There is no single approach to project management (Ahimbisibwe, Cavana, & Daellenbach, 2015), but a relatively constant model of a project management cycle has been referred to by multiple authors. In particular, the stages of “initiating, planning, execution, and closing” can be singled out as stable and distinct but interrelated and interactive parts of the cycle; apart from that, the iterative stage of “monitoring and controlling processes” is to be embedded within the four elements and should be in action throughout the project management cycle (Project Management Institute, 2013, p. 19; Project Management Videos, 2011).
The life cycle of a project is similar, and it involves the starting, preparing and organizing, implementing, and closing stages (Project Management Institute, 2013, p. 16). As for the lifecycle of a system, different approaches can be suggested, but the concept development can be regarded as the initial stage that is to be followed by product development, production, implementation, and retirement, which is to be carried out if the product becomes completely impossible to update. As a result, this model is iterative since it presupposes the retirement only for the products that cannot be returned to the previous stages (Walden, Roedler, Forsberg, Hamelin, & Shortell, 2015).
Therefore, the life cycles of project, system, and project management are similar in following the stages of initiation, development, and ending. Also, the presented models are similar in being general and not claiming to be the single correct design of a life cycle. Their differences include distinct stages and relationships between them that appear to be related to the specifics of the model’s object (for instance, the iterative stage of project management). However, a different approach to a similar model might generate other stages and relationships. Finally, the cycles are likely to meet at a particular moment of project development, but they do not have to coincide: for instance, the concept development of a product might not correspond to the initiation of the project.
References
Ahimbisibwe, A., Cavana, R., & Daellenbach, U. (2015). A contingency fit model of critical success factors for software development projects. Journal Of Enterprise Information Management, 28(1), 7-33. Web.
Project Management Institute. (2013). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) (5th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Project Management Videos. (2011). The typical phases in project management. Web.
Walden, D., Roedler, G., Forsberg, K., Hamelin, R., & Shortell, T. (2015). Systems engineering handbook. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.