NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA, USA – Academicians, scholars and project management professionals from throughout the world will gather in Warsaw, Poland, on 13-16 July 2008 to hear the preliminary findings of a three year-long research study on the “Value of Project Management.”  Commissioned by the Project Management Institute and conducted by researchers at Athabasca University in Canada, the study will look at more than 60 case studies from a globally dispersed array of industries and will provide benchmarks for organizations to calculate the return on investment for their implementation of standardized project management programs.

“The Value of Project Management research findings have attracted special interest at our fifth biennial research conference,” said Edwin J. Andrews, PhD, director of Academic and Educational Programs & Services at the Project Management Institute.  “This is the most definitive research ever commissioned to study the value of the implementation of project management.  The findings are expected to quantify that project, program and portfolio managers are making significant contributions to organizations by implementing standardized project management programs to deliver projects and programs on time and within budget.  Full report findings will be published and released in October.”

The Warsaw conference will feature seven plenary presentations and 51 double-blind peer-reviewed papers across a variety of management topics. Program highlights include:  

·    The Global Accreditation Center (GAC) Academic Forum that will be held on Sunday, 13 July prior to the Research Conference. The GAC Academic Forum is focused on academic and industry partnerships.        

·   Presentation of the study, Researching the Value of Project Management, on Monday, 14 July, by Janice L. Thomas, PhD, from Alberta Canada and Mark Mullaly, PMP, from Edmonton, Canada.         

·   Presentation research findings by PhD candidates and other students of project management in a poster format, a new feature of the Research Conference.

Registration for both the research conference and the academic forum are available at  www.PMI.org.  The conference is being held at the Marriott Warsaw.

About PMI

With more than 265,000 members in 170 plus countries, the Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI) is the leading membership association for the project management profession and the largest association dedicated to project management in the world. As the leading advocate for the profession, PMI is actively engaged in setting professional standards, providing a professional career path for project managers and maintaining a family of professional credentials: Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM^®), Project Management Professional (PMP^®), Program Management Professional (PgMP)^®  and PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)^SM. The PMP, held by more than 267,000 project managers worldwide, is the only project management credential that is globally transferable. PMI provides members with access to the knowledge, skills, educational support and networking opportunities needed to drive business results through project management, program management and portfolio management.  The Institute is highly regarded for its extensive research capabilities and its program to accredit colleges and universities and Registered Education Providers to teach PMI approved project management courses.  PMI was founded in 1969. Please visit PMI.org for more information.