In Search Of Excellence In Project Management

This book discusses the changes that world class organizations have made to achieve excellence in project management. Learn how these organizations refocused to accommodate a projects-based approach and how they plan, budget, complete and assess their "mission-critical" projects. The implementation of project management ideas and methods is leading to more efficient service delivery and production, more accurate budgeting, greater profitability, and improved stakeholder relationships world-wide, In Search of Excellence in Project Management shows how these benefits can be yours as well.

It’s been shown again and again that business components from R & D to systems, engineering to manufacturing can benefit from a project-centered management approach. Now, organizations that have had success at the departmental or divisional level are taking the project management approach to new levels, adopting PM standards into across-the-board management philosophies and business strategies. This new model is known as the Project Management Center of Excellence. PMCoEs need every group within the organization to work under the PM model, but more important, they need the proper tools to implement PM standards in new areas. A crucial tool in developing project management objectives across the company, this book covers: * Positioning project management as a business strategy * Creating and managing an organizational PM portfolio * Education, training, and internal PM certification programs * Classifying projects, benchmarking, and mapping a methodology

The "Greatest Business Book of All Time" (Bloomsbury UK), In Search of Excellence has long been a must-have for the boardroom, business school, and bedside table. Based on a study of forty-three of America's best-run companies from a diverse array of business sectors, In Search of Excellence describes eight basic principles of management -- action-stimulating, people-oriented, profit-maximizing practices -- that made these organizations successful. Joining the HarperBusiness Essentials series, this phenomenal bestseller features a new Authors' Note, and reintroduces these vital principles in an accessible and practical way for today's management reader.

Understand and apply new concepts regarding Work Breakdown Structures The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) has emerged as a foundational concept and tool in Project Management. It is an enabler that ensures clear definition and communication of project scope while performing a critical role as a monitoring and controlling tool. Created by the three experts who led the development of PMI®'s Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures, Second Edition, this much-needed text expands on what the standard covers and describes how to go about successfully implementing the WBS within the project life cycle, from initiation and planning through project closeout. Filling the gap in the literature on the WBS, Work Breakdown Structures: The Foundation for Project Management Excellence gives the reader an understanding of: The background and key concepts of the WBS WBS core characteristics, decomposition, representations, and tools Project initiation and the WBS, including contracts, agreements, and Statements of Work (SOW) Deliverable-based and activity-based management Using the WBS as a basis for procurement and financial planning Quality, risk, resource, and communication planning with the WBS The WBS in the executing, monitoring, and controlling phases New concepts regarding the representation of project and program scope Verifying project closeout with the WBS Using a real-life project as an example throughout the book, the authors show how the WBS first serves to document and collect information during the initiating and planning phases of a project. Then, during the executing phase, the authors demonstrate how the WBS transitions to an active role of project decision-support, serving as a reference and a source for control and measurement. (PMI is a registered mark of Project Management Institute, Inc.)

Project Management for Business and Engineering is a direct response to the ever-increasing need for better project management. This book encompasses the full range of project management - everything from origins, philosophy, and methodology to actual applications. Nicholas describes concepts and techniques such as project initiation and proposals, scope and task definition, scheduling, budgeting, risk analysis, control, project organization, and the often overlooked "people" side - project leadership, team building, conflict, and stress management. The Systems Development Cycle is used as a framework to discuss project management in a variety of situations, making this book useful for managing virtually any kind of project, program, or task force. Over 230 figures and tables, 60 short examples and illustrative cases, and end-of-chapter summaries, review problems, questions, and case studies are included. The author draws upon his experience with projects in information technology, systems analysis, aerospace engineering, human resource development, and over a decade of teaching project management as a university professor. · Comprehensive, balanced topical coverage; interesting to read · Numerous figures and tables (figure/table appears every 2.5 pages, average) · Systems approach: methodologies, development cycle, and engineering

Senior executives and project managers from more than 50 world-class companies offer their best practices for successful project management implementation The first two editions of the bestselling Project Management Best Practices helped project managers navigate the increasingly complex task of working within global corporations employing distant and diverse work teams. This new Third Edition includes the same valuable wealth of proven best practices, while following up on case studies from previous editions and offering new case studies on project management practices at large and small companies. The Third Edition offers insight from project managers and executives at more than fifty global companies in all sectors of the market. These industry-leading professionals offer insight and best practices for: Project risk management Project management for multinational cultures and cultural failures Focusing on value, as well as cost and schedule Integrated and virtual project teams Covering the latest developments in the project management field, Project Management Best Practices, Third Edition offers a must-have window into the issues and solutions facing corporate managers, project and team managers, engineers, project team members, and business consultants in today's global market.