On 17 October 2000, for the first time in Poland, Management Training & Development Center organized in Warsaw's Sheraton Hotel the International Conference "Project Management in Industrial Sector".
2000-10-17
On 17 October 2000, for the first time in Poland, Management Training & Development Center organized in Warsaw's Sheraton Hotel the International Conference "Project Management in Industrial Sector".
The participants were over 100 representatives of the biggest industrial and other companies that carry out large-budget project in different industries.
Five guests invited by MT&DC, who were also officers of the conference, took the chair for a discussion:
Raed Haddad - Chairman of the Conference, Vice President of ESI (Educational Services Institute International from Washington), Project Manager with 20 years of experience, the member of PMI ®(Project Management Institute) Program Council, and a certified PMP (Project Management Professional).
Robert Butzke - Chairman of the Board in Elektrim Megadex S.A., up to 1999 the President of ABB Zamech
David Hunter - the Chairman of Supervisory Board for Giełda Energii S.A., in the period of 1991-97 the President of ABB Group in Poland
Bogusław Piekarski - The President of Foster Wheeler Energia Polska Sp. z o.o.
Bengt Wegemo - Vice President for Business Development in Elektrociepłownie Warszawskie SA, the former President of Vattenfall Polska Sp. z o.o.
The conference begun with the speech delivered by Raed Haddad, who revealed the secrets of building project-oriented organizations. Haddad spoke about his experiences collected through working together with the biggest world concerns as an instructor and consultant. He talked about the methodology of transforming organizations into pro-project ones, developed by PMI® (Project Management Institute), as well as about Project Management Academy, the joint project of ESI and MT&DC, whose purpose is to spread Project Management culture along with knowledge about it in Poland. His speech was received with considerable interest by the audience, who asked numerous questions of the lecturer not only after the presentation, but also during breaks between other speeches.
Next presentation, made by Bengta Wegemo, concerned the largest project that Swedish group Vattenfall, which he represented, realized in Poland, i.e. the acquisition of Elektrociepłownie Warszawskie S.A. in 1999. The conference participants had an opportunity to get familiar with individual stages of the acquisition project. Wegemo emphasized the project breakthroughs and the difficulties they had to overcome, acquiring one of the largest heating power station complexes in Poland. He precisely outlined the individual stages, drew attention to the major risks and to the specifics of an acquisition of huge state-owned enterprises in Poland.
In his speech, Bogusław Piekarski concentrated on the significance of a uniform Project Management structure in consortium arrangements. He described the experiences of Foster Wheeler concern in Poland. He presented the details of organizational structure in the company that he himself manages, and also of a project path within this structure. He focused on the role of the Board in strategic project implementation. Finally, he shared his experience in problem solving and motivation in the context of working with international implementation teams.
Mr. Piekarski repeatedly stressed the need for the development of Project Management culture in Poland, and he also encouraged the audience to participate in similar symposia, and to share knowledge and experiences. His proposals met with a strong reaction and interest both in the audience, and among the conference organizers.
Substantial consideration was given to questions of restructuring in Polish enterprises and the process of adjusting to the requirements of free-market economy in a speech delivered by Robert Butzke. His extremely vigorous presentation quickly enlivened the listeners, who were a little passive after hearty lunch. Among others, he addressed the issues of building customer focus in a company and the role of human factor, particularly managers, in the process of adaptation. He gave a detailed description of the organizational structure of Elektrim Megadex, business operation, the latest undertakings, and the role of human resources management in projects. As one of Mr. Butzke's employees happened to be in the conference room, our lecturer decided to distinguish him in front of such a huge assembly and congratulated him on the exceptionally effective implementation of a project. Due to that, he was able to win the audience over even more and create a specific atmosphere of a gathering of friends centered on a common idea.
In his presentation, David Hunter outlined the history of Project Management methodology. He also talked about its future, both in terms of a situation in Poland (considering our future membership in the European Union and related investments), and all over the world, from the standpoint of the development of new areas in economy and technology. He mentioned the evolution of Project Manager's role, related the first projects he participated in, and the latest one that he is implementing, i.e. the launch of Giełda Energii S.A. (energy sector exchange - record time of the launch, worldwide precedent). for the audience, this was a great lesson taught by one of the most experienced and still working Project Managers.
In his second presentation, this time bringing the conference to an end, Raed Haddad presented a very concrete path of restructuring an organization into a project-oriented one. Based on "real life" examples, he underscored the points that should become the focus for implementers of such undertaking. He encouraged people to treat this large-scale transformation as a project, too. He also presented interesting statistics developed by ESI, dealing with the influence of professional education in Project Management on the actual operation of a company and the effectiveness of such transformations.
The closing speech was delivered by Tomasz Borucki a Member of the Board, and a Partner representing Management Training & Development Center. He presented MT&DC experiences in fostering the Project Management methodology in Poland. His presentation included statistics showing how many people so far had been involved in the course of Project Management Academy, what stages the individual persons had reached, and also the prospects for the development of professional field education in our country. He encouraged the assembly to participate in the future symposia devoted to the subject. We will certainly advise you of them on www.mtdc.pl.
“PMI”- is registered mark of Project Management Institute, Inc.
