Project Management - Hardcover

Gray, Clifford; Larson, Erik

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0071376011 ISBN 13: 9780071376013

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education, 2002

Synopsis

This is an essential reading for passing the Certified Project Manager exam! The first book to combine operational and human skills into a flexible, proactive project management framework. The ability to effectively manage projects is a, if not the, key skill for managers in today's bare-bones, hyperspeed workplace. Still, in most organizations, comprehensive project management training programs remain more the exception than the rule, leaving managers to make up the rules - and pick up the pieces - as each project takes on a life of its own."Project Management" is today's most thorough training manual and reference for understanding and managing every aspect of the project environment. Focusing on the human element that is critical to project implementation and completion, it provides: an intuitive five-step approach for collecting the necessary information to plan, schedule, and control a project; keys to managing project teams and ensuring effective communication between teams and stakeholders; and, techniques for maintaining control - both formal and informal - over projects of every size and scope.A project is a process, one that either succeeds or fails one small step at a time. As a manager, you and you alone are responsible for the timely and successful completion of each step. "Project Management" features examples, case studies, and analysis for each phase of the typical project, to ensure that each project you manage meets its goals on time and on budget. Projects involve the creation by an individual or team of an entirely new product or process. To reach that goal, project managers must understand both the operational and human aspects of spearheading a project from conception to completion. In addition, because each project has unique characteristics and requirements that often aren't apparent until the project is well under way, a manager must be fully prepared to provide intuitive and instant solutions - and be confident those solutions are correct."Project Management" provides proven guidelines for managing projects from both the operational and behavioral standpoint. This added focus on the human aspect - unique in today's project management professional library - shows you how to work within the existing organizational culture, manage stakeholders and team members based on their differing and often competing goals and viewpoints, and even manage projects across organizations with opposing goals and cultures. Beginning with the initial planning stages and moving through teambuilding, control, and final delivery of project results, "Project Management" outlines solution-oriented, integrated methodologies for implementing the processes of project management.Examples from a wide variety of both manufacturing and service environments highlight the hands-on skills and solutions required for: defining projects; organizing projects; estimating time and cost requirements; analyzing and managing project risk; managing teams and stakeholders; scheduling resources for utilization and availability; monitoring performance; conducting and learning from a project audit; and, effective project managers must seamlessly blend operational skills, prioritization abilities, and behavioral insights, often simultaneously. "Project Management" outlines a step-by-step framework for managing any project, in any industry or environment, and consistently achieving objectives with a maximum of efficiency and a minimum of waste.

About this title

About the Authors

Professor emeritus of management at the College of Business, Oregon State University. He continues to teach undergraduate and graduate project management courses overseas and in the United States; he has personally taught more than 100 executive development seminars and workshops. His research and consulting interests have been divided equally between operations management and project management; he has published numerous articles in these areas, plus a text on project management. He has also conducted research with colleagues in the International Project Management Association. Cliff has been a member of the Project Management Institute since 1976 and was one of the founders of the Portland, Oregon, chapter. He has been the president of Project Management International, Inc. (a training and consulting firm specializing in project management) since 1977. He received his B.A. in economics and management from Millikin University, M.B.A. from Indiana University, and doctorate in operations management from the College of Business, University of Oregon.

Professor of project management in the department of management, marketing, and international business at the College of Business, Oregon State University. He teaches executive, graduate, and undergraduate courses on project management, organizational behavior, and leadership. His research and consulting activities focus on project management. He has published numerous articles on matrix management, product development, and project partnering. He has been a member of the Portland, Oregon, chapter of the Project Management Institute since 1984. In 1995 he worked as a Fullbright scholar with faculty at the Krakow Academy of Economics on modernizing Polish business education. In 2005 he was a visiting professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. He received a B.A. in psychology from Claremont McKenna College and a Ph.D. in management from State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a certified project management professional (PMP).

From the Back Cover

Essential reading for passing the Certified Project Manager exam!

The First Book to Combine Operational and Human Skills into a Flexible, Proactive Project Management Framework

The ability to effectively manage projects is a, if not the, key skill for managers in today's bare-bones, hyperspeed workplace. Still, in most organizations, comprehensive project management training programs remain more the exception than the rule, leaving managers to make up the rules­­and pick up the pieces­­as each project takes on a life of its own.

Project Management is today's most thorough training manual and reference for understanding and managing every aspect of the project environment. Focusing on the human element that is critical to project implementation and completion, it provides:

• An intuitive five-step approach for collecting the necessary information to plan, schedule, and control a project
• Keys to managing project teams and ensuring effective communication between teams and stakeholders
• Techniques for maintaining control­­both formal and informal­­over projects of every size and scope

A project is a process, one that either succeeds or fails one small step at a time. As a manager, you and you alone are responsible for the timely and successful completion of each step. Project Management features examples, case studies, and analysis for each phase of the typical project, to ensure that each project you manage meets its goals on time and on budget.

Projects involve the creation by an individual or team of an entirely new product or process. To reach that goal, project managers must understand both the operational and human aspects of spearheading a project from conception to completion. In addition, because each project has unique characteristics and requirements that often aren't apparent until the project is well under way, a manager must be fully prepared to provide intuitive and instant solutions­­and be confident those solutions are correct.

Project Management provides proven guidelines for managing projects from both the operational and behavioral standpoint. This added focus on the human aspect­­unique in today's project management professional library­­shows you how to work within the existing organizational culture, manage stakeholders and team members based on their differing and often competing goals and viewpoints, and even manage projects across organizations with opposing goals and cultures.

Beginning with the initial planning stages and moving through teambuilding, control, and final delivery of project results, Project Management outlines solution-oriented, integrated methodologies for implementing the processes of project management. Examples from a wide variety of both manufacturing and service environments highlight the hands-on skills and solutions required for:

• Defining projects
• Organizing projects
• Estimating time and cost requirements
• Analyzing and managing project risk
• Managing teams and stakeholders
• Scheduling resources for utilization and availability
• Monitoring performance
• Conducting and learning from a project audit

Effective project managers must seamlessly blend operational skills, prioritization abilities, and behavioral insights, often simultaneously. Project Management outlines a step-by-step framework for managing any project, in any industry or environment, and consistently achieving objectives with a maximum of efficiency and a minimum of waste.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071376011
• ISBN 13: 9780071376013
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 380