The long way to professional recognition: project management in Italy
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business
ISSN: 1753-8378
Article publication date: 5 September 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The professionalization of project management (PM) profession has developed differently according to the different environments in which it has been introduced. The purpose of this paper is to examine an example of this professional project (Italy) with this research question: “what have been the professionalization strategies of PM professional associations within Italian field?”
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop a qualitative case study made up of semi-structured interviews and archival data.
Findings
The analysis demonstrates how PM in Italy has embarked on a clear upward trajectory in terms of its occupational size, economic significance and institutional development. However, the development of PM in Italy considerably lags behind Anglo-Saxon countries. The authors also identify three main strategies through which this professionalization project is being accomplished (see Section 5). These are corporate engagement, expanding membership and institutional recognition.
Research limitations/implications
The study reviews the professionalization of PM in Italy. This is not a comparative study, but rather highlights Italian PM professionalization. Moreover, the authors expect significant findings could be reached with a comparable research across different national contexts.
Originality/value
This work constitutes the first detailed and comprehensive study in the field of PM within the Italian context.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the help of interviewees and two anonymous reviewers which dedicated their valuable time to this research.
Citation
Sabini, L. and Muzio, D. (2017), "The long way to professional recognition: project management in Italy", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 822-840. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-02-2017-0011
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited