With Examples, Discuss Why Project Management Has Become a Key Aspect of Modern Management

With examples, discuss why project management has become a key aspect of modern management.

This assignment examines the need for project management as a key skill for managers working in the current dynamic and turbulent economic environment.

As a result of globalisation, increased market competitiveness, technological advancements, the political and economic changes, for example, there is an ever increasing pressure on organisations to manage there survival and competitiveness through its processes in order to deliver new initiatives and developments quickly and cost effectively.

Paton et al (2011), notes that managing organisations in the 21st century requires a range of additional and different skills than those required in previous times marked by more stable and predictable economic activity. The need for structure and control in developing and delivering new initiatives comes about as a result of the company-wide process dependences between the different functions of the organisation, Paton et al (2011)i.

The awareness and need for project management relates to the shift in organisation design from functional bureaucratic structures to flatter decentralised organisations in response to the changes in the economic market requiring flexibility and rapid response to bring products and services to market. Comininos and Frigenti (2002/3) point out the need for organisations to focus on being highly innovative in their products and services involving greater technical complexity and diversity of skills. An organisation must be able to produce more with less – more high quality products or services with ‘leaner organisations and tighter budgets’, Comininos and Frigenti (2002/3)ii.

Project Management

A project is described as ‘a temporary organisation focussed on a goal’, Comininos and Frigenti (2002/3)ii. The introduction of project management replaces the ad-hoc and independent change initiatives that were previously introduced...