ADVISORY ARTICLE
By Harold Kerzner, Ph.D. and Al Zeitoun, Ph.D.
Florida and Maryland, USA
DEFINITION _________________________________________________________
Standardization is generally a list of the steps or activities needed to attain a desired outcome. Unfortunately, following the list there is no guarantee that success will be achieved. Standards are guides that can be interpreted differently by each person and may be applied differently based upon the user’s personal desires.
Project management standards, as defined in early editions of the PMBOK Guides, were based heavily upon the processes, tools, techniques, checklists and templates that every project manager should follow.
Standardization in project management can be successful as long as the projects begin with well-defined requirements, the risks are clearly understood up front, and the enterprise environmental factors are known and manageable. But when operating in a VUCA environment where changes can occur quickly, standardization may require a great deal of flexibility and interpretation.
Standardization focuses on creating deliverables. Unfortunately, defining success in standardization is difficult because the results can end up not being what the client actually wanted, or we can create products that nobody will purchase. While standardization can lead to success, it cannot guarantee success. When we manage strategic projects that are likely to change direction several times, following standards can be troublesome. Standards can be difficult to enforce when innovation and creative thinking are a necessity.
EARLY YEARS _______________________________________________________
In the early years of project management, companies that had choices of the project selected would select projects that fit the standards. The conclusion was that we were managing our business by standards. The unfortunate result was that project managers as well as team members were evaluated on how well they used the standards rather than on the performance or outcomes of the projects.
Today, we believe we are managing our business by (successful) projects. PMs are now undergoing performance reviews based upon success of their projects rather than on how well they used the project management tools. There are several definitions for project success. For many of the definitions, standards are difficult to use.
Standards work well when success is measured in terms of time, cost and scope. But today, the most important word in defining success is “value.” The purpose of project management is no longer simply to create deliverables. The real intent is to create business value for both the contractor and client. The real definition of success today is when the customer recognizes the value you have created for them and is willing to treat you as a lifetime strategic partner. This benefits everyone.
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How to cite this article: Kerzner, H., Zeitoun, A. (2025). Successful PM Standards Implementation, PM World Journal, Vol. XIV, Issue VIII, August. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/pmwj155-Aug2025-Kerzner-Zeitoun-Successful-PM-Standards-Implementation.pdf
About the Authors
Harold Kerzner, Ph.D., MS, M.B.A
Senior Executive Director for Project Management
International Institute of Learning
New York & Florida, USA
Dr. Harold Kerzner is Senior Executive Director for Project Management for the International Institute for Learning (IIL). He has an MS and Ph.D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Utah State University. He is a prior Air Force Officer and spent several years at Morton-Thiokol in project management. He taught engineering at the University of Illinois and business administration at Utah State University, and for 38 years taught project management at Baldwin-Wallace University. He has published or presented numerous engineering and business papers and has had published more than 60 college textbooks/workbooks on project management, including later editions. Some of his books are (1) Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling; (2) Project Management Metrics, KPIs and Dashboards, (3) Project Management Case Studies, (4) Project Management Best Practices: Achieving Global Excellence, (5) PM 2.0: The Future of Project Management, (6) Using the Project Management Maturity Model, and (7) Innovation Project Management.
He is a charter member of the Northeast Ohio PMI Chapter.
Dr. Kerzner has traveled around the world conducting project management lectures for PMI Chapters and companies in Japan, China, Russia, Brazil, Singapore, Korea, South Africa, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Croatia, Mexico, Trinidad, Barbados, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Venezuela, Columbia, United Arab Emirates, France, Italy, England, and Switzerland. He delivered a keynote speech at a PMI Global Congress on the future of project management.
His recognitions include:
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- The University of Illinois granted Dr. Kerzner a Distinguished Recent Alumni Award in 1981 for his contributions to the field of project management.
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- Utah State University provided Dr. Kerzner with the 1998 Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to the field of project management.
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- The Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Project Management Institute gives out the Kerzner Award once a year to one project manager in Northeast Ohio that has demonstrated excellence in project management. They also give out a second Kerzner Award for project of the year in Northeast Ohio.
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- The Project Management Institute (National Organization) in cooperation with IIL has initiated the Kerzner International Project Manager of the Year Award given to one project manager yearly anywhere in the world that demonstrated excellence in project management.
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- The Project Management Institute also gives out four scholarships each year in Dr. Kerzner’s name for graduate studies in project management.
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- Baldwin-Wallace University has instituted the Kerzner Distinguished Lecturer Series in project management.
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- The Italian Institute of Project Management presented Dr. Kerzner with the 2019 International ISIPM Award for his contributions to the field of project management.
Dr. Harold Kerzner can be contacted at hkerzner@hotmail.com
Dr. Al Zeitoun, PgMP, PMI Fellow
Strategy Advisor & Global Future of Work Executive
Maryland USA
Dr. Al Zeitoun is a Future of Work, business optimization, and operational performance excellence thought leader with global experiences in strategy execution. His experiences encompass leading organizations; delivering their Enterprise Digital and Business Transformation; guiding fitting frameworks implementations; and using his empathy, engineering insights, and collaboration strengths to successfully envision new business models and execute complex missions across diverse cultures globally.
In his recent role with Siemens, he was a Senior Director of Strategy responsible for driving the global program management practices, Master Plan governance, and enabling the Strategy Transformation processes and priorities.
In his position, as the Executive Director for Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, Abu Dhabi, UAE, he was responsible for creating the strategy execution framework, achieving transformation benefits, governance excellence, and creating the data analytics discipline necessary for delivering on the $40B complex country energy mission roadmap.
At the McLean, USA HQ of Booz Allen Hamilton, Dr. Zeitoun strategically envisioned and customized digitally enabled EPMO advisory, mapped playbooks, and capability development for clients’ Billions of Dollars strategic initiatives. Furthermore, he led the firm’s Middle East North Africa Portfolio Management and Agile Governance Solutions.
With the International Institute of Learning, Dr. Zeitoun played a senior leader and global trainer and coach. He was instrumental in driving its global expansions, thought leadership, and operational excellence methodology to sense and shape dynamic ways of working across organizations worldwide. He speaks English, Arabic, and German and enjoys good food, travel, and volunteering. Dr. Al Zeitoun can be contacted at zeitounstrategy@gmail.com
