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Disciplining The Professional: The Case Of Project Management

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  • DAMIAN HODGSON

Abstract

Despite its rapid growth in recent years, Project Management has received very little critical attention, particularly when compared to the more ‘hyped’ managerial fashions such as TQM (cf. Wilkinson and Willmott, 1995) and BPR (cf. Grey and Mitev, 1995; Grint, 1994). My intention in this paper is to critically examine the ongoing construction of Project Management as a professional discipline in modern organizations. Drawing on an understanding of ‘discipline’ based in Foucauldian work, I will briefly trace the historical construction of Project Management as a form of managerial knowledge, outlining the key models and techniques which make up contemporary Project Management. Through an empirical study of the articulation and reproduction of Project Management within two Financial Services institutions, the everyday construction of Project Management as an ‘objective’ and ‘abstract’ body of knowledge will be described. I then contrast this with the embodied and power‐laden operation of Project Management, with disciplinary effects not only on those employees whose work is restructured in line with Project Management principles but equally upon self‐professed Project Management professionals themselves.

Suggested Citation

  • Damian Hodgson, 2002. "Disciplining The Professional: The Case Of Project Management," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 803-821, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:39:y:2002:i:6:p:803-821
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-6486.00312
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    Cited by:

    1. Paton, Steve & Andrew, Barrie, 2019. "The role of the Project Management Office (PMO) in product lifecycle management: A case study in the defence industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 43-52.
    2. Joe O’Mahoney, 2011. "Advisory Anxieties: Ethical Individualisation in the UK Consulting Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(1), pages 101-113, November.
    3. Fred Rugenyi, 2016. "Assessment of the Influence of Project Management Competence on the Triple Constraint in Projects in Nairobi," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 6(4), pages 295-309, April.
    4. Jacques-Bernard Gauthier & Lavagnon Ika, 2022. "The rigor-relevance gap in Project Management research: It's time to stop the lament and think and act reflexively," Working Papers hal-03563085, HAL.
    5. Alain Asquin & Gilles Garel & Thierry Picq, 2009. "When project-based management causes distress at work," Post-Print halshs-00688866, HAL.
    6. Alain Asquin & Gilles Garel & Thierry Picq, 2007. "Quand les individus et les collectifs sociaux sont mis en danger par le travail en projet," Post-Print halshs-00687924, HAL.
    7. Svenja Keele, 2019. "Consultants and the business of climate services: implications of shifting from public to private science," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 9-26, November.
    8. Luca Carollo & Luca Solari, 2019. "Discourses of Professionalism in Front-Line Service Work: Insights from a Case Study in an Italian Bank," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 33(5), pages 829-845, October.
    9. Ricardo Colomo-Palacios & Israel González-Carrasco & Jose Luis López-Cuadrado & Antonio Trigo & Joao Eduardo Varajao, 2014. "I-Competere: Using applied intelligence in search of competency gaps in software project managers," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 607-625, September.
    10. Sofianne Messaoudi Escarabajal & Régis Meissonier, 2017. "Autonomy of Information System project managers: A research of institutionalized practices," Post-Print hal-01992787, HAL.

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