Page 185 - DMGT302_FUNDAMENTALS_OF_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Fundamentals of Project Management

Notes Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. Over the centuries, the classic master-servant relationship continued to serve projects
well, for major works continued to be built, including the ....................... Wonders of the
World.
2. One suspects that many were created simply to catch the imagination for purposes of
....................... consulting services to senior management.
3. A ....................... scope was clearly evident during this project’s implementation.

11.2 Technical versus People Management

A particular and major breakthrough was the development of “network analysis” and the
concept of “critical path”. This grew out of the US Navy’s complex Polaris program and NASA’s
Apollo program in the fifties and sixties. For many years and even to the present day, the critical
path method, or CPM, and its associated “probability” techniques have been viewed as the
essence of project management in terms of planning and controlling project performance.

More recently, however, we have seen a definite shift to the “human” side of project management
and the incorporation of techniques essential for dealing with people equitably and effectively.
At the same time, there has been a growing recognition that the creation of large physical
projects, such as facilities and infrastructure, are not the only types of project to which these
techniques can be applied. Indeed, projects can be many and varied, including “intellectual”
type projects such as the introduction of new administrative systems, attitude changes and even
cultural changes have been attempted in some organizations.

Today, we have a much better understanding of the holistic aspects of project management.

Example: We know that project management and corporate management have
fundamentally different orientations as indicated in Table 1.
Specific differences between “project’ and “enterprise” management are shown in Table 2. We
also know that a “project” is essentially a “process” which leads to the delivery of a “product”
within the confines of certain “constraints”. Occasionally, the term “project” is used loosely in
substitution for the term “product”, but this inevitably leads to confusion.

Table 1: A Hierarchy of Management Orientation

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