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    Project management in protected areas: a tale of two systems

    Clarke, Richard (1997) Project management in protected areas: a tale of two systems. International Journal of Project Management 15 (4), pp. 245-253. ISSN 0263-7863.

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    Abstract

    This paper examines the application of information technology to project management in the context of the implementation of management plans for protected areas which now cover some 20% of the land surface of developed countries. CMS, an 'off the shelf' system intended for use on any conservation site, is compared with PMIS, an organisationally based bespoke system in which site and property management was merely one aspect of an integrated IT system encompassing virtually every function of a large organisation, the National Trust. CMS was conceived 'bottom up' as a modest experiment by site managers to solve their immediate problems of project control, has been highly successful to date and is in use in over 350 sites within the UK as well as in a number of other countries. PMIS, initiated 'top down' as probably the most ambitious attempt to date of any conservation organisation to computerise its activities has failed to fulfil early hopes, proving unwieldy and expensive and development was curtailed in late 1995. The implications for protected area and conservation site project management are considerable. Small may not be particularly beautiful but is currently the only available option for those who need a working project management system. In the long term however the choice between 'off the shelf' PC-based software and the development of a networked bespoke system will be an increasingly difficult one, particularly for large land managing conservation organisations.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): CMS, PMIS, Protected Area, Implementation Planning, Project Planning And Recording
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
    Depositing User: Richard Clarke
    Date Deposited: 15 Apr 2014 10:08
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:10
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/9588

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