Perspectives on Project Management Methods

Projects are increasingly being carried out with the support of project management methods (PMMs). PMMs include standards such as the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and also process-based methods such as PRINCE2. PMMs are buttressed and promoted by professional bodies and reinforced by accreditation schemes which qualify practitioners in their use. The evidence on the roles played by PMMs is diverse. PMMs can be viewed from many perspectives including organisational routines, co-ordination mechanisms, structures of controls and rational choice. This paper discusses the perspectives that can be applied to PMMs to help understand how they can best be used. Two case studied are presented in which the organisations are assessed against the 10 perspectives to gain an initial view from the very limited sample of whether the list of 10 has validity