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Books > Business & Economics > Business & management > Management & management techniques > Project management
This unique reference interweaves information on the three major overlapping parts of the total project program: programs (defined as techniques, procedures, and methods), people skills (defined as experience, application, and analytical ability), and the culture of project groups (defined as project commitment and working togetherness). Summarizing the skills necessary for an economic construction program, Effective Project Management Through Applied Cost and Schedule Control presents a detailed evaluation of current project skill levels...reveals a direct correlation between project team-building and cost/schedule control...offers rules of thumb for establishing and developing the scope of a project...suggests value management procedures for creating cost-effective construction designs...delineates a wide range of analytical trending techniques...covers change control and risk analysis...elucidates the procurement needs of a project...and more.
Portfolio management consists mainly of making decisions about which initiatives to undertake, which initiatives not to pursue, and which resources are to be allocated to which portfolio component. At least, that's how it is most commonly presented in textbooks and courses. Indeed, it is all of that, but it is also so much more. Portfolio management is, of course, about making these decisions, but, more accurately, it is about making them with the goal of creating value for an organization's wide population of stakeholders, both internal and external. This value is not only expressed in financial terms but also in social terms. The portfolio should create value for all stakeholders, who thereby support the portfolio organization and enable it to sustain itself. Portfolio management is about the realization of strategic vision, achieving a purpose, and developing an intelligent way of using resources to benefit stakeholders. This requires the ability to find a balance among the different dimensions of portfolio governance and among the constraints constantly shaping and reshaping the business environment. This is what portfolio management is truly about; this is what organizational management is about. The Four Pillars of Portfolio Management: Organizational Agility, Strategy, Risk, and Resources takes readers on a journey navigating the dimensions and constraints to be balanced and integrated as part of the portfolio and organizational decision-making process. By balancing the requirements of strategic alignment with the exposure to risk and by reconciling resource demands with capability, a portfolio manager can develop and sustain an organization despite the constant and dynamic evolution of the business environment. This book explains how to manage portfolios that create the agility all organizations require to survive and thrive.
Learning, Unlearning and Re-learning Curves (Volume IV of the Working Guides to Estimating & Forecasting series) focuses in on Learning Curves, and the various tried and tested models of Wright, Crawford, DeJong, Towill-Bevis and others. It explores the differences and similarities between the various models and examines the key properties that Estimators and Forecasters can exploit. A discussion about Learning Curve Cost Drivers leads to the consideration of a little used but very powerful technique of Learning Curve modelling called Segmentation, which looks at an organisation's complex learning curve as the product of multiple shallower learning curves. Perhaps the biggest benefit is that it simplifies the calculations in Microsoft Excel where there is a change in the rate of learning observed or expected. The same technique can be used to model and calibrate discontinuities in the learning process that result in setbacks and uplifts in time or cost. This technique is compared with other, better known techniques such as Anderlohr's. Equivalent Unit Learning is another, relative new technique that can be used alongside traditional completed unit learning to give an early warning of changes in the rates of learning. Finally, a Learning Curve can be exploited to estimate the penalty of collaborative working across multiple partners. 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.
PgMP Exam Practice Test and Study Guide, Fourth Edition is the book you need to pass the Program Management Professional (PgMP) exam the first time around. It reflects recent revisions based on PMI's Standard for Program Management - Third Edition (2013).Based on best practices that complement PMI's standards, this is the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource available to help you prepare for the exam with new and changed terminology. It includes a list of the major topics covered on the exam organized by the five performance domains'strategic program management, program life cycle, benefits management, stakeholder management, and governance as presented in the Program Management Professional Examination Content Outline. It also includes helpful tips on how to make the most of the time you have available to prepare for the exam. Just like its bestselling predecessors, this indispensable study guide includes 20 multiple-choice practice questions for each domain along with a comprehensive answer key. The program life cycle domain includes 20 questions for each of the five phases. Each question also has a plainly written rationale for each correct answer with bibliographic references for further study.Two challenging, 170-question practice tests that simulate the actual exam are included in the book and online, so you can retake them as many times as necessary. They also include a rationale and reference.Scores for the online tests are presented as if each question is rated similarly, but this edition also includes a new component: the authors own weighting system for the level of difficulty for each question. This system will show you what they feel meets the exam's criteria for Proficient, Moderately Proficient, and below Proficient. You then will see your scores by domain in both approaches.Supplying an in
As executives build and nurture their organization's strategic agility in today's turbulent, uncertain business environment, the ability to lead strategic change has become more critical than ever. The Strategic Project Leader: Mastering Service-Based Project Leadership, Second Edition will help project managers lead with confidence in temporary, ambiguous team structures that execute risk-laden work in an increasingly agile project environment. Like the first edition, this edition encourages readers to take ownership of their leadership agenda and become disciplined in the processes of building a framework of leadership skills. Readers are introduced to a new role: the service-based project leader. This role serves the entire project organization by creating a meaningful experience for team members, customers, and critical stakeholders. The book provides practical guidance to help you move from project manager to service-based project leader. Detailing a framework for developing and refining leadership skills, it explains how to build a leadership competency pyramid and then execute a self-directed plan for building leadership competencies. The leadership competency pyramid includes an intuitive model that will be helpful to project managers at any level. The book elaborates on the components of each layer of the pyramid and how each layer relates to the others. A chapter is dedicated to each layer of the pyramid, with supporting evidence for the necessity of each of these layers, as well as practical advice on how to build and practice these component layers.
A companion volume and sequel to The Wiley Engineer's Desk Reference. Covers major areas regarding the technology of engineering and its operational methodology, accentuating questions of schedule and schedule maintenance. Describes professional practice skills and engineering aspects essential to success. Includes a slew of examples, checklists, sample forms and documents to facilitate understanding.
In the fluid world of changing business environments and variables affecting projects, a style of project management that primarily relies on maintaining the Iron Triangle, that tenuous mix of schedule, scope, and budgets, is no longer the sole path to success. Today's project management demands a focus on leadership of the kind that anticipates and embraces change, challenges the status quo, and inspires teams. Developing these skills requires a mastery of emotional intelligence, courage, critical thinking, and a desire to become a true leader dedicated to developing success. Whether you are participating in a project for the first time or you've been doing projects for decades, you know the very essence of a project is to return value that gains a competitive edge and propels the organization forward into new frontiers. Whether you believe the best results are earned through agile, waterfall, or a mix of methodologies, project leadership is the secret weapon that will maintain and grow professional relevance, knowledge, and value in today's workforce. Through a series of notable lessons in human history and behavior, The Human Factor in Project Management takes you on a journey of self-discovery to define your capabilities and gaps, while building your leadership skills. In your role as a project manager, project sponsor, product owner, or champion, the book challenges you to question the choices you make in a series of stories where you are the main character. This guide to career and personal growth forces you to look beyond the limitations of a Gantt chart, spreadsheet, or a Kanban board to evaluate the value from every tool you use and every action you take.
Roughly half of all project managers have to lead customer projects as profit centers on contractor side with two big objectives: making the customer happy and bringing money home. Customer projects are a high-risk business on both sides, customers and contractors, but the dynamics of this business have so far been mostly ignored in literature. The book is intended to fill this gap. The book helps project managers better understand the dynamics of customer projects under contract from business development through handover and find solutions for common problems. A central aspect is international contract laws, an often underestimated factor in projects.
A seminal collection of research methodology themes, this two-volume work provides a set of key scholarly developments related to robustness, allowing scholars to advance their knowledge of research methods used outside of their own immediate fields. With a focus on emerging methodologies within management, key areas of importance are dissected with chapters covering statistical modelling, new measurements, digital research, biometrics and neuroscience, the philosophy of research, computer modelling approaches and new mathematical theories, among others. A genuinely pioneering contribution to the advancement of research methods in business studies, Innovative Research Methodologies in Management presents an analytical and engaging discussion on each topic. By introducing new research agendas it aims to pave the way for increased application of innovative techniques, allowing the exploration of future research perspectives. Volume II explores a range of research methodologies including the Spatial Delphi and Spatial Shang, Virtual Reality, the Futures Polygon and Neuroscience research.
"Explores how engineering teams can ensure success by using strategic project planning properly. Provides a proven question-and-question format to facilitate completion of all types of projects. Focuses on decision-making, resolving major conflicts and finding ways for team members to work together, changing the strategic direction of major projects, and identifying and managing risks. Presented in a 8 3/8 x 11 spiral-bound workbook."
Covering the roles and responsibilities of the project manager, this second edition describes requirement specifications, work breakdown structures, project control and risk management, and offers new information on motivation, matrix arrangements, and project records. Discussing the anatomy of a project planning and control and techniques, the authors describe the project manager's entire range of responsibilities from initial planning to directing personnel, controlling work, and reporting results. The appendices cover work breakdown structure paradigms, cost versus time profiles, and checklists to assess work done.
Successful time-management can seem to be an elusive goal. Often it appears as if the harder we work the more hard pressed we become, and the stresses and strains of work begin to spill over into our personal lives. This book provides a complete guide to managing time from identifying current use of time to planning workloads and time saving hints and tips.
In Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary Art Andre Breton and Diego Rivera, under the effects of German fascism and Russian Stalinism in society, argued that art can only impact society and be revolutionary if it becomes independent of any social constructs. Almost six decades later, in the rise of what became known as "relational aesthetics", the field of multidisciplinarity is expanding and many artistic projects for social change claim to be multidisciplinarity. However, such projects show that we are still far from a broad discourse of multidisciplinarity. Multidisciplinarity takes a step towards a down-to-earth discussion of the relation between disciplinary discourses and grand narratives in three different projects, focusing mainly on its artistic, cultural and management aspects. Indeed, drawing from the eclectic construction of these three multidisciplinary projects, this volume serves to bridge the gap between the theoretical debates of disciplinary discourses and the harshness of everyday life in communities where projects for social change are being implemented. Presenting a panoptical view that places academic research side by side with daily life, Multidisciplinarity unveils the bigger picture of both projects and interdisciplinary discourses. This insightful volume will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as Project Management, Multidisciplinarity, Culture Studies and Organisational Studies.
This book provides the much-needed, no-nonsense guidance crucial for project managers - that is, the type of guidance that is missing from every major body of knowledge and educational offering for working project managers. This very practical book identifies the activities that influence project success and focuses the limited time and energy available towards just those activities. The Project Management Institute (PMI) and most literature on project management discusses all aspects of project management under the assumption that project managers will narrow down focus because they cannot be expected to use every process outlined by PMI to manage every project. This book uses the concept of "hacking" our standard conventions of project management and outlines a standard path identified by conventional wisdom, an evil path that project managers frequently resort to under time/quality pressures, and a hacker path that provides a better way to look at the challenge. This book equips project managers with streamlined approaches to refocus their efforts on factors that matter while spending less time doing it. Project management is a demanding discipline with a growing body of knowledge with few instructions on how to do it all. The author provides humorous anecdotes and examples while teaching readers how to save time, improve quality, and advance their career. The primary sections of the book cover how to approach the most common certifications in project management; continuing education; leading project teams; initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling projects; general life skills; and taking on additional responsibilities. Hacking project management is about focusing the limited bandwidth a project manager can give a project towards the activities that drive success.
Learn how architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms work to improve sustainability objectives and advance new ideas about creating more livable cities, workplaces, and campuses as they create greater operational efficiency. Location intelligence is changing how land development and large infrastructure projects take shape. From new residential construction to planning a modern urban experience to building a high-speed rail system, a geographic approach helps pave the way to better, more sustainable designs. In Designing Our Future: GIS for Architecture, Engineering & Construction, see how the AEC industry is implementing geographic information systems (GIS) to improve workflows, bring context to large undertakings, and increase collaboration between governments, contractors, partners, and the public. With GIS, architects, engineers, and construction professionals are discovering new efficiencies, gaining deeper insights about complex projects, and transforming the way they plan, design, build, and operate in the built and natural environments. In this collection of case studies and "how to" guidance, gain an overview of how GIS was used to: Reduce the carbon footprint and mitigate future climate-related damage from a cross-country, high-speed rail project in the US Document all above and below ground assets such as utility services, electric, gas, surface water and sewer drainage for a local transportation agency Plan maintenance for and respond to hazards from aging structures and vulnerable hillsides using drones in Japan Designing Our Future: GIS for Architecture, Engineering & Construction also includes a "next steps" section that provides ideas, strategies, tools, and actions to help jump-start your own use of GIS. A collection of online resources, including additional stories, videos, new ideas and concepts, and downloadable tools and content, complements this book. -- Keith Mann
The field of project management has developed over the past 40 years; however, the recent increase in computer power has greatly accelerated its theoretical and computational developments. Advanced Models for Project Management is an expository treatment of the recent developments in project modeling. These advances and their treatment in the book are as follows: Chapters 2 and 3 broaden the concept of precedence and the description of activities to produce a wide range of realistic representation of projects. Chapters 4 and 5 explore the stochastic study of project features through several analytical and numerical models - using simulation and risk analysis - which provide experimental and forecasting analyses. Chapter 6 examines the allocation of resources in complex situations and restrictions, and also studies the financial aspects of projects and optimization of financial elements. Chapter 7 assesses and evaluates projects within the framework of multi-criteria decision theory. Chapter 8 concludes with an analysis of new models based on synthetic indicators, helping the operations manager select the most convenient solutions. Hence, the book provides a number of original advances, including: an assessment of the complexity and hardness of a project network; a description of the network's morphology; a new approach to simulate project networks; development of models based on continuous variables to optimize project schedules; and the development of a three-dimension model (MACMODEL) to assess and to evaluate projects and a new synthetic indicator to support the process of scheduling. Finally, several software products are presented that help the project manager to use new tools suchas RISKNET and MACMODEL.
"Borderless Leadership is a must read for anyone involved in international business. It enables beginners to avoid common pitfalls, and seasoned executives will recognize many of their own mistakes and benefit from the frameworks Dr. Kraljevic provides." - Professor Sibrandes Poppema, President, University of Groningen, Netherlands "I just cannot stop recommending this book to ever so many people-my academic colleagues, industry colleagues, friends in the government, former students, students, young CEOs of start-ups that I mentor, and my media friends. The book is very special, deep with several gems of ideas, told in absorbing narrative; neither a text book nor a cook book but a candid, sincere, and extremely effective set of real world lessons for so many global citizens. Dr. Kraljevic uses personal examples from across continents, in diverse industry settings. All I can say is this: Go, grab the book on a Thursday night, and you will have a wonderful weekend reading this amazing book." - Professor S. Sadagopan, Director, International Institute of Information Technology of Bangalore, India "Everything I know about international markets, I owe it to Zlatica." - Sue Payne, Former ExxonMobil Area Manager U.S. & Mexico "As the global village rapidly expands, understanding borderless leadership becomes a prerequisite for international success in this 21st century. Kraljevic brings her vast and unique worldly experiences to open your mind with practical treasures, thoughtful how-to models, and conceptual insights. Find out about the human fractal on your journey to becoming a borderless leader." - Lane Sloan, Former President, Shell Chemical Company, USA Studies consistently show that international partnerships between organizations fail to generate expected results at a significant cost. The leading cause behind this failure is lack of trust among people at all levels within organizations. Borderless Leadership explores the disparity that exists between the ways that the West and other cultures conduct business. The book's premise is that if one cannot control the events or circumstances, one must learn how to control reactions to new environments. Using real-life examples, the book illustrates how to build trust and rapport with business partners across borders and establish relationships that help businesses grow. The book is about achieving success with and through total strangers as you progress from awareness to understanding and from understanding to acquiring, internalizing, and applying new knowledge so you bring your approach to life up to date. Only then can you transform obstacles into unsuspected opportunities that will have a positive impact on your personal and business success.
Project Management for Performance Improvement Teams (or, PM4PITs, for short) provides practical guidance based on innovative concepts for project teams -- especially Performance Improvement Teams (PITs)-and their Project Managers on how to successfully complete individual projects and programs using an ingenious and scalable framework based on an innovative foundation fusing together elements of Project Management, Innovation Management, and Continual Improvement. This book lays out how Project and Program Managers and their teams can "do those right projects the right way," one project at a time. It details what continual improvement, change, and innovation are, why they are so important, and how they apply to performance improvement-both incremental and transformative. The authors examine the four types of work and workforce management in organizations, Strategic, Operations, Projects, and Crises, using four common comparative variables: Proactive/Preventive versus Reactive/Corrective, Temporary/Unique versus Ongoing/Repetitive, Innovative versus Maintaining the Status Quo, and Schedule Focus: Fiscal Year versus Short Term versus Long Term. These comparisons set the stage for the uniqueness of the third type: Projects (and Programs) that are fundamentally change-driven.
In Using Hoshin Kanri to Improve the Value Stream, leading lean and quality expert Elizabeth Cudney constructs a complete how-to guide that any organization can employ to start a Lean effort correctly and keep it on track. Rooted in practical examples garnered over years of hand-on practice, she illustrates the key principles of lean and value, and then shows you how to put them to work. Cudney points out that organizations often fail at improvement because they go after symptomatic problems rather than the faulty system-wide processes at the root of those problems. She shows you how to avoid this common misstep by using value stream mapping to create a current-state map. Done properly, this map will help everyone in your organization come to understand just how they deliver value to customers and where flawed processes cause them to fall short. The next step is to create a future-state map that defines best processes. While that may seem easy, reaching the goals of future-state maps requires a highly disciplined effort. At this point, Hoshin Kanri -- the art of policy deployment can make a crucial impact. Hoshin Kanri encourages a systems approach that focuses on the long-term strategy of an organization. As much as defining a methodology, it inspires a positive mindset within your organization by starting with improvements that affect flow across the entire organization. In addition to improving the delivery of value, changes with broad impact will catch people s attention, encourage their involvement and increase the momentum of improvement. Chapter by chapter, this book defines the key tools, such as Six Sigma, 5S, and mistake proofing, that your organization can employ to initiate needed process improvements.
For some organizations, Lessons Learned (LL) is an informal process of discussing and recording project experiences during the closure phase. For others, LL is a formal process that occurs at the end of each phase of a project. Regardless of when they are performed, if you are a project team member, chances are you will soon be required to present an evaluation of your project using Lessons Learned. Presenting new information that updates the award-winning first edition, The Basics of Project Evaluation and Lessons Learned, Second Edition supplies practical guidance on conducting project Lessons Learned. The first edition won the Project Management Institute's (PMI (R)) David I. Cleland Project Management Literature Award. Following in the footsteps of its popular predecessor, this second edition provides an easy-to-follow, systematic approach to conducting Lessons Learned on a project. Updated to align with the PMBOK (R) Guide, Fifth Edition Includes three new chapters-PRINCE2 (R), Agile Retrospectives, and Knowledge Transfer- in response to information requests from readers of the first edition from around the world Enhanced with valuable new resources in the Project Evaluation Resource Kit (PERK) found on the downloadable resources, including a fully functional MS Access Lessons Learned Database The research in this book is based on four years of doctoral dissertation research and is supported by renowned experts in the field of evaluation. The concepts covered are applicable to all types of organizations that implement projects and need to conduct Lessons Learned. Providing tools and techniques for active engagement, the text is founded on the principles of conducting project evaluations as recommended by the Project Management Institute (PMI), the world's leading not-for-profit membership association for the project management profession, and PRINCE2 (R) (Project in Controlled Environments version 2), a major governing body of project management. Simplifying and formalizing the methodology of conducting LL in projects, the contents of this book will help organizations, large and small, more effectively implement processes and systems to support effective LL. The text is supported by a Project Evaluation Resource Kit (PERK), which is found in the downloadable resources.
"This well-organized reference presents complete and explicit instructions on exactly what to do to manage multiple small projects -- using limited resources -- in any industry. The hands-on methods -- derived from proven successes in every type of business -- specifically address the needs of the nonspecialist project manager, and are highly effective for professionals who coordinate multiple projects of any kind. "
Providing a first tentative understanding of novelty and a set of implications for organizations to manage it, this book focuses on the potential offered by emergent novelty, namely novelty which is neither designed nor pursued. The author asks how organizations might increase their abilities and strategies to benefit from its early recognition. Such potential is broken down into positive terms and demonstrates how early recognition is beneficial both to organizations which aim to seize emergent innovations as well as those which aim to avoid emergent disasters. Understanding Novelty in Organizations aims to rethink the structure and strategies of organizations to gain a new balance between design and randomness in the generation of novelty. The varied perspectives presented in this work will engage scholars interested in novelty, innovation and creativity, and emergency management.
Requirements represent the needs of stakeholders, and satisfying these needs is the purpose of any project endeavor. Therefore, requirements are the most important ingredient to start any project. Critical to achieving project success is the effective management of requirements and the needs they represent. The Requirements Elicitation, Planning, Analysis, and Collaboration (REPAC) Framework (TM) is an entirely new approach to requirements management. It helps project teams center their efforts around what matters most to stakeholders-their needs. Teams use REPAC to focus their attention, choose the correct perspective, and select the appropriate level of complexity necessary for effective collaboration to build and manage requirements right the first time.
Completely revised throughout for this second edition, Managing Quality in Architecture addresses the new ISO 9001 standards after the significant 2015 revision. ISO 9001 is the global standard for quality, and firms certified under the 2008 edition have three years to upgrade their quality systems to the new Standard. This book helps architects, engineers and other designers working in the built environment to develop appropriate quality systems that meet the requirements of the international Standard. Importantly, the 2015 Standard integrates risk management with quality, something that earlier versions did not. Risk is an extremely important factor in professional design practice, and this important element is fully explored in the new edition. Similarly, the role of BIM in quality management is addressed as an integral part of practice. International contributions from the USA and Australia provide expertise in each topic, and case studies from the USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the United Nations Office of Project Services provide easy-to-follow illustrations of the important areas to understand. The focus is completely practical, rather than theoretical, affording readers a concise picture of how the issues of excellence and quality performance flow across every aspect of design practice.
Grounded in practicality, this book explains the procedures for running a successful project and highlights the finer points of managing and controlling the project. Written specifically for those responsible for the hands-on managing of projects, the book is also useful to overall program managers and senior executives. Project managers will gain the confidence that comes from following a good recipe for success. Program managers will gain a perspective on the myriad of activities their project managers must perform to achieve a well-disciplined project. Senior managers will gain a perspective of the approach necessary at the beginning of a project to reduce the number of ill-advised projects and the effort required to achieve successful projects. |
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