Exploring the three levels of project management, this edited collection analyses the practice of problem structuring approaches (PSAs) with an aim to improve organisational adaptability and value creation. By studying these approaches, the authors present techniques for enhancing project management knowledge, informing decision-making and guiding management actions. This book is an insightful and timely read, as it addresses the need for organisations to adapt in order to tackle new challenges within today's changing business landscape. Undoubtedly useful to those studying project management and operational research, this book is also an important read for managers and decision-makers within organisations as it identifies and examines the effective outcomes of PSAs.

The categorisation of analytical projects could help to simplify complexity reasonably and, at the same time, clarify the critical aspects of analytical initiatives. But how can this complex work be categorized? What makes it so complex? Data Analytics Initiatives: Managing Analytics for Success emphasizes that each analytics project is different. At the same time, analytics projects have many common aspects, and these features make them unique compared to other projects. Describing these commonalities helps to develop a conceptual understanding of analytical work. However, features specific to each initiative affects the entire analytics project lifecycle. Neglecting them by trying to use general approaches without tailoring them to each project can lead to failure. In addition to examining typical characteristics of the analytics project and how to categorise them, the book looks at specific types of projects, provides a high-level assessment of their characteristics from a risk perspective, and comments on the most common problems or challenges. The book also presents examples of questions that could be asked of relevant people to analyse an analytics project. These questions help to position properly the project and to find commonalities and general project challenges.

This research monograph presents an inter-disciplinary study of the impact, and current status, of applications of complexity-related concepts in the early stages of development of Agile Project Management (APM). The results serve as an introduction for exploring more profound relations between complexity-related ideas and APM in the future. The increasing complexity of software projects and their environment in the 1990s constituted the main determinants of the development of the family of methodological frameworks called Agile Project Management. Development of APM has been shaped by a broadly defined area of research called complexity science or complexity theory based on complex adaptive systems (CAS) and on their characteristics: Complexity, chaos, the edge of chaos, emerging properties, non-linearity, self-organization, etc. In the 21st century, due to the expansion of Agile beyond software development, the challenges deriving from the complexity of projects and the environment are even more urgent or compelling. Such phenomena demand more profound inter- and multi-disciplinary studies. This book examines the impact of applications of complexity-related ideas deriving from intuitive complexity and from complexity science in the early stages of development of the Agile methodological frameworks in project management and considers the current status of those applications. It questions the usefulness of those applications for the practice and theory of APM, and then proposes a conceptual framework for further theoretical studies and several ways of improvement and refinement of the Agile Project Management necessary to deal with broadly defined complexity in project management. Requiring a medium-level knowledge of complexity studies and knowledge of project management, this book is written for the research community studying the links between the various methodological frameworks included in APM and complexity-related ideas. It will also be interesting for studies of the impact of complexity on modern management, and for master's students on IT and management courses.

The Entrepreneurship in the Raw Materials Sector proceeding is a collection of papers focusing on the macroeconomic aspects of green growth, the business opportunities in the raw materials sector, and the challenges in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship training. These papers were presented during the closing conference of LIMBRA ('Decreasing the negative outcomes of brain drain in the raw materials sector'), a project funded by EIT Raw Materials in the period of 2019-2021. LIMBRA primarily aims at generating new entrepreneurial ideas in the raw materials sector, and to encourage engineering students graduating in raw materials-related programmes to start their own businesses. This proceeding offers a good summary of our approach, and our results: identify the critical trends in the macroeconomic environment; learn about the specifics of the raw materials markets; develop new business ideas, and rely on your local ecosystem for extra knowledge, mentoring; and finally, help students to "Become stay-at-home entrepreneurs".

The book is unique within the competition as readers will gain an understanding of how to build effectiveness, rather than just efficiency, into their thinking and into the culture of their organisations. The book applies to an international audience in the public sector and also across sectors. Written by two leading authorities and practitioners of public management performance measurement.

This is the first book to place continuous improvement at the heart of construction cost management Covers theoretical background, before presenting real practical tools to improve construction costs Includes international case studies

Despite the astonishing technological developments in our times, it is surprising how little has changed in the way organizations are structured and managed. However, organizations are finally changing as they embark on agile transformations. Agility concepts emerged from the dynamics of project management and have evolved as they are being applied to organizational structure and operations. This phase of the agile evolution is known as enterprise agility. Filled with real-world scenarios and company case studies, Enterprise Agility: A Practical Guide to Agile Business Management covers the evolution of agility, including applied processes, lessons learned and realized outcomes. The book starts with the initial phase of the agile evolution, project agility and describes how waterfall project management is transformed into scrum, which can have positive effects on project timelines, scope and budget, as well as team motivation. The second phase of agility, organizational agility, is the evolution of the agile principles from temporary projects to permanent organizational structures. The book explains the main components of organizational agility, including structures, roles and ways of organizing work. It emphasizes the advantages of transitioning from traditional organizational management to agile. Finally, the latest phase, enterprise agility, transforms each function of the organization. The book acts as a guide and describes the change through the lens of each managerial domain (sales, marketing, HR, finance etc.) and by presenting the positive impact generated on the company's overall performance based on case studies. The last chapter illustrates the enablers of this transformation and how they can help the change to be internalized so that the enterprises realize improvements. The book is based on the author's over 15 years of experience of supporting more than 25 companies in varied sectors on their transformational journey, with the last 5 years concentrating on agility. By combining business management trends and principles of agile business development, it shows managers how to lead the transformation to enterprise agility by following the path from project agility to full enterprise agility.

This book addresses key topics related to organization design and knowledge management in the digital economy with organizational context, particularly in Asia. Asian nations are moving fast toward the digital economy, within which the role of organization design and knowledge management is crucial to support innovative and creative ideas for meeting huge market opportunities where customers are ready for digitalization. The book conceptualizes organization design into three dimensions, people, information, and technology, and offers readers a unique valued insight, bringing new perspectives to understanding emerging business opportunities and challenges in Asia. It presents a valuable collection of 14 chapters with empirical studies from leading researchers. The book addresses digital transformation in companies and organizations in Asia, analysing how disruptive technologies can help them have more efficient organization processes, create innovative products and services, be more resilient and achieve sustainable goals in the post-pandemic time. It fills a gap in the market offering a valuable collection of chapters that combines strategic topics for companies, organizations and nations today, such as digital economy, disruptive technologies, big data and knowledge management, with a specific focus on the Asian region, providing rich examples and studies focused in countries and regions within Asia. Written for scholars, researchers and other specialists in digitalization, this book offers a unique collection of insights into the current and future situation in Asia.

Digitalisation and Organisation Design aims to address key topics related to organisation design and knowledge management in the digital economy with organisational context, particularly in Asia. Asian nations are moving fast toward the digital economy. Doing business in the digital economy is different from the old way, and the role of organisation design and knowledge management is crucial to support innovative and creative ideas for tapping the huge market opportunities in which people are ready for digitalisation. Chapters in the book cover important topics related to organisation design and knowledge management for organisations, especially business organisations in Asia, to prepare and cultivate necessary means for advancing in the digital economy. This book offers readers a unique value, bringing new perspectives to understanding emerging business opportunities and challenges in Asia. It will present a valuable collection of chapters with empirical studies from leading researchers on the related topic within the main theme (Asian economies, digitalisation, knowledge management, organisational design). The collection of chapters will be conceptually and practically beneficial for academics, students and policy makers interested in the latest developments in organisation design and knowledge management in the digital economy in Asia. This book can be used as a main or supplementary resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students in business and related areas.

The early explorers up through those of the early part of the last century were the supreme users of management practices that have been formalized today. Their expeditions had all the characteristics of a business project: goal setting, strategizing, applying finite resources, risk-taking, keeping people, dealing with competitors, and many others. During actual expeditions, the leaders faced many risks, issues, and conflicts that challenge the best leaders today, from small to large enterprises. Like all projects and business ventures, the expeditions met their goal, either partially or entirely, and in some cases even exceeded it or failed it completely. Management Lessons from the Great Explorers selects the most famous, and in some cases infamous, explorers to discuss and analyze the good and bad management practices-even though these explorers may have never called them management practices-they used before, during, and even after their expeditions. Each chapter provides historical background about one explorer and the details about their explorations. The chapters then discuss the challenges the explorers faced when planning and executing their expeditions and examine their successes and failures from a management perspective. The book will help managers to Manage unexpected and potentially catastrophic risks Set goals that open up new horizons Communicate effectively with team members Lead teams through hardships and difficulties The final chapter gives lessons learned that managers may take from the book and apply to their own business undertakings. These lessons include Learning from experience Having a strong sponsor and team Relying on data and information Applying risk management and adapting to changing circumstances Implementing unity of command and defining roles and responsibilities Identifying and understanding stakeholders Being decisive Being willing to say no

This book aims at renewing the attention on a niche field, Cultural Festivals, so important for valorizing cultural traditions and local heritage visibility as well as social well-being. Following the disruptive consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, this fragile sector deserves more attention from public authorities and stakeholders at national and European levels with a suitable and dedicated plan of recovery and valorization. This book provides a comparative analysis of Cultural Festivals in Europe, taking insights from an international range of high-level scholarly contributors. Individual chapters highlight and analyse challenges around the organisation, management and economics of Cultural Festivals. As a whole, the book provides a comprehensive overview of scholarly research in this area, setting the scene for the future research agenda. Matters related to educational programs and new audience development, as well as challenges related to digitalization, are also included. The book employs a tradition versus innovation lens to help readers account for the consequences of the digital revolution, new audience development and an educational agenda. The result is a book which will be valuable reading for researchers, academics and students in the fields of event and cultural management and beyond. Chapters 4 and 9 of this book are available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. They have been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Practical Management for the Digital Age is an innovative introductory management textbook that shows the sweeping impact of information technology on the business world. At the same time, it addresses the pressing issue of how environmental aspects are interwoven with management decisions. This book forms an academically rigorous, accurate, and accessible first exposure to a topic that often challenges novices with competing definitions, inconsistent use of terminology, methodological variety, and conceptual fuzziness. It has been written for readers with little or no prior knowledge of management and is compact enough to be read cover-to-cover over the course of a semester. Features of this book: Provides a broad, self-contained treatment of management for those without prior knowledge of management or commerce, emphasizing core ideas that every manager should know. Establishes the context of modern management by characterizing the nature of the private enterprise, the economic theory of the firm, the economics of digitalization and automation, processes of innovation, and life cycle thinking. Introduces readers to various activities of managing, including business modeling, new business formation, operations management, managing people, marketing, and the management of quality and risk. Provides practical introductions to broadly applied management techniques, including financial planning, financial analysis, evaluating flows of money, and planning and monitoring projects. This book is aimed at a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate students in a variety of disciplines, as well as practitioners. It will be especially useful to those in the fields of engineering, science, computer science, medicine, pharmacy, social sciences, and more. It will help student readers engage confidently with project work in the final parts of their degree courses and, most importantly, with managerial situations later in their careers. For instructors, who may not have a management background, this book offers content for a self-contained year-long course in management at the intermediate undergraduate level. In addition, it has been developed for undergraduate and postgraduate courses with accreditation requirements that include a taught element in management, such as the UK Engineering Council's Accreditation of Higher Education (AHEP) framework.

- Ties together the three (now) competing modern disciplines in Program and Project Management - Tells you how to do it, not just some theory based on a one of a kind project - Provides clear and concise definitions for the three disciplines helping with career choices, separation of duties and when to use - Perfect desktop reference usable for many years to come

This book discusses risk management as it applies to problem-solving for simple, complex and wicked problems faced by policy creators and implementors, project managers and systems engineers in the context of policies, large engineering projects (LEPs), projects and systems. When applying systems thinking to risk management, it can be seen that risk management applies to almost every action taken in daily life. This book: Introduces the systems approach of integrating risk management into policy creation and implementation, project management and systems engineering, such as the risk framework and the Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract with penalties and bonuses. Introduces a number of out-of-the box concepts building on the application of the systems thinking tools in the system thinker's toolbox. Points out that integrating risk management into policy and project management and systems engineering is just good management and engineering practice. Discusses the flow of risk in a policy from creation through implementation via LEPs and simpler projects, identifying where risks arise and where they should be dealt with. Presents the risks in the relationship between policy creation, implementation, project management and systems engineering. Discusses risks throughout the policy implementation process and shows how the nature of risks changes from political to financial to technological as implementation proceeds. Discusses managing complexity and specifies the minimum number of elements in a system for it to be defined as, and managed as, complex. Points out that in most instances the traditionally ignored major implementation risk is that of poor performance by personnel. Shows how to proactively incorporate prevention into planning in order to prevent risks, as well as how to mitigate them when they occur.

Central to the issue of improving project performance is the application of deterministic, probabilistic processes, and techniques to reduce human error. To that end, we as project managers often endeavour to implement and follow a project management methodology in the belief that we can reduce the scope for emerging ambiguous requirements, ill-matched resource needs and availability, contractual and funding constraints, and other unwanted uncertainties. However, such 'self-evidently correct' processes are not without their limitations. The management of uncertainty needs to be viewed not from a procedural, 'stand-alone' perspective but from a behavioural, people-driven perspective - that is, Mindfulness. Mindfulness is a project-wide human capability to anticipate key events from emerging trends, constantly adapt to change, and rapidly bounce back from adversity. Resilient project managers are forward-thinking and able to foresee relevant scenarios that are likely to occur and which may have damaging effects on performance. We strive to be prepared for the best but also for the worst, and learning is nurtured and encouraged. We believe that with purpose, whatever uncertainty hits us, and regardless of the damage caused, we can prevent a crisis from happening in the first place. When a crisis occurs, we can recover and bounce back from shocks, quickly restoring 'normal' management. This book goes beyond commonly accepted standards in project management and looks past mere compliance to determinism and probabilistic approaches to managing uncertainty. Relying on the power of mindful thinking, it identifies an art to manage uncertainty.

This fast-paced business novel does for project management what The Goal and It's Not Luck have done for production and marketing. Goldratt's novels have traditionally slain sacred cows and delivered new ways of looking at processes which seem like common sense once you read them. Critical Chain is no exception. In perhaps Eli's most readable book yet, two of the established principles of project management, the engineering estimate and project milestones, are found wanting and dismissed, and other established principles are up for scrutiny - as Goldratt once more applies his Theory of Constraints. The approach is radical, yet clear, understandable and logical. New techniques are introduced, and Project Buffers, Feeding Buffers, Limit Multitasking, Improved Communications and Correct Measurements make them work. Goldratt even handles the complicated statistics of dispersed variability versus accumulated variability so deftly you won't even be aware of learning about them - they ll just seem like more common sense! Critical Chain is critical reading for anyone who deals with projects. If you use block diagrams, drawings or charts to keep track of your activities, you are managing a project - and this book is for you.

Although project management is a newly recognised profession, it deals with a number of significant challenges. We seem to operate in an unprecedented environment, rife with change, innovation and turbulence. Moreover, projects by their very nature tend to push boundaries, encourage novelty and demand engagement with the uncertain and the unknown. Indeed, projects reflect our organised impulse to constantly amend, shape, improve and refine our context. So how can future projects overcome the challenges? Rethinking Project Management for a Dynamic and Digital World makes a powerful and original statement equipping project leaders and managers with new approaches and frameworks for an increasingly demanding world where the traditional methods, models and mindsets no longer suffice. The book explores new trends, promising ideas and novel concepts and distils the fundamentals for marshalling a world concerned with people, communities and value by deploying innovation, rethinking purpose and acting responsibly. An increasingly borderless, upwardly mobile and entrepreneurial society requires a revamped and revitalised project perspective that is more dynamic, adaptive and reflective. This volume brings together some of the best writing by leading authorities on many key topics, including benchmarking, lean quality, communicating, teams and teamwork, followership, organising for project work, project frameworks, agile working, project portfolios, strategic initiatives, strategic alignment, trust, entrepreneurship, putting people first, social processes, positive organisations, rethinking progress, the hacker paradigm, community, stewardship and knowledge management. The collection thus offers an invaluable new resource for informed managers looking to engage with the latest thinking and research and for researchers seeking to reflect on how the discipline is changing.

Unique selling point: Theory, strategies, tools, and technology to create a more inclusive organization Core audience: Business managers, project managers, and consultants Place in the market: The book is in line with social justice trends as well as technology trends to meet the needs of management professionals

This new edition of Project Risk Management Guidelines has been fully updated to include the new international standards, ISO 31000 Risk management and IEC 62198 Managing risk in projects. The book explains the standards and how they can be applied. It provides a clear introduction to basic project risk management, introduces the reader to specialized areas of projects and procurement, and shows how quantitative risk analysis methods can be used in large projects. Chapter by chapter, the authors present simple, practical steps and illustrate them with examples drawn from their extensive experience from around the world, in many different industry sectors and cultures and at all stages of projects from conception through development and into execution. Qualitative and quantitative approaches are covered. Traditional structures and processes are discussed as well as developments in the way projects are conducted, such as outsourcing arrangements and risk-sharing structures like public private partnerships. Improved outcomes can be achieved when sound risk management is used to capture opportunities and reduce threats. Its unique focus and wealth of checklists, tables and other resources make this book an essential and enduring tool for anyone involved with project work.

Turbulence is not new to the business world. In fact, turbulence is increasing, and managers are seeing teams spinning their wheels. Management systems are in a state of crisis and operations are more complex. The old top-down operations mode no longer suffices. Today's businesses demand speed and increased accuracy, forcing everyone to re-evaluate chains of command and tear down the walls between functions. Amid the responsibilities of traditional management lies problem solving. The push is toward moving decision-making authority down the ladder to all levels. Managers are no longer equipped to or capable of making the number and variety of necessary decisions in a vacuum. The current mode is to have employees deal directly with workplace issues and take corrective action without complaint and without management involvement. Coping with this reality and preparation for these improvements in workplace problem solving requires interest and motivation. Strategic Decision Making for Successful Planning can facilitate this by demystifying and simplifying the process. The book bridges philosophy and theory and puts together a practical integration of all the tools necessary to get results from your investment of time, energy, and money. What is unique about this book is while it's based on a strong academic foundation, it does not get bogged down in the human-planning or psychological process of solving problems. It doesn't provide "pie-in-the-sky" creative solutions or a five-year process for solving problems and planning for the future. Numerous techniques and tools are included to make the book the right balance between practical and academic. The book also includes an extensive case study to illustrate points made in the text.

Turbulence is not new to the business world. In fact, turbulence is increasing, and managers are seeing teams spinning their wheels. Management systems are in a state of crisis and operations are more complex. The old top-down operations mode no longer suffices. Today's businesses demand speed and increased accuracy, forcing everyone to re-evaluate chains of command and tear down the walls between functions. Amid the responsibilities of traditional management lies problem solving. The push is toward moving decision-making authority down the ladder to all levels. Managers are no longer equipped to or capable of making the number and variety of necessary decisions in a vacuum. The current mode is to have employees deal directly with workplace issues and take corrective action without complaint and without management involvement. Coping with this reality and preparation for these improvements in workplace problem solving requires interest and motivation. Strategic Decision Making for Successful Planning can facilitate this by demystifying and simplifying the process. The book bridges philosophy and theory and puts together a practical integration of all the tools necessary to get results from your investment of time, energy, and money. What is unique about this book is while it's based on a strong academic foundation, it does not get bogged down in the human-planning or psychological process of solving problems. It doesn't provide "pie-in-the-sky" creative solutions or a five-year process for solving problems and planning for the future. Numerous techniques and tools are included to make the book the right balance between practical and academic. The book also includes an extensive case study to illustrate points made in the text.

Easy to read introduction to a complex area in construction management The only book on the market pitched at this level, others are more advanced Case studies, discussion questions and chapter summaries

Integrating Business Management Processes: Management and Core Processes (978-0-367-48549-8, 365816) Shelving Guide: Business & Management The backbone of any organisation is its management system. It must reflect the needs of the organisation and the requirements of its customers. Compliance with legal requirements and ethical environmental practices contributes towards the sustainability of the management system. Whatever the state of maturity of the management, this book, one of three, provides useful guidance to design, implement, maintain and improve its effectiveness. This volume, with its series of examples and procedures, shows how organizations can benefit from satisfying customer requirements and the requirements of ISO standards to gain entry into lucrative markets. It provides a comprehensive coverage of the key management and core processes. Topics include the impact of management systems on business performance, strategic planning, risk management, good manufacturing practices, purchasing, production and provision of services, new product planning, warehousing and logistics, sales management and several other topics. This book, along with its two companion volumes, is a practical guide for real managers, designed to help them manage their business more effectively and gain competitive advantage. Titus De Silva is a consultant in management skills development, pharmacy practice, quality management and food safety and an advisor to the newly established National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) in Sri Lanka.