Goal oriented decomposition — Its application for process modelling in the PIMS project

Abstract

This paper presents how a process model for project management has been addressed by the PIMS project. The purpose of a goal oriented decomposition of human activities is presented: an activity is a means (the How to do it?) set to reach a goal (the What to do?). This approach has been used by PIMS for analysing the project management process and produced, on one hand, a set of goals and subgoals and, on the other hand, the Project Management Activities (PMAC) to be executed to achieve these goals. A short presentation of the PIMS prototype is given, and the implementation of the process model is detailed. The process model data are modelled by a Project Management Conceptual Schema (PMCS). A management method is set by the quality engineer using the Process Definition Tool. The Process Guide Tools helps the project manager with managing his project according to a defined method.

Note. This paper is based on the results obtained by the whole PIMS project team, specially the academic team which produced the Frame of Reference (Dina Berkeley, Robert de Hoog and Patrick Humphreys) and the implementation team for the method support (Jon Ola Hove and Danielle Ribot).