Managing Projects: A Very Brief Introduction - Softcover

Kühl, Stefan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0999147986 ISBN 13: 9780999147986

Publisher: Organizational Dialogue Press, 2018

Synopsis

The linear, goal-oriented approach to projects that is so popular in management literature is only appropriate if you are dealing with well-defined problems. For projects that address poorly defined problems, however, the principles of classic project management don’t work; project managers attempt in vain to maintain a linear approach, even if targets, people affected and framework conditions cannot be determined precisely. We propose a fundamentally different approach based on current organizational theory: to start out with experiments, without predetermined conclusions. Projects are not evaluated by comparing the current status to the target, but rather by assessing whether stagnation has been overcome, conflicts put aside, and shared understanding about new opportunities has been created. Project groups and steering committees are not set up at all. Power “games” are harnessed and put to use, rather than prohibited.

About this title

About the Author

Stefan Kühl is professor of sociology at the University of Bielefeld in Germany and works as a senior consultant for Metaplan, a consulting firm based in Princeton, Hamburg, Shanghai, Singapore, Versailles and Zurich. He studied sociology and history at the University of Bielefeld (Germany), Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (USA), Université Paris-X-Nanterre (France) and the University of Oxford (UK). His focus of research consists of societal theory, work, industrial and organizational sociology, as well as interaction sociology.

Edition details

• Publisher: Organizational Dialogue Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0999147986
• ISBN 13: 9780999147986
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 70