Presented at Conference: IPMA World Conference 2014, At Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Volume: 28 A taxonomy is used for classifying things in general. For the purpose of this paper it is a systematic classification of competences into hierarchical groups where each sublevel constitutes a breakdown of the higher level. Although a vast amount of research has been done in project management competences, there is no standard set of project management competences used (Nijhuis, 2012). Important reasons for constructing a taxonomy for project management competences are found in comparing previous research and in identifying key fields for project management education in higher education. First a definition of competence is given, secondly the rationale of this research is given by discussing recent research. Several different published taxonomies of competences are reviewed. Finally a proposed taxonomy for project management competences is presented.
From the article: "The vast amount of previous research on project management competence does not provide a basis for educational needs. Analyzing previous research poses two challenges: the lack of a uniform list of competences, necessitating a taxonomy, and the use of importance as a criterion, favoring general important competences. Criticality is introduced as the competence a project manager adds to the team. Validation research using criticality and the taxonomy among experienced Dutch project managers is more comprehensive and provides a less focus on general important competences than previous research. Criticality focuses more on the essence of the profession."
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Sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. How can we develop prosperity, without compromising the life of future generations? Companies are integrating ideas of sustainability in their marketing, corporate communication, annual reports and in their actions. The concept of sustainability has more recently also been linked to project management. Studies show that considering sustainability should not be regarded a responsibility of just the project sponsor or executive, also the project manager has a strong influence on the sustainability aspects of a project. Mary McKinley stated already at the 2008 IPMA World Congress that “The further development of the project management profession requires project managers to take responsibility for sustainability”. This paper builds upon this vision, by exploring the concept of sustainability and its impact on the competences of the project manager (based on the ICB3). It aims to provide guidance on how the standards of project management competencies should integrate the concepts and principles of sustainability.
Promoting entrepreneurship is an enabler of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and it is one objective EU regions have pursued since the EC included it into 2020 Strategy. Entrepreneurship development has economic and social benefits, since it is not only a driving force for job creation, competitiveness and growth; it also contributes to personal fulfillment and to achieve social objectives. That is why the EU encourages entrepreneurial initiatives and to unlock the growth potential of businesses and citizens. However, only a 37% of Europeans (Eurobarometer 2012) would like to be self-employed. The Entrepreneurship Action Plan adopted by the EC in 2013 to reignite Europe’s entrepreneurial spirit includes initiatives for educating young people on entrepreneurship. To ensure that EU economy remains globally competitive, young generations of Europeans need to be inspired to develop their entrepreneurial mindset. EU 2020 Action Plan argues that young people benefitting of a specialised entrepreneurial education are more likely to start-up a business and to better tackle challenges in their professional career and life in general. Hence, there is good reason to ensure better quality of entrepreneurial education. Most approaches in recent years have focused on improving the skills or competences youngsters should obtain only within the education system. However, an integrated approach is needed, where the school, their friends, family and the social environment, shall play each one a relevant role, contributing to generate a more adequate atmosphere to boost their entrepreneurial mindsets, intrapreneurial attitudes and innovation capacities. This project will identify and exchange – through a quadruple helix approach- good practices for creating friendlier entrepreneurial ecosystems and actions to boost entrepreneurship in young people mindsets. The good practices and lessons learnt will be transferred into Action Plans to be included in regional policies.
The ELLAN is a Lifelong Learning Programme project funded by the European Commission for the period September 2013 – September 2016. The consortium included 26 partners from 25 countries in Europe. The ELLAN project promotes European cooperation and exchange of innovation and good practice related to the ageing population and to the educational preparation of those professionals in health and social care that work with older people. The desired outcome of the ELLAN project is a better quality of higher education related to the care and services of people in later life. The project includes several research based workpackage with the main project result being the "European Core Competences Framework for health and social care professionals working with older people". The project directly targets educators and management staff at the partner organizations and other higher education institutions in Europe. The indirect target groups are the students, professional communities and older people themselves.
There’s a growing need for well-equipped logistics experts with the right set of skills and competences. An increasing backlog between market needs in this respect and what education centers offer is noticed, proven through research in the logistics and supply chain management industry. This research has defined the need for this project. Objective of this project was to define what is needed to close this gap, how to turn this gap into chewable chunks and develop new ways of offering these ‘new/renewed tools to students and professionals, next to creating a platform for making these newly developed tools available and easily accessible for a wide variety of stakeholders.
