Introduction

In 1961 President J F Kennedy set the United States an extraordinary target:

' to land a man on the moon before the decade is over.'

Over the next few years the expertise and energy of hundreds of scientists and engineers were harnessed, new technologies were developed and billions of dollars were spent to achieve this aim. In 1969 Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon and President Kennedy's target had been met 5 months ahead of schedule.

The Apollo Project has been described as the greatest human achievement of all time. It caught the public imagination in many different ways. For managers it demonstrated the astonishing results that can be produced when the tools and techniques of project management are used to focus resources on a particular goal. Since the 1960s, projects have become a part of life in all types of organizations. Projects are set up when businesses want to take 'a giant leap' into the future, and also in much more ordinary situations in which a definite outcome is required within a limited time.

In this section we look at some of the fundamentals of project management:

• What is a project?

• The project life cycle.

• What does a project manager do?

What is a Project?

You have probably already participated in several projects yourself.