CHAPTER 1 The Core Concepts PROJECTS ARE AN ESSENTIAL PART of human history. Some projects arise in myth, some in wartime, some from faith, and others from science and commerce. Some projects are monumental, and others are more modest. Ancient Egypt created the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Library, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. China''s Great Wall, which still stands today, took over 1,000 years to build. Peru''s Incan culture left us the lingering splendor of Machu Picchu. In our own time, we have placed men on the moon and returned them safely. We have developed drugs that target specific diseases.

We have responded to environmental incidents, managed failures at nuclear sites, and responded to natural disasters. We have linked individuals and organizations through the miracle of the Internet. We have fulfilled the promise of integrated business systems that embrace enterprise resource planning, inventory management, production and control, human resources, and financial systems. This history of accomplishment will not end. Some projects are ambitious and far-reaching in their social, economic, and political impacts. Others are less grand and more self-contained. Some require advances in basic science, and others deploy proven technology or best practices. Some projects challenge deeply held beliefs, and others uphold traditional values.

And some projects fail. The goal is always to achieve some beneficial change. Every project is an endeavor. Every project is an investment. Every project will end. Some will end when the goal is achieved, and others when the time or cost is disproportionate to the value. Some projects will be cancelled. In all cases, the project manager serves as the focal point of responsibility for the project''s time, cost, and scope.

Project Management Vocabulary Success requires that the project manager serve as the focal point of effective, timely, and accurate communication. To do this well, the project manager must master a new vocabulary and must use it consistently to communicate successfully. The definitions introduced in this chapter are the project manager''s methods of art--words and terms used in the context of planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. A project is ''''a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.''''* Projects are temporary because they have a definite beginning and a definite end. They are unique because the product, service, or result is different in some distinguishing way from similar products, services, or results. The construction of a headquarters building for ABC Industries is an example of a project. The unique work is defined by the building plans and has a specific beginning and end.

Project management is ''''the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements'''' (Ibid., p. 6). In mature organizations, multiple projects may be grouped and managed together in a program to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually (see Ibid., p. 9). Multiple programs may be grouped and prioritized into portfolios aligned around larger strategic organizational objectives. Portfolio management is the ''''centralized management of one or more portfolios, which includes identifying, prioritizing, authorizing, managing, and controlling projects, programs, and other related work, to achieve specific strategic business objectives'''' (Ibid.

, p. 9). Why Project Management? Project management stems from the need to plan and coordinate large, complex, multifunctional efforts. History provides us with many project examples. Noah''s project was straightforward-- build an ark. The material requirements indicated that the ark should be built with gopher wood and to prescribed dimensions. Ulysses built the Trojan horse. Medieval cathedrals were designed and built over the course of centuries.

However, not one of these projects deployed a consistent, coherent methodology of management techniques aimed at schedule development, cost control, resource acquisition and deployment, and risk management. Project management, as we have come to know it, was the solution to a practical problem. Governmental communications in the latter part of the twentieth century, unfortunately, often involved technical staff speaking only with their techni- cal counterparts in defense-contractor organizations. Each discipline conferred with its own colleagues. Changes in one aspect of a system--say, payload weight--were not always communicated to other interested and affected parties, such as avionics or engine design. Too often, the results were cost and schedule overruns, as well as systems that failed to meet expectations. The concept of the project manager emerged as a focal point of integration for time, cost, and product quality (see Figure 1-1). This need for a central point of integration was also apparent in many other types of projects.

Architectural, engineering, and construction projects were a logical place to use project management techniques. Information systems design and development efforts also were likely candidates to benefit from project management. For projects addressing basic or pure research, principal investigators were no longer only the best scientists, but were also expected to manage the undertaking to one degree or another. If project management is indeed a solution, then we have to recognize how it reacts and adapts to workplace and marketplace needs such as the following: - Higher-quality products - More customized products - Shorter time-to-market - Global competition - Easier information access - Technology growth - Global organizations seeking uniform practices Classic Functions of Project Management Management is routinely understood to be accomplishing work through the expenditure of resources. More rigorously, management is the science of employing resources efficiently in the accomplishment of a goal. The classic functions of management are planning, directing, organizing, staffing, controlling, and coordinating. Planning Planning is a process. It begins with an understanding of the current situation (the ''''as-is''.