Short Communication The rise and fall of network techniques in project management

Network techniques are powerful tools to aid the planning and, to a lesser degree, control of projects, but their significance has often been overstressed. It is important that users or students of these techniques understand that merely using a network does not constitute project management. One way of gaining this understanding is by examining the history of networks in the first two decades of their use in project management. It will be seen that network techniques have gone through the same cycle as many other management techniques at first they are widely acclaimed as the answer to management's problems, then disillusionment sets in and finally they come of age and are accepted as standard management tools. In discussing the history of network techniques, most textbooks concentrate on their origins and their subsequent worldwide acclaim. The disillusionment that followed is seldom discussed.

Network techniques are powerful tools to aid the planning and, to a lesser degree, control of projects, but their significance has often been overstressed. It is important that users or students of these techniques understand that merely using a network does not constitute project management. One way of gaining this understanding is by examining the history of networks in the first two decades of their use in project management.
It will be seen that network techniques have gone through the same cycle as many other management techniques -at first they are widely acclaimed as the answer to management's problems, then disillusionment sets in and finally they come of age and are accepted as standard management tools.
In discussing the history of network techniques, most textbooks concentrate on their origins and their subsequent worldwide acclaim. The disillusionment that followed is seldom discussed. Krakowski recalls that PERT was spreading like a chain letter and that its trademark, 'a few circles connected by confidently poised arrows', was a common feature of third-class mail. The name 'PERT' became so fashionable that it turned into a common noun, like 'aspirin' 8 -P.l 7 Maynes 9 · P-23 states that virtually every firm in the aerospace field was engaged in a frenzied attempt to either invent or implement a PERT system.

The fall
The oversell of PERT and CPM and their numerous variants had created a great faith in the potential of these techniques. As a result, users did not evaluate the results they were obtaining and the popularity of networks kept growing until it reached a peak in the U.S.A. in I %5. Some observers, however, had noticed years before that all was not well. 1962 Avots warns against overenthusiasm, insufficient experience in application and the inherent weaknesses of network techniques 10 · r 27 1963 Boverie notes that PERT is not being applied as successfully as its potential warrants and that as many applications have failed as have succeeded II. p.3 1964 Baker 12 · P· 65 warns that PERT is not a panacea and continues: 'Unfortunately, the introduction of the PERT-CPM system has created a paradise for empire builders and "overnight experts". In many cases individuals who have attended a two-or three-day seminar on PERT-CPM have established themselves as authorities on management systems and have sold a "bill of goods" to companies that have been forced by contractual obligation to implement this new technique.' In the same year Martino, one of the so-called fathers of the arrow-diagramming concept, notes that it has become fashionable to employ network specialists 13 • P-101 1965 Schoderbek reports that special PERT departments exist in many companies and that these departments are separate from the project manager. He also finds that some companies who are using PERT have retained their traditional planning and control systems and are operating a dual system 14 · PP· 201 · 206 Ryan discovers that PERT charts are prepared and updated because of contractual requirements, but that managers are using Gantt charts to manage projects'· P-25 Paulson states that some contractors were forced to subcontract their project scheduling because the contract required weekly or monthly computer reports 15

Conclusion
The early years of network application in projects were characterized by an overemphasis on these techniques. This is illustrated by the fact that many textbooks, especially the older ones, discuss network techniques only, while the process of managing a project is neglected. This overemphasis compounded management's disillusion with networks.

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But project management has survived and networks are still being used. The only difference is that networks are now seen in their correct context -their use forms only a part of managing a project.