Project Based Problem Solving and Decision Making

13Barriers

13.0 The Growth of Barriers

The Project Management Institute (PMI) recently celebrated its 50^th anniversary. Even though most of the core concepts of project management have been recognized and used successfully for decades, there is still resistance in the form of barriers that can prevent successful implementation of all or specific components of project management. The barriers can create issues that make problem-solving and decision-making difficult, if not impossible. As new techniques begin being used in the project management environment, such as the impact of digitalization, artificial intelligence, the Internet of things (IOT), big data, blockchain, and disruptive project management practices, new barriers are expected to appear. An understanding of the barriers can help us prevent or diminish their impact.

Up until about 10 years ago, there appeared to be limited published research on the identification and impact of these barriers. Part of the problem was that the literature at that time seemed to focus heavily upon successes rather than failures because nobody wants to admit to having made a mistake. Today, we recognize that we may discover more opportunities for continuous improvement efforts from failures and mistakes rather than from best practices and lessons learned.

In an early paper by Kerzner and Zeitoun (2008), the authors focused heavily upon the barriers that existed primarily in emerging markets. The authors stated:

Growth in computer technology ...