The book describes how to manage and successfully deliver large, complex, and expensive systems that can be composed of millions of line of software code, being developed by numerous groups throughout the globe, that interface with many hardware items being developed by geographically dispersed companies, where the system also includes people, policies, constraints, regulations, and a myriad of other factors. It focuses on how to seamlessly integrate systems, satisfy the customer's requirements, and deliver within the budget and on time. The guide is essentially a "shopping list" of all the activities that could be conducted with tailoring guidelines to meet the needs of each project.

This book has been developed with an intellectual framework to focus on the challenges and specific qualities applicable to graduates on the threshold of their careers. Young professionals have to establish their competence in complying with multifaceted sets of ethical, environmental, social, and technological parameters. This competence has a vital impact on the curricula of higher education programs, because professional bodies today rely on accredited degrees as the main route for membership. Consequently, this four-part book makes a suitable resource for a two-semester undergraduate course in professional practice and career development in universities and colleges. With its comprehensive coverage of a large variety of topics, each part of the book can be used as a reference for other related courses where sustainability, leadership, systems thinking and professional practice are evident and increasingly visible. Features Identifies the values that are unique to the engineering and computing professions, and promotes a general understanding of what it means to be a member of a profession Explains how ethical and legal considerations play a role in engineering practice Discusses the importance of professional communication and reflective practice to a range of audiences Presents the practices of leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, safety and sustainability in engineering design Analyzes and discusses the contemporary practices of project management, artificial intelligence, and professional career development.

Concise yet comprehensive, Product Planning Essentials addresses the complex, interdisciplinary nature of product development and product management. It covers strategic issues that emerge during the product life cycle, including identifying opportunities, idea generation and evaluation, technical development, commercialization, and eventual product dismissal. Special topics include public policy, international issues, and intellectual property. An interesting summary of product development best practices from several companies appears at the end of the book. Instructors, students and practitioners will appreciate the balanced managerial and how-to orientation.

The innovation infrastructure and master plan described in this book offers a detailed and comprehensive approach to one of the most difficult and challenging problems facing entrepreneurs involved in innovation at any scale enterprise: the problem of how to govern your organization's innovation initiatives in the middle of turbulent change. Progress in any field requires the development of a framework, a structure that organizes the accumulating knowledge, enables people to master it, and unifies the key discoveries into a set of principles that makes them understandable and actionable. For starters, successful innovation requires an integrated design process, beginning with integration in the design of the enterprise, the design of the product, along with the design and implementation of new technologies. Such an integrated design effort requires good collaboration and management of the design framework, and should be supported by efficient knowledge management techniques and tools; If innovation is to help a business grow and improve its competitiveness, it is also important to plan the innovation carefully. This book provides a holistic, multidisciplinary framework that will enable your organization and its leaders to take a strategic approach to innovation. The framework combines non-traditional, creative approaches to business innovation with conventional strategy development models. The framework model brings together perspectives from many complementary disciplines: the non-traditional approaches to innovation found in the business creativity movement; multiple-source strategy consulting; the new product development perspective of many leading industrial design firms; qualitative consumer/customer research; future-based research found in think tanks and traditional scenario planning; and organizational development (OD) practices that examine the effectiveness of an organization's culture, processes, and structure. Though some ideas may just "fall from the sky" or "come out of the blue", an organization should also have a strategic vision of how the business and the enterprise will successfully develop. It should not just wait for the innovation to arrive arbitrarily, but rather proactively plan for innovation incorporating market trends, the competitive landscape, new technology availability, and changes in customer preferences and trends in order to create a flexible in-house innovation process. Such an enterprise will also pro-actively manage the knowledge supply chain that supports innovation, as outlined in this book #7 of Management Handbook for Results series. The framework outlined in this handbook consists of a well-integrated cohesive set of practices that inspires imaginative innovation teams to look beyond the obvious and explore a broad range of possibilities to identify significant opportunities and make informed decisions about the most promising paths to pursue. The goal is to create a shared vision for growth, along with defining pragmatic action plans that bridge from the future back to the present, while attempting to align the organization around the requirements for success.

Many people struggle to lead a project with a successful outcome and they fail to keep them to budget, deliver on time and motivate a team. This book combines practical tools, personal tips and psychological insights to that you can:

- Realistically plan not only your time and resources but everyone else's
- Understand your team's strengths and weaknesses
- Monitor everyone's work and review their progress
- Ensure your communication skills and feedback inspire and encourage your team
- Successfully meet project initiatives and objectives

Proper cost accounting and financial management are essential elements of any successful construction job, and therefore make up essential skills for construction project managers and project engineers. Many textbooks on the market focus on the theoretical principles of accounting and finance required for head office staff like the chief financial officer (CFO) of a construction firm. This book's unique practical approach focuses on the activities of the construction management team, including the project manager, superintendent, project engineer, and jobsite cost engineers and cost accountants. In short, this book provides a seamless connection between cost accounting and construction project management from the construction management practitioner's perspective. Following a complete accounting cycle, from the original estimate through cost controls to financial close-out, the book makes use of one commercial construction project case study throughout. It covers key topics like financial statements, ratios, cost control, earned value, equipment depreciation, cash flow, and pay requests. But unlike other texts, this book also covers additional financial responsibilities such as cost estimates, change orders, and project close-out. Also included are more advanced accounting and financial topics such as supply chain management, activity-based accounting, lean construction techniques, taxes, and the developer's pro forma. Each chapter contains review questions and applied exercises and the book is supplemented with an eResource with instructor manual, estimates and schedules, further cases and figures from the book. This textbook is ideal for use in all cost accounting and financial management classes on both undergraduate and graduate level construction management or construction engineering programs.

Thinking: A Guide to Systems Engineering Problem-Solving focuses upon articulating ways of thinking in today's world of systems and systems engineering. It also explores how the old masters made the advances they made, hundreds of years ago. Taken together, these considerations represent new ways of problem solving and new pathways to answers for modern times. Special areas of interest include types of intelligence, attributes of superior thinkers, systems architecting, corporate standouts, barriers to thinking, and innovative companies and universities. This book provides an overview of more than a dozen ways of thinking, to include: Inductive Thinking, Deductive Thinking, Reductionist Thinking, Out-of-the-Box Thinking, Systems Thinking, Design Thinking, Disruptive Thinking, Lateral Thinking, Critical Thinking, Fast and Slow Thinking, and Breakthrough Thinking. With these thinking skills, the reader is better able to tackle and solve new and varied types of problems. Features Proposes new approaches to problem solving for the systems engineer Compares as well as contrasts various types of Systems Thinking Articulates thinking attributes of the great masters as well as selected modern systems engineers Offers chapter by chapter thinking exercises for consideration and testing Suggests a "top dozen" for today's systems engineers

Transformation and Your New EHR offers a robust communication and change leadership approach to support electronic health record (EHR) implementations and transformation journeys. This book highlights the approach and philosophy of communication, change leadership, and systems and process design, giving readers a practical view into the successes and failures that can be experienced throughout the evolution of an EHR implementation.

More than 80% of Technology projects fail. What does that mean? It means the project has broken one of the "Triple Constraints", scope, time, and budget. This book is focused on project planning and project management of IT projects in the education realm.This book provides the most streamlined methods for defining, developing, documenting, and executing any Education Technology project. It provides the methods to insure integrity and accuracy in the planning phase, and control and communication in the execution phase. It defines how projects start and end, and all the milestones and control points in the middle. And it details how you can execute it all. After reading this book, you will have the methods, templates and examples, in order to deliver successful Education Technology projects, but more importantly, this book will give you the insights of how to become a successful Education Technology Project Manager.

Concerned with the management of complex long-term engineering projects, this important volume, of great interest to postgraduate students of business, technology management and engineering, reports on a set of rich, novel and unique findings concerning the conduct and management of three high profile and complex projects. The major investments which constitute complex long-term projects represent an increasingly important source of economic activity, often with particularly significant consequences for economic growth and public policy. This informative volume expertly contributes to broader debates concerning new organizational forms, knowledge management and organizational learning and the management of innovation in project-based settings.

Strategic planning is the starting point for projects and often the primary reason for a project's success or failure. It has the potential to enable every organisation to realise its ideals and actualise its values, whether it be a small start-up business, a large international company or even an entire society. Project leaders and project-orientated organisations need to understand strategic planning to recognise their position and environment, and make rational decisions when selecting and defining their projects and programs. But, those same principles can have broader, more profound, and more ambitious applications too. Project: Strategy is a practical handbook that enables organisations of any size, and employees at all levels within them, to form strategic plans and actively contribute to them throughout a project's development. Rather than focus on superficial exercises, this book draws from knowledge outside of business and management - humanities, philosophy, psychology, technology, and engineering - to create a holistic view and a depth of understanding you would never achieve with SWOT analysis alone. Taking the reader on a pragmatic journey, it teaches self-reflexion, social responsibility and creative thinking with application to their projects and plans, but also to their working relationships and to their organisations. This book is also an ideal introductory book to progressive programs on strategic planning, with a focus on collaborative work, open strategy, and open strategic planning on a social level. It provides a wealth of learning tools and case studies to demonstrate best practice. This is the ideal guide to project planning for anyone that wants their planning decisions to be as wise as they are savvy.

With the majority of IT projects being delivered late, over budget, or cancelled altogether, it is clear that traditional project management methodologies do not provide an effective framework for today's IT projects. It is evident that a new Return-on-Investment (ROI) oriented approach is required that focuses on the ROI of a project from its inception. Maximizing Benefits from IT Project Management: From Requirements to Value Delivery provides comprehensive guidelines for determining an accurate ROI before the project has progressed to the point where it's over budget and over-run. It applies an iterative approach to the entire project management life cycle that re-visits the ROI, re-assesses the value delivered, defines the project scope, and allows the project to be planned as successive iterations based on the value delivered. This book details a systematic and simplified approach for effectively and efficiently selecting and evaluating IT projects for your organization. Filled with equations, tables, and figures that facilitate understanding, it explains how to evaluate subsequent success of a project so that it is simpler to manage, more efficient, and yields the ROI estimated at the outset. Using the novel approach outlined in the book, you will be able to deliver value throughout the project life cycle and make sure your projects are delivered on time, on budget, and within the constraints of the resources available.

Learn how to perform project management according to international standards of compliance using capability assessment processes. This book compares and contrasts the approach to project management using ISO 21500 against the more direct ISO 33000 Capability Assessment. It shows how to assess projects adequately for process improvement or how well an organization performs against a standard, measurable framework. Using ISO 21500 as the project management reference point and ISO 15504/33000 as the capability assessment reference, the book shows you how to assess whether your projects are being run according to a specific capability level or support them to reach higher levels of capability.

Consistent success does not happen by chance. It occurs by having an understanding of what is happening in the environment and then having the skills to execute the necessary changes. Ideal for project, IT, and systems development managers, IT Best Practices: Management, Teams, Quality, Performance, and Projects details the skills, knowledge, and attributes needed to succeed in bringing about large-scale change. It explains how to incorporate quality methods into the change management process and outlines a holistic approach for transformation management. Detailing time-tested project management techniques, the book examines management skills with a focus on systems thinking to offer a pragmatic look at effecting change. Its comprehensive coverage spans team building, quality, project methodology, resource allocation, process engineering, and management best practices. The material covered is validated with references to concepts and processes from such business greats as Dr. Deming, Jack Welch, and Henry Ford. Readers will learn the history behind the concepts discussed along with the contributions made by these great minds. The text supplies an awareness of the factors that impact performance in today's projects to supply you with the real-world insight needed to bring about large-scale change in your organization. Although it is geared around change, most of the concepts discussed can be directly applied to improve efficiencies in your day-to-day activities.

Business managers have long known the power of the Balanced Scorecard in executing corporate strategy. Implementing the Project Management Balanced Scorecard shows project managers how they too can use this framework to meet strategic objectives. It supplies valuable insight into the project management process as a whole and provides detailed explanations on how to effectively implement the balanced scorecard to measure and manage performance and projects. The book details a tactical approach for implementing the scorecard approach at the project level and investigates numerous sample scorecards, metrics, and techniques. It examines recent research on critical issues such as performance measurement and management, continuous process improvement, benchmarking, metrics selection, and people management. It also explains how to integrate these issues with the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard: customer, business processes, learning and innovation, and financial. Filled with examples and case histories, the book directly relates the scorecard concept to the major project management steps of determining scope, scheduling, estimation, risk management, procurement, and project termination. It includes a plethora of resources on the accompanying downloadable resources-including detailed instructions for developing a measurement program, a full metrics guide, a sample project plan, and a set of project management fill-in forms.

Going where no book on software measurement and metrics has previously gone, this critique thoroughly examines a number of bad measurement practices, hazardous metrics, and huge gaps and omissions in the software literature that neglect important topics in measurement. The book covers the major gaps and omissions that need to be filled if data about software development is to be useful for comparisons or estimating future projects. Among the more serious gaps are leaks in reporting about software development efforts that, if not corrected, can distort data and make benchmarks almost useless and possibly even harmful. One of the most common leaks is that of unpaid overtime. Software is a very labor-intensive occupation, and many practitioners work very long hours. However, few companies actually record unpaid overtime. This means that software effort is underreported by around 15%, which is too large a value to ignore. Other sources of leaks include the work of part-time specialists who come and go as needed. There are dozens of these specialists, and their combined effort can top 45% of total software effort on large projects. The book helps software project managers and developers uncover errors in measurements so they can develop meaningful benchmarks to estimate software development efforts. It examines variations in a number of areas that include: Programming languages Development methodology Software reuse Functional and nonfunctional requirements Industry type Team size and experience Filled with tables and charts, this book is a starting point for making measurements that reflect current software development practices and realities to arrive at meaningful benchmarks to guide successful software projects.

Procurers and contractors increasingly need practical guidance for the strategic procurement of building services. Clients seeking to improve the delivery performance of the construction industry are increasingly using alternative procurement arrangements. These modern arrangements attempt to deliver a more strategic approach to achieving value for money. Yet little thought is ever given to the strategic importance of building services. No other single aspect of a project will affect project success more than the timely delivery of a fully functioning services installation. Beyond the normal considerations of time, cost and quality, building services have a series of unique requirements not normally considered. For the first time these unique requirements are combined in a single text, providing the reader with the definitive guide to building services procurement. The text reviews each of the major critical success factors and clearly explains the supporting processes that must be enacted to ensure success. It reviews the general nature of procurement systems and construction projects, and then explores the increasing importance that building services play both in the construction process and in determining success for the client. Each significant stage within the procurement process is explored by explaining its importance and showing what decisions need to be made to develop a cohesive strategy. It concludes by giving a step-by-step guide to clearly develop and implement a building services procurement strategy.

This book offers a new understanding of innovation in the built environment. The ways meaning of innovation is constructed has important implications for policymakers, project managers, academics and students. Through a longitudinal research study into innovation in firms and projects, the book addresses some key themes, challenges and concerns that practitioners face when managing innovation in the built environment. It examines the key drivers for innovation in the construction, engineering and infrastructure firms and projects. In particular, the questions of how and why innovation becomes recognised and sustained over time are explored. Different theoretical perspectives are considered to explain different aspects of innovation. This includes sensemaking, organisational and individual identity, storytelling and narration. The book has practical implications for how organisational activities become labelled as 'innovation' and for what purpose. It shares some lived stories of innovation as mobilised by practising managers. The connectivity between the formal narratives of innovation at the policy level and the lived narratives of innovation articulated by practitioners is explored. Combining the theory with practice, this book presents an insightful view on the implications of innovation in the business world today.

A guide to the essential skills of project management, enabling you to bring in projects on time and within budget. Juggling all the tasks and resources you need to make a project run smoothly can seem like an onerous task - from engaging with stakeholders and scoping out the full specification of the project, through to keeping a rein on costs and sticking to schedules. Manage Projects Successfully offers calm and practical advice to help you with setting priorities, communicating with others, monitoring progress and dealing with unexpected events. Practical, easy to read and jargon-free, the book contains a quiz to assess strengths and weaknesses, step-by-step guidance and action points, top tips to bear in mind for the future, common mistakes and advice on how to avoid them, and summaries of key points.

This book is a comprehensive and practical guide to project marketing - a crucial aspect of businesses worldwide. It encompasses a variety of key infrastructure projects such as roads, airports, ports, power, irrigation, commercial, and industrial buildings. The volume: * Provides key definitions and discusses concepts such as segmentation, target marketing, positioning in projects, and organizational buyer behaviour. * Draws and adapts from extant marketing theory and provides real-life case studies to demonstrate application of concepts. * Focuses on project marketing logic, marketing mix, negotiation techniques, and strategies to aid contracting/subcontracting firms to realize better pricing and project profitability. An essential handbook for professional marketers and researchers, this book will be indispensable for B-Schools, project managers, entrepreneurs, infrastructure corporations, and start-ups. It will serve as a key text to foster hassle-free relationships between different business actors and reduce roadblocks such as time and cost escalation, litigation, and the like.

No one can disagree that benefits are good things. Whether you are responsible for projects, programs, or portfolios, you are increasingly expected to think-and act-in an appropriate benefits-driven way. However: Do you understand that what may be appropriate for a project may be inapplicable for a program? Can you avoid the trap of wishful thinking based on overinflated expectations and underestimated costs? Can you manage your program or portfolio from inception to final delivery in a consistent, benefits-focused way based on a single, coherent model? This book describes how Earned Benefit Program Management techniques provide an innovative, all-inclusive model and set of tools developed specifically to answer these questions. This model consolidates the key concepts of project, program, and portfolio management and ensures that all program and portfolio management steps are carried out based on a single, signed-off model in a consistent, verifiable manner within a consolidated life cycle. This approach guarantees alignment with strategic goals and constraints through every stage of a program. Case studies highlight the key features of the approach and provide important lessons and insights for managing programs. Although the ideas and concepts for each topic are fully consistent with existing standards and other published material, they are based on new thinking and go beyond current practice. They provide a set of original and powerful techniques that are applicable to both programs and portfolios in a wide range of business environments.

Systems engineering has been applied to some of the most important projects of our time, including those that have helped humanity explore the world and the universe, expand our technical abilities, and enhance the quality of human life. Without formal training in systems engineering, the discipline is often difficult to understand and apply, and its use within projects is often confusing. Systems Engineering for Projects: Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Complex World provides an approach that utilizes a combination of the most effective processes from both project management and systems engineering disciplines in a simplified and straightforward manner. The processes described in the book are lightweight, flexible, and tailorable. They provide the shortest path to success in projects across the entire project life cycle, from research to operations, and from simple to the most complex. The book also addresses how this methodology can be used in a continually adapting and changing world, as projects span disciplines and become even more interconnected across all areas of human existence. Each chapter includes diagrams, templates, summary lists, a case study, and a thought-provoking question and answer section that assists readers in immediate application of the material to their own projects. The book is a project manager's resource for understanding how to directly apply essential processes to projects in a way that increases the probability of achieving success. It is a comprehensive, go-to manual on the application of systems engineering processes to projects of all types and complexity.

The U.S. economy thrives on the development of new products, new systems, and new processes. Usually, these advances start as a flash of inspiration by highly creative individuals. It is complex and difficult to go from initial inspiration to a final product, process, or system. So it is not surprising that approximately one out of every four development programs fails. A development program or project in trouble is distinct from a program encountering typical development difficulties. Such a program or project can appear to be in free fall. This book identifies the essential fundamentals for executing a program or project turnaround effectively. These fundamentals include: Clearly identifying the next critical accomplishment needed for success Assigning responsibility for each program task to one person Capitalizing on colocation and face-to-face communication Recruiting problem solvers Wining commitment from team members Using team accomplishments to propel high team morale The guidance provided in this book is applicable to all program or project genres, including manufacturing, nonprofit work, education, medicine, investment management, and municipal management. Software has become a great part of both providing product functionality and assisting with managing product development. A special chapter devoted to software development dispels common misconceptions and provides guidance for turning around this special type of project or program. This book is a highly valuable source of insight for a wide range of readers, including management professionals, business students, and executive managers. Every member of a product or project development team will find its recommendations to be of high value.

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.