Project Management Education must go
Beyond Technical Instruction
Interview with Prof. Dr. M.F. HARAKÉ
Professor, Research Scholar, Author
Assistant General Manager & Dean of Academic Affairs, MESOS Business School (France)
Business Research Center Manager & PhD Advisor, GBSB Global Business School (Malta)
Associate Research Fellow, University of Poitiers (France)
Interviewed by Yasmina Khelifi
International Correspondent, PM World Journal
Paris, France
Introduction to the interviewee
Prof. Dr. M. F. HARAKE is a management professor based in France. He currently serves as the Assistant General Manager and Dean of Academic Affairs at MESOS Business School (France). In addition, he is the Manager of the Research Center at GBSB Global Business School (Malta). He is also affiliated as an Associate Research Fellow at the CEREGE Research Laboratory, University of Poitiers (France). Prof. Harake’s research interests include Post-Conflict Public Management, Crisis and Urgent Operations Management, Humanitarian Logistics, and Project Management in Unstable Environments. His academic and professional contributions focus on bridging strategic theory with high-impact practical execution, especially in volatile and complex contexts. He can be contacted at mfharake@mesos-bs.com
Interview
Q1: First, thank you for accepting an interview request from PMWJ. As a professor in project management, what are your main areas of study?
Dr. M. F. Haraké (Haraké): You are very welcome, it is a pleasure to contribute to PM World Journal, a platform that plays a key role in advancing global project management discourse. Thank you for the kind invitation. I have followed your work for some time and appreciate your contributions as a fellow project management professional-expert and author. It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to exchange ideas with you.
As a professor and researcher in project management, my areas of study focus primarily on project management in complex, unstable, and high-risk environments. This includes:
- Crisis and Emergency Project Management
- Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chains
- Post-Conflict Public Sector Projects
- Strategic Risk and Resilience Frameworks
- Hybrid Governance and Public Entrepreneurship
These themes converge around the question: How can we effectively deliver projects when uncertainty, fragility, and limited institutional capacity are the norm rather than the exception?
I am especially interested in how project management practices can adapt to the realities of humanitarian operations and post-conflict recovery, where time is limited, resources are stretched, and outcomes are critical. My work explores how traditional tools can evolve to support these efforts, with a focus on balancing structure and flexibility, ensuring stakeholder coordination, and maintaining strategic alignment and long-term impact.
Q2: What are the most challenging aspects faced by your students in project management?
Haraké: One of the most significant challenges students face in project management is translating theoretical knowledge into practical application, particularly in complex or unpredictable environments. While many students are well-versed in established frameworks and methodologies, they often encounter difficulty when navigating real-world scenarios where conditions are fluid, stakeholder interests are diverse, and resources are constrained.
More…
To read entire interview, click here
How to cite this work: Khelifi, Y. (2025). Project Management Education must go Beyond Technical Instruction, Interview with Prof. Dr. M. F. Harake, PM World Journal, Vol. XIV, Issue VII, July. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pmwj154-Jul2025-Khelifi-Interview-with-Dr-M-F-HARAKE.pdf
About the Interviewer
Yasmina Khelifi
Paris, France
Yasmina Khelifi, PMP, PMI- ACP, PMI-PBA is an experienced project manager in the telecom industry. Along with her 20-year career at Orange S.A. (the large French multinational telecommunications corporation), she sharpened her global leadership skills, delivering projects with major manufacturers and SIM makers. Yasmina strives for building collaborative bridges between people to make international projects successful. She relies on three pillars: project management skills, the languages she speaks, and a passion for sharing knowledge.
She is a PMP certification holder since 2013, a PMI- ACP and PMI-PBA certification holder since 2020. She is an active volunteer member at PMI France and PMI UAE, and a member of PMI Germany Chapter. French-native, she can speak German, English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and she is learning Arabic. Yasmina loves sharing her knowledge and experiences at work, in her volunteers’ activities at PMI, and in projectmanagement.com as a regular blogger. She is also the host and co-founder of the podcast Global Leaders Talk with Yasmina Khelifi to help people in becoming better international leaders.
Yasmina can be contacted at https://yasminakhelifi.com/ or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasminakhelifi-pmp-telecom/
Visit her correspondent profile at https://pmworldlibrary.net/yasmina-khelifi/
To view other works by Yasmina, visit her author showcase in the PM World Library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/yasmina-khelifi/
