Introduction

One of the very first projects in history to be documented was Noah's Ark. ^[1] This project had a very tight schedule with a dramatic incentive to stay on or ahead of schedule. The schedule was fairly simple: The ark had to be built before the flood. The consequences of delivering the project behind schedule include:

• Noah would lose his job.

• Every pair of animals intended to sail on the ark would drown.

• Noah and his family would drown.

• Mankind would be decimated, and no one would be alive today.

While terms of many contracts in the 21 ^st century contain significant negative incentives for completing behind schedule and/or over budget, the terms of Noah's contract gave him perhaps the greatest incentive of all time to be on schedule.

The Environment of Project Management

A review of the case studies in the back of this book makes it clear that project management tools and techniques may be applied to a wide range of situations. The environment of project management includes the following:

• Virtually any business venture (e.g., setting up a lemonade stand or developing a missile defense system)

• Technological environment

• Socioeconomic environment

• Legal environment

• Business cycle environment

• Environmental impact of projects