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MANAGING PROJECTS

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Projects represent nonroutine business activities that often have long-term strategic ramifications for a firm. In this chapter, we examined how projects differ from routine business activities and discussed the major phases of projects. We noted how environmental changes have resulted in increased attention being paid to projects and project management over the past decade. In the second half of the chapter, we introduced some basic tools that businesses can use when planning for and controlling projects. Both Gantt charts and network diagrams give managers a visual picture of how a project is going. Network diagrams have the added advantage of showing the precedence between activities, as well as the critical path(s). We wrapped up the chapter by showing how these concepts are embedded in inexpensive yet powerful software packages such as Microsoft Project. If you want to learn more about project management, we encourage you to take a look at the Web site for the Proj...
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Performance Management

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There are differences between performance measurement and performance appraisal.
Approaches to performance measurement are typically represented in a performance appraisal process.
Performance appraisal has limitations that result in part from the many competing aims it seeks to achieve.
The ethics and probity of performance appraisal have been questioned, and some have represented it as a management tool that enables managers to monitor and engage in constant surveillance of their employees.
Information and communication technology will change the nature and scope of performance management.
Effective performance management will need to address changes in organisational structure and composition, in particular, in relation to an increasingly global and competitive market and a diverse and ageing workforce.
In the future, performance management will be less about individual performance and more about how current performance mitigates the damage of past performance.

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