The Handbook of Project Management, 6th Edition

Chapter 44 A reflection

Rodney Turner

DOI: 10.4324/9781003274179-50

Introduction

In this chapter, I consider three alternative perspectives of project management that have developed throughout its history

• Systems versus process
• Delivering value versus the triple constraint
• Flexibility versus control

This reflection was stimulated by the Association of Project Management’s much-delayed 50th anniversary, which was eventually held at the University of Leeds in April 2003.

Systems versus process

The first pair of perspectives is the systems approach versus the process approach. As the theory of project management initially developed in the United States, they took a systems approach, reflected in the book by David Cleland and Bill King (1983), ...