Temporary operations and project
research
Projects: Definition
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A unique, non-repetitive task
With a predetermined date of delivery
Specified out from one or several goals
Consisting of a number of complex and/or
mutually dependent activities
Project management
history
• Before industrialism: Important
ventures like crusades and warfare
organized as projects. No
managerial philosophy then.
• 1911 Taylorism/Scientific
Management. Henry L Gantt
invents the Gantt-schedule in 1910.
Used in large constrcuction projects
such as the Hoover Dam and the
Interstate highway network.
• 1931: Karol Adamiecki (actually
the father of the Gantt chart)
constructs the first network
diagram, the s c Harmonogram.
Project management history
• 1942-45: Manhattan project (USA). 2 bn
USD in turnover, at most 120.000
employees.
- Management by objectives (MBO)
- Parallel activities.
• 1950’s: Operations analysis, RAND
Corporation
• 1957: Sputnik shock, Polaris project
initiated.
Project management history
• Polaris project: 250 contractors and 9.000 subcontractors are coordinated in the execution of
70.000 activities by means of PERT (Program
Evaluation and Review Technique).
• 1956-59: CPM (Critical Path Method) constructed
at DuPont, independently of PERT.
• PERT and CPM are much alike and are both
the original methods of network planning
Project management history
• 1959: The concept ”project manager” first
mentioned in Harvard Business Review.
• 1960’s: Large interest in matrix
organisations
• 1967: INTERNET (IPMA) and PMI
founded.
• 1968 starts Föreningen Nätplan in Sverige
(later Svenskt Projektforum).
Project management history
• 1980’s: Growing interest in organization
and leadership issues in projects. The
project form spreads to
• More industries,
• More applications
• Smaller tasks
• Internal tasks.
Project management history
• 1987: PMBOK (Project Management Body
of Knowledge) presented in its first edition
by PMI. Increasing ambitions to certify
project managers as PMP’s (Project
Management Professionals).
• 1990’s: Project-based firms, standardisation
of certifications
Traditionally:
Project management research implies
development of
A set of operations management-inspired
models and techniques for the effective
handling of time-limited unique tasks
From Project Management to project
research
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Forms and stages of critique
Levels of analysis
New theoretical linkages
Schools of thought
Project research as critique
Makes people comfortable
Organizational
critique
Makes
things
complicated
Taxonomy/typology, Bounded
rationality, planning critique,
learning, stakeholder
management, temporary
organisations, improvisation, work
life
Ideological
critique
Power and control, actor network
theory, gender, diversity, labour
process
Traditional project
management
Systems theory, planning models,
team dynamics, stage-gate
models, control systems
Effectiveness
critique
Multi project methods, Critical
Chain, Risk analysis, project
evaluation & audit,
communication, project maturity
Makes people uncomfortable
Make
things
simple
Global economy
Society
Project research in new levels of
analysis
The industry
The application
The organization
The project office
The project portfolio
The project
The team
The individual
Theoretical links
???
Leadership/teamwork
Entrepreneurship/
innovation
Communication/IT
Social psychology
Operations mgmt
Organization theory
Projekt
Critical mgmt-theory
SCM/logistics
Industrial dynamics
Operations analysis
Management control
Finance
Modern schools of thought
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Optimization school
Factor school
Situation school
Behavioural school
Transaction school
Marketing school
Decision school
HRM school
Critical management theory school