Project management: theory and methodology

 
МИНИСТЕРСТВО НАУКИ И ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ 
РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ 
Федеральное государственное автономное  
образовательное учреждение высшего образования 
«ЮЖНЫЙ ФЕДЕРАЛЬНЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ» 
Инженерно-технологическая академия 
 
 
Т. В. АЛЕСИНСКАЯ 
К. В. ДРОКИНА 
 
 
PROJECT MANAGEMENT:  
THEORY AND METHODOLOGY 
 
 
 
Учебное пособие 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ростов-на-Дону – Таганрог 
Издательство Южного федерального университета 
2024 
 

 
УДК 338 (075.8) 
ББК 65.290-2я73 
        А486 
Печатается по решению кафедры менеджмента и инновационных  
технологий Института управления в экономических, экологических  
и социальных системах Южного федерального университета  
(протокол № 28 от 31 мая 2023 г.) 
Рецензенты: 
профессор кафедры управления ЧОУ ВО «Таганрогский институт  
управления и экономики», доктор экономических наук,  
профессор И. Н. Олейникова 
директор учебно-научного центра Южно-Российского института  
управления РАНХиГС, кандидат экономических наук,  
доцент Н. В. Брюханова 
 
Алесинская, Т. В. 
А486      Project management: theory and methodology : учебное пособие / 
Т. В. Алесинская, К. В. Дрокина ; Южный федеральный университет. – Ростов-на-Дону ; Таганрог : Издательство Южного федерального университета, 2024. – 115 с.     
ISBN 978-5-9275-4638-1 
В данном пособии представлены концептуальные вопросы управления проектами, включающие актуальность проектной формы реализации стратегий развития организаций в современной экономике, специфические характеристики 
проекта как объекта управления, особенности взаимодействия групп процессов и 
областей знаний проектного управления, типология проектов и ее влияние на 
управленческие задачи, подходы к управлению проектами, организационные аспекты проектной деятельности внутри организации. Каждая тема содержит теоретический материал, практические примеры, список контрольных вопросов. 
Пособие рекомендуется для преподавателей и студентов бакалавриата и магистратуры всех форм обучения на англоязычных программах по направлениям 
подготовки 38.04.02 «Менеджмент», 38.03.05 «Бизнес-информатика», 38.03.06 
«Торговое дело», 38.03.02 «Менеджмент». 
                                    УДК 338 (075.8) 
ББК 65.290-2я73 
ISBN 978-5-9275-4638-1 
© Южный федеральный университет, 2024 
© Алесинская Т. В., Дрокина К. В., 2024 
© Оформление. Макет. Издательство 
    Южного федерального университета, 2024 
 

 
CONTENT 
INTRODUCTION 
.............................................................................................. 5 
1. FUNDAMENTALS OF MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES .............................. 6 
1.1. Control loop ............................................................................................ 6 
1.2. Strategic development of companies as an area of project activity 
........... 7 
1.3. Control questions 
..................................................................................... 9 
2. PROJECT AS THE CONTROL OBJECT 
.................................................... 11 
2.1. Project and process activities ................................................................. 11 
2.2. Project and its components .................................................................... 13 
2.3. Project life cycle 
.................................................................................... 18 
2.4. Project limitations 
.................................................................................. 22 
2.5. Project participants ................................................................................ 24 
2.6. Project environment 
............................................................................... 27 
2.7. Critical project success factors 
............................................................... 30 
2.8. Control questions 
................................................................................... 35 
3. PROCESS GROUPS AND KNOWLEDGE AREAS OF PROJECT 
MANAGEMENT 
......................................................................................... 37 
3.1. Project management tasks 
...................................................................... 37 
3.2. Project management process groups ...................................................... 40 
3.3. Project management knowledge areas ................................................... 47 
3.4. Control questions 
................................................................................... 50 
4. TYPES OF PROJECTS AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT 
........................ 51 
4.1. Project classification 
.............................................................................. 51 
4.2. Dependence of knowledge areas on classifier values ............................. 57 
4.3. Types of project management ................................................................ 59 
4.4. Programs and project portfolios 
............................................................. 63 
4.5. Control questions 
................................................................................... 65 
3 

Сontent  
5. APPROACHES TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT 
........................................ 
67 
5.1. Waterfall approach to project management ............................................ 
67 
5.2. Agile approach 
....................................................................................... 
70 
5.3. Framework Agile Scrum ........................................................................ 
75 
5.3.1. Iterative and incremental development models 
............................. 
75 
5.3.2. Framework Scrum 
........................................................................ 
78 
5.4. Control questions ................................................................................... 
84 
6. QUESTIONS OF THE PROJECT ACTIVITIES ORGANIZATION ........... 
86 
6.1. Project management bodies 
.................................................................... 
86 
6.2. Organizational forms of project activities within a company 
.................. 
90 
6.2.1. Implementation of the project within the functional structure 
....... 
91 
6.2.2. Project organizational structure .................................................... 
94 
6.2.3. Matrix organizational structure .................................................... 
97 
6.3. Choosing the organizational form of the project 
................................... 
103 
6.4. Role of the project manager ................................................................. 
104 
6.5. Control questions ................................................................................. 
110 
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 
112 
REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 
113 
 
 
 

 
INTRODUCTION 
The successful functioning of modern companies requires regular monitoring and analysis of environmental factors, the development and implementation 
of strategic development plans to adapt in a timely manner to changing market, 
technological, and political trends. Projects are an effective format for introducing changes in the activities of companies and implementing development strategies. This explains the widespread use of project activities in all spheres of society and business: in construction, manufacturing, scientific research, education, 
medicine, cultural and social spheres. 
Companies launch projects both to fulfill their customers' orders and to introduce innovations into their own activities. Therefore, knowledge of the specifics, concepts and methodology of project management, the ability to develop 
standard management solutions at various phases of the project life cycle are the 
most important competencies of modern managers. It is also important for the 
company's employees involved in projects as executors to understand the basic 
concepts and processes of project activities to increase the effectiveness of communications and the successful completion of the project. 
The goal of this tutorial is to provide basic conceptual information about 
project management and the specifics of projects as a control objects. It is recommended to use the textbook as the first part of the lecture notes for the course 
«Project Management». The manual is recommended for teachers and students 
of bachelor's and master's degrees of all forms of education in English-language 
programs in the areas of training 38.04.02 «Management», 38.03.05 «Business 
Informatics», 38.03.06 «Commerce», 38.03.02 «Management». In addition, the 
textbook can be used as a reference in the implementation of educational project 
activities.  
 
 
 

 
1. FUNDAMENTALS OF MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES 
1.1. Control loop 
Management in any system, including the management of companies and 
projects, can be described using a control loop [7] (fig. 1.1). 
 
Fig. 1.1. Control loop 
Management is bringing the control object to the target state or behavior 
by the control subject. 
The control subject sets goals for the control object, generates management signals/commands, which are called direct communication, and delivers 
them to the control object. 
Under the influence of these signals, the control object executes the given 
commands and either achieves or fails to achieve the goal. Information about the 
results of achieving the goal state/behavior called feedback is transmitted from 
the control object to the control subject. 
Thanks to feedback, the control subject understands whether the set goals 
have been achieved. And if the goals are not achieved, then the control subject 
adjusts its decisions and sends new control signals to the control object. This is 
how the management process is carried out. 
6 

1.2. Strategic development of companies as an area of project activity  
Example. The control object is the production department of the company. 
The control subject is the director of the production department. 
The director set a goal for the production department – to start producing a 
new type of product in six months. To do this, the director decides to purchase 
and install new equipment, develop production technology, order the necessary 
materials, and train employees. 
The director transmits all these decisions in the form of orders (direct 
communication) to the employees of the production department, and they begin 
to implement them.  
After six months, the production department provides feedback to the director in the form of a report on the results of the implementation of his orders. If 
for some reason the director’s decisions are not fully implemented and the production of new products could not be launched, then the director, as a management subject, will begin to analyze the situation to understand the reasons for the 
failure and develop new solutions. Then, through a direct communication channel, he will transmit new orders to the production department and so on. 
«The success of managing a certain object can be assessed by such characteristics as management effectiveness and management efficiency. 
Management effectiveness is the degree to which the control object 
achieves its goals. Effectiveness shows the compliance or non-compliance of the 
result of an activity with the set goal. Management efficiency is the ratio of the 
achieved result to the resources spent to achieve it» [4]. 
1.2. Strategic development of companies as an area of project activity  
«To operate successfully in a competitive market, a company must develop and implement its development strategy. By strategy we mean a certain concept, an idea for the development of the company. Let's consider the essence of 
strategic management and the main types of company strategies. 
Strategic management is a way of managing the development of a company, which makes it possible it to increase its competitiveness in the face of 
changes and uncertainty in the external environment. To implement the chosen 
strategy, the company's management launches projects aimed at introducing the 
necessary changes in the company's activities. We will consider the main types 
of strategies to understand the types of projects necessary for the development of 
companies. 
7 

1. Fundamentals of management activities 
The main competitive strategies that offer different ways to attract consumers include low-cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategy» [4]. 
Porter's competitive strategies 
Price leadership or low-cost leadership is a strategy based on offering 
consumers a lower price at the same profit level. 
To implement such a strategy, the company must achieve low production 
costs, for example, through the introduction of advanced production and logistics 
technologies. Examples of such a strategy are shown by low-cost airlines 
(EasyJet, Condor, Air Busan), large chain retailers with low prices (Walmart, 
Target, X5 Retail Group) and others. 
Differentiation is a strategy that proposes to attract consumers with products and services with unique properties that distinguish them from competitors, 
for example, environmental friendliness, packaging, functionality, after-sales 
service. 
Examples. Sony, Apple, and Tesla companies offering innovative products 
to consumers. 
Focus strategy is the company's orientation towards specific consumer 
segments and meeting their specific needs. 
Examples. Manufacturers of goods for athletes, hunters, pregnant women, children, etc.; companies providing hot meals to schools or offices. 
Having chosen a focus strategy, the company must decide whether it will 
use a differentiation or a low-price approach when operating in the selected 
segment.  
In addition to competitive strategies, there are strategies that determine 
how companies grow and develop. They include concentrated growth, integration, and diversification strategies. 
Growth and development strategies 
The concentrated growth strategy involves strengthening the company's 
position in the market, in which the company makes efforts to sell more of a given product in a given market and gain a better position. 
The company can also look for new markets to increase sales of an already 
existing product. Or the company can grow through the development and production of a new product and its implementation in the market already mastered 
by the company.  
8 

1.3. Control questions  
For example, the Russian retail chain Magnit first increased its presence in 
the market of the Krasnodar region, increasing the number of its retail stores 
(strengthening market position), then began to expand to other regions of Russia 
(market development). A new stage in its concentrated growth was the emergence of a network of cosmetics stores and a pharmacy chain (product development). 
Integration strategy involves expanding the scale of the company's activities by purchasing, combining with other companies in the supply chain. 
If a company joins competing companies, then this is horizontal integration. For example, multinational companies Unilever and PepsiCo operate so. 
If a company integrates other supplier companies, sales intermediaries, 
transport companies, etc., then this is vertical integration.  
For example, a brewing company can buy a farm and, under its control, 
grow high-quality malt there for its production. Or the farm will acquire a network of retail outlets to sell its products under its own brand. 
Diversification strategy involves the growth of a company by launching 
new types of businesses in various industries. For example, Samsung is engaged 
in the production of computers, household appliances, mobile devices, insurance 
and financial services, construction of large-tonnage cargo ships, etc. 
To implement any of the above strategies, the company must initiate, 
launch, and successfully complete a few projects of various types. Thanks to the 
projects, the necessary changes will occur in the company's products, its technologies, organizational structure, marketing area, and many others. 
In addition, projects are necessary to fulfill customer orders, for example, 
in the areas of construction, software development, the creation of complex 
hardware and software systems such as smart homes, smart cities, etc. In the next 
chapter, we will consider the concept and characteristics of a project as a control 
object. 
1.3. Control questions 
1. The concept of «management».   
2.  Control loop and its components (control object, control subject, direct 
and feedback), examples.  
3.  Efficiency and effectiveness of management, examples.  
4.  The concept of «strategy». 
5.  Strategic management.  
9 

1. Fundamentals of management activities 
6.  Porter's competitive strategies (low-cost leadership, differentiation, focus), examples. 
7.  Strategies for growth and development (concentrated growth, integration, diversification), examples.  
8.  The relationship between strategic and project management, examples. 
10