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toc Project Management Institute

Introduction
The **Project Management Institute** (PMI) is an internationally established organization which mastered an excellence in project management profession. It was established by American National Standard Institute (ANSI) as an accredited standards developer. What is a standard? It is a “document established by consensus and approved by a recognized body that provides rules, guidelines and characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context”. PMI has a mission to provide clear understanding of a project management. PMI develops standards and endeavors through these standards to obtain perfect knowledge in the practice of project management. Standards are worked out in 3- step process including an exposure draft process. Due to this draft the public can review it and offer some proposals. All standards of PMI are gathered in **Project Management Body Of Knowledge** (PMBOK) which was firstly published in 1996. Then the second edition appeared on the market in 2000, the third edition in 2004 and the fourth edition is going to be published in 2008. PMBOK is an internationally recognized guidance for those who want to run a successful project. It provides all managers with necessary basics and it can be applied to many projects such as engineering, software, construction, automotive, etc. PMBOK consists of 44 processes which are divided into 5 basic groups and 9 knowledge areas that can be applied to all typical projects. The 5 basic groups are:
 * 1) Initiating process group determines the project or a project phase and then empowers.
 * 2) Planning process group determines objectives, plans steps how to achieve the objectives and refines.
 * 3) Executing process group fulfills the project management plan through integrating people and other resources.
 * 4) Controlling and Monitoring process group controls and monitors progress and detects if there is something wrong in the right time in order to take corrective actions.
 * 5) Closing process group formalizes project acceptance and brings the project to its proper end.

The 9 knowledge areas
**Project Communication Management** is about communications planning, information distribution, performance reporting and managing stakeholders. Each knowledge area has its own discipline. Thus, these areas should be carried out according to disciplines so that project management can be obtained. PMBOK supplies its users with a standard lexicon. It appears to be a vital part of a profession because it is used in discussing, writing and applying project management. PMBOK has advantages as well as disadvantages. Here are some of them:
 * 1) Project Integration Management
 * 2) Project Scope Management
 * 3) Project Time Management
 * 4) Project Cost Management
 * 5) Project Quality Management
 * 6) Project Human Resource Management
 * 7) Project Communications Management
 * 8) Project Risk Management
 * 9) Project Procurement Management
 * Project Integration Management ** is about develop the project charter, scope statement and plan. Direct, manage, monitor, control project change.
 * Project Scope Management ** is about planning, definition, work break-down structure (WBS) creation, verification, and control.
 * Project Time Management ** is about definition, sequencing, resource and duration estimating, schedule development and schedule control.
 * Project Cost Management ** is about resource planning, cost estimating, budgeting and control.
 * Project Quality Management ** is about quality planning, quality assurance and quality control.
 * Project Human Resources Management ** is about human resources planning, hiring, developing and managing project team.
 * Project Risk Management ** is about risk planning and identification, risk analysis (Qualitative and Quantitative), risk response (Action) planning and risk monitoring and control.
 * Project Procurement Management ** is about acquisition and contracting plan, sellers responses and selection, contract administration and contract closure.

** Advantages **

 * - PMBOK guide is a framework and de facto standard.
 * - It is a process oriented.
 * - It states the knowledge needed to manage the life cycle of any project, program portfolio through their processes.
 * - It defines for each process the necessary input, tools, techniques, and output.
 * - It defines a body of knowledge on which any industry can build it specific best practices for its application area.

** Disadvantages **
- Complex for small projects. - Has to be adapted to the application area industry, project size and scope, time and budget and quality constrains.

References: http://www.pmi.org/Resources/Pages/Global-Standards-Program.aspx http://www.12manage.com/methods_pmi_pmbok.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Management_Body_of_Knowledge [|projectmilepost.com/Resources.asp]