Academic Approaches to Project Management

This chapter discusses academic approaches to project management, specifically from the perspective of graduate programs which focus on construction engineering and management. Several of these programs include topics which provide the basics for project involvement and progression to project management. The chapter discusses some of these including project organization, organization behavior, project planning, progress and performance monitoring, quality management, and materials management. It describes the relationships between project management and university research, and certain conclusions regarding academic approaches to project management. Investigation of many management techniques has provided important assistance to project management. Academic approaches to project management that recognize these differences include analysis of a given situation facing a project and using expanded elements of structure to design organizations most appropriate for meeting the situation. Academic approaches include the study of theories of motivation and leadership and the development of skills.