International Journal of Project Management Vol. 14, No. 4, pp.

189-199, 1996
Pergamon Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd and IPMA
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
0263-7863/96 $15.00 + 0.00

0263-7863(95)00091-7

Simultaneous management: the key

to excellence in capital projects

Alexander Laufer
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel

Gordon R Denker
Global Product Supply Engineering, Proctor and Gamble, Cincinnati, OH 45224, USA

Aaron J Shenhar*
Center for the Development of Technological Leadership, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,
MN 55455, USA

Managers of today's capital projects are under pressure to complete complex projects under
conditions of uncertainty in less time, without sacrifice to cost and quality and without leaving
customers and users dissatisfied. Studying particularly skillful managers who are able to meet
this challenge, the authors found a style of management that shifts away significantly from
accepted practices and routines. Master project managers move beyond classical scheduling,
teamwork and concurrent engineering. They develop a new style of simultaneous management
in which they constantly orchestrate contending demands. This paper presents the principles
employed by master project managers to: lead and navigate the project in a turbulent
environment; form multi-disciplinary teams; handle all functional plans simultaneously and
interdependently; overlap design and execution; develop and maintain intensive project
communication; and monitor simultaneously the utilization of means, the achievement of
objectives and their validity. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd and IPMA
Keywords: project management style, project success, management principles

The overwhelming advantage of being first in the market
goes to those who can move a product from a concept to
production in the shortest possible time. Whereas the initial
innovative and the final manufacturing stages have been
extensively dealt with, the literature offers little guidance in
support of the rapid deployment of the new product, to
those who must actually plan and execute the manufacturing
facility. One often assumes that this stage would be realized
quickly and smoothly like manufacturing; in reality it is
plagued by numerous disturbances and surprises, much like
the preceding uncertain stage of product development.
Managers of today's capital projects are under pressure
to complete complex and uncertain projects in less time
without sacrificing cost and quality criteria or leaving cus-
tomers and users dissatisfied. What advice can we give to
managers squeezed between the demands of high uncertainty
and the pressure for a short, high-quality implementation
cycle? How can we plan and execute capital projects in the
*Author for correspondence.
shortest time without losing control of other important
dimensions?
Observing particularly skillful managers who are able to
meet this challenge successfully we found, in our studies,
a style of management that shifts away quite significantly
from accepted practices and routines. We present here the
principles related to this new style of management which
have been applied in recent years in industrial companies in
the USA (see Note on Research). We have made particular
efforts during the past few years to institutionalize these
principles ~.
This article deals with the management of capital projects
and does so from the owner's point of view, because most
of our observations and experience have been obtained from
that perspective. It should be noted, however, that the same
principles have also shown their effectiveness with the ex-
ecution of capital projects by contractors, as well as in other
areas such as product development. Because of the rapid
advances made in many companies to manage more and
more tasks by the project method, we expect these principles
to occupy an increasingly prominent place in organizations.

189
Simultaneous management: A Laufer et al.

A note on research Execution

Low HighFacility
Most of the research on which this article is based was conducted (How)
within the framework of the Construction Industry Institute (CII),
a research institute located at the University of Texas at Austin.
Established in 1983, CII brings together 50 large construction owners, ,e Old Paradigm
50 contractors and 30 universities, in an effort to improve the US

Y/
construction industry. Our research comprised extensive visits to
offices of project managers, in-depth interviews about specific projects
and interpretation of the data in dedicated task forces of the CII.
We have identified in our studies two types of uncertainty that
prevail in capital projects--end uncertainty--whathas to be done: what
are the performance requirements for the completed factory, its scope,
definition and design basis, and--means uncertainty--how it should be
accomplished: the detailed design engineering and the procurement
and construction planning2. The established paradigm assumes that
end uncertainty is resolved before work starts on means uncertainty
(see Figure 1) 7. Our findings show a different picture. Both types of
uncertainty are resolved gradually and simultaneously. In one of our
studies, in which 93 project managers were interviewed, we found
approximately 80% of capital projects still suffering from significant
end uncertainty as late as at the start of construction.
We also discovered a wide gap between the formal procedures
described in the company user's manuals and the implemented prac- Concept
tices. In the many years of consulting and training work we found very
few companies in which the formal project procedures were adhered
to. Whereas many experienced, standard managers are confounded, Figure 1 Certainty matrix
forever looking for ways to resolve unexpected and conflicting
situations, the skilled ones have adapted themselves to finding ways of approach o f project m a n a g e m e n t as a m e t h o d in its o w n
reducing uncertainty to manageable terms. From the intensive
interaction with the leaders in this field, specifically with project right, and dedicated substantial financial and professional
managers in seven companies (AT&T, Du Pont, Exxon, General resources to develop it further. The model concentrates on
Motors, IBM, Mobile and Procter and Gamble) grew the essential the coordination o f sequential and parallel activities and
basis of the new approach, which enabled us to formulate the nine control o f p e r f o r m a n c e , backed up by i n f o r m a t i o n tech-
principles of this article.
nology, just as w o u l d be the case with flight scheduling
p r o b l e m s in m a j o r airlines. It b e c a m e quite an effective tool
to m a n a g e simpler projects which were devoid of high
Evolution of project management styles
levels of uncertainty 5'6.
A better u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f the principles m a y be gained by A different approach evolved in the 1970s w h e n organiz-
retracing briefly the evolution o f the various styles that have ations realized the need to m a n a g e complex projects, projects
d o m i n a t e d project m a n a g e m e n t attitudes over the past consisting o f m a n y dissimilar, highly interdependent com-
decades. It seems one can establish four distinct generations ponents and mastered by different disciplines. The challenge
o f styles, each i n c o r p o r a t i n g the principles o f the preceding here was to ensure integration and teamwork b e t w e e n the
one: scheduling (control), t e a m w o r k (integration), reducing different participants and make the team p e r f o r m as a unified
uncertainty (flexibility), and simultaneous m a n a g e m e n t entity. In this style the m a n a g e r was seen as the p e r s o n who
( d y n a m i s m ) . Each later style has a greater ability to cope had to facilitate the process and define the roles o f parti-
with m o r e situations, from the simple and certain project to cipants accordingly. The m a n a g e r was expected to orches-
the c o m p l e x , uncertain and quick ones. W e use a four-stage trate the manifold, c o m p l e x operations as a s y m p h o n y 7'8.
model to describe these styles (see Table 1)4. The above two styles fit squarely into a world o f cer-
The first period noted as scheduling can be traced to the tainty. But what we discovered in o u r research was that the
birth o f the m o d e r n notion o f project m a n a g e m e n t d u r i n g decisive majority o f capital projects suffer until far into
the 1950s and early 1960s w h e n C P M and P E R T tech- their lives from rapidly c h a n g i n g goals, from perpetual
niques e m e r g e d in large defence and space contracts. The changes and unexpected constraints that are constantly at
construction industry was a m o n g the first to adopt the loggerheads with each other and impinge on the schedule.

Table I Evolution of models of project management

Central concept
Scheduling (control)
Teamwork (integration)
Reducing uncertainty
(flexibility)
Simultaneity (dynamism)
Era of model Dominant project Main thrust Metaphor Means
characteristics
1960s Simple, certain Coordinating Scheduling regional Information technology,
flights in an airline planning specialists
1970s Complex, uncertain Cooperation between Conducting a Process facilitation,
participants symphony orchestra definition of roles
1980s Complex, uncertain Making stable Exploring an Search for information,
decisions unknown country selective redundancy
1990s Complex, uncertain, Orchestrating Directing a three-ring Experience,
quick contending demands circus continuously responsiveness and
switching acts based on adaptability
the crowd's response

190

The third style for project management which emerged
during the 1980s has been adopted by resourceful managers.
It aims at reducing uncertainty to a manageable size. The
main challenge is to make stable decisions that will stand
the test of time. The main tools employed to achieve this
purpose are to search for as much relevant information as
possible before and during the decision process and to build
in some redundancy selectively to buffer the unforeseen.
These steps infuse a flexibility that allows the project to stay
on a stable course and protect it against the vagaries of
future uncertainties 9~°.
In the 1990s, however, as time-to-market became the
driving factor in many industrial companies, we found a
new style dominating--simultaneity. The very effective
project managers appear, superficially, to be working
disjointedly, in paradoxically opposite directions. In reality
they are integrating areas widely separated in space and
time, in hierarchy and methods, in orientation and philos-
ophy. The simultaneous managers integrate tasks and
people but differentiate between them at the same time.
They devise and use formal as well as informal procedures.
Goals and means in situations like these are not resolved
sequentially and separately but rather simultaneously and
interactively.
What do we really mean by simultaneity? We can all
agree that " y o u are no place at all when you try to be in
two places at o n c e " . All managers face extremes, e.g.,
short and long term horizons, large issues and small details.
Mediocre managers get stuck in one extreme. Master
project managers swing back and forth in response to rising
needs. They constantly orchestrate rapidly changing con-
tending demands. We call this act of orchestration 'simul-
taneous management'. As we progress towards more
complex, uncertain and quick projects the metaphor charac-
terizing management styles moves on to the more complex
concept, to a three-ring circus.
In the field of general management (in contrast with the
field of project management) the management of contra-
dictions has in recent years become a central theme ~Lt2.
In our work with masterful project managers we found
that the style of simultaneous management could be
summed up in nine principles (see Guide for Action). The
principles are not independent of each other; quite the con-
trary. To understand them and use them correctly one has
to understand and activate all nine simultaneously. The nine
principles divide into three groups, planning, leadership
and integration, and systems.
Planning
Principle 1: systematic and integrative planning
The need for speed should not be a reason to spare time
and effort on early, integrative, and systematic planning.
Systematic planning is a multi-phase process that starts with
setting the objectives, continues with developing the strategies
for implementation, then follows on with determining the
means and resources for meeting the objectives, including
the organizational requirements, and it finishes with design-
ing the control means and standards to measure how the
goals will be attained.
Defining and documenting the project charter constitutes
the first step o f project planning. A charter is a written
contract between the project team and senior management.
Simultaneous management: A Laufer et al.
List of principles: a guide for action
Planning
1. Systematic and integrative planning
Plan systematicallyand integratively. Start as early as possible, set
project objectives and employ a multi-stage process. At each stage
prepare all functional plans simultaneously and interdependently.
2. Timely decisions adjusted to uncertainty
Adjust the timing of decisions and their degree of completeness,
the planning horizon and the degree of detail of the plan to the
completeness and stability of the information. Selectively split
decisions to enhance their stability. Acceleratetheir implementation
to obtain fast feedback for further planning.
3. Isolation and absorption
Decouple interdependent tasks and isolate tasks plagued by very
high uncertainty. When decoupling is impossible, absorb the
uncertainty by employing redundant resources selectively, or
manage the interface between interdependent tasks.
Leadership and integration
4. Inward and outward leadership
The project manager should lead the project throughout. To do so,
he or she must assume both internal and external leadership roles.
5. Multi-phase integration
Involvethe leaderships of the next phases of the project in planning
as early as possible. When conditions permit proceed to execution
overlap.
6. Multi-disciplinary teams
Develop multi-disciplinary teams at the various levels. Involve all
concerned parties and foster cooperation and teamwork.
Systems
7. Intensive communication
Design and foster intensive, open and timely communicationwithin
and withoutthe teams. Employ multiple channels and mediums, in
particular modern information technology and extensive face-to-
face interactions.
8. Simple procedures
Prepare systems that prescribe for most processes simple and brief
procedures. All flexibility of detail in 'how to'. Restrict optimiz-
ation to the essential.
9. Systematic monitoring
Systematically monitor project performanceof achieving objectives
and utilization of means. Periodically scan the project environment
and monitor the changes in the critical planning assumptions.
It spells out the arguments for the business justification,
identifies the project leadership and sponsorship, and estab-
lishes objectives and success criteria for project execution.
The typical areas dealt with by project planning are:
project definition (e.g. scope definition, design basis), budget,
schedule, organization and systems, human resources,
logistics and support, contracting and procurement, and
construction. The very successful project managers place
the emphasis on perceiving and acting early on the overall
situation when they can effectively influence the course of
events. They deal with the set of decisions as a system and
achieve this by tackling all functional plans simultaneously
and interdependently. Decisions made during design en-
gineering, for instance, are affected by and integrated with
those of other functions such as cost, scheduling, procure-
ment, organization, and vice versa. This is a key element
to making their planning really effective. The planning work
is documented and articulated in plans which will be used
as guidelines for execution, authorization, communication,
coordination, and control. Suitable formal tools and pro-
cedures are used for preparing and communicating the plans.
The typical tools are work breakdown structure, network
scheduling, cost estimating, and task responsibility matrixes.
191
Simultaneous management: A Laufer et ai.
The value of formal planning can be appreciated even in
small projects. From experience in small projects we
learned that if one is tempted to minimize planning and
engineering costs by cutting corners on planning time, the
costs rise way above the expected level. We found that most
projects do not reach the point of diminishing returns on
resources spent on planning. Post-mortem examinations
tracing the cause of failures in project execution nearly
always point to deficiencies in adhering to the principle of
systematic and integrative planning.
Systematic planning constitutes the central pillar for
excellence in project management. However, to translate
this principle effectively into reality under conditions of
uncertainty it must be accompanied by the correct applica-
tion of the second principle, i.e., timely decision making.
Principle 2: timely decisions adjusted to uncertainty
Systematic and integrative planning consists of many inter-
dependent decisions. Under conditions of uncertainty,
managers do not attempt to make optimal decisions; they
settle for stable decisions. This they achieve by adjusting
the timing of decisions and their degree of completeness,
the time-horizon of the planning, and the extent of detail of
the plan to the stability and completeness of the information
on hand. They will therefore pay much attention to the
quality and completeness of the information at an early
stage. The accent is not on passively receiving mainly
internal information but on the early detection of missing
information, and on the proactive effort of gathering, verify-
ing, generating or trading of information from whatever
source, internal or external.
In the absence of complete and stable information,
problems will at times be resolved by postponing a decision
or parts of it. This can happen, for instance, when the
objectives and the guidelines are unclear or incomplete, and
there is reason to believe that with the passage of time
management can fill in the missing information. Generally,
though, advancing planning requires accelerating decisions,
not delaying them, even overlapping two planning stages,
that is, starting the next stage of planning before having
finished the previous one. This overlapping also occurs, at
times quite emphatically, with regard to objectives. The
project manager often finds it difficult to define the objec-
tives until he or she can visualize the means to be employed.
In most cases selective overlapping between the planning
and its ensuing execution becomes necessary.
As an example we mention a case of adding a new facility
to an existing plant that was to be connected by an under-
ground tunnel running across unmarked utility and com-
munication lines. The solution was to split the tunnel away
from the rest of the project starting at once with its
engineering design and beginning to dig the tunnel early.
This solution of concurrent design and execution enabled
project management to obtain the required feedback to
complete the missing information about the tunnel and
other elements of the project.
The preference for 'constant nibbling', up to certain
moments and relative to limited items of the project, over
a 'good bite' or a 'grand design' becomes even more
appropriate when dealing with technology development.
Here we give the example of a modification project to
improve the production performance of certain large,
basically similar machines in a number of plants. It was
necessary to conduct the relevant experiments on a machine,
192
chosen by many different specifications, to establish the
validity of the modification scheme. Although development
engineers were inclined to pick the most complicated machine
in order to accumulate the most diversified learning
experience, the machine actually picked was the one that
yielded the fastest learning experience. The experiment on
the one machine was even split into subsections in order to
minimize the crucial elements of uncertainty at the fastest
possible rate.
The principle of simultaneous planning and execution is
primary in this concept of timely and stable decisions.
It stands in sharp opposition to the principles of the old
paradigm. Those who deny or ignore uncertainty find it
difficult to accept, or even to comprehend the principle of
simultaneous planning and execution. In contrast, our master
project managers pursue a line of rational incrementalism.
This would be analogous to making a few cuts on a hedge
to see how the job shapes up to establish a good basis for
the complete trimming plan. With the aid of a number of
small scale trials the project manager strives to solidify his
or her basis for the full scale plans as quickly as possible,
providing the basis is not conceived prematurely.
The expert project manager, after breaking out from the
confines of separate and distinct decisions to the larger
plan, turns his or her attention simultaneously to multiple
time horizons:
• Along-term, low detail level, time horizon--to the
culmination of the project--as a forecasting and control
instrument to pilot along to the target.
• A medium-term, moderate detail level, time horizon--
spanning a few months--to facilitate the study of specific
project items; also to consider tentative plans that
require accord with various participants.
• A short-term, fully detailed, time horizon, designed as
an action plan for 1-4 weeks ahead.
This approach of multi-time horizons is like employing
multi-focal lenses which enables planning in greater detail
at the applicable stage of the project. It does not advocate
delaying the start of planning. On the contrary, early plan-
ning becomes meaningful only when partial solutions (i.e.
initial planning with a low degree of detail) are given their
appropriate place.
At the onset of project planning the frequency and impor-
tance of decision making is high. Master project managers
do not see their roles so much in making the best decisions
as in assuring that the best decisions are made, in other
words they manage the decision-making process. The early
stages of the planning process in particular are seen by
master project managers as a production process for decisions
(a 'decision making factor'). In this capacity they ensure
decisions are made at the right time with the appropriate
horizon and degree of detail.
Principle 3: isolation and absorption
This principle is also designed to produce as much as pos-
sible a stable and robust plan capable of weathering un-
foreseen changes. The focus here, however, is not directly
on the missing information or guidelines, or on the unstable
information originating in the environmental conditions of
the project. It is applied mainly to the problems arising
from the internal complexity of the project such as those
stemming from the interdependence of multiple, dissimilar

elements. While under conditions of certainty high inter-
dependence of processes or tasks might be a sign of the
optimal utilization of resources, under conditions of uncer-
tainty a few uncertain tasks can quickly proliferate into
uncertainties of all components of the plan. Analysing and
documenting the interdependence of tasks (as recommended
in the traditional approach of network scheduling) is never
quite sufficient; a more aggressive approach is needed. One
should decouple interdependent tasks and isolate them from
those plagued by high uncertainty. This prevents one bad
apple from spoiling the whole basket. If some high un-
certainty tasks cannot be decoupled from the rest of the
project, we may have to absorb the uncertainty by selec-
tively employing redundant resources.
In the example of piling and foundation design engineering,
progress was stalled because of a lack of information
regarding the location and the type of equipment to be
furnished. The design engineering group was convened and
agreed to provide for a larger maximum load and spatial
envelop for the equipment. The foundation design and
construction work could thus proceed well before the
equipment uncertainty could be resolved. This required
the use of some redundant resources with little effect
on the overall project costs. The interdependence was thus
decoupled and the work schedule could be maintained
without undue hitches. When the decoupling or absorption
of uncertainty are not feasible, the solution provided by
our expert managers is a mechanism for managing the
interface between the uncertain component and the rest of
the project, i.e. a special liaison function to manage the
interdependencies.
Technological innovations and developments should be
limited only to those essential to achieve project objectives.
Even then, they increase uncertainty. The probability of
objectives being reached diminishes dramatically when
several interdependent elements suffer from uncertainty.
Concentrating uncertainties to a limited number of tasks
instead of spreading them over most of the tasks can be
helpful. It helps reduce the volume of information that has
to be processed through the system, it allows project
management to place a limited number of well-qualified
people on tasks they can handle competently, and--as
statistics show--it improves the chances of achieving the
overall target. Where highly uncertain and crucial technical
innovations are being introduced, it may be advisable to
consider some measure of duplication, such as using two
parallel alternatives for development.
The principle of isolation and absorption is occasionally
practised by most managers. The expert manager, however,
handles it explicitly and continually by deliberate and
focused emphasis and consideration. Already at the early
stages of the project schematic maps of tasks and relation-
ships are prepared. This helps identify boundaries and
interdependencies among the core parties and the external
stakeholders. Such maps facilitate communication among
project members when scope definition has not yet crystal-
lized. It also enables project management, already at a very
early stage, to focus attention on clusters of highly inter-
dependent tasks. At this stage in the project it is relatively
easy to decouple interdependencies.
Therefore, by employing essential redundancies the
manager is able to formulate an integrative project plan
with maximum reliability and adaptability; a plan that will
absorb unforeseen future changes.
Simultaneous management: A Laufer et al.
Leadership and integration
Principle 4: inward and outward leadership
Successful projects are those managed by project managers
who are involved from the earliest stages of a project's
inception until it is taken over by the operating team.
Project managers exercise influence and a high degree of
involvement in the areas of cost, scheduling, staffing, and
technical scope. The main management thrust, however,
lies in the integration of information, decisions, plans and
tasks, and particularly in the integration of all the partici-
pating organizations and people in the project.
To accomplish this integration the skilled project manager
must possess a quality of leadership capable of navigating
the project in a turbulent environment and of aligning the
many factors connected with the project to work towards its
objectives. To lead the project successfully the master
project manager turns his or her attention inward as well as
outward. The internal leader must have the ability to com-
municate the project vision, its objectives and strategy of
execution to the project team, to facilitate team building
activities, to motivate and inspire the team members to
sustain their commitment and enthusiasm, to manage the
decision-making process which also entails monitoring and
expediting missing information, and to monitor performance.
Because project boundaries in turbulent environments are
permeable, the project manager must also focus outwardly.
To obtain the required resources (e.g. for engineering
design), the project manager must, first of all, negotiate
with senior and functional managers the objectives and
resources needed to accomplish them. In addition, successful
project managers will establish an early rapport with the
customers and users, for instance, to ensure alignment
regarding the project charter. This may include a number
of visits to manufacturing plants for talks and deliberations
at various levels of management there. Occasionally, during
the lifetime of the project, he or she must secure the
management's and/or the customer's agreement to signi-
ficant changes concerning the realization or even the
direction of the project. Our master project managers are
proactively engaged in scanning, coordinating and lobbying.
They take pains to maintain constant communication to
secure the support of their top management and the customer
throughout the life of the project.
Outward attention also includes factors outside the com-
pany which have an impact on the project. These might be
regulatory bodies, local communities and various potential
suppliers. In recent years it has become quite common to
pursue various licenses and permits during the stage of
conceptual planning so as to adjust the scope of the project
and the design to the constraints imposed by regulatory
bodies. At these early stages, adjustments of this kind are
easily absorbed. To save precious time taken up by various
(often bureaucratic) authorities, for instance, one suc-
cessful project manager took it upon himself to design the,
as yet unapproved, approach road to a plant in a new
district, to have it ready for implementation immediately on
receipt of the approval. In problematical areas, during quite
early stages of the design engineering, local unions are
solicited to obtain favorable labor agreements.
Successful managers give unobtrusively inward and out-
ward attention to provide for, or steer clear of, unexpected
contingencies. Moreover, as integrator of disparate parties
with different orientation and focus, the project manager
193
Simultaneous management: A Laufer et al.
must be able to translate and bridge the gap between the
customer, the engineers, and the constructors. The customer
is most interested in the final production facility; the
engineers care more about the design documents and process
elegance; whereas the constructors as implementors see
their chief function executing the project and less in what
the project is destined to manufacture. The master project
manager integrates these different orientations into a single
unit working for a common mission.
Principle 5: multi-phase integration
The multi-phase integration principle consists of important
organizational and time-related aspects to achieve speed
and quality of decisions. Its implementation results in
vertical organizational integration and parallel (concurrent)
execution of project phases. Typically, capital projects can
be broken down into six phases: feasibility studies, con-
ceptual planning, project definition, engineering design,
procurement/construction, and commissioning/start up.
The first three phases are normally the concern of the
owner of the industrial company. The next three phases are
implemented by contractors, vendors and suppliers under
the supervision of the owner's representatives.
According to this principle the leaders of the next phases
of the project are involved in planning from the earliest
possible moment and in all subsequent phases. The project
manager is best brought in at the feasibility study stage or
at the latest, at the beginning of the conceptual planning
stage. The leadership of the engineering design contractor
associates with the planning team during, or at the latest at
the closing stage, of the conceptual planning phase. This
would be joined by leading representatives of the owner in
the areas of procurement and contracts as well as by
representatives from the manufacturing plant. During the
project definition phase the leadership of the construction
contractor and of the important equipment vendors will join
in. Later, in the course of the project, while maintaining
essential conditions that will be spelled out further on, the
multi-phase planning integration becomes the multi-phase
execution overlap. In the execution overlap the design
engineering contractor mobilizes forces to start work
before the project definition team has completed its part;
the construction contractor and the important suppliers
begin the construction and fabrication before all engineering
design for the whole project has been completed, and the
start-up phase begins before all the construction and instal-
lation at the site have been finished. Multi-phase integration
is facilitated when the contracts are long-term commitments
of the partnering or alliance contracting type.
The multi-phase integration affects capital projects in
four important respects: the first concerns the quality of the
upstream decisions taken in the early phases which will
improve thanks to the feedback received from the down-
stream phases. The leadership of the latter challenges the
assumptions and examines the constraints that guided the
former. Take the case of the construction contractor who is
around in the design engineering stage, or maybe even
earlier, in the project definition stage, and obtain the
important result of getting a design adapted to construct-
ability like more use of pre-assemblies and prefabricated
items. Unnecessary constraints that would have made con-
struction more difficult and costly are thus avoided.
Second, the downstream teams also gain new insights
from the interaction with the upstream teams because they
194
now understand better the objectives and constraints that
the upstream teams have faced. The supplier of the equip-
ment, for instance, obtains a wider view of the designers'
problems and will more readily go along with them. The
manufacturing teams are also likely to become supporters
rather than adversaries over new ideas concerning production
processes.
Third, the communication with the upstream teams will
improve and the downstream planning speed will accelerate
markedly. Being bi-directional, continuous and transparent,
communication will become a more fertile interchange that
will assist in the earlier detection of faults, and will effec-
tively reduce the need for changes, with the end result
being a much better level of decision-making productivity.
The final result of gaining the desired speed, is the
readiness of the later phases to start an execution overlap
with the preceding phase. The warm up experienced by the
leadership of that phase as a partner in the decisions of the
preceding phase, prepares it well to make a genuine effort
to accomplish the execution of its own stage speedily. A
word of caution: overlapping execution between two stages
which has not been carefully planned and reviewed with
regard to uncertainty may cause a heavy overrun of expen-
diture, by far outweighing the gain obtained from the
overlap. Generally, it leads either to an attempt to absorb
uncertainty with excessive redundancies and waste or to a
need for the reworking of a substantial portion of the
project. This will damage the morale of workers, break
the momentum, disrupt the orderly process of planning,
and throw the work into disarray. For the overlapping of
execution to be correct and to work well, the above principles
of reducing and isolating uncertainty must be observed.
That is, overlapping engineering and construction can be
successful when the concepts of timely and stable decisions
and isolation and absorption are adhered to. Overlap should
occur between parts of the project that were decoupled
from the rest and are shielded in relative certainty.
When adhering to these concepts, good project managers
succeed by virtue of better quality decisions through multi-
phase integration and accelerated speed through judiciously
selected overlaps.
Principle 6: multi-disciplinary teams
Projects are not delivered by project managers but by
teams. A team composed of all the necessary specialists and
experts is able to make integrative decisions based on
seeing the picture as a whole, and executes them later on
with greater speed. Invariably, behind each successful
project we find an excellent team. The excellent team is
committed to a common mission and specific objectives.
The members of the team adopt an interdisciplinary orien-
tation so they can reconcile the objectives of their own
discipline with those of the project. The individuals on the
team depend one upon another, at least in important
subjects, which cements the team together. This mutual
trust among key members of the high performance team
helps to avoid the withholding of information between
members. A good team also maintains a high level of
energy, enthusiasm, inspiration, and commitment which is
not upset because of difficulties encountered with the
project.
With all these collaborative attributes, the really suc-
cessful team instills in its individual members a sense of
belonging and of pride in the specialization in which they

excel, which leads to creative and innovative solutions.
High performance teams, however, recognize that team
and individual success are inseparable. They therefore
foster cohesiveness and strengthen the bond between them
that transcends their differences. They go out and dine
together, they develop their own group humor and all kinds
of peculiar rituals with which they celebrate their little
victories. It all acts as an effective 'lightning rod' to release
tensions.
Team activities undergo changes in the course of a
project and therefore change their game styles. In the
closing stage of the project, for instance, when approaching
start up, it becomes like a game of football with a strong
central leadership which places the players in fixed positions,
with emphasis on scheduling and control. In contrast,
during the early stages of hatching the project and during
the conceptual planning stage, the game plan resembles
more a game of basketball. The leadership wants to faci-
litate the process in a small team tied by quite loose
definitions of functions to promote creative interaction and
high adaptability. As the project progresses, a gradual
transition from uncertainty to certainty, from creative dis-
covery to programmed activity takes place. But unpredicted
situations do occur somewhere in between, even in the
advanced stages, and switching back to basketball in the
middle of the field becomes necessary. The dynamics of
team integration is particularly noticeable during phases
when game plans change perceptibly. As the facilitator of
the process the project manager must have a well-developed
sense of timing for the right moment of switching.
It is vital to realize that teams are developed, not drawn
on organizational charts. The following is an example
describing the development of two excellent teams in a
complex project with multiple objectives. The project's
primary objective was to increase the capacity of the manu-
facturing plant by 50%, whereas its social system objective
entailed fundamental organizational changes throughout the
plant. The project was led and coordinated by a steering
team composed of the project manager, plant operations
manager, plant cultural change manager, and plant tech-
nical systems manager. No one team member had total
responsibility--it was shared.
From its formation, the steering team was faced with a
mountain of challenges, and could easily have spent its time
and energy addressing tasks as they surfaced and demanded
attention. Instead, the team members realized their initial
focus needed to be on forming a working team from a group
of individuals. Team-building energy focused on foundation
work. The team documented how it would function, com-
municate with the organizations it managed, make decisions
and interact with senior management. These documents
became firm bases for planning, working, and making
changes as they arose.
The other foundation for this team was a weekly half-day
meeting where the team reviewed progress and key issues,
made plans for the coming weeks, and defined what sys-
tematic responses were needed to present and future
barriers. These weekly meetings built the teamwork that
established the team's 'single-voice', an aligned position on
all key project issues from training to equipment decisions
to production schedules. This single voice was critical to
the project's success.
The technical team of the project consisted of a few
owner's representatives and a large number of engineers
Simultaneous management: A Laufer et al.
from four different contractors. A variety of factors com-
bined to make the team cohesive, but the single most
obvious factor in its development was the bi-weekly 'big'
team meeting where each sub-area reviewed its progress
for the past 2 weeks and its plans for the coming weeks. At
the beginning, these meetings seemed artificial, because the
subjects addressed ranged from one end of the plant to the
other end, and covered every technology area. The focus
was particularly on issues where these areas came into
contact with each other, often a point of dissension between
team members. There were usually 25 people in the room
and, although each session cost more than $2500 and
produced no engineering drawings, the meetings produced
a cadre of people who understood the magnitude and
complexity of the project.
Although the leadership and accountability for the success
of the technical team clearly rested with the project manager,
his role at these meetings was primarily as facilitator. The
intent was not to reshape individual views into consensus
but rather to maintain the team diversity while promoting
a higher level of understanding between the various mem-
bers. This way team members were able to see their parts
in the big picture. They acted more and more cohesively,
responding when and where problems needed to be solved
--at the interface, not in response to some boss up the line.
The interaction and involvement of the team members im-
proved progressively over the 18 months of engineering.
The results achieved on this project were outstanding.
The interwoven priorities of technical change and social
system change were effectively addressed. All capacity
objectives were met, capital costs were on target and the
systems started production ahead of schedule. Many factors
contributed to these excellent results, but none was more
significant than the value contributed by the steering and
technical teams. By the close of the job, the contractor by
whom each person was employed was indistinguishable
from the rest. They had all become card-carrying members
of the project team.
Systems
Principle 7: intensive communication
Intensive communication is a central factor in leading and
integrating people and taking decisions to produce a suc-
cessful project. True as this is in general, it is particularly
so in modern projects. The best remedy to reduce uncer-
tainty in a world of ambiguous, clouded, changing and
volatile information is to collect, create and circulate infor-
mation. When a project advances quickly the information
must also flow fast. During the overlap between planning
and implementation, decisions to execute will naturally
undergo changes. Consequently, significant information
must flow throughout the life of the project. Furthermore,
the decision makers who are also responsible for the imple-
mentation suffer from a chronic shortage of time to handle
the information--receiving, processing and imparting. The
challenge and strain of fueling the moving vehicle at the
right time becomes enormous. When taking into account
the need to synchronize the multiple internal and external
factors impacting the project at all levels of organizational
hierarchy and professional specialization, we begin to
understand the enormity and the manifold dimensions,
variety and facets of the communication.
195
Simultaneous management: A Laufer et al.
The requisite variety concept of Ashby (a pioneer of
cybernetics) states that only variety can absorb variety.
Indeed, in the champion projects we see the materialization
of this idea. The communication is prolific in content,
format and medium; it is open, transparent and free flowing
across all levels and functions; it deals with a huge diversity
of technical and administrative, business and commercial
matters. But most of all, the information flows in gigantic
volume, speed and frequency and in many directions.
The flow of communication in the successful project
resembles traffic in a metropolitan city, heavy with noisy
movement of all types of conveyances: bicycles, motorbikes,
cars, cabs, trucks, buses, streetcars and trains, going in all
directions at a breakneck speed without stopping. It is as
though we watch the traffic at the Place Charles de Gaulle
(Etoile) in Paris at rush hour at three times the normal
speed, seemingly chaotic, but in fact flowing without a
hitch, with resolute purposefulness and direction. The
effective manager does not act in this tangle as a good traffic
officer but more like the top person in the traffic control
center of the city responsible for the design, planning,
adjustment and maintenance of the flow in lanes, highways
and byways, and monitoring the city's heart-beat operating
in concert. This function grows from a highly developed
culture of communication developed over many years,
which understands the intricacies of its mechanism, and
knows to avoid the indiscriminate use of communication, to
avoid overloading channels and clogging the traffic. The
performance is all the more astonishing as the manager will
often encourage redundancy of information in the form of
repeated descriptions over the other media, a duplication
designed to ensure relaying the message reliably. Redun-
dancy is important to prevent vagueness and uncertainty by
reinforcing understanding through additional transmissions,
especially in connection with new, largely abstract ideas
between highly specialized groups of people who occasion-
ally use an exclusive jargon.
Modern communications employ reliable, diversified
media, from letters and memos by ordinary and electronic
mail to 3D CAD drawings and photos, integrated database
systems and more, that tie together all the participants,
including suppliers and vendors at remote locations, into
one vast, interacting field under the direction of the project
management leadership.
However, modern electronic communication devices are
no substitute for human contact. Communication is well
designed not only to transmit and coordinate but also to
interpret and eliminate equivocation, as well as to generate
new ideas. There is no substitute for face-to-face meetings.
It provides the riches of all media of communication. The
feedback is instantaneous and enables the immediate cor-
rection of interpretations. It uses all the means a person has
to put a point across by explanation, emphasis, repetition,
intonation, body language, in addition to modem presen-
tation aids. Meetings, as a means of communication, carry
on into the last stages of the project. For example, there are
more than five different types of meetings at a typical
construction site, each occurring at a frequency of between
1 week and 1 month.
During the first stages of the project many unscheduled
meetings take place. These important meetings are mostly
ad hoc, on a one-to-one basis outside the office, in the
corridor, at the copy machine, in the cafeteria, etc., to clear
up ideas or reconcile differences. They remove obstacles
196
and accelerate the pace of understanding and are the reason
why successful project teams are co-located. Thus, in the
conceptual stage the representatives of the design engineer
move in with the owner at his home office, in the design
stage the representatives of the owner, the constructors,
and the suppliers stay with the design engineers, and when
construction starts representatives of all parties come to the
project site.
Intensive communication is led by effective project
managers themselves who, although acting as the chief
communicators, are mainly the social architects and managers
of the system. Herein lies the secret of why excellent teams
show an ability to handle many outstanding achievements
simultaneously: to develop original ideas, to prepare in-
tegrated, stable, and flexible plans, to coordinate group
work and align it with the surrounding system, bringing all
together as a cohesive unit.
Principle 8: simple procedures
Great project managers excel because of their pronounced
orientation to bottom-line products, to results. Oddly enough
they achieve first-rate results by actually paying attention to
processes and by relying on formal, standard procedures.
Excellent managers, although relating to each project as an
individual creation, are nevertheless able to perceive the
common threads of processes in all projects. Companies
which have craved to abolish bureaucracy and have made
efforts to erase formal systems for capital projects have
soon found out that it was impossible to function without
them. On the other hand, it should be stressed that com-
panies 'loaded to the rafters' with many detailed procedures
cannot be held up as shining examples of success. Looking
behind the curtain sadly we find that the procedures are not
all in use. In successful companies the formal systems and
procedures are something quite different.
In successful companies procedures differ in a number of
respects. In the first place procedures are designed mainly
to serve the horizontal needs, that is to say, to strengthen
more the lateral ties between the implementors and less the
vertical direction of to-down control. When the procedures
are designed, great emphasis is laid on the fact that they
reflect the continuously changing reality as closely as pos-
sible, and that adherence to the procedures provides a
distinct value to the business unit. Therefore, the corporate
and the business unit staff develop the procedures in close
cooperation with the field people. The design of the pro-
cedures takes into account that different projects require
different actions that cannot be spelled out in one standard
procedure. The procedures are therefore designed to allow
flexibility with an emphasis on 'what', describing mainly
the product (i.e. documents) of the procedures. On the
'how' side there is only a general outline of the process.
For specific detail, the interested user is referred to the
books of 'best practices' or 'success stories'.
The final result of implementing this principle is that the
procedures are simple, brief, omit detailed rules and require
only a minimum of paperwork and approvals. Nevertheless,
there are occasions which call for complex procedures and
analytical tools that require much time for the collection of
data, generally of a quantitative nature, for its processing,
evaluation, presentation and implementation. In the pre-
definition stage of the project, for instance, there are
procedures for various feasibility studies, risk analysis, and
cost estimating. These occasions are infrequent, because
 Simultaneous management: A Laufer et al.

the least available commodity in the manager's kitbag is
time. If one adds to their chronic lack of time the lack of
stable information and the need for expeditious action,
one realizes that perfection on all fronts is a dangerous
luxury. Therefore, optimized solutions are sought but only
selectively.
In the successful companies which proceed by the prag-
matic method outlined above and which develop simple
procedures, more and more project managers find the
procedures are applicable to any specific project, with only
minimal adaptations. The way these procedures are used
depends mainly on the experience of the users. For young
and new project managers, who have become quite numerous
in recent years because of the many company acquisitions
and the accelerated pace of globalization, these procedures
and tools function as road maps that improve their effici-
ency and reliability. For project managers with a rich back-
ground of experience these procedures are only milestones
to verify their course. For them they are mainly checklists
to ensure that no process is overlooked as a result of the
pressure of time. The expert managers do not need them for
themselves because they know the score by heart. But they
do need them as an instrument with which to improve the
quality and reliability of communication, to help them in
creating a common vocabulary. In the world of project
management there are many concepts for which there are
no hard and fast definitions, and in the environment of the
multitude of disciplines, specialization and trade or slang
terms, one easily gets lost like in the Tower of Babel. The
simple procedures will also be useful for training and on-
the-job coaching.
We found that complementary to Ashby's requisite
variety concept, a central component of the successful
project in the battle with outside disorder, is its internal
order and stability. As project managers enrich their ex-
perience in the course of time with the conditions in the
outside world, of their desire to strengthen the internal
order through simple procedures increases.
Principle 9: systematic monitoring
The need to monitor execution systematically is based on
the home truth that identifying a small problem is difficult
- correcting it is easy; identifying a big problem is easy -
correcting it is difficult. In the classical approach of the old
paradigm in which uncertainty receives only marginal
attention, the perceived purpose of monitoring, termed
'control', is to 'seek to compel events to conform to plan'.
Good project managers have far greater aims than that.
They monitor simultaneously the utilization of the means
(efficiency), the achievement of objectives (effectiveness),
and the validity of the objectives (due to changes in the
project's environment).
Therefore, monitoring starts early with the initial plan-
ning and focuses on the environment. This is based on the
realization that, as an open system, the project's environ-
ment has an incisive effect on its success. A simple tool, the
critical assumptions matrix (see Table 2), can be used to
monitor the project environment. The assumptions in the
matrix are those that are critical to the project's success and
are most prone to fluctuation. The matrix separates assump-
tions in two ways. First, division into three environmental
areas according to origins: business and economics, tech-
nical and physical, and political, organizational and human
resources. The second division is by three levels of
environment according to the ability of the project team to
exert an influence over them: controlled by the project
team, influenceable, and controlled externally.
The person responsible for monitoring the assumptions,
among whom are members of senior management and
the customer, is indicated in the matrix adjacent to each
assumption. Scanning the environment and monitoring the
changes in the critical assumptions allow timely revisions
of the plan and occasionally also of objectives. The periodic
review of the matrix invariably draws the attention of
everyone to the current uncertainties. Problems previously
ignored and neglected, intentionally or unintentionally, are
now brought up for review in an atmosphere of extraordinary
receptiveness and relevance. The skillful project manager
is able to minimize surprises by using the anticipatory
monitoring device.
The classical monitoring of achieving objectives and
utilization of resources is now handled by a highly developed
system of reports and measures adapted to the various levels
of management, senior, project and construction manage-
ment. To keep to the concept of simple procedures, the
number of measures for each level of management is limited.
Senior management involvement is primarily through its
participation in the periodic or phase reviews. This allows
management to be appropriately visible and influential
while the project manager retains sufficient autonomy.
In successful companies there is also systematic monitoring
of the methodology and processes of project management.
One of the most effective ways is learning from the experi-
ence group, a group of field people that meets periodically
to review, analyse and interpret the effectiveness of the
processes, actions and tools which they use in the current

Table 2 An example of a critical assumptions matrix

Environment Business and economic
Controlled by We can identify acceptable infrastructure
project team options which cost no more than the
allowance in the March estimate. (BRS)*
lnfluenceable We will receive capital in quantities and
on schedule as laid out in March. (HCD)
Externally Sales growth will match the forecast
controlled laid out in March. (HCD)
Technical and physical
We can finish the technical feasibility
study concerning auxiliary equipment
by 10.15.92. (FDR)
We will be able to obtain not
prohibitively expensive environmental
and building permits. (MHW, CEG)
No major technological breakthrough
will be needed. (RDR)
Political, organizational and human
resources
We will be able to recruit an experienced
control engineer before the beginning of
the preparation of design criteria,
approximately by 12.1.92. (HCD)
We can maintain strong support/visibility
of category management and plant
management throughout the life of the
project. (HCD)
There will be adequate skilled construction
labor during summer 1993. (BCL)

*Person responsible for monitoring the assumption.

197
Simultaneous management: A Laufer et al.
projects. A suitable atmosphere of openness and a culture
of continuous learning, and sometimes the recognition of
the need to unlearn, are central for the constant striving to
improve the methodology of the management of projects.
Achieving synergy with simultaneous management
The nine principles of simultaneous management form a
gestalt--an integrated whole. Simultaneous management
can be summed up in one breath: by planning systematically,
making early (but not premature) adequate decisions,
involving all parties concerned early, leading them as a
team, operating first-rate communications, using simple
procedures, executing the project's phases early and in
parallel (after appropriately splitting the project), monitoring
project performance and the environment, and judiciously
adapting the project's execution to arising contingencies--
one can execute challenging projects with excellence and
speed.
The interdependence between the principles and their
complementary nature to each other is an important charac-
teristic of this new style of management. It is, for instance,
impossible to prepare integrative plans without teamwork;
it is equally impossible to use a team effectively without
specific objectives and plans. Also, for good planning you
need a highly developed information and communication
system. On the other hand, clear plans contribute a primary
medium for effective project communication. Conversely,
it is not possible to inspire teamwork without free-flowing
and open communication. But free-flowing and open
communication will be greatly facilitated if the barriers and
obstacles in a team have been removed.
In our era, when we are trying to push for more with less,
for excellent and fast projects, the race is after synergy in
which the value of the whole is greater than the sum of
its parts. These nine principles, taken together, form the
foundation on which real synergy is achieved at the project
level.
We have presented here the principles for achieving
excellence learned from observing master project managers
at work. What can one say about the qualifications required
from such masters? Managing a temporary and amorphous
organization that must be aligned across boundaries to
make it highly responsive and capable of quick reactions,
maintaining consistency throughout the duration of the
project, demands a high degree of managerial skill. The
project manager must not only be a skilled leader of people
with a sound knowledge of the applied technologies. Beyond
his or her mastery of handling the tools of project manage-
ment, including its business aspects, he or she must also be
a diplomat to bridge conflicts of interest. A rich background
of experience is essential for managing novel, complex and
fast-paced projects. This is the cutting edge with which the
project manager can make recurrent diagnoses to adjust the
project management methodology to a fluent situation.
However, the outstanding characteristic of the successful
project manager is his or her versatility and agility of
perspective with which he or she can come to grips with the
necessity of responsiveness and adaptation to resolve the
densely packed problems which projects encounter.
Managers possessed of such qualifications are at present
not in abundance in any company. This compels top
management to be selective in setting ambitious objectives
for prospective projects. Companies picking projects to fit
198
the capabilities of their project managers, by giving them
full backing to let them deploy their talent for simultaneous
management, do accomplish synergetic achievements.
Unique and complex projects are thus executed at a great
speed without penalty to quality and costs, with much
gratification to the customer.
To the outside inexperienced observers, particularly
those unfamiliar with simultaneous management, there
appear to be many contradictions, paradoxes and tensions
--short vs long-term horizon, harmonious and unified
teamwork on the one hand, encouraging the creativity of
the individual on the other, demand for face-to-face com-
munication and also mastery of high-tech information tech-
nology. We did not detect any tensions in the master
managers riding astride these opposites. In fact, they seem
to thrive on them. Their capability to domesticate these
paradoxes gives them a personal satisfaction enabling them
to perform well. The master project manager consciously
plans the apparent imperfections simultaneously, the long-
term horizon with its inherent shortcomings (decreasing the
stability of the decisions) and the short-term horizon with
its constraint (straining consistency of the plan) in the
knowledge that they complement each other. What appeared
in the old paradigm as irrational is in the new paradigm
the only way to manage rationally and to accomplish the
mission with excellence.
References
1 Laufer, A Simultaneous Management: Managing Projects in an Era
of Uncertuinty and Accelerated Speed AMACOM, USA (to be
published in 1996)
2 Turner, J R and Cochrane, R A 'Goals-and-methods matrix: coping
with projects with ill defined goals and/or methods of achieving them'
International Journal of Project Management (1993) 93-102
3 Howell, G, Laufer, A and Ballard G 'Uncertainty and project
objectives' Project Appraisal 8 (1993) 37-43
4 Gutsch, R W and Dworatschek, S 'INTERNET--history and future
strategy' INTERNET 9th World Congress, Glasgow 3 (1988) 3 2 - 4 0
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Review March-April (1962) 93
Alexander Laufer is Vice Dean at the
Faculty of Civil Engineering of the
Technion--lsrael Institute of Tech-
nology. He is also head of the Depart-
ment of Construction Management at
the National Building Research Institute
of Israel. He received his PhD in Civil
Engineering at the University of Texas
at Austin in 1980, after which he
taught at Texas A & M University and at
North Carolina State University. Prior
to teaching and research he was en-
gaged for 8 years as a project manager ~
for major owners and for construction
companies. He was later invited to teach at industry sponsored
programs: the AGC Endowed Chair Program at the University of New
Mexico, and the Alliance for Construction Excellence, Visiting
Eminent Scholar Program, at the Arizona State University. A. Laufer
is the author or co-author of more than 80 publications including two
books, and has presented numerous lectures and seminars at univer-
sities, research institutes and industrial establishments. His new book
Simultaneous Management: Managing Projects in an Era of Uncertainty
and Speed, will be published by AMACOM, American Management
Association in 1996. A. Laufer is a member of the International Project
Management Association, Project Management Institute, and the
American Society of Civil Engineers.

Gordon R Denker joined Procter and
Gamble upon graduation in February
1952 and remained there in various
technical and executive positions until
retirement as Manager of Central
Engineering on October 1, 1993. He is
now enjoying retirement with activities
including: physical fitness, fishing,
hunting, gardening, travel, arbitration
and reading.
6 DOD and NASA Guide: PERT Cost Systems Design, Office of the
Secretary of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, Washington, DC (1962)
7 Aram, J D and Morgan, C P 'Role of project team collaboration in
R&D performance" Management Science June (1976)
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Approaches, Methods and Applications Martinus Nijhoff, USA (1986)
Simultaneous management: A Laufer et al.
Dr Aaron J. Shenhar, is the James J.
Renier Visiting Professor in Tech-
nological Leadership at the Center
for the Development of Technological
Leadership, University of Minnesota.
Previously, he was at 7he Leon Recanati
Graduate School of Business Admini-
stration, Tel-Aviv University. Dr
Shenhar holds five academic degrees in
engineering, statistics, and economic
systems - acquired in Israel and at
Stanford University. Prior to academia,
Dr Shenhar accumulated extensive
engineering, scientific, and management
experience in a high-tech environment. Working for over 20 years in
the defence indust~ in Israel, he went through all phases of technical
management, from functional and project manager, to vice president
of human resources, and finally, to manager of a large systems
development division. Dr Shenhar's current teaching and research
interests include management of technology and innovation, and
project and product development management. He is a recognized
speaker and consultant to various leading high-technology organizations.
11 Quinn, R E Beyond Rational Management: Mastering the Paradoxes
and Competing Demands of High Performance Jossey-Bass, USA (1988)
12 Pascale, R T Managing on the Edge: How the Smartest Companies
Use Conflict to Stay Ahead Simon and Shuster, USA (1991)
199