PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project Management

Project Management

Introduction

Project management refers to all actions required to meet a definite need within the deadlines. Thus, as the project is a temporary action that has a beginning and end, using identified resources (human and material) during its execution, and that costs should be budgeted resources and a balance sheet separately from the company (Dinsmore, Cabanis-Brewin, 2006, p. 48). "End products" refers to the expected outcomes of the project. In fact, in contrast with personal or internal projects in small scale for which the need and the response to this need can be provided by the same person or a limited group of people, in a project in the professional sense, the term of need and satisfaction of this need is generally the responsibility of different people (Frame, 1999).

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” This is perhaps one of the most popular saying among project management (PM) practitioners and it is hard not to concur with this management philosophy. For that matter, project planning remains a key factor of project success. For example, Project Management Institute (PMI) strongly advocates the contribution of project planning to project success. Despite the claim made by certain authors, that project planning is not a guarantee against project failure, and that too much planning can curtail creativity, many believe and have evidence to support their claim, that a minimum level of planning is required. In fact, although planning does not guarantee project success, lack of planning will probably guarantee failure (Dinsmore, Cabanis-Brewin, 2006, p. 48).

It comes as no surprise that the empirical relationship between project planning and project success is under close scrutiny by some authors. Concerned and at least for research and development (R&D) projects, the relationship between the investment in project planning and the degree of success achieved is clear. If a minimum level of project planning is required, there is no correlation between the implementation of planning procedures in the project and the various success dimensions. They also suggest that any question as to what kinds of tools are used is of no importance. Such research results are intriguing and evidence seems to be against the popular belief that project planning is closely related to project success (Dinsmore, Cabanis-Brewin, 2006, p. 48).

Thus, it is necessary to ensure (for the duration of the project) that the product is being clearly meets the expectations of the "client." In contrast to the traditional commercial model ("Seller" / "purchaser") in which a customer buys a product and manufactured to meet your needs, the project seeks to create an original product that meets a specific need that must be clearly expressed. This expression of needs is even more difficult because usually the project is unprecedented in the company, since it is a novelty. In the opposite way, it is generally difficult to summarize existing solutions focus solely on the needs in functional terms.

Effective project management requires efficient crisis management techniques; because while managing a project there is a strong probability of crisis or ...