A cybernetic ontology for project management

Abstract

Project management is the discipline of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria. However, there can exist a considerable amount of uncertainty in decision-making for project management stemming from the typical complex characteristics of projects. This study focused on two primary objectives: 1) to understand the role of project management in complex situations; 2) to offer a more robust model for project management. Pertinent literature on models for project management was collected and synthesised for application in complex situations. A cybernetic-based model is then developed. This model enables a manager to focus on internal organisational complexity while paying enough attention to external perturbations. The utility of the model is demonstrated in a case application in an organisation in Belgium.