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Hoover Dam
First megaproject to develop modern project management principles. -
American Association of Cost Engineers Formed
Early practitioners of Project Management formed professional association to develop and maintain standards for project cost management. Early practitioners of Project Management with focus on cost estimating, and cost schedule control. Now known as AACE International. -
Critical Path Method (CPM) Invented by the Dupont Corporation
After WWII, the multinational chemical company Dupont expanded development of new materials such as Mylar, Dacron and Lycra. Their CPM technique predicts project duration by analyzing which sequence of activities had the least amount of scheduling flexibility, such as closing down chemical plants for maintenance and development. The efficiency brought on by the technique was so successful it saved the corporation $1 million in the first year of its implementation. -
The Apollo Project
The success of NASA’s Apollo Project solidified the methodologies of project management to plan and monitor complex structures, including furthering the use of PERT for acquiring and contracting with suppliers. -
PERT invented for the US Navy's Polaris Project
During the Cold War, the Program Evaluation Review Technique was developed for the Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile project. PERT is a method for analyzing the tasks and calculating the amount of time it will take to realistically finish a project. PERT charts are used to plan tasks within a project — making it easier to schedule deliverables and coordinate with team members. The private sector simultaneously gave rise to the similar Critical Path technique. -
US Dept of Defense Mandate and WBS
The DOD first created the Work Breakdown Structure for the Polaris submarine project. It expanded the WBS concept for future projects of complex scope. WBS is an exhaustive, hierarchical tree structure of deliverables and tasks needed to complete a project. The private sector later adopted WBS as one of the most valuable PM tools. -
Rise of Computers
Computer technology pushed communication to the center of Project Management. Several PM software companies were formed, including Artemis and Oracle. -
Challenger Accident and founding of PPMI
The disaster caused NASA to re-examine every facet of its PM structure and focus attention on risk management, group dynamics and quality management. They moved away from proprietary training to industry standard approaches by forming the Program and Project Management Institute. -
Iridium Project
The failure of Motorola’s $5 billion global communication project was largely attributed to a failure in following project management protocols. -
Y2K Project
The potential for the Year 2000 worldwide computer failure created many initiatives to address the potential logistical and management issues. With the immovable deadline, various project management techniques were introduced and many firms adopted Project Management techniques for the first time.