Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation - Softcover

Cleland, Alan S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071161392 ISBN 13: 9780071161398

Publisher: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 1999

Synopsis

Once again expert David I. Cleland, a world leader in project management theory and practice, introduces the latest in state-of-the-art team design and project life-cycle evaluation in this new edition of his best-selling Project Management. Outselling other project management guides, this highly respected book is the only source of guidance on strategic project management in both large and small industrial organizations. Updated throughout, with important new examples of the use of alternative and flexible teams in managing enterprises, Project Management provides the tools that industry leaders need to be competitive in the twenty-first century.

About this title

Review

"There is nothing permanent except change," advised Heraclitus of Greece in 513 B.C. Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation, Fourth Edition, by David I. Cleland and Lewis R. Ireland, provides contemporary evidence that both change and improvement are the natural order of things in project management literature.

This new edition contains much of the content of the previous and a whole new look and feel. Its design follows the format of the authors' previous collaborative success, Project Manager's Portable Handbook, with decimally numbered paragraphs for structure and bullet lists for detail. This form of layout and presentation results in content that is modularly organized and easily accessible for readers.

The authors have improved individual chapters by adding a brief introduction that outlines the central points of the chapter and warms up readers for what follows. Each chapter now concludes with four additional sections: a listing of additional sources of information in the form of a generously annotated bibliography; a listing of project management principles that summarize chapter content in pithy statements of enduring, universal value; a project management situation--a brief, descriptive case study that illuminates chapter content by way of a practical example; and a student/reader assignment that offers food for thought, discussion, or investigation.

In whole, the book comprises 22 chapters divided into seven parts that march progressively forward from history through current practice to a view of the future. This new edition provides a guiding graphic that appears at the head of each chapter as a structural map showing readers where they are and maintaining a sense of global reference throughout their journey through the text.

In a very general way, the content of this edition follows closely that of the previous edition, as most sequential editions do. This this is no mere tweaking of text to generate a more current publication date and perhaps rejuvenate sagging sales. It is a significant improvement in both form -- described above -- and substance. The authors have rearranged technical material in places to make it more logical and readable and updated references throughout to make them more relevant to readers and reflective of recent research.

The chapter on strategic issues in project management is a good example. The old material is still there, but newly designed with headings, bullets, and graphics that are more appealing in appearance and more facilitating in function. Bringing things up to date, the authors have added a timely discussion of project portfolio management and references to 10 articles as recent as June 2001.

Cleland and Ireland have combined previous separate chapters on project organization charting and authority into a single chapter that presents a complete integrated view of these interrelated topics. They also have recast the previous chapter on working with project teams as a discussion of effective project teamwork that is more action oriented and that prescribes specific steps to take when building project teams.

A new and much needed chapter addresses project management maturity. The authors briefly discuss the history of maturity models, specific models developed by the Software Engineering Institute and by the Federal Aviation Administration, and two general approaches to model development. They provide a tool for assessing project management maturity and describe the contributing roles of benchmarking and business intelligence. While no cookbook solution to maturity management currently exists, the information in this chapter leaves readers well informed and well armed to deal with this important emerging issue on their own as individual project needs demand.

Another welcome addition is a separate chapter on earned value management systems (EVMS). Unlike texts that limit discussion of earned value to syntax and formulas, Cleland and Ireland address concepts, meaning, and application concisely and completely. They temper the unique and essential utility of EVMS with the candid and practical observation that it is not a tool for all projects. It requires a rigorous detailed plan and disciplined management processes. A poorly defined project will condemn an EVMS effort to frustration and failure.

Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation, Fourth Edition, is not the last word on project management theory and practice. Given the evolutionary nature of the domain, such a book probably will never be written. But it significantly raises the bar for books of its kind and sets a standard against which others may be measured now and in the future. (Project Management Journal 2002-08-01)

About the Author

DAVID I. CLELAND is a Fellow of the Project Management Institute and has received the Institute’s Distinguished Contribution to Project Management award three times. Dr Cleland has been described as the "Father of Project Management" and has been honored through the establishment of the annual David I. Cleland Excellence in Project Management Literature Award sponsored by the Project Management Institute. He is currently Professor Emeritus in the School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, and is the author/editor of 33 books in the fields of project management and engineering management. He resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

LEWIS R. IRELAND is a Fellow of the Project Management Institute and has received the Institute's Distinguished Constribution Award, Person of the Year Award, and many certificates of appreciation. He has more than three decades of management experience and has focused intensely on managing projects and supporting organizational change to project-based enterpise for the past 22 years. Dr. Ireland is active in advancing the project management discipline through participation in professional associations. He is a 20-year veteran of the Project Management Institute and served as its President and Chair in 1998. Dr. Ireland currently serves as Director of Research for the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management. He sides in Monument, Colorado.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw Hill Higher Education
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0071161392
• ISBN 13: 9780071161398
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3