ABSTRACT
Projects are located at the chaotic end of the spectrum where things are rarely repeated, the unexpected is to be expected and the only certainty is change. It is these properties that determine the concept of project management for it can be defined as the task of directing novel and unique undertakings; one who practises in that role is a project manager. As we start the new millennium, and project management reaches its half-centenary, what do we find? Despite the promise inherent in the concept of project management there can be no doubt that there has only been a partial fulfilment. Project management was born in the context of 'scientific management' with its inherent ideas of objectivity and certainty – where disorder and uncertainty existed in the old system, these unfortunate properties would be displaced in the new discipline.
