Project management: epistemological issues and standardization of knowledge

Apart from some sporadic attempts, an investigation of the theoretical foundations of Project Management (PM) has not been yet conducted. Such an investigation is of great importance both at academic level, as a basis of research and education, and for the standardization of knowledge. This paper claims that the innate difficulties in forming a theoretical base of PM are due on the one hand to the fact that PM inherits all the intrinsic weaknesses of management sciences and on the other hand to the lack of a coherent design theory. However, dealing with PM as an organizational phenomenon, in particular as ‘a temporary organization’, is a realistic perspective for exploring the new practices which emerged recently in business. Moreover, this study argues that, first, a sound foundation of PM, although welcomed, is not necessary for PM to become a profession; and, second, it is worthwhile for an efficient standardization to determine a stable core of knowledge.