Part I
Setting the scene
Part I sets the scene, introducing key concepts used throughout the rest of the book in Chapters 1–4.
Chapter 1 considers the nature of uncertainty in and around projects. It begins by considering the nature of projects, and the relationship between project management, strategic management and operations management. It then considers the implications of the project lifecycle, using a nominal 12-stage framework which can be adapted to any organization’s preferred structure. This helps to clarify the context in which project uncertainty management operates and a range of project management issues that uncertainty management needs to address. For example, the nature of the process used to manage project uncertainty should be driven by when in the lifecycle it is used. Within this project lifecycle structure, the seven Ws are considered: ‘who’ (parties involved), ‘why’ (motives), ‘what’ (design of the product of the project), ‘whichway’ (plans for relationships and contracts, business case purposes, operations and activities), ‘wherewithal’ (resources for operations and activities), ‘when’ (integration of all timing questions) and ‘where’ (the location of the project and wider context issues). The role of inherent variability, ambiguity and systemic relationships in addition to events is then explored briefly, followed by an introduction to the use of a ‘performance lens’ and a ‘knowledge lens’ to view uncertainty for different purposes, and a final linking ...
