Business organizations are highly successful at delivering 'business as usual'; the day-to-day tasks of managing customer transactions, marketing and production activities, and motivating employees. But there is a growing requirement for such organizations also to deliver business change projects successfully. 'Business as usual organizations' represent a particularly challenging environment for achieving this because of the fundamentally different mindset and culture required to deliver projects in this context. Tim Carroll's book provides an authoritative guide to improving project delivery in such organizations by: c building a project management capability and culture that is appropriate to BAU organizations; c aligning projects more closely with the strategic agenda of the organization, through the use of programmes; c using portfolio management to improve this alignment and ensure the effectiveness of project investments; c demonstrating the business context for projects and their contribution to the organization's agenda of strategic change. The author argues convincingly that project management hasn't travelled well from its traditional roots in construction and engineering to business-as-usual organizations. New approaches are called for, in particular to embed project delivery capabilities more deeply within the organization rather than treat it as a specialist discipline. This is a 'must-read' book to help managers responsible for strategy and change in all business-as-usual organizations (such as banks, insurance, business and consumer service companies, hospitals, local and national government) to realize the value that project management can bring to the long-term development of their organization.

The true story of one of the most heroic feats of World War II...the daring prison camp breakout that inspired the classic film "The Great Escape"

Stalag Luft III was one of the Germans' "escape-proof" prison camps, specially built by Hermann Goring to hold Allied troops. But on March 24, 1944, in a courageous attempt by two hundred prisoners to break out through a series of tunnels, seventy-six Allied officers managed to evade capture -- and create havoc behind enemy lines in the months before the Normandy Invasion.

This is the incredible story of these brave men who broke free from the supposedly impenetrable barbed wire and watchtowers of Stalag Luft III -- and who played an important role in Allied intelligence operations within occupied Europe. The prisoners developed an intricate espionage network, relaying details of military deployment, bombings, and raids. Some of them were involved in other daring escape attempts, including the famous Wooden Horse episode, also turned into a classic film, and the little-known Sachsenhausen breakout, engineered by five Great Escapers sent to die in the notorious concentration camp on Hitler's personal orders. Tragically, fifty of those involved in the Great Escape were murdered by the Gestapo. Others were recaptured; only a few made it all the way to freedom. This dramatic account of personal heroism is a testament to their ingenuity and achievement -- a stirring tribute to the men who never gave up fighting.

Includes eight pages of photographs and illustrations, excerpts from Goring's testimony during postwar investigations, and a list of the men who escaped.