A Global Resource for Sharing Knowledge in PPM
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Copyright © 2012–2026 PM World Inc. – All rights reserved · ISSN 2330-4480
Worldwide Project Management Evolution
COMMENTARY
By Harold Kerzner, PhD and Al Zeitoun, PhD
USA
BACKGROUND TO WORLDWIDE CHALLENGES IN PROJECTS ________________
Project management has been in existence for many decades even before the formation of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) in 1969. In 1996, PMI® published the first version of the PMBOK® Guide. Today, we have the 8th edition of the PMBOK® Guide with input from thousands of project management professionals.
What many people fail to realize is that the PMBOK® Guide is, and always has been, just a guide for how projects should be managed. Every company worldwide can have their own interpretation on how project management should be practiced in their company and possibly even in their country. We also have a Standard for Project Management, and once again, companies have their own interpretation on how to use the information.
In most project management training courses, the information presented may be just general knowledge but customized for the specific needs of the participants, their companies, and even for the types of projects they may be asked to manage. What is usually not covered, and what is the intent of this article, is to identify some of the unusual or non-standard project management practices that exist in many worldwide companies that present special challenges and create a room for evolution. Most project management personnel may never encounter many of the challenges discussed here, but should be aware of their existence in many worldwide locations.
IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT TO EXECUTIVES _________________
Most executives worldwide understand the importance of project management but have more of a cursory understanding rather than detailed knowledge of the best ways to implement project management practices. Executives understand that their involvement may be necessary, especially when required to function as a project sponsor, but often do anything possible to avoid sponsorship and prevent having their name associated with a project that might fail and damage their career advancement opportunities. As reflected in Figure 1, many executives may delegate the sponsorship role downward in the organization based upon the risk of the project and may even state that they do not want to hear any bad news.
Figure 1 – Identifying Delegation Opportunities
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/delegate-hand-write-arrow-5140018/
Executives worldwide understand the value of project management education but many refuse to attend project management courses because they do not wish to have the other attendees, especially lower-level personnel that might be in the room, hear the questions they might ask and the answers. In some countries, executives that plan on attending these courses often ask the instructor not to ask executives any questions during the course for fear that the executive might provide an incorrect answer and look foolish in the eyes of others in the class. This situation holds true even if the class is designed just for executives to attend.
More…
To read entire article, click here
How to cite this article: Kerzner, H., Zeitoun, A. (2026). Worldwide Project Management Evolution, PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue III, March. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pmwj162-Mar2026-Kerzner-Zeitoun-PM-Evolution.pdf
About the Authors
Harold Kerzner, Ph.D., MS, M.B.A
Senior Executive Director for Project Management
International Institute of Learning
New York & California, 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:
Dr. Harold Kerzner can be contacted at hkerzner@hotmail.com
Dr. Al Zeitoun, PgMP, PMI Fellow
System Thinker & Transformation Advisor
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
Share this:
Like this:
Related