Integrated project planning and management

Numerous projects continue to fail to meet client requirements--failures caused by mismanagement and wasted resources--because numerous project managers lack the proper discipline, education, and training needed to successfully implement their projects. This article examines the results of an international, interdisciplinary study on public policy implementation and project management, a study sponsored by Hawaii's East-West Center, a study established to develop a new approach to educating and training project managers. In doing so, it explains the problem that led to this study: the need for a framework that enables project managers to better plan and manage their projects, a need recognized by agencies such as The World Bank, United Nations Development Program, and the Inter-American Bank, among others. It also discusses the study's life cycle, which began in 1975 and closed in 1983. It then outlines a framework--the integrated project planning and management cycle (IPPMC)--that the study team developed.