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management to compete and respond quickly to changes in their environment. In a way, this is in line
with the "corporate" professionalism defined by Muzio et al (2011). These organizations represent
"pools of excellence" within a business environment where there is great room for improvement.
Municipalities and governmental initiatives will by means of a more general projectification hopefully
lead to better governance that will bring positive results for society in general.

The Icelandic Project Management Association could play a still larger role in pushing the project
management profession forward, for instance, by facilitating an open discussion about the profession as
such, professionalism, and on the ethical and professional responsibility of holders of IPMA certificates
and IPMA members. Such an open forum for discussion about project management can be backed up
with efforts to win political, social, and legal recognition of the value of regulating project management
for better project management and the common good.

Conclusion
In this paper we have looked some historical milestones in the development of the project management
profession within the Icelandic society. We have seen how the profession grew through the practical
application of project management methodology, project management education, and organizational
support in the for of consultancy and trainings.

The Icelandic example of how the project management profession gets born and how it matures within
a society is an interesting example for variety of reasons. Starting off as a rather vague idea on how to
use some basic concepts from operation management to manage schedules, developed over a few
decades and has now become a sought-after professional discipline with educational frameworks and
organizations with professional interests. The application of project management was initially sporadic
and led by motivated individuals. Today the scene is different, with project management as one of the
key drivers of the Icelandic economy. In the paper “Projectification in Iceland measured, comparsion of
two methods” (Fridgeirsson, Ingason & Jonasson, 2019) indicates that monetary value added via
projects is little less than one third of the actual economy (Gross Value Added), and that stakeholders
from industry and the public domain agree that this evolution will escalate in the near future. All the
main universities in Iceland teach project management as an integrated part of engineering and
business curriculum, and a thriving post graduate scene exists, with the MPM program at Reykjavik
University arguably at its spearhead.

The Icelandic scenario with regards to the development of the project management profession is
comparable to that of nations with similar frameworks with regards to what should constitute
professionalism. It had been lagging behind by a few years, but in recent years higher project
management maturity has been achieved, with the reservation that the public governance framework in
Iceland does still not comply with similar charters in Europe (Innanrikisraðuneyti, 2016). However,
despite some imperfections, there is clear evidence of the growing significance, importance and impact
of project management within the Icelandic society.