Part I

Setting the scene

Part I sets the scene, introducing key concepts used throughout the rest of the book in Chapters 1–4.

Chapter 1 considers the nature of uncertainty in and around projects. It begins by considering the nature of projects, and the relationship between project management, strategic management and operations management. It then considers the implications of the project lifecycle, using a nominal 12-stage framework which can be adapted to any organization’s preferred structure. This helps to clarify the context in which project uncertainty management operates and a range of project management issues that uncertainty management needs to address. For example, the nature of the process used to manage project uncertainty should be driven by when in the lifecycle it is used. Within this project lifecycle structure, the seven Ws are considered: ‘who’ (parties....