Gündüz Ulusoy - An Introduction to Project Modeling and Planning

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Although a large number of projects have been conceived, planned, and completed since the times of ancient civilizations, it was only in the 1950s that project management emerged as a discipline with the introduction of the Critical Path Method (CPM) and the Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). Drawing upon theoretical developments contributed by numerous researchers and practice over a wide spectrum of application areas distributed globally, the knowledge base of project management has been growing ever since at an increasing rate. The advances in Operation Research methods and the capabilities of the optimization solvers have contributed considerably to the theoretical development of project management. Interest and activity in areas like resource constrained project scheduling, uncertainty, and robustness have been growing rapidly as attested by the large number of journal papers published globally each year. The practice of project management in organizations has also been growing steadily, supported by the emergence of matrix type and project-based organizations. The organizations dealing with new technologies and business models emerging in the last decades organize many of their activities such as new product development, innovation management, and app development as projects.

Project management offers a promising field for theoretical and practical applications and developing related software and Decision Support Systems. It attracts not only academicians and software providers, but also professionals who take part in project management activities. Considering this diverse audience, this book aims at explaining the basic concepts and methods of project management, especially project planning and scheduling with an emphasis on mathematical modeling.

The motivation for this textbook is based on two observations: First, courses dealing with project management in some context are proliferating in engineering schools and becoming attractive for engineering students as it has been the case for some time now for business students. Second, particularly the developments in quantitative methods achieved in the last decades, especially the very significant increase in the power of optimization and simulation software, need to find their way into undergraduate and masters classrooms to become in due time part of routine professional practice.

This textbook is intended to provide theoretical and practical aspects of project planning, modeling, and scheduling to undergraduates and first year graduate students in engineering programs, as well as to practitioners seeking to solidify their knowledge of project management. Most of the material covered in this textbook emerged from the class notes shared with the students at both undergraduate and graduate levels and has been improved over the years by their remarks and suggestions, for which we are grateful.

The models and algorithms presented in the following chapters establish a good starting point to study the relevant literature and pursue academic work in related fields. Theory is discussed at the introductory and moderate levels, and related references are given for those who want to pursue more detailed analysis. A central feature of the book is the support provided for the theoretical concepts through models with detailed explanations, application examples, and case studies. Discussions and analyses are based on real-life problems.

All chapters include exercises that require critical thinking, interpretation, analytics, and making choices. A solution manual for these exercises will be provided online. The textbook is organized to enable interdisciplinary research and education, interactive discussions, and learning. Learning outcomes are defined, and the content of the book is structured in accordance with these goals.

Chapter introduces the basic concepts, methods, and processes in managing projects. This chapter constitutes the base for defining and modeling project management problems.

Chapter discusses project management from an organizational perspective, dealing with the fundamentals of organizing and managing projects. Project-based organizations have gained increasing importance in the last decades. Many firms are organized around projects and operate in a multi-project environment. Issues related to project team formation, the role of project managers, and matrix organization are discussed. Recent developments in the organization of projects, such as the adoption of agile techniques and establishing project management offices, are discussed.

Chapter is devoted to project planning and network modeling of projects, covering fundamental concepts such as project scope, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS), Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS), project network modeling, activity duration and cost estimating, activity-based costing (ABC), and data and knowledge management.