It is not difficult to find a wide catalog of projects undertaken by public and private companies, which have demanded longer execution times compared to forecasted ones, which have consumed significantly greater financial resources, which have determined appreciable values in lost profits, which have caused damages and notable frustration to the target population reflected in significant increases in rates or prices and in the detriment of not having and enjoying them in a timely manner. The urban and rural landscape of most Latin American countries is saturated with humiliating examples of "white elephants" that pollute the view and leave the sad testimony of unfinished works without any use,They have squandered a large amount of resources with incalculable opportunity costs that society has had to pay, due to the incompetence and impropriety of officials, contractors and auditors.
In addition, there are many projects for business development, information systems and software or software design, reforms and improvements in state entities, frustrated investigations, which collapse due to lack of direction and leadership of their managers, which given Its non-tangible essence does not leave a material mark, but its effects are perceived with the same intensity as the previous ones. There are many projects of different kinds that spend long periods in the courts of justice and conciliation, derived from the incapacity, negligence, ignorance or ethical tolerance of the advisors and officials who structure the contracts, hence the presence of strong legal teams in the contractor companies and very precarious human teams in charge of the works and technical responsibilities.
Such a situation, we suspect, reveals leadership gaps, deficiencies in pre-investment studies or technical designs, inability to manage and lead, and incompetence and reactive (not proactive) attitude of the person who assumes responsibility for project management, improvisation and haste in decision-making, fragmented or incomplete financial closure, lack of planning in the hiring processes, disorganization and negligence in the execution, presence of corruption, ignorance of the environment and regulations, unnoticed externalities, etc., which compromise the technical formulation, financial prospects and control exercised over scope, time, performance, costs and results according to the expected quality.
The other side of the coin can be seen in projects considered successful that provide an adequate and timely response to the expectations of both their owners and their customers, who meet quality requirements by leaving their users satisfied, who manage to meet the requirements budgetary forecasts and that obviously respond to commitments of time and opportunity. Undoubtedly, these flattering results are the consequence of the concurrence of valid and reliable processes of planning, programming, organization, teamwork, adequate and symmetrical communication and information, advance documentation of risks and limitations, of judicious and well-considered legal and technical studies. and financial services that lead to unequivocal and transparent contracts, and mainly, a leadership that adequately combines knowledge,experience, commitment and professional ethics and, the full understanding of their responsibility by those who assume the execution of the projects.
The globalization process in which the nations of the world and in particular our Latin American countries and their business class are engaged, must have a basic strategy of technological, financial and administrative modernization of the productive apparatus, the improvement of the social infrastructure represented in hospitals, schools, basic sanitation, recreation and culture, technological research and development and basic infrastructure of roads, energy, ports, airports, oil pipelines and communications, and the necessary restructuring of the public sector, in addition to substantial changes in training models, training, training and research offered by universities and technological institutes, in order to give efficient and timely output to the huge number of projects that are behind these purposes.It is then a matter of gradually abandoning the protected development scheme supported by the “comparative advantages” derived from the massive consumption and export of natural goods, giving room to the establishment and operation of a more aggressive development model characterized by a notable added value, for improved levels of quality and of course for competitive prices. That is, add competitive advantages to comparative advantages.That is, add competitive advantages to comparative advantages.That is, add competitive advantages to comparative advantages.
The movement of nations towards free trade and the gradual collapse of tariff barriers, the daily improvement of communications that brings nations closer together, the concern of the scientific, academic, business and institutional communities on issues such as protection the environment, the use of energy-saving industrial processes and the incorporation of clean technologies, the permanent search for new materials, the development of nanoscience and nanotechnology or technology of the very small, as well as the challenge and fascination for the mega structures, the reflection on the mysteries that the human genome holds, the achievements of genetic engineering, the concern for the growth of poverty in the world and the design of effective weapons to confront it,the development of virtual commerce with all its manifestations and, many other situations that characterize the current and future moment, and of course, we reiterate, the necessary incorporation into the business and institutional culture of new management and administration models, are enough challenges to promote to the business diligence that is stimulated by an efficient and adequately dimensioned public sector, and of course, with the guidance and committed assistance of the academy that will have to better observe and analyze the environment and offer more tangible training, training, dissemination and research proposals and seductive that capture the interest of the new generations, in order to reiterate, to achieve sufficient development goals and improve the quality of life of the associates.
The business diligence (public and private) of the future faces interesting challenges to consolidate competitive capacity through proper project management - identification, formulation, evaluation, negotiation and management -, which is the most suitable, perhaps the only way to generate value. Hence, competitiveness purposes must be supported by strategies such as the study of new investment opportunities, technological invention, knowledge of potential customers and especially the design or adaptation of new forms of organization, for the different stages, from the pre-investment, planning, installation and start-up until the control of its operation, will be the characteristic signs of the leading and world-class companies of the present millennium. Definitely,the search for competitiveness both internally and internationally, is a process that begins with pre-investment studies that shed light on the most appropriate ways to use scarce resources and provide guidance on the most advantageous decisions, in addition to seeking their necessary and rigorous financial structuring. The execution of the project, which corresponds to the delivery of a new installed capacity ready for operation and which represents the largest expenditures in the life of the project, represents, when it is done in the best conditions of scope, opportunity, quality and cost, one of the guarantees of efficiency, which guarantees competitiveness in the next stage of operation. Due to the magnitude of the investments, due to the multiple and diverse interests that move,due to the number of contractors and subcontractors that participate in it, which determine frequent and confusing conflicts, due to the expectations created in potential users or consumers and the need to satisfy the owners, at the execution stage it is necessary to design and articulate it an organizational and executive model of special relevance that is usually called Project Management or Project Administration or Project Management.At the execution stage, it is necessary to design and articulate an organizational and executive model of special relevance that is usually called Project Management or Project Management or Project Management.At the execution stage, it is necessary to design and articulate an organizational and executive model of special relevance that is usually called Project Management or Project Management or Project Management.
The generic term "project" encompasses a series of stages that have been properly called a cycle, which corresponds to a system that ranges from the conception of a productive and interesting idea to the sustainable operation of a company or organization. Hence the label "project management" that includes all stages: preinvestment - identification, formulation, exante evaluation and negotiation -, execution, operation and ex post evaluation - which closes the cycle and guarantees feedback and therefore both the application of the lessons learned for future developments. There are very few cases in which a project manager is involved in the entire cycle. However,The information necessary for decision-making by a project manager may involve an understanding of the phases prior to execution and a clear perception of expectations in the subsequent stages.
The professional or the organization that exercises the office of "project manager", when conceiving or knowing an idea, elaborates it, measures it, formulates it (pre-investment), looks for sponsors or investors to carry it out (negotiation), assumes an important role in the contracting and monitoring of its execution, receives the work or the contracted work and guides and organizes the operation. It is the agent of interest and link that is involved in each and every one of the phases: pre-investment, execution and operation. While the one who acts as "project manager" is responsible only in the execution stage, which despite being temporary and not permanent, corresponds to the responsibility, not easy, in projects of any magnitude, to deliver a new installed capacity in a given time,within a budget and under agreed quality conditions. It is clear that the execution of the project and the organizational process that supports it is called “project management ”, which corresponds to the objective of this book, is a fundamental part of the cycle. While it is true that the project manager's responsibility is restricted to execution, it is also true that in pre-investment studies he finds the best source to locate himself in the environment and in the wishes and claims of the owner or client. But also, by making its best efforts so that the project is executed and delivered in optimal time, cost and quality specifications, it opens the way to a sustainable operation and, therefore, with the purpose that is fully enjoyed by potential beneficiaries.
We are convinced that this book will contribute something in the process of consolidating the "culture of projects" in our environment in Latin America. It is difficult to find a more universal tool than "planning" and its main disaggregation the "project", whose application extends, without exception, to all human activities. Without a doubt, the achievements of civilization are the result of the permanent and natural job on the part of the individual to conceive, structure, negotiate, execute, implement and guarantee the sustainability of new projects.
Many are the significant efforts that universities, state and private, national and international institutions, consultants and the isolated impetus of some authors, writers, consultants and scholars have been making with the purpose of propping up this culture of projects in public and private organizations and in the mentality of new professionals from diverse origins. As a complement to the above, it is our desire to promote its use and disseminate its scope and application among students and professors of different disciplines and levels (undergraduate and graduate), as well as among public and private entrepreneurs, of this powerful tool of "project management "Or" project management "or" project management. " Competitiveness must be the vital purpose of modern and world-class enterprises,which is necessarily derived from the innovation that will be a substantial part of the blog of new entrepreneurs. Change will be the constant in modern organizations. Therefore, "project management" is synonymous with change management.
In this book at no time will we affirm that the process of managing a project is an elementary task, we do not offer false expectations. We do not want to provide “an easy way” to manage a project, nor do we offer “quick lessons”, much less, we are undoubtedly facing a complex process where planning, knowledge, creativity, persistence, effort and work in team (clearly interdisciplinary) are the essential success factors. Project management involves the application of simple, but not always obvious, common sense rules to unusual and complex situations, with agreed dates, limited budgets and required qualities.One of the virtues that a successful project manager must exhibit is undoubtedly creativity, which is clearly compatible with the rigor of leadership. Since creativity is a non-linear and divergent process (free and undisciplined), it must be accompanied by contrary elements. Since a too divergent process takes unnecessary risks and an extremely convergent process does not allow creativity. It is the always sought balance between science and art, and project management is a mixture of both.It is the always sought balance between science and art, and project management is a mixture of both.It is the always sought balance between science and art, and project management is a mixture of both.
The environment in execution is saturated with tensions, problems and conflicts that will be successfully mitigated and controlled by those who understand and properly use the principles and tools of "project management". Behind the execution of any successful project regardless of its size, there is a competent and hard-working, leader and skillful manager who, thanks to his tenacity and stubbornness, patience and skill in the use of suitable tools, achieves the best performance in an environment, usually, unfavorable.
We believe that the great maturity reached by our engineering, the knowledge and efficiency in the handling of new financial products, the adequate interpretation and application of rules and regulations, the use of recent organizational models and, of course, the need to improve the productivity and competitiveness (prices, costs, quality and opportunity) of our companies (public and private) in Latin America, makes it necessary for the university, institutional and business environment to have better tools every day to face technological, legal, organizational challenges, financial, marketing, respect for the environment and ethics, which involve the execution and start-up of large projects essential to underpin development.
It will always be a challenge to intelligence, efficiency, creativity and leadership to deliver a new installed capacity complying with scope, time, cost and quality requirements, through a well-planned and designed and appropriately dimensioned management that determines in most cases, the difference between success and failure.
Contextually taken from the third edition of my book "THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE".
