1–1 Because of the individuality of people, there always exist differing views of what management is all about. Below are lists of possible perspectives and a selected group of organizational members. For each individual select the possible ways that this individual might view project management:
Individuals
Upper-level manager
Project manager
Functional manager
Project team member
Scientist and consultant
Perspectives
A threat to established authority
A source for future general managers
A cause of unwanted change in ongoing procedures
A means to an end
A significant market for their services
A place to build an empire
A necessary evil to traditional management
An opportunity for growth and advancement
A better way to motivate people toward an objective
A source of frustration in authority
A way of introducing controlled changes
An area of research
A vehicle for introducing creativity
A means of coordinating functional units
A means of deep satisfaction
A way of life
1–2 Will project management work in all companies? If not, identify those companies in which project management may not be applicable and defend your answers.
1–3 What attributes should a project manager have? Can an individual be trained to become a project manager? If a company were changing over to a project management structure, would it be better to promote and train from within or hire from the outside?
1–4 What types of projects might be more appropriate for functional management rather than project management, and vice versa?
1–5 Do you think that there would be a shift in the relative degree of importance of the following terms in a project management environment as opposed to a traditional management environment?
Time management
Communications
Motivation
