Concept Gains Ground
This [planning] concept gained ground rapidly, with considerable impetus being
given to it by the U.S. Navy and NASA. As David Wilemon noted in his foreword
to Russell Archibald's book, Managing High Technology Programs and Projects:
"In the late 1950s considerable attention was focused on the Navy's
use of project management in the development of the Polaris program. A few years
later, NASA received the attention of practitioners and academicians for the
advances it made in project management in administering the large, complex Apollo
program. Many observers of management practice are convinced that these programs
could not have been successful without the use of project management."
As recent technology blossomed and projects increased in complexity, the necessity
for developing various management systems for planning and controlling project
performance, schedules and budgets became ever more evident, As a consequence,
project management began to permeate research and development, systems implementation,
construction, urban development, education and so on. The advent of the electronic
computer heralded the possibility of a solution to these sophisticated and complex
problems.
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Introduction
