© University of Cape Town

Department of Construction Economics and Management

1.5 MODULE NOTES: THE NEED FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT & THE ROLE OF THE
PROJECT MANAGER

THE NEED FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT

GENERAL MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

Most companies tend to follow the principles of the traditional school of management, which requires formal
structures (known as functional management) that have well-defined roles and functions. The traditional or
classical school of management believed that the core management process remains the same across all
organisations, and that the management process can be reduced to a set of separate functions and principles.
These functions are planning, leading, organising and controlling. The departments within the organisation
have clear lines of authority and communication and are ideal for industries such as manufacturing that
concentrate on repetitive and repeatable activities. Formal departments such as sales, administration, human
resources and production ensure that products meet customer satisfaction. As the activities are repeated the
company can introduce systems to increase productivity and profitability.

Certain organisations have moved to a project-orientated culture and the success in these companies is
dependent on winning new projects and completing them successfully. Success was normally defined in terms
of meeting the project schedule (time), project budget (cost) and quality criteria (project specifications). The
management approach in project-orientated organisations requires a different approach, as the organisation
needs to assemble a project team form a number of other departments to meet the project objectives.

EMERGENCE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Functional management organisations adopted the project team approach when undertaking projects and
would normally appoint one of the functional managers to take on the additional function of project manager
for the duration of the project.

Starting in the 1960’s organisations found that the traditional approach to managing the production process of
projects was not achieving the required results. Cleland and Ireland (2002) identified the following factors that
contributed to the need for a different management approach.

• Complexity of the operation: relates to the magnitude of the scope of the work to be completed. An
example is that the electrical engineering role on a built environment project that was undertaken by
one individual has evolved into a number of specialized fields.
• Multi-disciplinary involvement and the increased number of stakeholders: relates to the level of
interaction between internal and external stakeholders. As discussed above, the number of
stakeholders on projects have increased as a result of specialisation. In addition, client organisations
require more involvement on the project, which increases the number of stakeholders. In recent
times, the need to accommodate external stakeholders has also increased.
• Market changes and rapid technological changes: relates to a change in operational process,
technology or market sector. For example, in the electronics sector, the product life of most products
do not exceed five years and therefore there is a constant need to upgrade the product. New
technology also improves the production process, which leads to an increase in profitability, and in a
number of cases, these changes need to be implemented without disrupting the production process.

Project Management for Engineers

Module 1: Introduction to Project Management
 © University of Cape Town
Department of Construction Economics and Management

• Unfamiliarity: relates to undertaking a project that is different from the normal, routine actions of
the organisation. For example, using new technology for the first time takes much longer than if you
have worked with it for a period.
• Organizational reputation: relates to the negative impact project failure could have on the
organisation’s reputation. For example, any defect or malfunction when implementing a new banking
system could have a massive impact on the client base and the companies’ reputation.
• Client requirements are more complex: – clients are expecting new technology to be implemented in
the project and the PM to use current or new management processes.

THE ROLE OF THE PROJECT MANAGER

WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT

One of the earliest references to PM appeared in the Harvard Business Review (May/June 1959). The article
titled “The Project Manager” described the role of the PM, the prerequisites for performing the PM function
and the type of training required to prepare an individual to manage projects.

Project management is the planning, organising, directing and controlling of company resources for a relatively
short term objective that has been established to complete specific goals and objectives.

FUNCTION OF THE PROJECT MANAGER

The PMI (2015) describes the role of a project manager as being distinct from that of a functional manager or
operations manager. In an organisation the functional manager provides management oversight for a specific
functional department or division. The operations manager is responsible for ensuring that the
organisation/entity achieves the strategic objectives identified in the strategic plan. The project manager is the
person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project
objectives.

Kerzner (2009) identifies the following project management functions as defined by the PMI under the five
project management process groups.

Project initiation

• Selection of the best project given resource limits

• Recognizing the benefits of the project
• Preparation of the documents to sanction the project

Project planning

• Definition of the work requirements

• Definition of the quality and quantity of work
• Definition of the resources needed and scheduling the activities
• Evaluation of the various risks

Project execution

• Negotiating for the project team members

• Directing and managing the work
• Working with the team members to help them improve

Project Management for Engineers

Module 1: Introduction to Project Management
 © University of Cape Town
Department of Construction Economics and Management

Monitoring and control

• Project tracking, comparing actual outcome to predicted outcome and analysing variances and
impacts and where necessary, making adjustments and updating the project

Project closure

• Verifying that all of the work has been accomplished

• Contractual closure of the contract
• Financial closure of the charge numbers and administrative closure of the paperwork.

In South Africa all persons who want to practice as a Project Manager within the built environment need to
register with the South African Council for Project and Construction Management Professionals (SACPCMP).
They have a recommended document which identifies the activities to be undertaken by a Project Manager.

FUTURE PROJECT MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES

Project Management (SA) recently stated that in the early stages of a project management career, some
professionals have a lack of understanding of the link between business strategy and projects, and with this,
the acumen to know what business information emanating from the project is useful to extract, interpret and
provide to the executives to assist them in decision-making. They pointed out that there is also hesitation
among project managers to adopt new practices, and to tweak their competency to deliver on the projects’
demands. Agile project management, which focuses on continuous improvement, scope flexibility, team input,
and delivering essential quality products is one example of a new approach to project management. The latest
version of the PMBok has also included a section on this approach to the management of projects.

PMSA also adds that soft skills, such as communications, are important in project management, as project
managers need to promote innovation and creativity within their teams. They add that while project
management skills may be transportable across sectors, seniority in the profession is determined by the
complexity of the projects that comprise a practitioner’s experience. In the past, project management was
regarded as an ‘accidental profession’, which means that there was no direct route to study project
management as a discipline and project practitioners generally started out from a technical role, as engineer,
or information technology professional.

The Pulse of the Profession published in 2017 by the PMI cite disruptive technologies, such as cloud solutions,
the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, 5G mobile Internet, voice-driven software, three-dimensional
printing, advanced robotics, building information modelling, blockchain, large-scale energy storage, gene
sequencing and genomics as the drivers of competitive advantage in project management.

REFERENCES

Cleland and Ireland (2002) Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation, McGraw-Hill,

Kerzner. H. (2009) project Management A systems approach to planning, scheduling and control, Jogn Wiley
and sons.

Project Management Institute (2015) Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide),
Project Management Institute.

Project Management Institute (2016) The Pulse of the Profession.

Project Management for Engineers

Module 1: Introduction to Project Management