The Procurement and Supply Manager's Desk Reference, + Website, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 11

Project Management

Project management is regarded as the discipline of defining and achieving objectives while optimizing the use of resources such as time, money, people, materials, energy, and space over the course of a project. A project can be defined as a set of activities of finite duration.

Project management is quite often the responsibility of an individual project manager. This individual seldom participates directly in the activities that produce the end result, but rather strives to maintain the progress and the productive mutual interaction of various parties in such a way that overall risk of failure is reduced or eliminated. Many projects characterized as complex span both functions, and processes within and between business enterprises are managed by cross-functional project teams.

The Five Project Management Processes

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a collection of processes and knowledge areas generally accepted as best practice within the project management discipline. The organization that maintains and advances project management education and the body of knowledge is the Project Management Institute (PMI).1

The PMBOK recognizes five basic process groups and nine knowledge areas typical of almost all projects. The basic concepts are applicable to projects, programs, and operations. The five basic process groups are:

1. Project initiation

2. Project planning

3. Project execution

4. Project controlling

5. Project closeout

These ...