Projects, it would seem, have been a part of human society almost as long as there has been human society. As suggested by Mark Kazak-Holland, Project Management is not a 20th-century discipline, and contrary to popular belief, history is filled with many projects that had project sponsorship, a project management team, practiced project processes, and an intuitive understanding of the nine knowledge areas of the Association of Project Managers (APM) body of knowledge 1. However, you are unlikely to find project managers noted in historical documents, as stated by Chiu, Y.C the term ‘project management’ is not prevalent in ancient texts; the field of project management has been more elusive than these other professions. It has been subject to less historical investigation than one would imagine. As a result, there is a perceived gap between previous and contemporary understandings of project management 2.
Taylor suggested that the term, ‘project management’ was first heard in 1954, when US Air Force general Bernard Schriever, when he talked of new ‘management’ approaches to cope with complex ‘projects,’ 3. While an article on the project manager published in the Harvard Business Review by Paul Gaddis (1959) is considered the oldest explicit reference to project management. In it the project manager is described as someone who integrates the contributions of different departments that improve development efficiency 4.
Munns, A.K & Bjeirmi, B.F, (1996) state that over the last 30 years, project management has been recognised as an efficient tool to handle novel or complex activities. Furthermore, unlike the management techniques required to maintain day-to-day operations, in situations where companies have a finite, unique, and unfamiliar undertaking, the techniques of project management can be successfully implemented 5.
The use of project management has become associated with such novel, complex problems, which are inevitably called a project. As a result, the concepts of projects and project management have become confused.
Munns, A.K & Bjeirmi, B.F (1996) 5 suggest, ‘A project’ can be considered to be the achievement of a specific objective, which involves a series of activities and tasks that consume resources. It has to be completed within a set specification, having definite start and end dates.
In contrast, ‘project management’ can be defined as the process of controlling the achievement of the project objectives. Utilising the existing organisational structures and resources, it seeks to manage the project by applying a collection of tools and techniques without adversely disturbing the routine operation of the company 5.
These definitions may seem to overlap; however, the project is concerned with defining and selecting a task that will be of overall benefit to the company. In contrast, project management is oriented towards planning and control. It is concerned with on-time delivery, within-budget expenditures and appropriate performance standards 5.
The origins of project management saw organic growth of project capability from the early of humankind with Paleolithic projects to trap for Bison and Mammoths, 6,7 to the construction of iconic structures we still know today: the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, and the Coliseum of Rome. When observing human history, you cannot fail to observe projects; the construction building to the glory of Gods; the infrastructure of civilization such as roads and bridges; and the wars, expeditions and conquests of early empires; all examples in history of challenging projects that were successfully completed, despite all the complexities and uncertainties that could’ve rendered the project a failure 1,8,7,6,4. Although we can, with hindsight, interpret events through the perceptual lenses of the history of project management, the origins of project management correspond to periods where projects were conducted; however, while we recognise projects were conducted by Pharaohs, Emperors and ancient human tribes, there was no structured management technique in general use 4.
Garel, 4 suggest that project management has been the object of analysis for a very long time in the history of techniques and engineering in the sociology of innovation or the history of firms. In the early history of project management, artisanal creation failed to distinguish between the times dedicated to development and completion, allowing improvisation or a system of trial and error. This continued until the end of the Middle Ages, until ‘improvisation’ became increasingly ineffective in the act of creation due to the growing number of specialized professionals required to cooperate in projects, specifically in construction. As a result, improvisation gave way to rationalized preparation of the design stage, and little by little, the practice of projects was institutionalized through a division of labor between different professions.
Y. C. Chiu, proclaims that both Henri Foyal and Henry Gantt are the forefathers of project management, making significant contributions to the management field 1.
Henri Fayol (1841-1925) was a French engineer who identified five functions of management, which he believed are universal. Fayol believed that every manager performed these functions, within varying degrees, in their daily work. Published in his book, Administration Industrielle et Générale, Fayol outlined his six functions of management, which will be familiar to contemporary project managers: forecasting, planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling 1,7.
Henry Gantt (1861 – 1919) was an American engineer and later on a management consultant. He is best known for developing the Gantt chart. Gantt charts are significant in the history of modern project management because they recognize the benefits of breaking large projects into smaller, manageable tasks. They also account for the fact that some tasks may depend on each other 1.
Taylor, (2003) however, suggests that in fact project management began in the 1800’s, specifically in 1886, when Karol Adamiecki invented the ‘harmonogram’, a floating bar chart tool used to display independent processes to enhance the visibility of production schedules. Notably, this was some 16 years before the Gantt chart was developed in 1912. However, the outbreak of the First World War and the application of Gantts, now famous chart ensured Henry Gantt place in project management history 3.
There is, however, still much debate regarding the origins of modern project management; Morris (1987) argues that the origin of project management comes from the chemical industry just prior to World War II, while Kerzner (1998) observes that project management is an outgrowth of systems management. However, it was not until the latter half of the twentieth century that organizations started applying systematic project management tools and techniques to complex problems 1.
Navarre (1989) suggests there is no particular event, nor legendary business figure or actor, that emerges as a catalyst behind this modernization of project management; it is more an emergent field of knowledge based on four sources of inspiration 4:
| Engineering | Interested in methods of conducting successful civil or military projects |
| Large projects | Which led public authorities to consider the issues of assessing and preparing decisions |
| Socio-economic development schemes | Which led to an accumulation of technical, economic and sociological know-how |
| Managing innovation | Which gradually became a major competitive challenge for firms. |
Table 1: Inspiration for project management
Starting in the 1930s, project management became rationalized, but without creating a management model. The Space Race and the Cold War led to a multiplication of large military and aeronautical programs in the 1950s. The Cold War gradually led to standardization in project management methods, particularly due to the need to meet tight deadlines, coordinate huge numbers of suppliers and control costs 4 It is not until later, at the end of the 1950s, that the management of engineering projects would lead to standardized tools, practices, and roles and the emergence of a true model. However, this was not true of all projects, and many firms not have a specific dedicated system for managing projects It was in the 1960s that project management, shaped by powerful professional associations (PMI) and management tools, developed and shifted away from the singularity of individual experiences and occasional successes to enter an era of standardized rationalization 4.
The Project Management Institute (PMI) was founded in the United States in 1969, established as an organization where members could share their experiences in project management; the premise of PMI is that the tools and techniques of project management are common across all sectors. The PMI championed key developments such as the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS); Critical Path Method (CPM); Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) as well as research on new concepts such as matrix organizations 3,4.
It was in the period following the formation of the PMI that standardisation of project management tools and techniques accelerated, with the American Federal Government requiring the use of PMI standards and the training of project managers for public projects that moved into the private sector as consultants, further spreading the project management models of the PMI. By the beginning of the 1980’s the PMI moved to further standardized professional practices in project management with the introduction of three initiatives 4:
| PMBOK® | Project Management Body of Knowledge |
| Certification project | The certified project manager complies with a code of ethics, masters a standardized body of knowledge |
| Ethics charter | an oath with the aim of creating the profession of project manager, based on the model of chartered professions |
Table 2: Three PMI initiatives
During the 1970’s and 1980’s the rise of computers and software led to an expansion of capability in project management tools and techniques, enabling the emergence of concepts such as ‘waterfall’ and the ‘agile’ project management method. Towards the end of the 20th century, the wide availability of internet technology led to ‘cloud-based’ technology and tools; the increase in virtual project teams, geographically dispersed; and the rise of social tool communication 3.
In an effort to better capture the history of modern project management, Kwak 8 identified four periods to better capture the history of project management:
| Periods | Theme |
| Prior to 1958 | Craft system to Human Relations Administration |
| 1958 – 1979 | Application of Management Science |
| 1980 – 1994 | Production Centre: Human Resources |
| 1995 to present | Creating a new environment |
Table 3: Four Periods of Project management history
Prior to 1958, project management transformed from a Craft system to human relations administration 1. During this time, technological advancement shortened the project schedule 8 while better transportation and telecommunication systems allowed for higher mobility and speedy communication; it was also during this period that the concept of specialist knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to successfully perform a job formed the idea of job specifications and led to work breakdown structures (WBS) 1,8 .
In this period, there were some notable projects: T.D. Juhah’s Project Plan for Building Pacific Railroad (1867), demonstrating early work breakdown structures (WBS); Hoover Dam (1931 – 1936), coordinating six major companies, requiring both physical and human resources; it was crucial for the companies to have detailed project planning, controlling, and coordinating plans; The Manhattan Project (1942 – 1945), the pioneer research and development (R&D) project that designed and built the atomic bomb 1,8.
In the second period, 1958-1979, Kwak focuses on the application of management science. During that period, core project management tools such as PERT, CPM and Material Requirement Planning (MRP) emerged 1. It was common in this period for organisations use the ‘project office’ as “brokers of information,” having a small number of skilled schedulers and estimators 8. The institutionalization process of project management began with the creation of the world’s first project management association, now known as the International Project Management Association (IPMA).
In this period, notable projects included the Polaris project (1956 – 1961) it was during the Polaris project that the navy developed PERT, a core project management tool even today 1.
The third period, 1980-1994, production centers and human resources as the main theme. Leiner, et al outline that during the 1980’s and early 1990’s, the revolution in the IT/IS sector saw a shift from mainframe computing to personal computers with the ability to managing and controlling complex project schedules 8. The 1980s saw the development of project management programs, mostly based on the Projects Resource Organization Management Planning Technique II (PROMPT II), This model of project management was later refined into the ‘PRojects In Controlled Environments’ (PRINCE) model 1. Furthermore, Eliyahu M. Goldratt introduced Theory of Constraints (TOC), using the premise that the rate of goal achievement by a goal-oriented system is limited by at least one constraint 1; the agile software development model ‘Scrum’ was developed, a flexible, holistic product development strategy where a development team works as a unit to reach a common goal “as opposed to a “traditional, sequential approach” 1.
This period’s notable projects included the English-France Channel project (1989- 1991), a large multi-stakeholder project and numerous aspects to coordinate between the two countries, from units of measurement to the backing of a number of financial institutions; and the Space Shuttle Challenger project (1983-1986) and subsequent disaster focused the attention of the project management community to risk management, group dynamics, and quality management 1.
In Kwak’s fourth period, 1995 to the present, the focus is on creating a new environment. In this era technology continues to be a driving force for change and greatly impacts what project managers 1. The Internet started to change virtually every business practice in the mid-1990s 8 the project management community adopted internet technology to become more efficient in controlling and managing various aspects of projects. In 1996 PRINCE was upgraded to PRINCE2; in 1998 both the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recognized PMBOK® as a standard 1.
One of the most notable projects in this era was ‘The Year 2000 (Y2K) Problem,’ known as the ‘millennium bug’ referred to the problem that computers may not function correctly on January 1st, 2000 at 12 AM. The project was globally and independently conducted so that virtually every organization using computers. The Y2K project became the most documented project in project management history because similar projects were conducted by millions of organization in the world 8.
The history of project management is both one of practices that are not or rarely institutionalized, followed by one of increasingly institutionalized ones. Up until the start of the 20th century, the history of project management was indistinct from the history of techniques or professions. Project management only became a management model in the 1950s and 1960s as became independent and standardized, recognising the differences between business sectors were less important than common practices and tools 4.
As with the history, there is no consensus on the future of project management. Although some suggest project management will increasingly become a ‘work skill’ among other job responsibilities, many believe in the need for the unique skill set of the project manager. Supported by the Project Management Talent Gap Report suggesting between 2010-1020, 15.7 million new project management roles will be created globally, creating high demand for project managers 1.
Understanding the past gives us a chance to better understand the future. Studying the history of project management, one will understand that project management has evolved throughout history 1. As the dynamics and environment of organizations continue to evolve, the challenges of future project managers will likewise. With large complex projects, it’s becoming a necessity for the project manager to coordinate multidisciplinary knowledge, and to effectively accomplish the undertaking, project managers will have to adapt to new technologies and learn which specialized intricate tools will work best for each project.
- Seymour, T & Hussein, S (2014) The History Of Project Management, International Journal of Management & Information Systems
- Chiu, Y.C, (2010) An introduction to the history of Project Management; from the earliest times to A.D. 1900, Eburon Delft
- Taylor, P (2015) Real project Management, The Skills and Capabilities you will need for successful project delivery, Kogan Page
- Garel, G (2012) A history of project management models: From pre-models to the standard models, Elservier
- Munns, A.K & Bjeirmi, B.F (1996) The role of project management in achieving project success, Pergamon
- Martin, J (2005) Organizational Behaviour and Management – 3rd Edition, Thompson
- Taylor, P (2015) Real project Management, The Skills and Capabilities you will need for successful project delivery, Kogan Page
- Kwak, Y.H (2003) A Brief History of Project Management, Quorum Books