CHAPTER 1

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

OVERVIEW AND GOALS

This chapter provides a general overview of the broad field of projectmanagement and its role in the work world. It describes how an age-old processbecame formalized in the late twentieth century, shows how professional projectmanagement evolved to where it is today, and distinguishes thousands of peoplein the occupation of project management from the new project managementprofessional. It explains why organizations undertake projects, clarifies terms,and provides examples of different types of projects. Its goal is to distinguishproject management from other functions.

WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

Many sectors of the economy are identifying project management as a newkey business process. As project management gains recognition as a distinct wayof managing change, differences exist in how it is applied and understood acrossindustries, corporations, governments, and academia. The term projectmanagement is used freely throughout profit-oriented companies,not-for-profit organizations, and government agencies, but people do not alwaysmean the same thing by it. Some organizations use the term projectmanagement to describe the task of managing work. Others use it to definethe field of work focused on the delivery of project results. Still others meanthe profession of project management, encompassing not only project managers butalso other project-related specialists. Some use the term to describetraditional management practices or technical management practices, simplytransferring those practices from organizational operations to projects. Becausethis field is emerging into the mainstream, definitions abound. During thecourse of describing project management practices and concepts, this book willhelp to distinguish what is unique to this field from what it has in common withgeneral management and the management elements of technical disciplines. It alsowill identify many of the misleading assumptions about project management thatobscure the value of this new field of professionalism.

Project Management Evolves

Projects have been managed since prehistory. Strategies for project managementcan be found in records of the Chinese warlords (Sun Tzu), Machiavelli, andother, more obscure writers (see Chapter 2). Large projects such as the1893 World's Fair in Chicago clearly used it. As projects became more complexand more difficult to execute in a context where profit, time lines, andresource consumption competed with defined objectives, twentieth-centurymanagers began to codify the practices needed to plan, execute, and controlprojects. The government led the way in developing the techniques and practicesof project management, primarily in the military.

It is popular to ask, "Why can't they run government the way I run my business?"In the case of project management, however, business and other organizationslearned from government, not the other way around. A lion's share of the creditfor the development of the techniques and practices of project managementbelongs to the military, which faced a series of major tasks that simply werenot achievable by traditional organizations operating in traditional ways. TheUnited States Navy's Polaris program, NASA's Apollo space program, and morerecently, the space shuttle and the strategic defense initiative ("star wars")programs are instances of the application of these specially developedmanagement approaches to extraordinarily complex projects. Following suchexamples, nonmilitary government sectors, private industry, public serviceagencies, and volunteer organizations have all used project management toincrease their effectiveness.

Thus, for modern-day project management, the Polaris submarine program and laterthe Apollo space program launched the systematic application of knowledge,tools, methods, and techniques to the planning, execution, and completion ofprojects. While these techniques have proliferated broadly among othergovernment programs since the 1960s and 1970s and through research anddemonstration programs among other branches of government as well as theircontractor organizations, the construction industry was a key beneficiary ofthese improvements. Large, complex projects, such as the construction of HooverDam and the carving of the faces of American presidents into stone at MountRushmore in South Dakota, applied these improvements. Since then, projectmanagement methods have been implemented in information management and movement,pharmaceuticals, information systems, the entertainment and service sectors, anda variety of global projects. Project management's value continues to grow.

For a clearer idea of what the term project management means, compare itwith the term medicine in a health context. Each term can have manymeanings. The all-inclusive view of project management—just as inmedicine—will address the practice, as well as the role, the field, theoccupation, and the profession. The variations of meaning will also expanddepending on which view is taken. Project management in a professional contextmeans applying knowledge, skills, processes, methods, tools, and techniques toget desired results.

Like the word medicine, the term project management can take ona broad definition or a narrow one. A doctor practices medicine (broad).A patient takes a dose of medicine (narrow). Athletic discipline is saidto be good medicine—an ambiguous definition that combines both.The term medicine takes on a different meaning depending on the contextin which it is used, yet the term is always associated with certain values andgoals: medicine supports health; it does not compromise it. Medicine thereforeimplies a commitment of individuals to the goal of preserving or restoringhealth. Similarly, although one definition of project management may notfit all uses, there are common elements inherent in all meanings ascribed to it.These common elements bind together the individuals and the practices withinproject management. Together they create a common understanding of...