On October 5, 2005, the Project Management Professionals Certification
Center (PMCC) and the Japan Project Management Forum (JPMF) combined to
legally form the Project Management Association of Japan (PMAJ).
PMAJ activities commenced November 2005.
JPMF
The Japan Project Management Forum (JPMF) was a
member-driven non-profit organization for project management professionals.
JPMF was founded in December 1998 as a division of the Engineering Advancement
Association of Japan (ENAA) to promote project management in Japan. Its mission
was to establish a national center of excellence for project management with
the following objectives:
- To advance professionalism and individual and
organizational capability of project management in Japan by uniting those who
practice project management, advocate increased business profitability and
productivity through managing by projects, teach and research project
management and provide methodologies, technologies and tools for project
management.
- To help enhance the social and industrial
recognition of the project management discipline and project management
professionals.
- To provide forums for matters that concern project
management.
- To cooperate with the worlds project management
community for cross-fertilization and global advancement of the project
management profession and discipline.
JPMF promoted the following project management (PM)
activities:
- Offering educational courses in PM
- Supporting monthly meetings in Tokyo and Osaka for
presenting special topics related to PM
- Publishing JPMF Journal
- Conducting special seminars related to PM
Additionally, the JPMF held eight PM symposiums, which were the largest
project management related events ever held in Japan. The JPMF in
cooperation with the ENAA hosted Japanfs first global project management
conference called the gInternational Project Management Congress 2001 (IPMC2001)h
in November 2001 which was attended by 460 delegates from 23 countries;
Project and Program Management for Enterprise Innovation (P2M) was announced
to the world at the IPMC2001 event.
PMCC
The Project Management Professionals Certification Center (PMCC) was a
non-profit organization established in April 2002.
gProject and Program Management for Enterprise
Innovation (P2M)h was started in 1999 and developed over three years by the
Engineering Advancement Association of Japan (ENAA) with funds provided by a
research grant from the Japanese Government Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry (METI). P2M is now highly regarded in the world. In addition to
promoting P2M, PMCC aimed to educate and train project management practitioners
and foster public recognition of the various project management activities from
numerous private and public enterprises. It contributed to strengthening
international competitiveness in the industry and developing vital economic and
social support, by offering project management professionals a certification
system, training courses and a means for spreading project management knowledge.
For the purpose stated above, PMCC performed the
following:
- Issuing PM standards and publications
- Conducting seminars for PM Professional
Certification
- Proctoring the PM Professional Certification
examination
- Approving and registering the PM Professionals
Certification examination
- Performing activities to interface with overseas PM
organizations and scientific entities
- Other activities necessary to achieve the centerfs purpose
Currently the Project Management Professionals
Certification System provided by the PMCC consists of the following four levels
of certification (from highest to lowest): Project Management Architect (PMA),
Project Manager Registered (PMR), Project Management Specialist (PMS) and
Project Management Coordinator (PMC). As of October 2005, seven PMS
certification examinations were held (2,014 certifications from 4,692 examinees
were issued), and one PMR certification examination was held (24 certifications
from 30 examinees were issued).
The PMCC and the JPMF had jointly and strongly been promoting the field
of project management in Japan. However, the two organizations are
experiencing the following situations:
- Project management now plays an important role in
Japanese industries, requiring more promotion of Project Management.
- The education and training needs of PM
practitioners are rapidly expanding.
- In order to support the PM practitionerfs overall
lifecycle, the new Project Management Association is expected to conduct a wide
range of high quality activities based on the aggregated knowledge and personal
network of both organizations within and outside of Japan.
In July 2005, both organizationsf members approved the merger. The
new organization, called the Project Management Association of Japan, began
after joint preparations were completed by both organizations.