Looking At Project Management

For the purposes of this blog, there is an important distinction to be drawn between projects: "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result" and project management or at least the profession and practice of ‘modern project management’ as it is embodied in the various project management associations around the world. In this context, ‘modern project management’ is a phrase used at Leap University and others to describe the management of projects in the way described by organizations such as the PMI in their respective ‘body of knowledge’ both current and former.

Starting with the industrial revolution, management science evolved through the 19th and 20th centuries, and various processes, tools and techniques were developed to help identify and control business functions. Some of these tools directly related to the future of project management.

The first ‘project’ to add science to the process of time control was undertaken by Kelley and Walker for E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. The meeting that approved the funding for this project was held in Newark, Delaware, USA on the 7th May 1957 and as they say, the rest is history. In 1956 Kelly and Walker had started developing the algorithms that became the ‘Activity-on-Arrow’ or ADM method of critical path scheduling after approval of funding for the development project. The computer program they developed was tested on plant shutdowns in 1957 and the first paper discussing the critical path method (CPM) of scheduling was published in March 1959.

These developments were closely followed by the development of the PERT system. The US Air Force translated PERT into PEP (Program Evaluation Procedure) and a host of similar systems appeared over the next few years.  While CPM and PERT use the same basic approach, including the Activity-on-Arrow network diagram, PERT focused on time as the key variable (what varied was the probability of hitting a milestone or completion date) where CPM ‘fixed’ time and the cost of achieving the target time varied.  The cost variable component of CPM quickly faded from use.  The time variable PERT approach lasted longer and was eventually replaced by the more accurate Monte Carlo analysis. Modern tools based on the Monte Carlo approach such as Pertmaster are capable of calculating time and cost variables at the same time. 

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Our Project Management Professional Certification Classroom Prep Course has been prepared by PMstudy – a global leader in PMP certification training which has enabled over 200,000 students to succeed at a rate of 98.7%. This exhaustive classroom preparatory course has been designed with your success in mind. We offer both online and classroom course paths. Use four full-length simulated exams designed on the lines of the actual exam.

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