PMFORUM Breaking News

Dean Kashiwagi, Professor of Project and Construction Management in the Del E Webb School of Construction at Arizona State University (ASU) unveiled a major new project contracting model on 30 May 2010 at the Greek Project Management Association's 5th Scientific Conference on Project Management (SCPM), also known as PM05. The PM05 conference was held during 29-31 May at the Mövenpick Resort and Thalasso Hotel near the Greek city of Heraklion, on the Mediterranean island of Crete. More information on the conference can be found at http://2010.pmgreece.gr.

Professor Kashiwagi (pictured right) made a featured presentation at the conference on the "Project Management Model of the Future: A Performance Based PM Model". The approximately 150 project management leaders, researchers and professionals from 15 countries heard about the leadership-based project management structure developed by Prof Kashiwagi and his team at ASU called "Performance Information Risk Management System" (PIRMS) which can maximize a project manager's performance while minimizing risk.

According to Professor Kashiwagi, this new "PM Model of the Future" is different because:

1. It is based on what a project manager knows he doesn't know, rather than what the PM knows.


2. It minimizes both the PM's decision making as well as risks.


3. It creates an environment of transparency and measurements which forces accountability.


4. It can help an inexperienced vendor achieve the results of an experienced vendor without the management, direction, and control normally required by the PM.


5. It uses a proactive risk model that identifies the client as the major source of all project risk.

During his presentation on 30 May, Prof Kashiwagi reviewed some dominant results from 16 years of PIRMS research and testing (806 test projects delivering $2.8B of construction services). Research results have included:

1. Testing in non-construction areas delivering $1B of services.


2. Improved 98% performance of vendors delivering services.


3. Completely measured and transparent environment.


4. Increases PM capability by ten times, minimizes transactions by up to 90%, and


5. Maximizes vendor profit without increasing cost to the buyer/client.

Photos: Prof Dean Kashiwagi presented dominant results of PIRMS testing in Heraklion, Greece on 30 May 2010

Examples of projects and dominant test results of the new PM model mentioned by Dr. Kashiwagi included:

1. A Dutch infrastructure group is testing PIRMS on the delivering of over $2B of fast track infrastructure.


2. A $200M Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform for the State of Alaska


3. A $30M state of the art Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) system for the State of Idaho, USA. The State of Idaho is also using the PIRMS to increase the performance of a correctional facility health care system.


4. The State of Oklahoma is using PIRMS to deliver commodities as well as more complicated services such as construction (future IT services planned).


5. Arizona State University has improved its food services, sports marketing, IT services (network and data storage systems), on-line help desks, distance education, document control, exercise equipment rentals, and the delivery of furniture delivery. Vendors have generated over $100M in cash for ASU by moving to this new PM model due to efficiencies, increase of product sales, and implementation of new technologies.


6. A large, progressive and visionary contractor developer in Malaysia is planning to test PIRMS on their entire supply chain - to sustain their quality and minimize risk on high end housing and futuristic living environments.


7. The General Services Administration (GSA), the largest buyer of non-military services in the United States, is implementing PIRMS in the heartland region based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.

Dean T. Kashiwagi, PhD, PE, Fulbright Scholar is also the Director of the Performance Based Studies Research Group (PBSRG) at ASU. Professor Kashiwagi is the author of the Information Measurement Theory (IMT) and the best value Performance Information Procurement System (PIPS). He was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholar Award in 2008 through which he is sharing the PIPS management technology with the University of Botswana in Africa where he is helping transform a "research based" graduate program in project management. His work is also being tested in the Netherlands.

According to Veikko Valila, current Secretary General of IPMA who has an extensive risk management background, "The approach outlined by Dean Kashiwagi is very similar to the approach that I have taken on major projects for many years. That is, to seek the most qualified supplier that offers the highest value, then simplify the contract and minimize the project administration and management requirements."



Photos: Left - Dean Kashiwagi & David Pells; Right - David Pells, Conference Chair Prof John-Paris Pantouvakis & Prof Dean Kashiwagi in Crete.

According to David Pells, PMForum's managing editor and representative at the PM05 conference, "The model developed at ASU by Prof Kashiwagi will upset traditional project and contract management models, but it should be welcomed for many types of projects. It greatly simplifies the contracting approach, reduces decision making and bureaucratic, and expensive, administration, reduces risks, increases value, and even reduces costs in the long run. I think this is a major breakthrough that needs to be promoted worldwide."

PM-05: Advancing Project Management for the 21st Century, the fifth Project Management Conference in Greece, with the theme "Concepts, Tools & Techniques for Managing Successful Projects" was held during 29-31 May 2010 on the Mediterranean island of Crete. PM-05 was organized by the Centre for Construction Innovation, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), in cooperation with the Network of Project Managers in Greece (PM-Greece) and the Scientific Association for the Advancement of Project Management in Greece. http://www.pmgreece.gr/. More information at http://2010.pmgreece.gr.

Conference Chair was Dr. John - Paris Pantouvakis, Associate Professor, Director of the Department of Construction Engineering & Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering, NTUA, Athens, Greece. Pro Pantouvakis is also president of PM-Greece. Prof Pantouvakis can be contacted at jpp@central.ntua.gr.

PMForum was a Media Partner for this event. To see more news coverage, visit http://www.pmforum.org/events/2010/PM-05_Advancing_PM_21stCentury.html.