The Role of Project Management in Scientific Manufacturing

A survey was made of various types of project management organizations used to achieve some measure of managerial unity. Four principal types were identified. The project expediter achieves unity of communication, the project coordinator gets unity of control, the project confederation achieves unity of direction, and project general management accomplishes the ultimate unity of command. Furthermore, project management may disregard existing levels and functions in superimposing its own structure on the existing organization. Project organization requires a project manager with considerable role adaptability. He must balance technical solutions with time, cost, resource, and human factors. He is an integrator and a generalist, rather than a technical specialist; and he devotes most of his management time to the functions of planning and control. Both the project manager and his superiors may need to give more emphasis to the management aspects of his job. To be an effective project manager, the technical man needs to be intellectually sophisticated in the field of management and also to have an attitude which gives some priority to the management aspects of his job.