Perspectives On Projects

Modern project management had its genesis in the field of operations research in the late 1940s, but today it is a much more diverse subject. It has evolved and developed a much wider range of methods, techniques, and skills that the project manager can draw upon. Not all these skills are relevant to every project, but an assortment of them will be relevant to most. This book aims to describe for students, researchers and managers the full range of skills that project managers can use to develop their methodologies.The authors group the skills into nine perspectives, representing nine schools of project management research and theory. By attaching a metaphor to each of these perspectives, students, researchers and managers are better able to understand each approach and decide whether it is best suited to the development of a strategy for managing their project. Perspectives on Projects builds upon the various theoretical orientations that the field of project management has developed. Featuring several case studies, drawn from a variety of settings, to illustrate how the different schools can provide different perspectives on projects, this book is an ideal text for anyone involved in project management.

"While many scholarly writings have just echoed practical management problems, this volume broadens the approach to projects. First, the contributions made expand the scope from single projects to projects in their corporate and social contexts. Second, they relate projects to theoretical insights gained in the organizational science at large. Third, they display the multitude of empirical settings where projects are used today"

Modern projects are confronted with complexity and ambiguity. To provide a holistic framework, this book presents a new project management model that is used to identify the nature of a project and develop appropriate project solutions. It also allows a circular planning process, leading to coherence across the project’s elements.

This volume provides a comprehensive account of project-based language learning (PBLL) which showcases key theoretical approaches, empirical research, technological tools, and research-based frameworks to help further PBLL implementation and research. Taking its cue from the conclusions drawn from project-based learning more broadly, which point to the impact of project-based work on learning and development, discourse socialization, subject engagement, and collaborative skills, the book highlights how these discussions might be extended and enhanced within the context of language learning. The volume begins with discussions of philosophical and theoretical models of PBLL and is followed by case studies from contributors from a range of learning contexts and geographic regions which demonstrate these models in practice, with a focus on the implementation of technology in such instances. The book also introduces resources for aligning projects with government standards in the classroom but also frameworks for researching and assessing PBLL. This comprehensive collection is essential reading for students and researchers in language learning and teaching, language education, curriculum design, and applied linguistics.

Considers how Project Head Start, the federally funded preschool program, has operated (sometimes effectively and comfortably, sometimes not) with families, in communities, and with other institutions. An important look at the intersections of poverty, social programs, and education.

All the contributions to this volume are condensed versions of research projects undertaken by students in the final year of the online Master of Project Management degree delivered by the University of South Australia in conjunction with Open Universities Australia. Contributors to this book consist primarily of graduated Masters’ students, supported by supervising academics and relevant industry specialists and practitioners. As a result, the authors present current research interests across the breadth of Australia – with many of the perspectives demonstrating relevance to practice globally. The research perspectives presented here focus on four key themes of project management theory and practice: people and organisations; methodologies and practice domains; issues in application; and continuous improvement and benchmarking. Collectively, this work will be of particular interest to project management academics and researchers, post-graduate students, and the broader project management community.

Erling S. Andersen's new book examines project management from an organisational perspective. A project is a temporary organisation, established by its base organisation to carry out an assignment on its behalf. From this perspective, project management focusses on the relationship between the permanent and the temporary organisation. Inherent in this perspective is an understanding of the project's most important purpose, to facilitate another organisation's progress.

This book contains 13 carefully revised and selected papers from the 6th Workshop on Global Sourcing, held in Courchevel, France, during March 12-15, 2012. They have been selected from 46 submissions and represent both client and supplier perspectives on sourcing of global services. This volume is intended for use by students, academics, and practitioners interested in the outsourcing and offshoring of information technology and business processes. It offers a review of the key topics in outsourcing and offshoring, populated with practical frameworks that serve as a tool-kit for students and managers. The topics discussed combine theoretical and practical insights, and they are extensively illustrated by case studies from client and vendor organizations. Last but not least, the book examines current and future trends in outsourcing and offshoring, paying particular attention to the centrality of innovation in sourcing arragements, and how innovation can be realized in outsourcing.