Report on the Role of Project Management in the Modern Business Essay

Report on the Role of Project Management in the Modern Business Enterprise - Essay Example 3.1. The author used the books listed in the appropriate section marked Reference List. Each book was reviewed and their relevant contents included in this report. In-text citations refer to direct quotations lifted or paraphrased from these references. 4.1.1. A Project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to achieve a particular aim. Every project is time-bound, constrained by time and resources, temporary and unique, may involve human resources from one department or from the whole organisation, and require planning, execution, and control (PMI, 2004, p. 3-4). 4.1.2. Project Management is the "application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities to meet the requirements of the particular project. Project management knowledge and practices are best described in terms of their component processes: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling and Closing" (PMI, 2004, p. 8). 4.1.2.1. A project management team established to work on the project has the task of balancing and satisfying several (often competing) stakeholder interests as to the project's scope, deadlines, financial requirements, risk, and quality while achieving the project's objectives (PMI, 2004, pp. 9-10). 4.1.3. Efficiency and Effectiveness are respectively defined by Drucker (2003, pp. 66-67) as "doing things right" and "doing the right thing". He adds that balancing both is the mark of a business enterprise that is managed properly. 4.1.3.1. Modern business enterprises are characterised by complexity, the need for reaction speed to changes in the marketplace, and business competition. 4.1.3.2. Project management use in modern business enterprises range from the mundane (organising an employee party) to the extraordinary (moving the head office to another location), and from the simple (investigating the failure of a new product) to the complex (launching a marketing information system). All these involve the use of resources (people, finances, materials, and facilities) that need to be managed through a set of activities to achieve a defined objective within a specific timeframe and each provides a venue for the application of project management tools. 4.1.3.3. Several project management tools available to modern business enterprises enable them to manage projects with efficiency and effectiveness. Most of these tools developed in the 1950s from the scientific management theories of F.W. Taylor established in the late 19th century were