Project Management in Practice presents an applied approach to the essential tools, strategies, and techniques students must understand to achieve success in their future careers. Emphasizing the technical aspects of the project management life cycle, this popular textbook offers streamlined, student-friendly coverage of project activity, risk planning, budgeting and scheduling, resource allocation, project monitoring, evaluating and closing the project, and more.
Clear and precise chapters describe fundamental project management concepts while addressing the skills real-world project managers must possess to meet the strategic goals of their organizations. Integrated throughout the text are comprehensive cases that build upon the material from previous chapters. Each chapter now includes new end-of-chapter questions to help learners test their conceptual understanding of the subject.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 The World of Project Management
1.1 What is a Project?
1.2 Project Management Versus General Management
1.3 Agile Project Management
1.4 What is Managed? The Three Goals of a Project
1.5 The Life Cycles of Projects
1.6 Selecting Projects to Meet Organizational Objectives
1.7 The Project Portfolio Process
1.8 The Materials in this Text
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Exercises
Incidents for Discussion
Broken Welds
Portillo, Inc.
Case 1.1: Friendly Assisted Living Facility - 1
Case 1.2: Project Management Practices in E-Learning Sector
Bibliography
Chapter 2 The Manager, The Organization and The Team
2.1 The PM’s Roles
2.2 The PM’s Responsibilities to the Project
2.3 Selection of a Project Manager
2.4 Project Management as a Profession
2.5 Fitting Projects into the Parent Organization
2.6 The Project Team
2.7 Agile Team Roles
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Incidents for Discussion
Samuel's Approach to Project Management
HardTech, Inc.
Case 2.1: Friendly Assisted Living Facility - 2
Case 2.2: The Quantum Bank
Case 2.3: Facebook - Cambridge Analytica - Data Leakage
Bibliography
Chapter 3 Project Activity and Risk Planning
3.1 From the Project Charter to the Project Plan
3.2 The Planning Process - Overview
3.3 The Planning Process - Nuts and Bolts
3.4 More on the Work Breakdown Structure and Other Aids
3.5 Project Planning with Scrum
3.6 Risk Management
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Exercises
Incidents for Discussion
Plymouth Zoo’s Re-engineering Project
Time Is Fleeting
Case 3.1: Friendly Assisted Living Facility - 3
Case 3.2: John Wiley & Sons
Case 3.3: The Current State of Agile Project Management
Bibliography
Chapter 4 Budgeting the Project
4.1 Methods of Budgeting
4.2 Cost Estimating
4.3 Improving Cost Estimates
4.4 Budget Uncertainty and Project Risk Management
4.5 Project Risk Simulation with Crystal Ball®
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Exercises
Incidents for Discussion
A Budgeting Novice
Stealth Electronics
General Sensor Company
Case 4.1: Friendly Assisted Living Facility Project Budget Development - 4
Case 4.2: Risk Analysis vs. Budget/Schedule Requirements in Australia
Case 4.3: Building the Geddy's Dream House
Bibliography
Chapter 5 Scheduling the Project
5.1 PERT and CPM Networks
5.2 Project Uncertainty and Risk Management
5.3 Simulation
5.4 The Gantt Chart
5.5 Extensions to PERT/CPM
5.6 Scheduling with Scrum
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Exercises
Discussion Exercise
Incidents for Discussion
Yankee Chair Company
Attack of the Killer Worm
Case 5.1: Friendly Assisted Living Facility Program Plan - 5
Case 5.2: Hosting the Annual Project Management Institute Symposium
Case 5.3: Launching E-Collar
Bibliography
Chapter 6 Allocating Resources to the Project
6.1 Expediting a Project
6.2 Resource Loading
6.2.1 The Charismatic VP
6.3 Resource Leveling
6.4 Allocating Scarce Resources to Projects
6.5 Allocating Scarce Resources to Several Projects
6.6 Goldratt's Critical Chain
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Exercises
Incidents for Discussion
Lab Results, Inc.
Southern Kentucky University Bookstore
Case 6.1: Friendly Assisted Living Facility Resource Usage - 6
Case 6.2: Charter Financial Bank
Case 6.3: Thirty Days to Rescue
Bibliography
Chapter 7 Monitoring and Controlling the Project
7.1 The Plan-Monitor-Control Cycle
7.2 Data Collection and Reporting
7.3 Earned Value
7.4 Project Control
7.5 Designing the Control System
7.6 Scope Creep and Change Control
7.7 Agile Approaches for Project Monitoring and Control
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Exercises
Incidents for Discussion
St. Margaret's Hospital
Stoneworth Paving Company
Happy Customers
Cable Tech, Inc.
Case 7.1: Friendly Assisted Living Facility Updates - 7
Case 7.2: Palmstar Enterprises, Inc.
Case 7.3: Better Control of Development Projects at Johnson Controls
Bibliography
Chapter 8 Evaluating and Closing the Project
8.1 Evaluation
8.2 Project Auditing
8.3 Project Closure
8.4 Benefits Realization
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Incidents for Discussion
General Construction Company
Lexi Electronics
The Shocking Machine
Case 8.1: Friendly Assisted Living Facility Audit - 8
Case 8.2: Datatech
Case 8.3: Ivory Tower Systems
Case 8.4: Project Quality Management - current scenarios of Financial institutions
Bibliography
Appendix: Probability and Statistic
Index
