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Books > Business & Economics > Business & management > Management & management techniques > Project management
Technology and organizations co-evolve, as is illustrated by the growth of information and communication technology (ICT) and global software engineering (GSE). Technology has enabled the development of innovations in GSE. The literature on GSE has emphasized the role of the organization at the expense of technology. This book explores the role of technology in the evolution of globally distributed software engineering. To date, the role of the organization has been examined in coordinating GSE activities because of the prevalence of the logic of rationality (i.e., the efficiency ethos, mechanical methods, and mathematical analysis) and indeterminacy (i.e., the effectiveness ethos, natural methods, and functional analysis). This logic neglects the coordination role of ICT. However, GSE itself is an organizational mode that is technology-begotten, technology-dominated, and technology-driven, as is its coordination. GSE is a direct reflection of ICT innovation, change, and use, yet research into the role technology of GSE has been neglected. Global Software Engineering: Virtualization and Coordination considers existing fragmented explanations and perspectives in GSE research, poses new questions about GSE, and proposes a framework based on the logic of virtuality (i.e., creativity ethos, electrical methods, and technological analysis) rather than of rationality and indeterminacy. Virtuality is the primary perspective in this book's comprehensive study of GSE. The book concludes with an integrated explanation of GSE coordination made possible through ICT connectivity and capitalization.
Creative companies are distinguished by their ability to adapt and thrive in a dynamic, changing economy. Their products and services stand out in the market, and these companies' ability to be agile and innovative is key to their success. Creative, Efficient, and Effective Project Management supplies an in-depth discussion of creativity and its relationship to project management. Specifically, it explains how the tools and techniques of creativity can be used to enhance the five processes executed during a project: defining, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Establishing the groundwork for encouraging and sustaining creativity in your projects, the book details the benefits of integrating creativity in projects. It discusses common, and not so common, tools and techniques for developing project management deliverables and identifies the challenges that can arise when using creativity in a project. It also details ten little-known facts that can help you overcome the obstacles that often prevent organizations from tapping into the power of creativity in their projects. Each chapter includes a checklist and a case study on the application of the concepts presented. The book also indicates, where applicable, how the topics of discussion relate to the Project Management Institute's (PMI (R)) Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK (R)). Creativity resides in everyone, but for the most part remains untapped. In this book, you will find thoughts, tools, and techniques that will enable you to tap into your team's creative energy and direct it towards achieving your project goals and objectives.
This book applies systems thinking to treat project management in a systemic and systematic manner from a problem-solving perspective. Considering the project as a system, the book discusses traditional project planning and organizing, as well as some neglected aspects of the project, namely how to prevent cost and schedule escalation, how to deal with change, recognize problems in time to prevent project failure and what to do when things go wrong during the implementation states of a project. This book provides you with a better understanding of the systems approach to problem-solving and project management that will enable you to be more successful at managing projects. Features Treats projects as systems Presents project management as a problem-solving paradigm Discusses how to incorporate prevention into planning and how to show the value Describes what to do and how to cope with unanticipated problems that arise during the project implementation state Introduces new tools and techniques
Designed to conform to the ISO/IEC standard 14143, the Common Software Measurement International Consortium (COSMIC) Function Point method has become the major estimation technique based on international standards for building software-intensive systems. COSMIC Function Points: Theory and Advanced Practices supplies a cutting-edge look at current and emerging practices in the international software measurement community. The editors have assembled an international panel of experts who detail the steps for measuring the functional size of software and developing project estimates with improved accuracy. They explain how to evaluate and compare systems to improve software reuse and development. Touching on the essential aspects of the next generation of functional size measurement methods, the book delineates best estimation and measurement practices as well as the development of benchmarks for quality improvement, including Six Sigma. This complete resource covers software measurement and estimation methods and practices for embedded systems, business applications, communications software, and control systems. Each chapter supplies the practical understanding required to create, implement, standardize, distribute, and adapt functional size measurement and project estimation to virtually any software context. Praise for: ... an excellent overview ... provides a strong knowledge background for both practitioners and researchers. ... With its broad background, it is useful for practically implementing and successfully adapting other functional sizing methods ... . The COSMIC function point techniques presented in this book will help you to implement, master, and improve your estimation process.-Christof Ebert, Managing Director, Vector Consulting Services
Managing Knowledge in Project Environments illustrates how knowledge management (KM) contributes to successful project work. KM is widely practised in project environments, but managers don't always recognise the knowledge aspects of their work and tend to treat KM as a series of specific activities rather than a way of making project work produce better outcomes in different contexts. To overcome this challenge, the authors present KM as an integral part of project work and explain it using principles: KM fundamentals that apply anywhere. A series of context factors provides readers with a framework for understanding and thinking about what KM means for their context: their goals, their projects, their organisations and their working environments. Hidden KM is exposed, myths are debunked and practical guidance explains how to build KM into projects and portfolios. The approach is consistent with current guidance including the BS ISO management systems standard for KM and the seventh edition of APM's 'Body of knowledge'. The aim is to help project professionals, sponsors, PMO members and others who can make a difference manage knowledge more effectively in project environments. Managing Knowledge in Project Environments offers everyone involved in project work a definitive short guide to the subject.
While today's programs continue to grow in size and complexity, at the same time, their success rates remain low. To manage programs effectively in this environment, project managers and program managers must take a "consultative approach" that applies a core set of guiding principles across every function of the program. Applying Guiding Principles of Effective Program Delivery explains what it means to take a consultative approach. Instead of focusing on specific program management techniques, it covers the guiding principles required to make those techniques effective-making it applicable to any program in any industry. It identifies the eight guiding principles of effective program delivery and outlines proven strategies to help program managers succeed in the current environment. Filled with figures, case studies, and templates, the book illustrates the application of these principles across the various program functions-including financial management, schedule management, and resource management. It includes nine cases studies of actual programs from across several industries that demonstrate the application of these principles and their results. Supplying in-depth coverage of each function of the program office, it also contains 20 templates of the key deliverables outlined in the text. Intended for IT professionals tasked with managing large projects or programs, the book is an ideal reference for project managers and program managers who have a fundamental background in project and program management and are ready to improve their skill set and thinking on how to manage their work more effectively. The text concludes by summarizing the key lessons you need to understand to successfully apply the program management tools covered in the text in your own programs.
Supplying busy project professionals with time-tested tips and templates for developing teams efficiently and effectively, Team Planning for Project Managers and Business Analysts provides the planning materials required to increase team collaboration and productivity in a global workplace. This comprehensive resource offers insights and access to critical resources and tools to create, propose, execute, and evaluate team development plans. Dr. Levitt's insights will enable readers to transform their visions, mission statements, goals, and deliverables into actionable plans for their teams. Team Planning for Project Managers and Business Analysts evaluates the strengths and performance gaps in each of the five stages of team development-forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning-and outlines methods for creating a team development plan and addressing the challenge of gaining upper management commitment. With a focus on succession planning for the team, Dr. Levitt considers team brain capacity and how to plan for the transfer of knowledge within the organization. In addition to the many templates and guidelines included, the book offers a variety of practical team development guidelines to ensure that team activities, including kick-off meetings and project status reviews, are both engaging and productive.
Much has been written about Building Information Modelling (BIM) driving collaboration and innovation, but how will future quality managers and engineers develop digital capabilities in augmented and video realities, with business intelligence platforms, robots, new materials, artificial intelligence, blockchains, drones, laser scanning, data trusts, 3D printing and many other types of technological advances in construction? These emerging technologies are potential game changers that require new skills and processes. Digital Quality Management in Construction is the first 'how to' book on harnessing novel disruptive technology in construction quality management. The book takes a tour of the new technologies and relates them to the management of quality, but also sets out a road map to build on proven lean construction techniques and embed technologically based processes to raise quality professionals' digital capabilities. With the mountain of data being generated, quality managers need to unlock its value to drive the quality of construction in the twenty-first century, and this book will help them do that and allow those working in construction Quality Management to survive and thrive, creating higher quality levels and less waste. This book is essential reading for quality managers, project managers and all professionals in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry (AEC). Students interested in new and disruptive technologies will also learn a great deal from reading this book, written by a professional quality manager with nearly thirty years' experience in both the public and private sectors.
Effective risk and opportunity management is key to the successful delivery of any major engineering and construction project. This book looks at how all those involved can manage risk and capitalise on the opportunities that uncertainty present. The authors of this book highlight that uncertainties should be managed rather than avoided. This book will look at simple projects with a small team, to megaprojects where some hundreds of people are involved, and the consequences of delays or unforeseen costs. However, while the obvious risks can be planned for, the authors argue that it is often the opportunities in these situations that can have unexploited potential. This book is about opportunity management seen from the owner's perspective. It will be an invaluable resource for those studying Engineering both undergraduate and postgraduate and set out ways in which projects should be managed from planning to completion. This book is also a great tool for those working in project management and the construction industry. While there are many books that demonstrate effective construction management, this book is the first of its kind to emphasise that there is opportunity in uncertainty, and possibility in the unexpected.
In recent decades, we have witnessed an increasing use of projects and similar temporary modes of organising in the public sector of nations in Europe and around the world. While for some this is a welcome development which unlocks entrepreneurial zeal and renders public services more flexible and accountable, others argue that this seeks to depoliticise policy initiatives, rendering them increasingly technocratic, and that the project organisations formed in this process offer fragmented and unsustainable short-term solutions to long-term problems. This volume sets out to address public sector projectification by drawing together research from a range of academic fields to develop a critical and theoretically-informed understanding of the causes, nature, and consequences of the projectification of the public sector. This book includes 13 chapters and is organised into three parts. The first part centres on the politics of projectification, specifically the role of projects in de-politicisation, often accomplished by rendering the political "technical". The chapters in the second part all relate to the reframing of the relationship between the centre and periphery, or between policy making and implementation, and the role of temporality in reshaping this relation. The third and final part brings a focus upon the tools, techniques, and agents through which public sector projectification is assembled, constructed, and performed.
Learn step-by-step instructions for managing any project in a clean sequence of five classic phases-initiating, planning, executing, releasing, and closing. This book sets out clearly and engagingly which tasks need to be done and when, how, and why they need to be done. Each chapter on one of the five phases walks you through all the steps in that phase's workflow, which are laid out in a checklist attached to the chapter. The checklists are graphically supplemented by flow charts and swim lane diagrams. The master checklist serves as a map and tool for project managers to use in the real world to run projects and keep them on track. Senior project manager and PM mentor Melanie McBride understands the predicament of beginning and junior project managers: "You're at the edge of a tornado, bombarded by overly excited people offering you a Mission Impossible. Everywhere you look there are cool shiny things swirling around your head-the earnest coworker telling you to go agile, the software package promising a turnkey collaboration solution, the PMO with an arm-long list of required processes. So how do you avoid getting whacked in the head by that airborne Mac truck of a customer commit? Oh, and what exactly do you need to do to get those flying monkeys to shut up?" Project Management Basics slips the spinning project manager into the eye of the storm where things are quiet and it's easy to figure out what to do next using the author's detailed checklists and hard-headed advice. She shows that project management doesn't have to be "a chaotic hot mess, leaving you with an egg-beater hairdo." With McBride's book and checklists in hand, even first-time project managers can pull off controlled, flying-monkey-free projects. What You Will Learn See the essential duties of a project manager Master the project management life cycle in five phases Discover the what, when, how, and why of PM tasks presented in detailed steps Leverage checklists for optimum efficiency and throughput Adapt workflow controls to low-PM organizations Enhance PM with vogue methodologies without obscuring the basics Who This Book Is For Beginning and junior project managers seeking a concise, authoritative guide to the basics of project management, together with checklists, flow charts, and swim lane diagrams for immediate use in real-world projects.
Transformation is no longer a short-lived initiative. It is not a program. It is not linear. Instead, the world's leading organizations now embrace transformation as a a challenging, stretching, exciting and essential constant in their lives. Welcome to the age of perpetual transformation. Now, the Brightline Initiative and Thinkers50 have collaborated to bring together some of the world's leading minds on the theme of perpetual transformation. Curated by Thinkers50 cofounder Stuart Crainer and introduced by PMI COO Michael DePrisco, Perpetual Transformation features ideas and insights from Didier Bonnet, Susie Kennedy, Kaihan Krippendorff, Jeffrey Kuhn, Habeeb Mahaboob, Tony O'Driscoll,Martin Reeves, Lars Faeste, Tom Deegan, April Rinne, Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, Gabriele Rosani, Paolo Cervini, Robin Speculand, Behnam Tabrizi and a host of others.
The Business of Mining complete set of three Focus books will provide readers with a holistic all-embracing appraisal of the analytical tools available for assessing the economic viability of prospective mines. Each volume has a discrete focus. This first volume presents an overview of the mining business, followed by an analysis of project variables and risk, an overall coverage of the royalty agreements, pricing and contract systems followed by a final chapter on accounting standards and practises for the minerals industry. The books were written primarily for undergraduate applied geologists, mining engineers and extractive metallurgists and those pursuing course-based postgraduate programs in mineral economics. However, the complete series will also be an extremely useful reference text for practicing mining professionals as well as for consultant geologists, mining engineers or primary metallurgists.
In the traditional view of project management, if a project manager completed a project and had adhered to the triple constraints of time, cost, and performance, the project was considered a success. Today, in the eyes of the customer and the parent or sponsoring company, if a completed project did not deliver its anticipated value, it would be seen as a failure. Today's changing economic climate, marked by an increasingly competitive global environment, is driving project managers to become more business oriented. Projects must now be viewed from a strategic perspective within the context of a business or enterprise that needs to provide value to both the customer and the organization itself. As a result, project managers are now required to possess the skills to complete a project within certain specifications, and also know how to create and deliver value. Responding to the needs of today's project managers, Value-Driven Project Management begins by changing the paradigm of project management. Rather than judge the success of a project from the perspectives of time, budget, and quality, the authors demonstrate why success is only achieved when planned business values are met, including: Internal value Financial value Future value Customer-related value The authors also offer best practices that allow you and your organization to create additional value in efficiency, customer satisfaction, and enhanced products and services. Finally, the book helps you incorporate value into clearly defined business objectives and "sell" the value-driven process to executives. Throughout the book, helpful illustrations clarify complex concepts and processes. Assigning valuable resources to projects that don't provide some tangible form of value to the organization and to the client is poor management and poor decision-making. On the other hand, selecting and implementing projects that will deliver value and an acceptable return on investment is effective management and decision-making, but is very challenging, especially when a project may not provide its target value for years to come. With Value-Driven Project Management in hand, you'll discover the tools you need to ensure that projects deliver true value upon their completion.
Best Fit Lines and Curves, and Some Mathe-Magical Transformations (Volume III of the Working Guides to Estimating & Forecasting series) concentrates on techniques for finding the Best Fit Line or Curve to some historical data allowing us to interpolate or extrapolate the implied relationship that will underpin our prediction. A range of simple 'Moving Measures' are suggested to smooth the underlying trend and quantify the degree of noise or scatter around that trend. The advantages and disadvantages are discussed and a simple way to offset the latent disadvantage of most Moving Measure Techniques is provided. Simple Linear Regression Analysis, a more formal numerical technique that calculates the line of best fit subject to defined 'goodness of fit' criteria. Microsoft Excel is used to demonstrate how to decide whether the line of best fit is a good fit, or just a solution in search of some data. These principles are then extended to cover multiple cost drivers, and how we can use them to quantify 3-Point Estimates. With a deft sleight of hand, certain commonly occurring families of non-linear relationships can be transformed mathe-magically into linear formats, allowing us to exploit the powers of Regression Analysis to find the Best Fit Curves. The concludes with an exploration of the ups and downs of seasonal data (Time Series Analysis). 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.
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.
The open source phenomenon has attracted an increased interest among commercial firms and governments. It is becoming one of the most influential paradigm shifts not only in software development but in social and economic value creation as well. While software development is perhaps the most prominent example of open source, its principles have now been applied across a wide range of product classes, industries and even scientific disciplines. Decision makers at different levels and in a variety of fields need to improve their understanding of the factors that contribute to the Open Source Software (OSS) effectiveness: approaches, tools, social designs, reward structures and metrics. Successful OSS Project Design and Implementation provides a state-of-the-art analysis of OSS design principles, their emergence and success and how they are extending well beyond the domain of software.
Packed with step by step information, hints and tips, this book provides all the basic information needed to production manage a film or video from beginning to end - from idea to delivery. Production Management for Film and Video gives all the basic
information needed to production manage a film or video from
beginning to end - from idea to delivery.
The world is undergoing major transitions due to three driving forces-population changes, climate changes, and energy resource constraints-making it essential for us to move toward sustainability in the implementation of projects and programs as well as our everyday life. Real sustainability exists where there is a balance between population and energy usage and a stable climate-global equilibrium. Designed for program and portfolio managers and senior planners, Sustainable Program Management provides essential information on the three major driving forces of the coming decades and presents options to assist us in moving toward a sustainable future. This book offers a unique approach to accommodating the three new constraints of population change, climate change, and energy resources as impacts on programs and portfolios. It presents them in the form of overlays, which facilitate planning by considering the effects of these additional constraints on a program, along with schedule, budget, and performance constraints. The overlays summarize the book's extensive analyses of these global challenges. The book is divided into sections on population change, climate change, and energy resource constraints and provides background information and overlays for each one. The author discusses scenarios, possible solutions, and probable outcomes, which provide the basis for evaluating the risks and the sustainability considerations involved. The final section of the text addresses planning for real sustainability and describes six pathways toward a sustainable system. This practical book familiarizes readers with these new global challenges to program management and provides a basis for developing sustainable and successful programs.
-Erfolg in Netzwerken- zu haben ist die aktuelle Herausforderung an die Indu striebetriebe. Der Titel charakterisiert aber auch den Forscher und Hochschul lehrer Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Wirt. Ing. Dr. h.c. multo Walter Eversheim, zu dessen Ehren wir zu seinem 65. Geburtstag dieses Buch herausgegeben. Was bedeuten Erfolg und Netzwerk? Als ein Netzwerk wird in der Regel ein System bezeichnet, das aus verschiedenen Teilsystemen besteht, die sich durch eine Funktionsspe zialisierung auszeichnen, und durch Merkmale wie Vertrauen und Durchgiin gigkeit der Information gepriigt ist. Erfolg ist dagegen die Bestiitigung bei der geglfickten Verwirklichung gesteckter Ziele. Das Thema -Netzwerke- besitzt sowohl in der Managementpraxis als auch auf der operativen Prozessebene eine signiftkante Bedeutung. Deshalb haben wir, die Herausgeber, zusammen mit den fibrigen Autoren diesen heute aktueller denn je erscheinenden Themenbereich unter der Uberschrift -Erfolg in Netzwerken- aktuell beleuchtet. Der Bogen spannt sich von der Unternehmensstrategie, mit der Frage nach dem Erfolg von Kooperationsstrategien, fiber Produkt-und Pro zessinnovation sowie neue Technologien hin zu neuen Organisationsstrukturen, mit der Frage nach den Integrations-und Vertrauensaspekten. Hierzu haben in dem vorliegenden Buch meinungsmachende Weggefahrten, Kollegen und Freun de von Walter Eversheim ihre hochaktuelle, wertende Sicht auf das Phiinomen der Unternehmensnetzwerke zusammengetragen."
This book looks at how and where human resources (HR) meets quality management, and the implications of this. Most organizations, whatever their size or sector, struggle with demonstrating the value of continuous improvement (CI) and/or HR initiatives at a time when economic conditions are challenging in the global marketplace. Both within the UK and internationally, organizations will use continuous improvement and business excellence (BE) as a means of not only improving performance internally, but also to secure external recognition of their management practices, including people management, and therefore increase their competitiveness in their market. This text explores the potential overlaps between the two fields by considering how to address the development and implementation of a strategy to integrate CI/BE and human resource management. Practical and applied, this text provides: A brief overview of the concepts of CI and BE An analysis of the strategic factors impacting on an organization's decision-making around adopting a CI/BE approach, and the impact this may have on people management and development practices A review of some major external CI/BE accreditations and awards, and their value and how they might be used An analysis of the possible problems and outcomes which could be achieved by adopting such a CI/BE strategy and integrating it with people management and development activities This book is ideal for any professional HR or performance improvement practitioner who wants to understand how a CI/BE approach could benefit their organization, as well as postgraduate students of HR or quality management.
Projects are an important strategic management tool and a way of life in every business. But how do you get started and ensure you realize the benefits you need? Now in its 5th edition, the Project Workout is the definitive book on business-led project management. It is a valuable companion for every executive and project manager as well as a comprehensive resource for students of project management. Projects are a way of life in every business and an important strategic management tool. But how do you ensure a project realizes the benefits you need? The Project Workout provides practical advice and techniques to direct and manage a project. Aimed at both project sponsors and project managers, it works through the life cycle of a project from initial idea to successful result. The practical approach is enhanced throughout with a series of "Workouts": exercises, techniques and checklists to help you put the book's advice into practice. The Workouts are supported by an on-line resource of tools, including MS project views, project logs and templates. This expanded edition contains a wealth of new information, including how to work with standards and methods, such as ISO 21500, BS6079 and PRINCE2 and PMBoK. The companion to this book, The Programme and Portfolio Workout, deals with directing and managing whole portfolios of projects, making sure everyone in your organization is working towards the same goals; together these books give you what you need to ensure all your projects succeed.
Lessons Learned is an important phase in project management. This is when organizations can pave the way for future project success by documenting mistakes so they are not repeated and recording best practices so they are repeated. This book covers the important role a project management office (PMO) plays in promoting lessons learned. Project managers learn how to improve processes by applying lessons learned. The book emphasizes "actionability," or producing a process improvement that can be acted upon by anyone in the PMO or project team.
This book presents a set of tools that will aid in deciding whether a project should go ahead, be improved, or abandoned altogether by pinpointing its vulnerabilities. It offers a review of project feasibility analysis, and more critically, psychodynamic aspects that are often neglected, including how stakeholders interact. It provides a complement to the common techniques used for analyzing technical, financial, and marketing feasibility. The goal is to identify "hidden truths" and eliminate those gray areas that jeopardize the success of a given project. The focus is on uncovering points of vulnerabilities in four key aspects of a project: People, Power, Processes, and Plan. |
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