Validation of the Structure
Since the original presentation we have also attempted to validate the usefulness
of the structure by populating each APMA with Project Management Descriptors
(PMDs) and further developing the structure on down as seemed appropriate. This
has been done using Abdomerovich's 1800+ PMDs (PMJ, March 1992, p42.) Trying
to establish consistent placing of the PMDs on each branch has necessarily tested
the set of criteria described in the paper.
These criteria are not immediately self-evident and require some degree of
subjectivity and consequently the results are no doubt arguable. Nevertheless,
this exercise has provided some comfort that the structure is both workable
and potentially useful. The result so far is that each APMA has up to ten levels
(starting at the project level) and their respective contents range between
900 and 1500 PMDs.
Of themselves, the PMDs are meaningless without definition. Therefore, a parallel
effort was conducted to develop a glossary of project management terms to complement
this PMKS. This has resulted in the now well-established Wideman Comparative
Glossary of Common Project Management Terms which you can find elsewhere on
this site.
The approach adopted for the glossary was not to mandate specific definitional
wording to any given PMD (experience shows this to be a controversial and therefore
fruitless exercise) but rather to assemble several 'typical' definitions of
each where needed or as encountered in the marketplace. From these, the 'best
fit' may be selected by the users of the structure.
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Continued
Development since 1998
