated arguments ensued.
As a neutral party, Brian was asked to contribute. He pointed out that this confrontation was absurd, as each organisation had the same aims, which were basically to promote project management. They should therefore be looking towards cooperation rather than confrontation. Later on, this led to the notion of forming a global project management organisation, and it was agreed that preliminary discussions on possibilities would be held at the PMI Seminar/Symposium in Vancouver in October 1994.
SUBSEQUENT WORKING MEETINGS
Brian Kooyman and I both went to Vancouver and found several groups talking about cooperation and global initiatives. Immediately after the formal part of the conference, Brian and I met with three PMI, two INTERNET and one WAPMA representative, and we formally agreed to pursue possibilities of forming a global body without delay.
The first of the ensuing meetings was held in Philadelphia in early December 1994. The participants were the Chair and the Ex-Officio Chair of PMI [Rodney Dawson and John Adams, assisted by Debbie Bigelow], the President and the Certification Chair of INTERNET [Klaus Pannenbacker and Richard Pharro], with Brian Kooyman and myself representing AIPM. This meeting concluded that a global project management body was both feasible and desirable, and formed a steering group, plus working groups to pursue four specific issues – namely a Core Body of Knowledge; Accreditation/ Qualification; Funding; and Future Organisation.
I was nominated as chairperson of the Core Body of Knowledge working group. We held our first meeting in Boston in March 1995. A draft document eventually emerged from our efforts, but it was essentially still very exploratory, with many unanswered questions on a wide variety of issues. But at least it was a start. I have no information on the meetings of the other three working groups…
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How to cite this work; Stretton, A. (2025). A personal recollection and reflection on a failed global project management initiative in the 1990s, PM World Journal, Vol. XIV, Issue XII, December. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/pmwj159-Dec2025-Stretton-a-failed-global-PM-initiative-in-the-1990s.pdf
About the Author
Alan Stretton, PhD
Life Fellow, AIPM (Australia)
Auckland, New Zealand
Alan Stretton is one of the pioneers of modern project management. In 2006 he retired from a position as Adjunct Professor of Project Management in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Australia, which he joined in 1988 to develop and deliver a Master of Project Management program. Prior to joining UTS, Mr. Stretton worked in the building and construction industries in Australia, New Zealand and the USA for some 38 years, which included the project management of construction, R&D, introduction of information and control systems, internal management education programs and organizational change projects. Alan has degrees in Civil Engineering (BE, Tasmania) and Mathematics (MA, Oxford), and an honorary PhD in strategy, programme and project management (ESC, Lille, France). Alan was Chairman of the Standards (PMBOK) Committee of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) from late 1989 to early 1992. He held a similar position with the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) and was elected a Life Fellow of AIPM in 1996. He was a member of the Core Working Group in the development of the Australian National Competency Standards for Project Management. He has published 280+ professional articles and papers. Alan can be contacted at alanailene@bigpond.com .
To see more works by Alan Stretton, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/alan-stretton/.
