PMcrunch

In the October 8, 2007 article “Management Education’s Unanswered Questions“, Martha Lagace questions Rakesh Khurana about the nature of management as a profession - a question that has been asked over the 100 plus years of management education.  Furthermore, today’s changes are again forcing a rethinking of these questions.  “Elite business schools today are at a crossroads, especially since the rise of business education in China and India.”

Is [tag]management[/tag] a profession?  What makes something a profession - a specialty?  Other professions - like dentistry, medicine, law, and engineering - are very skill based.  The same could be said for architect, plumber, carpenter, and more.  There are people who are in those professions and later become managers.  There skills and qualifications for this lie, at least in part, in their skill base from the profession.  Less clear are professions like COBOL programmer, SAP expert, and the like.  But the question remains, are they a professional when they become a manager, different and distinct from their underlying profession?

It seems that professions arise out of some societal need, which in some cases expires or is overcome.  For example, the legal profession arose out of the need to maintain social order, which requires expertise.  However, how this is manifested varies greatly from country to country.  But the need is there - as it is for doctors, engineers, dentists - and is likely to continue as a basic need of society for years to come.  What about project management as a profession? 

There are some many issues around this.  Are they important?  Yes, I think so, because it brings out relevant issues that people should think about as they advance in their careers.  Probing always yields insights that can be helpful, although not always immediately.  Here are some of the key considerations about “project management” as a profession:

1. Are the best project managers those who specialize in PM, or those who specialize in something else, then become PMs?
2. Is it possible for someone to specialize in PM only?  Or is domain expertise, industry experience, personality characteristic, and other factors more important?
3. Why has project management risen as a profession, and where is it likely to evolve in the future?  

Project management has arisen out of the need to more efficiently manage projects.  Projects have always existed - but they have become larger and more complex, and the [tag]project management body of knowledge[/tag] as arisen to address this.  Like any other professions, projects will continue!  But the vector that project management cuts in space is more horizontal, whereas that of other professions tend to be more vertical.  It is common to become a traditional professional first, then a project manager later.  But what about becoming a project manager first - then maybe developing another specialty later.

“Projectization” is likely to continue, but what are its limits?  Will project management simply become absorbed into the other professions, out of recognition of the commonness of projects among so many professions?  Everyone studies math and must become proficient at it.  Will the same become true of project management? ____________________________ John Reiling, PMP  Project Management Training Online