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"Project management History."
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Virtual global project management in eighteenth-century astronomy
Purpose
This paper aims to demonstrate that virtual project management can be based on a common spirit and mutual trust to achieve project objectives, rather than the use of modern electronic devices to lower communication costs.
Design/methodology/approach
Evidence from the eighteenth-century files of Academies of Science and from astronomical literature is used to characterize the projects and to show how major elements of project management (such as identification of benefits to stakeholders, management of uncertainties, communication and data aggregation across related projects) were applied.
Findings
The analysis shows how the initiative to better measure the Astronomical Unit defined a megaproject, and how this was broken down at local Academies of Science into major projects or programs. This, in turn, resulted in individual expeditions. It demonstrates that innovations arose from the projects, and that learning from earlier expeditions resulted in the final success of the megaproject.
Research limitations/implications
The literature used was not written to demonstrate project management. In this respect, both the original sources and the later reports may lack information with respect to the present topic. Today’s project management might learn from the study that coordination and communication can greatly benefit from a joint vision of the project if based on a common spirit and mutual trust.
Practical implications
Present day project management might benefit from the finding that common values reduce communication costs in a similar way as recent electronic communication devices.
Originality/value
The author believes that this is the first paper to analyze the Venus transit projects from the project management perspective. This was a complex and global megaproject. The approaches taken to achieve the objectives relevant to different stakeholders provide lessons for today’s management of megaprojects.
Journal Article
The Giza pyramid: learning from this megaproject
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of the management of the Great Pyramid of Giza project.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses evidence from the literature from many disciplines concerning both the objectives and construction of the pyramid. It relates this to recent discussion concerned with the issues faced in megaproject management, which are core to the discussion of success and failure.
Findings
The analysis shows the significance of the “break-fix model” of megaproject management and how having a sequence of megaprojects builds management through a learning process. It demonstrates the significance of innovation arising from the experience of previous projects in solving major technical challenges and illustrates the importance of the organisation and ethical management of a substantial workforce.
Research limitations/implications
There is very limited reliable documentary evidence from the time of the construction of Giza (c.2560 BCE). Many sources concerning ancient Egypt are still widely contested. However, the use of research from a combination of disciplines demonstrates the relevance of the project and the importance of learning from history to contemporary project management.
Originality/value
The authors believe that this is the first paper to analyse the Giza pyramid project from a project management perspective. This was arguably the most significant construction project of ancient history and the paper explains the lessons, which can be learned, which are very significant to today’s megaprojects.
Journal Article
PERT, Polaris, and the realities of project execution
Purpose - The general purpose of this paper is to give Sapolsky's classical study of the Polaris Project, written in 1972, the credits it actually earns. In addition, there are two more specific aims: to discuss the role and usage of project management techniques, such as PERT (programme evaluation and review technique), in the practices of project execution; and to display the power of thorough empirical case studies in order to deepen our understanding of the realities of project execution.Design methodology approach - The paper constitutes a detailed review of the content and contributions of the book The Polaris Systems Development written by Harvey M. Sapolsky in 1972. The paper presents the main ideas of the book and discusses its implications for contemporary project management research.Findings - Sapolsky's work, The Polaris Systems Development, is an important account of some of the most significant courses of events in the birth and formation of project management, especially the creation of PERT as a technique for project coordination. However, by going beyond the rhetorical surface of the project management, Sapolsky shows that PERT never played the role in Polaris that it is generally claimed to have had. The paper puts these findings in context and discusses why this has been ignored in project management research so far.Research limitations implications - Scholars focusing on project management research need to distance themselves from its historical tight bounds to project management textbooks and administrative project management techniques. There is a strong need for a broader empirical basis and pluralism in theoretical perspectives in the study of the realities of project execution.Originality value - The paper recapitulates a classic account of the formative period of project management, which so far has generally been ignored in project management research. In addition, it discusses three functions of project planning techniques: boundary objects for coordination, political features for legitimacy and trust building, and cognitive means for the social construction of a predicable future.
Journal Article
Introduction
This chapter contains sections titled:
Human Resource Management Project Scenarios
Overview
Structure of the Volume
References and Further Reading
Book Chapter
Project Management Research: Social Dimensions and Organisational Context
As an emerging profession, the field of PM continues to grow, adapt and evolve. PM faces new
challenges as the tools, methods and approaches to management that comprise the discipline are
applied to different domains, for different ends, in different cultures. This chapter is focused on
the discipline of PM and how it has changed and evolved. Whilst initial developments occurred
in specific techniques, such as critical path method, there now is a shift towards the use of PM
in an enterprise or organisational context. There has also more recently been the incorporation
of strategy and management concepts as well as a focus on governance. This chapter challenges
researchers and students’ current thinking about Project Management and is intended to broaden
their perspectives from the reductionist, tools and techniques-based view of PM as it appears
through the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) lens. The desired outcome is that
students question the existing PM paradigm and explore new areas of PM practice or application.
Book Chapter
Project and program management
\"Choosing the right people to carry out a project is essential to its success. When multiple projects are combined into a complex program, the human aspect becomes even more important. This book is the first to truly balance a complete account of the technical aspects of project and program management with a practical approach to understanding and developing the core competencies required to accomplish desired goals. On the technical side, this book is a complete introduction to predicting costs, setting schedules, and assessing risks. On the people side, it sheds new light on how to mold different personality types into a team, how to motivate the team's members, and how to produce extraordinary results. The author details the blocking and tackling of the program management approach, describing the best way to define, organize, and schedule the work to be done, identifying risks, and controlling costs during the whole process. This fifth edition has been significantly revised, with every chapter updated. The volume considers the magnitude of recent social, political, and technological changes, and the impact is represented throughout this book. Included are insights from numerous students who bring to the forefront their current real-world practices from their individual businesses, industries, and disciplines\"--
Book
The broken promise that undermines human genome research
Data sharing was a core principle that led to the success of the Human Genome Project 20 years ago. Now scientists are struggling to keep information free.
Data sharing was a core principle that led to the success of the Human Genome Project 20 years ago. Now scientists are struggling to keep information free.
Journal Article
Institutionalized centralized management of large water network projects: An innovative solution to address water crisis
Building large water diversion projects to form a grand national or regional water network is an important option to address the water crisis. It is necessary to explore the systems for managing large water network projects. This paper studied the management systems for large water network projects based on the institutional change theory. It put forward a set of innovative management options for the South-to-North Water Diversion (SNWD) project, the Three Gorges project and other similar projects in China. A comparative of these options, in both qualitative and quantitative terms, was conducted based on SWOT analysis and comprehensive expert evaluation. This paper finally proposed a recommended option, which requires the SNWD project, the Three Gorges project and the Danjiangkou reservoir to be managed together, and reservoirs along the three projects to be managed by local authorities.
Journal Article
The Human Genome Project: Lessons from Large-Scale Biology
The Human Genome Project has been the first major foray of the biological and medical research communities into \"big science.\" In this Viewpoint, we present some of our experiences in organizing and managing such a complicated, publicly funded, international effort. We believe that many of the lessons we learned will be applicable to future large-scale projects in biology.
Journal Article