The use of traditional project
Date
2011-04-18
Authors
Clayton, Beverley Alice
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Abstract
Project management was, in its formative stages, found only in specific
industries like defence and technology. It has more recently become common
across many sectors and has been, formally or informally, adopted as an
effective business tool. The purpose of this research was to explore the
presence and usage of project management in creative industries and to
determine the effectiveness of the methods used by creative people.
The answers to the following two research questions were established through
the research conducted. The questions asked “do project managers in creative
industries use traditional project management techniques to get their jobs done
or do they rely on what they have learned through experience?” and “what are
the barriers to effective project management as perceived by project managers
in creative industries?”.
Data was collected from 15 individuals who manage work in television
production and event management. These respondents took part in in-depth
interviews where they provided information on their method of managing
projects and gave information about themselves and their careers. They also
completed a short questionnaire on project management.
The interview data was analysed using a themed content analysis approach
and the research results were presented using the thick descriptive technique.
The results of the study indicated that persons working in creative industries are
neither aware of, nor make use of traditional project management techniques
except in some cases where those techniques happen to be coincidentally
similar to something they have already learned. Traditional project
management techniques do exist in creative industries but occur more out of
coincidence than conscious thought.
The results also indicated that persons working in creative industries believe
that the constraints of cost and speed present problems in achieving effective
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outcomes and work with creative people does not lend itself to using formal
project management techniques
Description
MBA - WBS
Keywords
Project management, Creative industries, South Africa