Project Management

Project management is a competency, which is critical to the success of order processing. Successful project execution is crucially dependent firstly on achieving flexibility of information and decision-making processes through having a temporary project organization, and secondly on the use of situationally appropriate project management methods throughout the project management process. The first part of the project management chapter deals with current approaches to project management. This involves in particular a discussion of the factors, which determine the success of professional project management in customer projects. In the second part, the project management process described in detail, from initiation/inquiry to planning and the managing of projects through to their completion. The project management process is a critical core element in the harmonizing and rigorous focusing of project management in a project-oriented company. In the final part, an overview provided of the methods used in project management and of roles that exist within projects. For this, use is made of a form of presentation, which is also suitable for project management guidelines in companies. Running throughout the chapter is an examination of the specifics of the handling of customer projects. In this regard, it is in the author’s interests to pursue an approach to the subject, which is as pragmatic as possible in order to make practical implementation measures possible in his own project environment. The project management tool “next project” also described for this purpose and illustrative customer projects used to present the implementation of the theory in practice.