A focus on systems thinking and the continued development of systems engineering as discipline has fostered
a renewed interest in applying systems thinking and systems th engineering principles to management problems.
A systems approach to project management complements the increased importance of systems engineering.
The idea of adopting a systems approach to general management has been discussed in the literature since the 1960s. The emphasis of these early studies included the pursuit of efficiency, an emphasis on planning, and a general belief that systems thinking would lead to success.
Key to this idea is that system engineering management of the technical aspects of development should be mirrored by a systems approach in the management of that technical effort.
While formal study of project management has accelerated over the past thirty years, some assert that the scholarly study of the broad field of project management has diverged from the realities of the practice of project management [6]-[8].
In fact, recent studies note not only complaints from practitioners for lack of relevance, but also questions on the value of the Project Management Institute’s Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) [1].
A fundamental conviction of this paper is that the project management environment has radically changed, and project management and decision science and practice has not kept pace [1].