By Russell D. Archibald
World Headquarters ITT Corporation New York, N.Y.

Editor’s note:  This paper was presented as a Keynote Address at the INTERNET 72 Third International Congress on Project Planning by Network Techniques in Stockholm, Sweden, May 15-19, 1972.  It was published in the conference proceedings by the International Project Management Association (INTERNET, now known as IPMA) and is republished here with the author’s permission. Please also see the Foreword of the INTENET’72 Proceedings by Roland Gutsch and list of participating organizations and PM leaders, also republished in this edition of PM World Today.

SUMMARY

Traditional MIS have evolved to serve structured, functional, permanent organizations. Project information systems more recently have emerged to serve temporary, relatively short-lived, multi-functional projects. Project MIS, compared to the various organizational MIS, must handle more diverse information and be more predictive and integrative in nature over a longer time span. The result is that project MIS are generally more difficult to implement, and their implementation often reveals existing incompatibilities with and between the various organizational MIS which provide information to project systems.

Specific product and project planning and control functions and tools are identified in this paper, and the types and sources of incompatibilities are discussed. Suggested methods of minimizing the problems are briefly presented.

The underlying thesis of this discussion is that a better understanding of the differences and interfaces between project and organizational MIS will help to resolve current problems and avoid future difficulties in the implementation of information systems to serve operating project managers.

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Russell Archibald Global Advisor Russell Archibald, PhD (Hon), PMP, PMI Fellow, is a globally recognized author, consultant and lecturer on project management.  With a career spanning more than 50 years, Russ has broad international experience in engineering, operations, program and project management. He has experienced three project management related careers: Management Consultant, Corporate Executive, and Military/Aerospace. In recent years, Russ has consulted to a wide variety of large and small organizations in many industries worldwide. Russ Archibald is a Fellow and Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) (member No. 6, one of the five original trustees), an Honorary Fellow of the Association of Project Management (APM) in the UK, and is listed in Who's Who in the World.  Russ is the author of the best selling book, Managing High Technology Programs and Projects (3rd edition 2003) and the co-author of Network Based Management Information Systems (PERT/CPM) (1967).  Russ has presented many articles and papers over the years at PMI and International Project Management Association (IPMA) conferences in North America, South America, and Europe, and is widely published in periodicals on professional project management. He holds Bachelor of Science (University of Missouri) and Master of Science (University of Texas, Austin) degrees in Mechanical Engineering.  As a pioneer in the field, Russ received an honorary Ph.D. in strategy, program, and project management from the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Lille (ESC-Lille) in Lille, France in August 2005.  Currently residing in Mexico, Russ Archibald’s personal website can be found at www.russarchibald.com, and he can be contacted at Russell_archibald@yahoo.com.

By Roland W. Gutsch

Editor’s note: This Foreword to the Proceedings of the INTERNET 72 Third International Congress on Project Planning by Network Techniques by Roland Gutsch was provided by Russell Archibald as a reference for his 1972 INTERNET’72 paper entitled “Management Information Systems for Projects and Organizations, A Comparative Overview,” also republished in this edition of PM World Today.  One of the most influential early leaders of the PM profession in Europe, Roland Gutsch was a founder of the German Project Management Association and of INTERNET (IPMA) IN 1967.  Please also see the list of INTERNET’72 Sponsors, Participating Organizations and Team Members at the end of this Introduction.

FOREWORD

Ever since the first network systems have been developed, this instrument has constantly been improved and perfected. It was tried to satisfy the demand of the users to the greatest extent possible, in order to provide them with an efficient instrument for planning and control. At the same time, further problem areas were envisaged and different solution methods employed. I refer to the problems such as capacity leveling, time-cost-optimization, time-cost-capacity opti­mization, the efforts for a further development of the originally stochastic PERT concept etc. A large number of mathematical models and algorithms were designed and actively discussed in specialist circles. The interest of almost all specialists was in particular directed to the further development, improvement and perfection of the method itself.

It is thus no wonder that the first two INTERNET congresses, 1967 held in Vienna and 1969 held in Amsterdam, were principally based on the presentation and discussion of theoretical models. There is no doubt that the ideas outlined on this occasion and the knowledge gained from mutual discussion resulted in an expansion of planning possibilities and promoted the employment of the network technique in the planning and control of complex projects.

As early as on these occasions it was, however, realized that the problems involved in the network technique cannot be solved by the improvement of methods alone, that the perfection of the instrument alone does not guarantee a successful employment in practice.

Experience has shown that although efficient network systems were available, difficulties and setbacks occurred during the planning and implementation of projects. It had to be realized that the network technique can only represent a tool to be employed within the performance of the complex project management tasks and that its efficiency depends essentially on its correct application. As a consequence, many network specialists felt quite rightly that too much theory was presented at the first INTERNET congresses and that the problems arising in practice did not receive adequate attention. It was felt necessary to discuss in an international framework also the different aspects of practical application.

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