Project Management: Effectiveness
and Assessment
by Verena Veneeva
The principles of effective project management are potentially applicable to any
project type across different industries. It has been established that the basis
of these principles have been designed so as to accommodate variety of tasks and
industries but still fine tuning is required during the course of certain
projects (Papers4you.com, 2006). According to Davidson (2002), the origin of
project management can be traced back to the post World War II era in which new
efficient developments started taking place across the triad i.e. the US, Europe
and Japan.
Projects are formally defined by Cleland and Gareis (1994), as the process that
transforms and unsatisfactory state of affairs into better state within certain
time and resources limit. The literature within the domain of this subject has
accepted the fact that orientation towards project based approach is
concentrated within few industries due to their inherent characteristics.
Drawing upon Krezner (2001), it can be elaborated that those industries that are
project-driven like construction and aerospace, needs more rigorous project
specifications. The evolution of PM process has started from such industries and
has permeated into others with differing levels (Papers4you.com, 2006). Its
applications, concepts and methods have been broadened for its uses for all the
industries.
The development of standardized procedures for project management has been the
centre of discussion for many years and in today's world there are many well
known such standards. Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and Projects
in Controlled Environments (PRINCE), are two of the most widely used standards
applicable to any nature of project in any industry (Meredith & Mantel, 1995).
At the same time there has been constructive work in the development of industry
specific project management processes and methodologies so as the particular
needs of each industry can be taken care of.
The role of project manager is seen central to the process of project management
but it has been established in literature that it should not be regarded as one
man task since it requires other individuals and their competencies that are
grouped together and who are dedicated to achieving the particular objectives of
the project (Pinkerton, 2003). One of the criticisms on project management
literature development is its concentration and focus towards the 'hard' aspects
of the change while neglecting the 'soft' aspects. The school of thought that
believes in blending both hard and soft issues to build upon project management
techniques is growing.
It can be concluded that project management skills and process although are
generalized for any type of project within any industry but these are more
appropriate for some than others. Levine (2002) has suggested that weather an
organization is involved in managing projects or not in the traditional sense,
but it requires the management of its assets and PM provides overall process and
skills needed to achieve any change objectives.
References:
Cleland, D.I., Gareis, R. (Eds) (1994), "Global Project Management Handbook",
McGraw-Hill International Editions
Davidson, Frame, (2002), "Tools for an age of rapid change, complexity and other
business realities", San Francisco, California: Wiley & Sons, Inc. (US)
Kerzner, Harold, (2001), "A systems approach to planning, scheduling and
controlling", New York: Wiley & Sons, Inc. (US)
Levine, Harvey, (2002), "Practical project management, tips, tactics and tools",
New York: Wiley & Sons, Inc
Meredith, J.R., Mantel, S.J. (1995), "Project Management: A Managerial
Approach", John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY
Papers For You (2006) "P/M/400. Project management in theory and in practice",
Available from http://www.coursework4you.co.uk/sprtmgt7.htm [22/06/2006]
Papers For You (2006) "P/M/365. Dissertation. Project management and development
of Information Systems", Available from Papers4you.com [21/06/2006]
Pinkerton, William, (2003), "Achieving project bottom-line success", New York:
Mc Graw Hill
About the Author:
Copyright © 2006 Verena Veneeva. Professional Writer working for
http://www.coursework4you.co.uk,
Source
of this article:
www.goarticles.com
| |
|