Project Management – Between Theory and Practice

Introduction

The science of project management is one of the modern sciences, as many historians of this science agree, modern project management as we know it today did not appear until the end of World War II, where the Manhattan Project is considered the first project in the modern age. The science of project management, like other sciences, has many theories and research schools that try to lay the theoretical foundation for this science.

 These theories - although some of them are still new - serve to explain the scientific and theoretical basis of project management science.

In this article, we will address some of these theories and research schools related to the science of project management, with the aim of helping the project manager to benefit from the theoretical aspect of the project management and apply the concepts of these theories during the management of their projects, by linking the theoretical side and the practical side.

Research Schools of Project Management

In general, we can say that there are nine (9) research schools in project management:

1. Optimisation School
2. Modelling School
3. Governance School
4. Behaviour School
5. Success School
6. Decision School
7. Process School
8. Contingency School
9. Marketing School

First School: Optimisation School

The main idea of this school is that the project is considered as a system that should be optimised. This school uses the Systems Approach to plan and monitor the project in order to develop a model for building the project. This school also works on developing a working system to improve the results of the project.

The PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) Guide uses this school mainly to manage the scope, time and cost of a project. The use of PMBOK for earned value management technology to measure the performance of projects is one of the applications of this school.

Second school: Modelling School

The main idea in this school is to divide the project into small components, then study and understand each element (component) separately, and then link all the components together. This school also deals with issues that did not appear in the first school, such as organisational, political, and behavioural issues.

Third school: Governance School

This school contains two sub-schools: the first one studies the relationship between project management and contract management in order to ensure a successful implementation of the project according to the contract, while the second sub-school believes that the project is a legal entity in itself or an interface between two (or more) legal entities and it focuses on how the contractor implements the project works based on his experience.

Fourth school: Behaviour School

This school believes that the project is a temporary organisational entity and that the project has an organisational structure similar to the organisational structure of institutions. This school focuses on topics such as leadership, motivation, how to build a project team, and communication between project team members.

Fifth school: Success School

This school is based on the study of both the key success factors of the project and the success criteria of the project. The success factors of the project are the circumstances, capabilities and means that help the project manager to achieve success; these factors should be determined prior to the beginning of the project. As for the success criteria, they are the measures that could be used, whether by the project manager or any of the stakeholders, to judge the success of the project and its ability to achieve the goals for which this project was established.

Sixth school: Decision School

This school deals with the environmental factors surrounding the project, such as political, social, technological and economic factors and the impact of these factors on the success of the project.

Seventh school: Process School

This school aims to develop structured and clear processes from the beginning of the project to its end. This school sees a project as an organised process that can be used to solve certain problems and/or to achieve certain goals. Some project analysts believe that the PMBOK guide is one of the applications of this school, as it consists of a set of processes related to each other in order to reach the final result of the project.

Eighth school: Contingency School

This school aims to study the differences between different types of projects, as it believes that each project needs a different way of management and leadership style. The main focus of this school is: How to develop a project classification system, and how the organisation can use previous experience (lessons learned) to manage the new project.

Ninth school: Marketing School

This school studies topics such as stakeholder identification and requirements management. It is also interested in identifying and studying the relationship between the project and stakeholders (such as the customer and the contractor), as this school seeks to build and define a clear relationship between the project and the strategic objectives of the organisation.

At first glance, these schools may seem distant from each other and that each research school is interested in something separate from the others, although this perception may be partially true, but in fact, these schools often overlap with each other. For example, the emergence of the behaviour school was a reaction to the ideal school.

Research Schools - Examples

Optimisation School

The application of the concepts of this school helps the project manager in estimating the time and cost required for the project and how to develop the schedule network diagram of the project. Therefore, this school is suitable for solving problems related to estimating time, cost and how to manage project resources.

Modelling School

The research and theories of this school are one of the most important means that can be followed in the management of mega projects, which may contain many stages, including modern techniques used for the first time. The project manager can benefit from this school to divide the project into small parts (stages) and deal with each part as an independent project.

Governance School

This school can be used to develop policies to ensure the implementation of the project according to the company's standards, and also the extent to which the project conforms to international standards. This school can also be used to solve problems that arise as a result of poor drafting of contracts between the parties to the project.

Behaviour School

This school is one of the most important schools that the project manager may use, as it focuses on how to manage and lead the most important project resources: the human resources (project team). How to deal with the project team, understand the nature of each person, their motives when performing a certain action or behaviour, the best ways to develop and motivate team members and get their best for the benefit of the project and for their benefit as well.

Success School

A project without a goal is a ship without a rudder. The first and most important question that the project manager should ask is: Why are we implementing this project? How can the success of the project be determined and measured? This school helps the project manager from the first moment to determine the success factors of the project and what are the foundations on which the success of the project can be judged.

Decision School

One of the most important factors that help in achieving a successful project is the company's ability to choose the appropriate project that supports the organisation in achieving its strategic objectives. This school guides the company to choose projects that contribute in achieving the strategic goals of the company. 

Companies that suffer from problems in how to direct their investments, capabilities and resources should pay attention to this research school to know how to establish a new project and study environmental conditions surrounding the project such as political and economic conditions and the impact of these conditions on the success of the project.

Process School

This school could be seen as the ideal solution for companies looking for standardisation of the method and approach used in the implementation of various projects. This school helps to understand the nature of operations in terms of their inputs, tools, implementation period, outputs of each process and the administration or departments involved in the implementation of the process.

Contingency School

Because every project is unique in terms of time, cost, circumstances, the nature of the client, members of the project team, it is appropriate and better for the company to develop a system for organising and arranging its projects. For example, research and development projects need a project manager and a team with more creative capabilities than the typical projects that the company has already implemented before. 

Also, projects with a high level of risk may need a different management style other than projects with a low level of risk. This school supports organisations to build a model for classifying projects and benefiting from previous experiences.

Marketing School

Because each project contains a different type of stakeholders and each of them has different goals and requirements, the project manager must understand the nature of each of them and work to ensure that the project achieves the desired goal from each stakeholder's point of view. This school will support the project manager to deal with the problems and issues that may appear as a result of unclear project scope. It also helps in understanding, studying and analysing projects, stakeholders, and developing appropriate ways to resolve disputes that may arise between them as a result of different goals and orientations.