Temporary operations and project research

Projects: Definition

• 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 sub-contractors 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

• Forms and stages of critique

• Levels of analysis

• New theoretical linkages

• Schools of thought

Project research as critiqueMakes people comfortable

Makes people uncomfortable

Makesthingscomplicated

Makethingssimple

Traditional project managementSystems theory, planning models, team dynamics, stage-gate models, control systems

Organizational critiqueTaxonomy/typology, Bounded rationality, planning critique, learning, stakeholder management, temporary organisations, improvisation, work life

Effectiveness critiqueMulti project methods, Critical Chain, Risk analysis, project evaluation & audit, communication, project maturity

Ideological critiquePower and control, actor network theory, gender, diversity, labour process

Project research in new levels of analysis

The project

The team

The individual

The project portfolio

The project officeThe organization

The application

The industry

Society

Global economy

Theoretical links

Projekt

Entrepreneurship/innovation Communication/IT

Operations mgmt

Critical mgmt-theory

Industrial dynamics

Management control

Finance

Operations analysis

SCM/logistics

Organization theory

Social psychology

Leadership/teamwork

???

Modern schools of thought

• Optimization school• Factor school• Situation school• Behavioural school• Transaction school• Marketing school• Decision school• HRM school• Critical management theory school