Impact on Project Management of Allied Disciplines

Frank T. Aanbari, Young Hoon Kwak

• Publisher: Project Management Institute
• Year: 2018
• Topic: Business
• eBook ISBN:
  9781628251388
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

Though project management can be traced back thousands of years, it is only recently that organizations have begun to apply systematic and scientific tools and techniques to manage complex projects. Recently, researchers and practitioners have adapted different academic disciplines to contribute to the body of knowledge in project management. Such disciplines as network scheduling techniques, decision-making tools, resource allocations and optimization approaches come from the Management Science discipline. Organizational dynamics theories provide insight and recognize the benefits of project driven organizations. Supply chain management and business process outsourcing have also impacted organizational effectiveness and attitude on managing projects. Project management is greatly affected by allied disciplines and in return, it influences them. Therefore, innovative theories, trends and challenges discovered through investigating allied disciplines of project management have important implications and allocations in the future of project management. Impact on Project Management of Allied Disciplines is a collection of academic studies related to trends in allied disciplines of project management and how they might significantly impact project management in the future. Table of Contents: I. Introduction II. Project Management Research Trends of Allied Disciplines III. Analyzing Project Management Research Trends from Eight Allied Disciplines IV. The Future of Project Management and Allied Disciplines V. References VI. Appendices

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1.1 Problem Statement

Project management has been practiced for thousands of years as evidenced by the pyramids, the Great Wall of China, Greek architecture, and Roman roads and viaducts. It has been about half a century since organizations started to apply systematic project management tools and techniques to complex projects. In the 1950s, the U.S. Navy employed modern project management techniques in its Polaris project, and DuPont employed similar tools in its engineering and construction projects. During the 1960s and 1970s, the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, and large engineering and construction companies utilized project management principles, methodologies, and tools to manage large-budget, schedule-driven projects. In the 1980s, manufacturing and software development sectors started to adopt and implement sophisticated project management practices. By the 1990s, project management theories, tools, and techniques were being widely adopted by different industries and organizations.

Researchers and practitioners adapted different academic disciplines to contribute to the body of knowledge in project management. Network scheduling techniques (CPM/PERT, simulation), decision making tools (decision trees, analytical hierarchy process), and resource allocation and optimization approaches (linear programming and systems dynamics) come from the management science discipline. Network analysis and expert witnesses concerning float often became crucial factors in legal actions over project delays and cost overruns. Recent organizational dynamics theories have provided insights, and the benefits to project-driven organizations have been recognized. Supply chain management (logistics) and business process outsourcing also impacted organizational effectiveness and attitudes on managing projects. Organizational behavior and development issues, such as motivation, leadership, and conflict resolution, influenced and are being influenced by project management.

Allied disciplines have influenced project management and in return it influenced them. Therefore, innovative theories, trends and challenges learned from investigating allied disciplines of project management could have important implications and applications on the future of project management.

1.2 Research Questions

To clarify the importance of project management as a theoretical and practical management discipline, we addressed the following questions given by the Project Management Institute (PMI):

• What future trends in the allied disciplines might significantly impact project management?
• How would the allied disciplines’ trends change project management?
• How would project managers have to change their mindset because of the allied disciplines’ trends impact?
• How do we behave proactively to meet challenges of allied disciplines’ trends?

1.3 Study Design and Measures

The research team conducted extensive literature reviews, an extensive survey, interviews, and discussions with leading project management theorists, researchers and practitioners to identify the emerging trends and challenges of project management. This report addresses trends in the allied disciplines and their expected future, organizational changes, cultural implications and challenges, all of which have important potential impact on the future of project management.

1.4 Data Collection and Analysis

Appropriate data collection methods and analysis procedures were applied throughout this research. The results of the research contribute to the progress of the project management community and motivate it to assess, rethink and enhance the project management discipline.

Data collection involved three steps:

• Extensive literature review
  • We identified eight allied disciplines that have potential impact on project management.
  • We selected 18 top management journals and analyzed articles that addressed project management research in the eight allied disciplines.
• Survey design and administration
  • We designed and administered a survey to the project management community to collect data about the availability of knowledge and information regarding the allied disciplines and their impact on project management by decade (1960s, 1970s, etc.). We also collected data on thoughts and opinions of project management impact, trends and future.
• Interviews with project management scholars and practitioners
  • We conducted face-to-face and telephone, in-depth interviews with selected allied disciplines’ researchers and project management experts to identify the trends, challenges, and future of the project management discipline.

Data analysis involved two steps:

• Analysis of literature and survey data included a variety of widely accepted social sciences practices including decision sciences, organizational behavior, human resources management, information technology applications, and technology management.
• Analysis of thoughts collected in the survey of the project management community and in-depth interviews identified trends, obstacles, and the future of project management and the impact of allied disciplines on it.

1.5 Relationships Sought and Study Approach

The research team identified eight allied disciplines:

1. Operations Research/Decision Sciences/Operation Management/Supply Chain Management (OR/DS/OM/SCM)
2. Organizational Behavior/Human Resources Management (OB/HRM)
3. Information Technology/Information Systems (IT/IS)
4. Technology Applications/Innovation/New Product Development/Research and Development (TECH/INNOV/NPD/R&D)
5. Engineering and Construction/Contracts/Legal Aspects/Expert Witness (EC/CONTRACT/LEGAL)
6. Strategy/Integration/Portfolio Management/Value of Project Management and Marketing (STRATEGY/PPM)
7. Performance Management/Earned Value Management/Project Finance and Accounting (PERFORMANCE/EVM)
8. Quality Management/Six Sigma/Process Improvement (QM/6SIGMA/PI)

Based on these disciplines, we were able to analyze past, current and future trends of the allied disciplines.

• Find and plot the current and future availability-impact relationships with allied disciplines related to project management. For each allied discipline, we developed a 2 × 2 matrix: On the horizontal (X) axis, we showed the availability of knowledge and information, and on the vertical (Y) axis, we showed the impact of each allied discipline on project management. The results were plotted for each allied discipline.
• Identify how the allied disciplines’ trends change project management. Project management practitioners were surveyed on project management trends and predictions. Project management researchers were surveyed as well.
• Conduct a structured survey of how the project management community needs to look forward at the allied disciplines’ trends, and how that will improve the understanding of what kind of mindset project managers should have or develop. Based on extensive analysis of the survey results of the project management community and evaluation of experts’ subjective judgment, we identified how the project management community as a whole could respond and meet the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in the future. The research team incorporated all the reviews and recommendations and compiled proactive response strategies toward these macro trends that are happening now and expected to happen in the future.

1.6 Research Challenges

• Learning from other similar emerging disciplines.
  • Understanding how other disciplines have impacted project management principles, applications and techniques; what impact did project management have on other allied disciplines; and where other disciplines stand right now as a result of that. For example, information technology/information systems (IT/IS) also struggled to become academic disciplines because they were widely regarded as a practice and not an academic discipline. The impact that IT/IS has received from other disciplines as well as IT/IS influence on other disciplines and related challenges and obstacles would be an interesting way to learn from a relatively young and promising discipline.
• Identifying specifics of impact on project management.
  • Looking into the future and identifying specifics are difficult tasks to accomplish. Since other disciplines are not necessarily familiar with the definition or principles of “project management,” deriving valuable information from expert panels is a challenge. The key is being open-minded to the potential impact of other allied disciplines on project management and vice versa. The research team did not try to judge other experts’ opinions but rather collected, categorized, and evaluated these opinions to incorporate both the positive and negative impact on project management.
• Seeking statistical relationships between project management and allied disciplines.
  • Identifying the possible impact of allied disciplines on project management was mainly accomplished by qualitative and subjective approaches rather than a quantitative approach. As the first study ever to determine the potential impact of allied disciplines on project management, the research team focused on conceptual, macro, qualitative relationships rather than statistical relationships. At this point, trying to figure out statistically valid information is relatively meaningless. It is more important to find out what factors have influenced project management and what areas or disciplines project management will contribute to in the future. The primary reason why the research team collected data from the project management community was to provide beneficial and valuable information rather than sending out quick surveys to an unidentified, untargeted population and analyzing the survey data.

1.7 Summary

In today's dynamic and competitive business world, cutting-edge research is needed to integrate project management with allied disciplines to maximize their synergistic effects. The goal of this research is to identify the impact on project management of allied disciplines and explore innovative project management theories, new trends and challenges to manage projects effectively. The investigators explored the full range of technical and organizational dynamics of project management, contributing new insights to its theory and practice. This will help in guiding future research and achieving organizational and strategic goals of the project management community.

CHAPTER 2

Project Management Research Trends of Allied Disciplines

2.1 Introduction

This chapter looks at project management from the perspective of its relationship to allied disciplines in the management field. By exploring, identifying, and classifying management journal articles of project management allied disciplines, the evolution and trends of project management research are revealed. This chapter specifically investigates research in the allied disciplines from the management academy's viewpoint, instead of looking at project management research trends from the project management community's perspective. The goal of this research is to better understand project management from the management world and argues that project management is a legitimate academic discipline by reviewing research trends of its allied disciplines. To thoroughly investigate project management research in the allied disciplines, it is necessary to review major journal publications in the management and business fields. Since the management and business fields are very broad, this research identified and defined eight different categories of allied disciplines in project management. Then, we selected 18 top business and management academic journals that published articles related to project management to review and categorize journal articles into these eight different areas. By chronologically analyzing and categorizing more than 500 journal articles from the 18 journals in the business and management fields published from the 1950s to the summer of 2007, this study analyzes publications trends of different domains (operations research (OR) vs. organizational behavior (OB) vs. practitioner-oriented) as well as different journals and predicts the future of project management as an academic discipline in the mainstream management research.

2.2 Origin of Project Management

As mentioned earlier, project management has been practiced for thousands of years. In the 1930s, construction project planning, controlling and coordination of six general contractors were required for the Hoover Dam project. In the 1940s, project management techniques were applied to the Manhattan project. In the 1950s, the U.S. Navy employed modern project management methodologies in its Polaris project, and DuPont employed similar tools in its engineering and construction projects. During the 1960s and 1970s, the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA and large engineering and construction companies utilized project management principles and tools to manage large budget, schedule-driven projects. It has been about a half a century since organizations started applying systematic project management tools and techniques to complex projects. During that time, researchers and practitioners conducted theoretical research and initiated discussions related to project management organizational structures, tools, techniques and principles.

Project management as a discipline has evolved from three very different management fields. One was from management science (MS) and operations research (OR) applications where researchers are interested in quantitative formulation, modeling, analysis, and applications. Introduction of the critical path method (CPM) and program evaluation and review technique (PERT), as extensions of OR applications in the 1950s, are good examples. Project management research related to MS/OR applications during the 1950s and 1960s included linear programming (Charnes &; Cooper, 1957), economic lot scheduling (Rogers, 1958), production and inventory control (Schussel & Price, 1970; Zangill, 1966), CPM computations and applications (Crowston & Thompson, 1967), and decision making applications (Kunreuther, 1969).

Organizational behavioral (OB) science and practice-oriented management were two other management entities that showed great interest in project management. From the late 1950s to the 1960s, Harvard Business Review (practice-oriented) and Academy of Management Journal (OB) published numerous articles related to project management discussing the project manager (Gaddis, 1959), PERT applications (Miller, 1962), research and development (R&D) project applications (Roman, 1964), project organization (Middleton, 1967), project control (Howell, 1968) and project leadership (Hodgetts, 1968). It is important to note that even in the late 1960s organizational scientists struggled to understand the ambiguous roles, responsibilities, and authorities of project management (Goodman, 1967).

2.3 Project Management Research in the Management Field

There has been a long debate within the management education community as to whether “project management” is a practice or an academic discipline. In the engineering side of the world where the tools and techniques of project management have been applied and implemented successfully, the answer to this question is yes, it is an ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Acknowledgements
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Executive Summary
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Project Management Research Trends of Allied Disciplines
• 3. Analyzing Project Management Research Trends from Eight Allied Disciplines
• 4. The Future of Project Management and Allied Disciplines
• 5. References
• 6. Appendices
• Authors’ Biography