Project management is distinguished from production management primari — Project management

"The difficulty in project management is how to apply competition between task efforts and between subtask efforts when such things as the task managers work, schedules, and budgets are all different. Competition is apparent at only the grossest level, between the U.S. and U.S.S.R.; and this competition is too removed, too broad, and full of too many unknown factors to provide an effective day by day incentive to all project personnel."

"In many ways, project management is similar to functional or traditional management. The project manager, however, may have to accomplish his ends through the efforts of individuals who are paid and promoted by someone else in the chain of command. The pacing factor in acquiring a new plant, in building a bridge, or in developing a new product is often not technology, but management. The technology to accomplish an ad hoc project may be in hand but cannot be put to proper use because the approach to the management is inadequate and unrealistic. Too often this failure can be attributed to an attempt to fit the project to an existing management organization, rather than molding the management to fit the needs of the project. The project manager, therefore, is somewhat of a maverick in the business world. No set pattern exists by which he can operate. His philosophy of management may depart radically from traditional theory."

"Project management is not universally applicable. The utility of the idea depends on the magnitude of the effort, the complexity, the degree of unfamiliarity and interrelatedness, and the concern with the organizations reputation."

"Generally, project management is distinguished from the general management of corporations by the mission- oriented nature of a project. A project organization will generally be terminated when the mission is accomplished"

"Projects and project management... encompasses several thousands of years where evidence exists to demonstrate that projects were used to change and advance societies and that some form of project management was needed to ensure favorable conversion of resources to the benefit of these societies... For centuries, project management has been used in some rudimentary form to create change or deal with change in societies. Change in a positive sense is caused by the application of management action that results in the consumption of resources to create a desired product, service, or organizational process. Change also may be meeting uncertain situations to identify and implement actions to obtain the most favorable outcome. Project management, in whatever form, has been used for centuries to plan for, implement, and meet change... It was the 1950s when project management was formally recognized as a distinct contribution arising from the management discipline. Prior uses of project management had a focus on cost, schedule, and technical performance but lacked the formal definition and embracing of the management concepts and processes in an integrated manner. Since the early 1950s, names and labels have been given to the elements of the project management discipline, helping to facilitate its further development as a profession."

"Functional people often think that, since project management is primarily an administrative job, loss of a highly technical man to that organization is a loss of resources to the company."