PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project Management



Project Management

Question 1a

The theory of project is provided by the transformation view on operations. In the transformation view, a project is conceptualized as a transformation of inputs to outputs. There are a number of principles, by means of which a project is managed. These principles suggest, for example, decomposing the total transformation hierarchically into smaller transformations, tasks, and minimizing the cost of each task independently. We contend that understanding of management is based on three theories: management-as-planning, the dispatching model and the thermostat model. In management-as-planning, management at the operations level is seen to consist of the creation, revision and implementation of plans. This approach to management views a strong causal connection between the actions of management and outcomes of the organization. The dispatching model assumes that planned tasks can be executed by a notification of the start of the task to the executor. The thermostat model is the cybernetic model of management control that consists of the following elements: there is a standard of performance; performance is measured at the output; the possible variance between the standard and the measured value is used for correcting the process so that the standard can be reached. (Hajek 2007, Pp. 36-39).

Regarding the theory of project, the (partial) models of operations as flow and value generation add the consideration of time, variability and customer to the conceptualization provided by the transformation model. Similarly, the theoretical foundation of management has to be extended. Regarding planning, the approach of management-as-organizing adds the idea of human activity as inherently situated. Thus, planning should also focus on structuring the environment to contribute to purposeful acting. Concerning managerial execution, the language/action perspective, originated by Winograd and Flores (1986), conceptualizes two-way communication and commitment, instead of the mere one-way communication of the classical communication theory. The scientific experimentation model of control of Shewhart focuses on finding causes of deviations and acting on those causes, instead of only changing the performance level for achieving a predetermined goal in case of a deviation.

The scientific experimentation model adds thus the aspect of learning to control. It is clear that what has been presented does not yet provide a unified and complete theoretical foundation for project management. However, this foundation shows manifestly that a better theoretical foundation can be created for project management. Future research will extend and unify the ingredients found until now. In the following, we show that the ingredients of the new foundation are being used in two novel project management methods, which radically deviate from the conventional doctrine of project management: Last Planner and Scrum4 . Both methods have emerged since mid-nineties as practical responses to the failure of conventional project (Oberlender 2000, Pp. 30-35).

Question 1b

One of the biggest problems with accelerating project schedules is that the PM tools available today are quite simplistic in their approach to modeling and representing work conducted on a project. Consequently, today's tools do not give an accurate representation of what is possible (and, more importantly, what is not ...