This book equips managers and professionals with effective management tools and strategies, as well as important concepts to help them combat current challenges and problems. It provides a holistic and practical approach to lean and quality management throughout the business value chain. The author describes comprehensively how management strategies and problem-solving tools enable companies to concentrate on value-adding activities and processes to achieve the competitive advantage. This allows managers to choose the proper tool and strategy for each situation and use it effectively. A wealth of best practices, industry examples and case studies are also included.

Projects need leaders who are able to bring out the best in others, unite their teams, engage business partners and facilitate harmonious delivery. Project Leadership explains the core features of leadership for project managers, enabling them to develop a leadership style that is authentic and transparent, informed by a perspective of psychological understanding and personal growth. This book enables both potential and prominent leaders to dig deeper into the meaning of leadership, fostering personal growth which enables professional development. It opens with an introductory orientation on leadership and links it with management in general and project management in particular. The reader is then encouraged to take an introspective approach, underpinned by the fundamentals of cognitive-behavioural psychology and theories of personal growth, in order to develop authenticity in their leadership style. To this end, the reader is encouraged to develop an awareness of unconscious aspects of their personality with the help of insights from depth psychology, as well as the fundamentals of creative thinking, ethical thinking and logical thinking. This is all carefully and pragmatically applied to the context of leadership of projects, with the aim to foster growth and development in individuals, project teams and organisations. Project Leadership is also an ideal introductory book for undergraduate and postgraduate leadership programs.

When Advanced Project Management first appeared it quickly acquired a reputation for excellence on both sides of the Atlantic as a book that successfully bridges the gap between introductory texts on project management and specialist works on professional practice. Its aim is twofold: to provide a guide for managers, engineers, accountants and others involved in project work, and a reference for advanced students of project and construction management. This fourth edition of the book has been heavily revised, with substantial material to reflect the changes in project management. The following topics are either new to the book or have been given greater emphasis: c Project definition and appraisal c Procurement and the supply chain c Concurrent engineering c Cost and management accounting c Quality management c More detailed explanations of critical path analysis, now predominantly using the precedence system c Increased treatment of resource scheduling c Planning with multiple calendars c Planning within fixed time constraints, using crashing and fast-tracking methods c Standard networks, modules and templates c Risk management.

On the evidence of the authors of Advances in Project Management: Narrated Journeys in Unchartered Territory, there is a sea change coming. That change will affect the way projects are perceived, lead and governed, particularly in the context of the wider organisation to which they belong; whether that is in the public, private or not-for-profit sectors. Many organisations have struggled to apply the traditional models of project management to their new projects in the global environment. Anecdotal and evidence-based research confirms that projects continue to fail at an alarming rate. A major part of the build-up to failure is often the lack of adequate project management knowledge and experience. Advances in Project Management covers key areas of improvement in understanding and project capability further up the management chain; amongst strategy and senior decision makers and amongst professional project and programme managers. This collection, drawn from some of the world's leading practitioners and researchers and compiled by Professor Darren Dalcher of the National Centre for Project Management, provides those people and organisations who are involved with the developments in project management with the kind of structured information, new approaches and novel perspectives that will inform their thinking and their practice and improve their decisions.

This book offers invaluable insights about the full spectrum of core design course contents systematically and in detail. This book is for instructors and students who are involved in teaching and learning of 'capstone senior design projects' in mechanical engineering. It consists of 17 chapters, over 300 illustrations with many real-world student project examples. The main project processes are grouped into three phases, i.e., project scoping and specification, conceptual design, and detail design, and each has dedicated two chapters of process description and report content prescription, respectively. The basic principles and engineering process flow are well applicable for professional development of mechanical design engineers. CAD/CAM/CAE technologies are commonly used within many project examples. Thematic chapters also cover student teamwork organization and evaluation, project management, design standards and regulations, and rubrics of course activity grading. Key criteria of successful course accreditation and graduation attributes are discussed in details. In summary, it is a handy textbook for the capstone design project course in mechanical engineering and an insightful teaching guidebook for engineering design instructors.

This book aims to help the reader better understand the importance of data analysis in project management. Moreover, it provides guidance by showing tools, methods, techniques and lessons learned on how to better utilize the data gathered from the projects. First and foremost, insight into the bridge between data analytics and project management aids practitioners looking for ways to maximize the practical value of data procured. The book equips organizations with the know-how necessary to adapt to a changing workplace dynamic through key lessons learned from past ventures. The book's integrated approach to investigating both fields enhances the value of research findings.

In the ten years since this Gower Handbook was first published, Programme Management has been transformed to become the vehicle of choice for realising the objectives of large scale, complicated, business, government and social investment. The Second Edition of this Gower Handbook is a completely new text; designed as a definitive guide to the current state of Programme Management. To that end the text offers foundation theory and knowledge around key issues such as, managing programme contracts, people and know-how, complexity and uncertainty, benefits and success measures, as well as every stage of the programme life cycle. The main central section of the book provides theory, tools, advice and examples of practical application from an industry context and covers sectors including construction, energy, aerospace and defence, IT, automotive and the public sector. The Handbook also includes a section with chapters on assessing and improving programme competences and developing maturity. Discrete chapters relate programme management to the international baselines and standards. Collectively, the Gower Handbook of Programme Management is most comprehensive guide to the subject that you can buy.

Risk, Opportunity, Uncertainty and Other Random Models (Volume V in the Working Guides to Estimating and Forecasting series) goes part way to debunking the myth that research and development cost are somewhat random, as under certain conditions they can be observed to follow a pattern of behaviour referred to as a Norden-Rayleigh Curve, which unfortunately has to be truncated to stop the myth from becoming a reality! However, there is a practical alternative in relation to a particular form of PERT-Beta Curve. However, the major emphasis of this volume is the use of Monte Carlo Simulation as a general technique for narrowing down potential outcomes of multiple interacting variables or cost drivers. Perhaps the most common of these in the evaluation of Risk, Opportunity and Uncertainty. The trouble is that many Monte Carlo Simulation tools are 'black boxes' and too few estimators and forecasters really appreciate what is happening inside the 'black box'. This volume aims to resolve that and offers tips into things that might need to be considered to remove some of the uninformed random input that often creates a misinformed misconception of 'it must be right!' Monte Carlo Simulation can be used to model variable determine Critical Paths in a schedule, and is key to modelling Waiting Times and cues with random arisings. Supported by a wealth of figures and tables, this is a valuable resource for estimators, engineers, accountants, project risk specialists as well as students of cost engineering.

Systems Thinker's Toolbox: Tools for Managing Complexity provides more than 100 tools based on systems thinking and beyond. Each tool is described, and when necessary, examples are provided of how each of them can be used. Some of the simplest tools can be combined into more complex tools. The tools may be things such as lists, causal loops, and templates, as well as processes and methodologies. Key Features Provides an explanation of the two views of systems thinking; systemic and systematic thinking, and then shows how to perform each of them in a complimentary manner Presents a set of thinking tools that can be used to apply systems thinking to solving problems in project management, engineering, systems engineering, new product development, and business Describes the tools from simple such as lists, and goes on to more complex such as Categorized Requirements in Process (CRIP) charts, and then onto the processes Introduces new tools that have been tested with positive feedback Discusses a set of communication tools that can improve project reviews and communicating innovative ideas

Projects are inherently risky, since they involve some level of uncertainty, doing something new in the target environment, but the percentage of projects seen as a success is still disappointingly low, especially for IT projects. The 'Iron Triangle' of time/cost/quality suggests that all three aspects are equal, but with quantitative methods for monitoring project performance, the focus is primarily on managing cost and time. This book seeks to redress the balance, explaining the rationale and benefits of focusing more on quality (fitness for purpose and conformance to requirements) before detailing a range of tools and techniques to support rebalancing the management of projects, programmes and portfolios. It shows how managing project quality actively can reduce costs through minimising wastage, and reduce delays through avoiding rework, leading to improved project success rates and customer satisfaction.

Towards the end of the fifties methods for planning, scheduling, and control of proj ects were developed on the basis that the evolution of a project can be associated with a special weighted directed graph, called activity network. In this association, the individual activities of the project correspond to the arcs, the so-called proj ect events (beginning or termination of activities) correspond to the nodes, and the durations of the activities correspond to the weights of the respective arcs of the directed graph. 1) Contiguous arcs are assigned to activities which succeed one another immediately. The event corresponding to a node occurs exactly at the time at which all activities which are associated with the arcs leading into the node are terminated. After the occurrence of an event all those activities are be gun which correspond to the arcs emanating from the respective node. This implies especially that the evolution of the project has to be uniquely determined before hand, that every activity and every event are realized exactly once during the exe cution of the project, and that "feedback" (corresponding to cycles in the asso ciated network) is not permitted. Many projects, for example most R&D projects and projects in the area of production p 1 anni ng, do not sa ti sfy the foregoi ng res tri cti ons."

Project management is at a crossroads: There is a pressing need to rethink the approaches used in initiating, managing and governing projects, programmes and change initiatives. The aim of this book is to progress the dialogue around project practice by shifting the focus from instrumental methods and prescriptive techniques towards a context-sensitive consideration of people, strategy and change. Projects are initiated to deliver agreed outputs that can be translated into meaningful outcomes capable of satisfying the wishes and expectations for improvement and development. Yet, people, strategy and change, which are largely ignored by the conventional bodies of knowledge, are clearly central to the sustainable and enduring success of projects, efforts and initiatives. The volume brings together some of the best writing by leading authorities on key topics including trust, ethics, people, psychology, requirements, project performance, audits, uncertainty, anti-fragility, strategic initiatives, governance, change management and commercial management. The collection offers an invaluable new resource for informed managers looking to engage with the latest thinking and research.

Project Management for Performance Improvement Teams (or, PM4PITs, for short) provides practical guidance based on innovative concepts for project teams -- especially Performance Improvement Teams (PITs)-and their Project Managers on how to successfully complete individual projects and programs using an ingenious and scalable framework based on an innovative foundation fusing together elements of Project Management, Innovation Management, and Continual Improvement. This book lays out how Project and Program Managers and their teams can "do those right projects the right way," one project at a time. It details what continual improvement, change, and innovation are, why they are so important, and how they apply to performance improvement-both incremental and transformative. The authors examine the four types of work and workforce management in organizations, Strategic, Operations, Projects, and Crises, using four common comparative variables: Proactive/Preventive versus Reactive/Corrective, Temporary/Unique versus Ongoing/Repetitive, Innovative versus Maintaining the Status Quo, and Schedule Focus: Fiscal Year versus Short Term versus Long Term. These comparisons set the stage for the uniqueness of the third type: Projects (and Programs) that are fundamentally change-driven.

Many science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM) faculty wish to make an academic change at the course, department, college, or university level, but they lack the specific tools and training that can help them achieve the changes they desire. Making Changes in STEM Education: The Change Maker’s Toolkit is a practical guide based on academic change research and designed to equip STEM faculty and administrators with the skills necessary to accomplish their academic change goals. Each tool is categorized by a dominant theme in change work, such as opportunities for change, strategic vision, communication, teamwork, stakeholders, and partnerships, and is presented in context by the author, herself a change leader in STEM. In addition, the author provides interviews with STEM faculty and leaders who are engaged in their own change projects, offering additional insight into how the tools can be applied to a variety of educational contexts. The book is ideal for STEM faculty who are working to change their courses, curricula, departments, and campuses and STEM administrators who lead such change work to support their faculties, as well as graduate students in STEM who plan to enter an academic position upon graduation and expect to work on academic change projects.

Organizations regularly assume that the culture, values, dynamic and organization of their temporary project organizations are merely a smaller version of the original parent. Given that project organizations are made up of people and teams drawn, in most cases, from outside and inside the parent, these assumptions are nonsensical. But they do explain why the HR function finds it difficult to adapt to the project environment. Martina Huemann's research in Human Resource Management in the Project-Oriented Organization, offers insight into an approach that is designed to align HR to the needs of the project organization, in terms of management structure, reward, recruitment and performance systems. The text analyses how the modern HR organization stacks up alongside the temporary organization that is the project, to identify the HR constraints and needs of the project organisation and offer a model of project-oriented HRM. Professor Huemann had a deep interest in how and why change processes come into existence and how to design and enable them. In her book she endeavors to bridge theory and practice, strategy and operations.

Contractual Procedures in the Construction Industry 7th edition aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the subject, and reinforces the changes that are taking place within the construction industry. The book looks at contract law within the context of construction contracts, it examines the different procurement routes that have evolved over time and the particular aspects relating to design and construction, lean methods of construction and the advantages and disadvantages of PFI/PPP and its variants. It covers the development of partnering, supply chain management, design and build and the way that the clients and professions have adapted to change in the procurement of buildings and engineering projects. This book is an indispensable companion for students taking undergraduate courses in Building and Surveying, Quantity Surveying, Construction Management and Project Management. It is also suitable for students on HND/C courses in Building and Construction Management as well as foundation degree courses in Building and Construction Management. Key features of the new edition include: A revised chapter covering the concept of value for money in line with the greater emphasis on added value throughout the industry today. A new chapter covering developments in information technology applications (building information modelling, blockchains, data analytics, smart contracts and others) and construction procurement. Deeper coverage of the strategies that need to be considered in respect of contract selection. Improved discussion of sustainability and the increasing importance of resilience in the built environment. Concise descriptions of some the more important construction case laws.

Professional services firms play a vital role in the social, environmental and economic well-being of any economy. This book considers the key skills and elements required to successfully lead and manage a professional services firm operating in the infrastructure sector. Public- and private-sector clients recognise the role that infrastructure plays in the functionality of our cities and that most urban conurbations have a backlog of infrastructure to deliver to meet the needs of increasing populations, greater urbanisation and emerging economies. Just keeping pace with projected global GDP growth will require an enormous investment in infrastructure and skilful leadership to deliver it. In response to this challenge, professional services firms will need to be well-led and well-managed to be successful and sustainable in the long-term. Such organisations must provide high-value advice, design, knowledge and innovations to get more out of the existing assets and to plan and design new assets with greater integrity and construct them more productively, efficiently and effectively. This book provides practical frameworks for emerging operational managers and future project leaders to prepare them to successfully manage these firms and deliver such projects in the face of new and often disruptive technologies and shifting corporate landscapes. The book is essential reading for aspiring leaders operating in all infrastructure market sectors including energy, water, sewerage, road, rail, ports, airports, education, health, justice, retail, entertainment, property and development sectors.

This book seeks to critically engage with emerging issues and debates within the construction industry, but from the perspective of developing economies. Themes such as the 4th industrial revolution, management of pandemics, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, collaboration, skills development, and behavioural studies are at the cutting edge of research and development in developed countries, however, they remain problematic for industries and environments which are yet to understand the emerging growth patterns of their economies. The successful integration and diffusion of these themes into developing nations' environments and cultures must be synchronized with their current developmental agenda. By acknowledging and understanding the difficulty and diversity of construction administrations that exist in different countries, this book can help construction professionals in developing countries to adopt technologies, policies and products which are proving successful in developed nations. Useful reading for researchers and practitioners in both developed and developing countries alike, this book gives an insight and understanding of emerging areas in developing countries.

The cultural diversity within many major projects require those managing them to adapt their project management approach to be in harmony with the preferences and behaviours of stakeholders from these cultures; failure to do so can lead to misunderstandings about the project's purpose and structure; significant difficulties in implementation and in some cases, to conflict or litigation. Omar Zein's Culture and Project Management explores the cultural impact on projects and their management, providing the reader with an understanding of the main elements of cross-cultural theory within the project context. These include our perception of context, achievement, power and group dynamics; and how we approach ambiguity and time. He then identifies key aspects of project management where cultural sensitivity is essential (for example, planning, risk management, project communication and leadership) and offers a structured plan for developing what he calls 'cultural tuning' within a project environment. The book draws on the author's research, his professional experience of working on transnational projects and his own background. His review of the different theories alongside examples and stories of their practical application, offers project managers a new and extraordinarily rich perspective into the likely dynamics of their projects. Making appropriate adaptations to standard processes, choosing what, how and through whom you communicate with stakeholders may be signal elements in the success or failure of your projects; Culture and Project Management will show where to start.

It starts with basics of project management fundamentals like ROI, stake holders, MOU, SDLC, CAR, DAR, traceability matrix and then rises towards more sophisticated questions.

If you lead in organizations that have adopted agile methods, you know it's crucial to create the right environment for your agile teams. Traditional tools such as Gantt charts, detailed plans, and internal KPIs aren't adequate for complex and fast-changing markets, but merely trusting participants and teams to self-manage isn't sufficient, either. In Agile Leadership Toolkit, long-time agile leader Peter Koning provides an invaluable steering wheel for agile leaders and their teams. Drawing on his extensive experience helping leaders drive more value from agile, Koning offers a comprehensive toolkit for continuously improving your environment, including structures, metrics, meeting techniques, and governance for creating thriving teams that build disruptive products and services. Koning thoughtfully explains how to lead agile teams at the large scale, and how team members fit into both the team and the wider organization. You'll learn how to: Provide the inspiring direction agile teams need to work smarter and explore better solutions Facilitate ownership, building "can-do" teams that continually look to improve Accelerate learning by integrating users into a fast learning loop Design and improve habits that support your agile culture Refined through implementation experience at multiple enterprises, Agile Leadership Toolkit is the only guide to agile leadership that's connected with Scrum.org's authoritative leadership programs.

Your must-have tool for perfect project management Want to take your career to the next level and be a master of planning, organising, motivating and controlling resources to meet your goals? This easy-to-use guide has you covered! Project Management Checklists For Dummies takes the intimidation out of project management, and shows you step by step how to use rigorous self-check questions to save significant time and headaches in managing your projects effectively. Project Management Checklists For Dummies gives you to-do lists, hands-on checklists and helpful guidance for managing every phase of a project from start to finish. Before you know it, you'll be a star project manager as you organise, estimate and schedule projects in today's time-crunched, cost-conscious global business environment. * Includes useful to-do lists and checklists to ensure all the necessary steps are completed * Offers simple exercises to help clarify needs and requirements along the way * Provides templates to complete, which can also be downloaded from Dummies.com and customised to suit your unique requirements * Supplies hints and tips to help you along the way If you're a project manager or any professional charged with managing a project and wondering where to start Project Management Checklists For Dummies is your ready-made tool for success.

Imagine if your process manufacturing plants were running so well that your production, safety, environmental, and profitability targets were being met so that your subject matter experts could focus on data-driven business improvements. Through proper use and analysis of your existing operations data, your company can become an industry leader and reward your stakeholders. Written in an engaging and easily understandable manner, this book demonstrates a step-by-step process of how an organization can effectively utilize technology and make the necessary culture changes to achieve operational excellence. You will see how several industry-leading companies have used an effective real-time data infrastructure for mission-critical business use cases. The book also addresses challenges involved, such as effectively integrating operational (OT) data with business (IT) systems to enable a more proactive, predictive management model for a fleet of process plants. Some of the things you will take away: Learn how a real-time data infrastructure enables transformation of raw sensor data into contextualized information for operational insights and business process improvement. Understand how reusing the same operational data for multiple use cases significantly impacts fleet management, profitability, and asset stewardship. See how a simple digital unit template representing production flows can be repeatedly used to identify critical inefficiencies in plant operations. Discover best practices of deploying real-time situational awareness alerts and predictive analytics. Realize how to transform your organization into a data-driven culture for continuous sustainable improvement. Find out how leading companies integrate operations data with business intelligence and predictive analytics tools in a corporate on-premises or cloud-enabled environment. Learn how industry-leading companies have imaginatively used a real-time data infrastructure to improve yields, reduce cycle times, and slash operating costs. This book is targeted for process industries production and operations leadership, senior engineers, IT management, CIOs, and service providers to those industries. Academics will benefit from latest data analysis strategies. This book guides readers to use the best, results-proven approaches to ensure operational excellence.