Nature of Project Management
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
In order to discuss the nature and purpose of project management, one
must first define what a project is and be able to recognize its characteristics.
A project can be defined as a complex, nonroutine, one-time effort limited
by time, budget, resources, and performance specifications designed to meet
customer needs. (Project Management, 2001:p 2) A project may be divided
into sub-units and even smaller sub-units in order to achieve the results
needed to procure the goals of the specific project. A project is characterized
by five major features: an established objective, defined life span (or life
cycle), interdependency, uniqueness and conflict. The first characteristic is
the stepping-stone from which the rest of the project is based on. What is the
objective of the project? This simple question becomes the basis from which
the next four characteristics stem. Second is the project life cycle. The life
cycle describes the growth stages of the project from its derivation to its
conclusion. Third is the interdependency of one project with another project...