ABSTRACT

Project management is an increasingly important topic of discussion because all organizations have encountered problems in implementing a new business process, product, service, or other initiative. This chapter examines how organizations pursue changes; invariably it involves organizing a team of people with chosen skills to do the job. Management of the activities to complete the class of task is what project management is about. The basic principles related to the science of project management have evolved over many decades. This body of knowledge mostly evolved since the early 1900s and accelerated after the 1950s. Some very early projects were quite impressive in their scale, but these did not follow what we would call the modern project management style or organizational culture. Frederick Taylor is called the father of Scientific Management and his influence can be traced through much of the early evolution of project management thought.