International project management

International Project management

Lecture 1

Course description :

- Course philosophy: combining theoretical and practical approaches

History of project management:

- Project management is both old and young depending on how we consider it:

- Old: project management as human activity has been practiced for millennia. Examples?

- New: project management is essentially a 20th century discipline

Modern project management:

- 4 phases according to Young Hoon Kwak (2003)

1. End of 19th century to 1958

- Technological advances: communication (telegraph, telephone), transportation (automobile, plane)

- Management science: Frederick W. Taylor, Henry Gantt, Henri Fayol

- Project management techniques: Gantt chart (1896/1915), PERT diagram (1958), Critical Path Method (1957)

- Important projects: East-West railway (1869), Hoover Dam (1935), Polaris project (1955), Manhattan project (1946)

2. 1959 to 1979

- Technological advances: IMB 7090 (2nd generation transistor computer, Xerox copier, UNIX operating system

- Management science: quality management, ISO norms

- Project management techniques: PMI guidelines (1969)

- Important projects: Apollo 11 (1969), Arpanet (1969)

3. 1980 to 1994

- Technological advances: PC, wireless, internet browser

- Management science: risk management

- Project management techniques: PM software for PC

- Important projects: Boeing 777, Challenger space shuttle

4. 1995 to date

- Technological advances: Internet

- Management science: Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

- Project management techniques: PMBOK

In search of a definition of projects:

- Businesses are faced with various challenges:

- Organizational: improving a work process

- Technological: installing a new computer system

- Innovation: developing a new product…

All these are projects. What is a project?

“A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.” [PMBOK, 2013, pp. 416]

Projects:

- require an organized set of work efforts

- are subject to limitations:

- have a defined beginning and ending

- have specific outputs: deliverables

- have unique combinations of stakeholders

Projects differ from operations:

- operations do not produce anything new and they are ongoing

- operations define ordinary work of an organization

- operations are repetitive (routine) and they do not end when the current objectives are met

“Projects often require a variety of people to work together for a limited time, and all participants need to understand that completing the project will require effort in addition to their other assigned work.” [Timothy J. Kloppenborg, 2014]

All this in an increasingly international context

International project: context

Project management

“Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements” [PMBOK,

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