LECTURE 1 Historical Background of Project Management

MANAGEMENT OF
ENGINEERING PROJECTS
MSCEPM601
LECTURE 1
Historical background of project management
Dr Eng. ZJ Chihambakwe
History of Project Management
• Manmade projects are not with evidence from the earliest civilisation
testifying the great achievements of our ancestors we still admire
• Modern projects do not necessarily have more scale than these
ancient projects but its possible that pressures of industrialisation,
greater regard for value, competition, well being and employment
costs amongst others have led to the development of new project
ideas and techniques
PROJECTS FROM PREHISTORIAN TO VICTORIAN TIMES (before 1900)
• Wonderful projects were accomplished
• Most projects completed during this era were accomplished with no regard
for the welfare of workers which resulted in many deaths due to accidents
and diseases and exhaustion
• During these times people were regarded as cheap and expendable
resources
• There was no recognition of project management; focus was on common-
sense, determination and hard work
• There were no management scientists nor project management profession
EXAMPLES PROJECTS FROM PREHISTORIAN TO
VICTORIAN TIMES (before 1900)
• Great Pyramid of Khufu, Egypt, estimated to
have a 20-year duration of the pyramid
construction.
• Francis Barber, a nineteenth-century
pyramid scholar, concluded that: It must have
taken the organizational capacity of a genius to
plan all the work, to lay it out, to provide for
emergencies and accidents, to see that the men in
the quarries, on the boats and sleds, and in the
mason’s and smithies shops were all continuously
and usefully employed, that the means of
transportation was ample . . . that the water
supply was ample . . . and that the sick reliefs
were on hand.
EXAMPLES PROJECTS FROM PREHISTORIAN TO VICTORIAN TIMES
(before 1900)
• The great wall of China, the best-known sections of the wall were
built by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Today, the defensive system
of the Great Wall is generally recognized as one of the most
impressive architectural feats in history
THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
• This was considered a large scale
project built in 1862
• It marked the beginning of the
project management which was a
result of growing complexity and
commerce seen in transportation
due to manufacturing
• It was officiated by president
Lincoln after signing the Pacific
Railroad Act
THE GREAT ZIMBABWE
• Construction on the city began in
the 9th century and continued
until it was abandoned in the
15th century
• Great Zimbabwe has since been
adopted as a national monument
by the Zimbabwean government,
and the modern independent
state was named after it
MID NINETIES (1900-1949)
• Mid 19th century business leaders were faced with the need for organising labour
in manufacturing and assembly
• The industrial revolution began because of the demand for weapons in World
War 1
• This era saw the materialisation of the Modern Project Management where
management scientists, and industrial engineers emerged such as Elton Mayo
and Fredrick Taylor who studied people and productivity in factories (Kanigel,
1997. Fredrick Taylor focussed on work breakdown and piecework metal
(https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_Taylor.htm#:~:text=Taylor'
s%20philosophy%20focused%20on%20the,simplifying%20jobs%2C%20productivi
ty%20would%20increase.)
• Henry Ford made the production line famous with the model T automobile
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford)
• Henry Gantt forefather of project management
who worked for Taylor, developed the famous
Gantt charts to keep track of the project
schedule
(http//www.ganttchart.com/Evolution.html)
• Early examples of the Critical Path Networks
were developed before 1950 although their
value was not yet appreciated. The had
disadvantages of not being flexible because
before computers were developed it was difficult
to adjust the scheduled charts
• The critical path method was an algorithm
developed for plant maintenance projects for
scheduling and sequencing project activities and
optimisation as they allowed project managers
to minimise the time to end a project
• The Program Evaluation and
Review Review Technique (PERT)
was the other mathematical
scheduling method developed
during this era to analyse tasks
and identify the minimum
amount of time required
MODERN PROJECT MANAGEMENT (1950- 1969)
• The mainframe digital computers emerged which resulted in processing
and updating of the critical path method becoming faster and easier
• The American defence industry as well as the manufacturing and
construction industries were the early adopters of these techniques
• However during this period computers were large and extremely expensive
which affected their capital and budgets
• It was during this time that project management began to get recognition
as a profession, companies were showing more concern for workers
although racial and sex discrimination was still experienced
• Growth in Information technology enhanced project management as
more project management software was available and there was a
wider recognition of the role of project management
• During this period the IT project managers who led IT project teams
evolved, they performed duties of senior systems analyst
• During this decade project managers became less depended on the IT
specialists
• They now had their own desktop computers that could run most
project management software, project managers became more
computer literate
• Processing times were cut drastically which improve the speed of
scheduling
• Schedules could now be easily updated to cope with progress
information and emerging changes to the project
MODERN PROJECT MANAGEMENT (1990 to date)
• Software suppliers had to make their products
compatible with Microsoft Windows
• Microsoft also introduced Microsoft project into their
Office suit of programs
• Project risk is now being taken seriously with more
attention being given to predicting risk events to come
up with contingency plans way ahead of time and
hence improve planning
• Of note is the power of communication made possible
by the satellite and Internet making it possible to
transmit drawings, reports and other documents
instantaneously almost anywhere
MODERN PROJECT MANAGEMENT (1990
to date)
• Many books which comprehensively
explain project management are
available and training is also easily
available
• Training institutions such as
universities, management schools and
other professional organisations are
offering recognised qualifications to
professionals who can then
demonstrate proficiency
Modern project management history

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