Offers streamlined, student-friendly coverage of all key areas of project management
Emphasizing the technical aspects of the project management life cycle, Project Management in Practice employs an applied approach to the essential tools, strategies, and techniques required to successfully plan and execute a project. The eighth edition of this leading textbook provides clear and reliable coverage of project activity, risk planning, budgeting and scheduling, resource allocation, project monitoring, project evaluation, and much more.
Designed for those preparing for or currently involved in the actual use of a project to achieve an objective, Project Management in Practice describes fundamental project management concepts and highlights the skills that project managers need to achieve an organization’s strategic goals. Easily accessible chapters feature cases that build upon the material from previous chapters, real-world examples, numerous tables and figures, end-of-chapter review questions, and discussion topics that reinforce key material.
With its concise pedagogy and hands-on focus, Project Management in Practice, Eighth Edition, is an ideal textbook for one-semester undergraduate and graduate courses or modules in business, engineering, and any curriculum where projects will play an important role in the success of the organization.
New to this Edition:
- New discussion of generative AI applications to projects and the role it plays in project management
- New discussions on sustainability, proven techniques for innovation, and managerial bias in developing and approving the business case for potential projects
- New non-packaged software approach to monitoring progress on a project that students can set up with a simple spreadsheet
- New supplement that discusses the PMBOK Guide® and the Standard for Project Management®
- New material on the varied interests of different stakeholders of a project
- Expanded coverage of mega- and inter-organizational projects
- Increased emphasis on the importance of visible organizational support and how to obtain it
- New content on relating a project to organizational strategy
- Added focus on the importance of achieving an organization’s target benefits for a project
- New discussion of measuring project success beyond standard measures of cost and time
- Updated coverage of the continuum from Agile to Waterfall project management
- New and revised references throughout
Wiley Advantage:
- Provides concise and pragmatic coverage of the fundamentals of project management
- Mirrors the project management life cycle, following the way an actual project is executed
- Employs a practical, hands-on approach using Microsoft Project and Crystal Ball risk analysis software
- Contains mini-cases, Excel spreadsheets, end-of-chapter exercises, tables, diagrams, figures, and a student-friendly icon-based layout
- Features an instructor’s manual and access to a companion website with PowerPoint slides, a test bank, and supplemental teaching resources
Table of Contents
Preface xv
1 The World of Project Management 1
1.1 What is a Project? 1
1.1.1 Trends in Project Management 2
1.2 Project Management Versus General Management 5
1.2.1 Major Differences 5
1.2.2 Negotiation 7
1.3 Agile Project Management 8
1.4 What is Managed? The Three Goals of a Project 11
1.5 The Life Cycles of Projects 14
1.6 Selecting Projects to Meet Organizational Objectives 16
1.6.1 Nonnumeric Selection Methods 17
1.6.2 Numeric Selection Methods 18
1.7 The Project Portfolio Process 25
1.8 Sustainable Project Management 30
1.8.1 Sustainability Frameworks for Project Management 30
1.9 The Materials in this Text 32
Review Questions 33
Discussion Questions 33
Exercises 34
Incident for Discussion 35
Case: Friendly Assisted Living Facility - 1 36
Case: Handstar Inc. 37
Bibliography 38
2 The Manager the Organization and the Team 40
2.1 The PM’s Roles 41
2.1.1 Facilitator 41
2.1.2 Communicator 43
2.1.3 Virtual Project Manager 46
2.1.4 Meetings Convener and Chair 47
2.2 The PM’s Responsibilities to the Project 47
2.2.1 Acquiring Resources 47
2.2.2 Fighting Fires and Obstacles 48
2.2.3 Leadership 48
2.2.4 Negotiation Conflict Resolution and Persuasion 51
2.3 Selection of a Project Manager 53
2.3.1 Credibility 53
2.3.2 Sensitivity 53
2.3.3 Leadership Style Ethics 53
2.3.4 Ability to Handle Stress 55
2.4 Project Management as a Profession 56
2.5 Projects in the Parent Organization 58
2.5.1 Inter- Organizational Projects 58
2.5.2 Organizational Support Climate and Commitment 58
2.5.3 Pure Project Organization 59
2.5.4 Functional Project Organization 60
2.5.5 Matrix Project Organization 61
2.5.6 Mixed Organizational Systems 63
2.5.7 The Project Management Office and Project Maturity 63
2.6 The Project Team 65
2.6.1 Matrix Team Problems 67
2.6.2 Intrateam Conflict 67
2.6.3 Integration Management 70
2.7 Agile Team Roles 72
Review Questions 74
Discussion Questions 75
Exercises 75
Incidents For Discussion 76
Case: Friendly Assisted Living Facility - 2 77
Case: The Quantum Bank 77
Case: Southern Care Hospital 78
Bibliography 80
3 Project Activity and Risk Planning 83
3.1 From the Project Charter to the Project Plan 83
3.2 The Planning Process - Overview 85
3.3 The Planning Process - Nuts and Bolts 86
3.3.1 The Launch Meeting - and Subsequent Meetings 86
3.3.2 Sorting Out the Project - The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 88
3.3.3 Extensions of the Everyday WBS 91
3.4 More on the Work Breakdown Structure and Other Aids 94
3.4.1 The RACI Matrix 95
3.4.2 A Whole- Brain Approach to Project Planning 96
3.4.3 The Design Structure Matrix 99
3.4.4 Sustainable Project Management Planning 100
3.5 Project Planning with Scrum 101
3.5.1 Scrum Artifacts Supporting Project Planning 101
3.5.2 Scrum Events for Project Planning 103
3.5.3 Risk Management with Scrum 104
3.6 Risk Management 105
Review Questions 111
Discussion Questions 112
Exercises 112
Incidents for Discussion 114
Case: Friendly Assisted Living Facility - 3 115
Case: John Wiley & Sons 116
Case: Samson University 116
Bibliography 117
4 Budgeting the Project 119
4.1 Methods of Budgeting 120
4.1.1 Top- Down Budgeting 122
4.1.2 Bottom- Up Budgeting 122
4.1.3 Budgeting with Agile 123
4.2 Cost Estimating 123
4.2.1 Work Element Costing 123
4.2.2 The Impact of Budget Cuts 124
4.2.3 An Aside 126
4.2.4 Activity Versus Program Budgeting 127
4.3 Improving Cost Estimates 129
4.3.1 Forms 129
4.3.2 Learning Curves 130
4.3.3 Other Factors 132
4.4 Budget Uncertainty and Project Risk Management 134
4.4.1 Budget Uncertainty 134
4.4.2 Project Budgeting in Practice 137
4.5 Project Risk Simulation with Crystal Ball® 138
4.5.1 Considering Disaster 145
Review Questions 145
Discussion Questions 145
Exercises 146
Incidents for Discussion 148
Case: Friendly Assisted Living Facility Project Budget Development - 4 149
Case: Photstat Inc 151
Case: Building the Geddy’s dream house 151
Bibliography 152
5 Scheduling the Project 153
5.1 PERT and CPM Networks 153
5.1.1 The Language of PERT/CPM 154
5.1.2 Building the Network 154
5.1.3 Finding the Critical Path and Critical Time 156
5.1.4 Calculating Activity Slack 159
5.1.5 Doing It the Easy Way - Microsoft Project (MSP) 160
5.2 Project Uncertainty and Risk Management 162
5.2.1 Calculating Probabilistic Activity Times 162
5.2.2 The Probabilistic Network An Example 163
5.2.3 Once More the Easy Way 166
5.2.4 The Probability of Completing the Project on Time 166
5.2.5 Selecting Risk and Finding D 169
5.2.6 The Case of the Unreasonable Boss 169
5.2.7 A Potential Problem: Path Mergers 170
5.3 Simulation 171
5.3.1 Incorporating Costs into the Simulation Analysis 173
5.3.2 Traditional Statistics Versus Simulation 175
5.3.3 Some Common Issues 176
5.3.4 Simulation 176
5.4 The Gantt Chart 177
5.4.1 The Chart 177
5.5 Extensions to PERT/CPM 179
5.5.1 Precedence Diagramming 179
5.5.2 Final Thoughts on the Use of These Tools 180
5.6 Scheduling with Scrum 182
Review Questions 184
Discussion Questions 185
Exercises 185
Discussion Exercise 189
Incidents for Discussion 190
Case: Friendly Assisted Living Facility Program Plan - 5 191
Case: NutriStar 194
Case: Launching E- Collar 195
Bibliography 196
6 Allocating Resources to the Project 197
6.1 Expediting a Project 198
6.1.1 The Critical Path Method 198
6.1.2 Crashing a Project with Excel 202
6.1.3 Fast-Tracking a Project 205
6.1.4 Project Expediting in Practice 205
6.2 Resource Loading 207
6.2.1 The Charismatic VP 212
6.3 Resource Leveling 212
6.3.1 Resource Loading/Leveling and Uncertainty 219
6.4 Allocating Scarce Resources to Projects 220
6.4.1 Some Comments About Constrained Resources 221
6.4.2 Some Priority Rules 221
6.5 Allocating Scarce Resources to Several Projects 222
6.5.1 Criteria of Priority Rules 224
6.5.2 The Basic Approach 224
6.5.3 Resource Allocation and the Project Life Cycle 225
6.6 Goldratt’s Critical Chain 226
6.6.1 Estimating Task Times 228
6.6.2 The Effect of not Reporting Early Activity Completion 229
6.6.3 Multitasking 231
6.6.4 Common Chain of Events 232
6.6.5 The Critical Chain 233
Review Questions 234
Discussion Questions 235
Exercises 235
Incidents for Discussion 239
CASE: Friendly Assisted Living Facility Resource Usage - 6 240
CASE: Charter Financial Bank 241
CASE: Rand Contractors 242
Bibliography 243
7 Monitoring and Controlling the Project 244
7.1 The Plan-Monitor- Control Cycle 244
7.1.1 Designing the Monitoring System 245
7.2 Data Collection and Reporting 246
7.2.1 Data Analysis 247
7.2.2 Reporting and Report Types 247
7.2.3 Meetings 249
7.2.4 Virtual Meetings Reports and Project Management 250
7.3 Earned Value 251
7.3.1 Earned Value for Well- Defined Projects 252
7.3.2 Earned Value for Business Projects 258
7.4 Project Control 261
7.4.1 Purposes of Control 262
7.5 Designing the Control System 263
7.5.1 Types of Control Systems 264
7.5.2 Tools for Control 265
7.6 Scope Creep and Change Control 268
7.7 Agile Approaches for Project Monitoring and Control 270
7.7.1 Agile Tools for Tracking Project Progress 270
7.7.2 Scrum Events for Project Control 272
Review Questions 273
Discussion Questions 273
Exercises 274
Incidents for Discussion 276
Case: Friendly Assisted Living Facility Updates - 7 277
Case: Palmstar Enterprises Inc. 280
Case: Peak Lighting Inc. 280
Bibliography 281
8 Evaluating and Closing the Project 283
8.1 Evaluation 283
8.1.1 Evaluation Criteria 284
8.1.2 Measurement 285
8.2 Project Auditing 285
8.2.1 The Audit Process 286
8.2.2 The Audit Report 287
8.3 Project Closure 290
8.3.1 When to Close a Project 291
8.3.2 Types of Project Closure 292
8.3.3 The Closure Process 293
8.3.4 The Project Plan Closeout Report 294
8.4 Benefits Realization 296
Review Questions 297
Discussion Questions 298
Exercise 298
Incidents for Discussion 299
Case: Friendly Assisted Living Facility Audit - 8 299
Case: Datatech 302
Case: Ivory Tower Systems 303
Bibliography 304
Appendix A- 1
Index I- 1
