Until the 1980s project management primarily focused on providing schedule and resource data to top management in the military computer and construction industries?

Answer 1

Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) was developed by the U.S. Department of Defence US Navy Special Projects Office (SPO) in 1958 as part of the Polaris mobile submarine-launched ballistic missile project. This project was a direct response to the Sputnik crisis and with ferocious internal political within the three services, financial constraints and national defence stakes running high. The Polaris programme was probably the greatest success of U.S. government bureaucrats until the NASA space programme, which took many of the best lessons learnt from the Navy programme. The SPO is widely credited with refining a lot of the Project Management techniques that are used today, and staying one step ahead of the contractors and technology. This was the defining moment of project management where it moved from an era when projects were managed on an ad-hoc basis using informal tools and techniques, to one that used disciplined and proven techniques. Project Management techniques were used by companies undertaking large and complex programmes such as new manufacturing enterprises or new major building programmes. It wasn't until the 1980's when the techniques first developed in Japanese Shipyards (Cause and Effect/Ishikawa Diagrams) in the 1960's, quality control and the Theory of Constraints (Goldratt) all came together to breath another life into project management, in order to reduce costs/waste and make companies more competitive on the international stage. These developments were further followed by Earned Value Management, PRINCE was published and the recognition of the Project Management Associations and Institutes. The effects of Globalisation have already caused ever more technologically complex projects to be attempted, with diverse teams spread across the world, this is set to become the normal way of doing business. I anticipate seeing more emphasis in the next few years on sustainable/environmental assessment of products and services, developing technologies to allow teams from different regions to work together (e.g. telepresecence, 3D Avatars) without travelling, more emphasis on the construction of teams in terms of their personalities and development models (e.g. Tuckerman) and work to assess leadership potential and abilities, as well as more structured stakeholder management techniques. Project Management will continue to follow the way business is going and the environments in which it operates. Project Managers are at the cutting edge in their ability to develop new business practices in order to push their companies in advancing the skill/arts of project management and bringing in their projects in time, on or below budget, at the required quality levels as well as taking into consideration all the environmental factors.