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Volume X - Issue III - March 2008

Second Edition

Second Editions include selected high quality papers previously published in another journal in a language other than English. Republication is with the permission from the author and journal of original publication.

 

The Origins of Modern Project Management

By Patrick Weaver

Editor’s note:  This paper was originally presented at the Fourth Annual PMI College of Scheduling Conference, CPM Turns 50 – A Birthday Celebration, held during 15-18 April 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  It is being republished here with permission of the author.  Additional information received since original publication was consolidated into the text in December 2007.

Introduction

Projects in one form or another have been undertaken for millennia:

  • the ancient Egyptians constructed the pyramids some 4500 years ago;

  • Sun Tzu wrote about planning and strategy 2500 years ago (every battle is a project to be first won; then fought);

  • numerous transcontinental railways were constructed during the 19th century and

  • buildings of different sizes and complexity have been erected for as long as mankind has occupied permanent settlements.

However, it was only in the latter half of the 20th century people started to talk about ‘project management’; earlier endeavours were seen as acts of worship, engineering, nation building, etc. And the people controlling the endeavours called themselves priests, engineers, architects, etc. Whilst the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb in the 1940s is generally considered the first ‘program’, its managers primarily saw their roles either as military officers or scientists.

For the purposes of this paper, there is an important distinction to be drawn between projects: ‘a temporary endeavour 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 by the author and others to describe the management of projects in the way described by organisations such as the APM (UK) and PMI in their respective ‘bodies of knowledge’ (BoKs) - both current and former.

This paper will discuss three themes.  Firstly a brief look at the evolving processes of schedule analysis (CPM) and other project management tools - the technology.  Second, the evolution of management science through to the 20th Century that laid the foundations for the development of modern project management as a distinct branch of general management and finally the ‘serendipity’ that brought these two factors together to create a new profession.

Read the complete paper English

 

About the Authors:


Patrick Weaver
Author

Patrick Weaver, PMP, FAICD, FCIOB, is the Managing Director of Mosaic Project Services Pty Ltd, an Australian project management consultancy specialising in project control systems and a PMI Registered Education Provider.  Patrick is also the business manager of Stakeholder Management Pty Ltd. He is a Fellow and Regional President of the Chartered Institute of Building, Australasia (FCIOB) and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD). He is a member of the PMI College of Scheduling, College of Performance Management and the PMI Melbourne Chapter (Australia), as well a full member of AIPM and the APM (UK).  Patrick has over 35 years experience in Project Management.  His career was initially focused on the planning and managing of construction, engineering and infrastructure projects in the UK and Australia. The last 25 years has seen his businesses and experience expand to include the successful delivery of project scheduling services and PMOs in a range of government, ICT and business environments; with a strong focus on project management training.  His consultancy work encompasses: developing and advising on project schedules, developing and presenting PM training courses, managing the development of internal project control systems for client organisations, and assisting with dispute resolution and claims management.  He is a qualified Arbitrator and Mediator.  In the last few years, Patrick has sought to ‘give back’ to the industry he has participated in since leaving college and has sought to contribute to the development of the project management profession.  In addition to his committee roles he has presented papers at a wide range of project management conferences in the USA, Europe, Asia and Australia, has been part of the organising committee for two PMI Congresses in the Asia-Pacific region, and has an on-going role with the PMOZ conference in Australia and World Project Management Week.  Patrick can be contacted at patw@mosaicprojects.com.au or at www.mosaicprojects.com.au.

 

 

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Proven and Practical Focus to Program Success
in Real Estate Developments

By Yamal Chamoun

Editor’s note: This article was previously published in Inmobiliare Magazzine.  It is republished here with the author’s permission.

In an industry in which growth has beaten out the consolidation of businesses, there is a project management culture focused on the supervision of the construction, when the focus should be directed towards the entire integration process of the development, from the analysis of its vocation, feasibility and definition of the business, to the design, construction, commercialization, publicity and management of user satisfaction processes.

In the scope of residential developments there are several important factors to manage which can mean the success or failure of a development. We need to consider and integrate the financial, legal, fiscal, market, commercial, technical (design-construction) and customer services analyses.

In order to qualify a development as being a success we think it will be necessary to fulfill and surpass customer expectations as well as achieving the time, cost and quality objectives while developing long term relationships with suppliers and others involved.

For the real estate developer the project will be successful if the established economic results are achieved, with a quality project to the satisfaction of the development’s users.

The purchaser will think that the project is successful if it fulfils the promises made by the vendor when the decision is made to purchase the property.  Promises in regards to delivery time, price, quality, operation and added value of the investment among others.

In our experience of more than 450 projects and with 150 people managing them, we have confirmed that in order to achieve said objectives it is necessary to identify and reconcile customer expectations as well as document them and share them with the work team in charge of developing a plan that anticipates what is coming and serves as a guide to manage the execution and control of the development

Read the complete paper English | Spanish

 

About the Authors:


Yamal Chamoun
Author

Yamal Chamoun is the President of Monterrey, Mexico - based ESCALA, an organization he founded in 1990, now with 150 professionals and three business units: Escala Project Management, Escala Consulting, and Escala Education. Mr. Chamoun has implemented professional project management solutions in over 500 projects managing annually more that 400 Million dollars in the real estate investment sector (residential, tourism, 2nd home, commercial, office buildings, industrial and education). Also, Escala has trained more than 4,500 professionals in Project Management. His 25 years of experience include 7 in the USA as project manager, advisor and executive in the field. At present he is Chairman of the Board for ESCALA.  Yamal Chamoun has a Masters Degree in Construction Engineering and Project Management from the University of Texas at Austin and a Doctor Honoris Causa by the Consejo Iberoamericano en Honor a la Calidad Educativa. A Civil Engineer, he was valedictorian graduate of the Institute of Technology and Higher Studies of Monterrey (ITESM), Mexico.  Mr. Chamoun was founder and president of the Monterrey, Mexico Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) from 1997 to 2001.  He was also a founding member of the PMI Mexico City Chapter. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Yamal has designed and imparted programs, courses, seminars and conferences on project management to companies, government agencies and universities in various countries.  He is the author of the book “Professional Project Management, THE GUIDE” published by McGraw Hill International, and the creator of the ESCALA METHOD for Project Management.  Information about Escala can be found at www.escala.com.mx, where he can also be contacted.

 

 

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