New Philosophy of Project Management: An investigation into the prevalence of modern project management by means of an evolutionary framework

Whitty, Stephen J. (2009). New Philosophy of Project Management: An investigation into the prevalence of modern project management by means of an evolutionary framework PhD Thesis, School of Information Technol and Elec Engineering, The University of Queensland.

       
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Author Whitty, Stephen J.
Thesis Title New Philosophy of Project Management: An investigation into the prevalence of modern project management by means of an evolutionary framework
School, Centre or Institute School of Information Technol and Elec Engineering
Institution The University of Queensland
Publication date 2009-05
Thesis type PhD Thesis
Supervisor Dr Mark F. Schulz
Dr Gordon Wyeth
Total pages 253
Total black and white pages 253
Subjects 09 Engineering
Abstract/Summary Why are projects and project management so cool when managing projects is so problematic? This question is at the heart of this thesis which sets out to find answer using an evolutionary approach to the discipline. A conceptual evolutionary framework for investigation is developed, the heredity of the ideas and concepts that underpin project management are traced and their impact analysed, and a conceptual model of the project management environment is developed to demonstrate how individuals and corporations gain survival benefits from aspects of project management. To further investigate the evolutionary mechanisms that take place in the project management environment, the result of a phenomenological study are presented which show that various project management artefacts emotionally affect individuals, and that those individuals also use the emotional affects to emotionally manipulate others. The conclusions drawn from this investigation are that modern project management delivers cultural survival benefits to individuals and corporations, and its various behaviours and concepts are encoded genetically and memetically across our genes and Western culture. The memetic framework for project management contributes to the field by providing a means to debunk the ‘sacred cows’ of project management; it brings new understandings of how the various ideals, tools and concepts of project management deliver benefits, and to whom; and it provides a agenda for evidence based practice and the democratisation of work where project management is inculcated into the various work domains such as Health, Art, Agriculture, Commerce, etc, rather than a standalone discipline.
Keyword project management
Evolutionary Psychology
memetics
emotion

 
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Created: Mon, 05 Oct 2009, 22:45:13 EST by Mr Stephen Whitty on behalf of Library - Information Access Service