Project Management: A Managerial Approach, 8th Edition

CHAPTER 12

Project Auditing

In the previous chapter, we discussed postcontrol. Postcontrol cannot change the past, but it tries to capture the essence of project successes and failures so that future projects can benefit from past experiences. To benefit from past experiences implies that one understands them, and understanding requires evaluation. But project evaluation is not limited to after-the-fact analysis. While the project as a whole is evaluated when it has been completed (the basis for postcontrols), project evaluation should be conducted at a number of points during the life cycle.

A major vehicle for evaluation (but by no means the only one) is the project audit, a more or less formal inquiry into any aspect of the project. We associate the word audit with a detailed examination of financial matters, but a project audit is highly flexible and may focus on whatever matters senior management desires. Note that there are also other types of audits such as ethics audits which can be helpful when employing project management in an organization. For example, as Schaefer et al. (1998, p. 40) note, “Ethics is not a matter of right or wrong; it is a process by which an organization evaluates decisions,” a process that is most certainly relevant to project management! (We should add that Webster defines “ethics” as a “system or code of morals” and “ethical” as “conforming to the standards of a profession.”) And in addition to project audits, there are also other kinds of project ...