Creating an Environment for Successful Projects: The Quest to Manage Project Management

Finally, a book that fills the void on how to develop project management as an organizational practice. Using the enviable processes already in place at Hewlett-Packard and other progressive companies as touchstones, Graham and Englund serve up solid, results-oriented advice on how upper management can create an environment that supports the success of special projects, especially the development of new products. Building on an incisive examination of the critical role upper-tier management plays in the overall success of projects, the authors show managers exactly what they must do to support the process and implement project management as an organization-wide directive. Packed with leading-edge, real-world examples, a sample project review and other tools, this book will help your organization make and sustain the cultural changes that encourage a project manager's best work.

Table of Contents:
Leading the Change to a Project-Based Organization. Giving Projects a Strategic Emphasis. How Upper Managers Influence Project Success. Developing and Supporting Core Teams for Project Success. Organizing the Project Management Effort. Developing the Project Management Information Systems. Selecting and Developingthe Project Manager. Developing a Project Management Learning Organization. Hewlett-Packard's Project Management Initiative. Creating an Environment for Successful Projects in Your Organization.

About the Author :
ROBERT J. GRAHAM is an indepAndent management consultant and senior associate with the Strategic Management Group. He is on the adjunct faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and is associate professor of the Project Management Unit at Henley Management College in Henley, England and the author of Project Management As If People Mattered. RANDALL L. ENGLUND is a project manager at Hewlett-Packard Company and a consultant on the Project Management Initiative team that provides corporate-wide leadership for the continuous improvement of project management. He is a member of the Project Management Institute and is on the Board of Directors for the Product Development and Management Association.

Review :
"Crisp execution of projects is critical to the survival of today's organizations. This practical book is filled with ideas and examples that will teach you how to build project management competence in your organization." (Lewis E. Platt, chairman, president and CEO, Hewlett-Packard Company) ?For senior executives and managers needing answers to the question: How can our company improve execution of projects and the bottom line?' this book provides a useful roadmap.? (Martin J. O'Sullivan, vice president and director, Business Process Management, Motorola) ?Captures the essence of many industrial organizations today and provides suggestions to upper management on how to be agents for positive change.? (E. G. Jacobsen, technical director, Engine-Trans Resource Centers, GM Powertrain Group, General Motors Corporation) ?As the speed of change increases, tools like those outlined and developed will be the competitive leverage for the successful innovators in the future.? (Dr. Todd K. Abraham, vice president, Strategic Technology Development, The Pillsbury Company) ?Fills a major void in the project management literature. The almost constant refrain from both my government and industry students is these project management concepts are great, but how do I get my organization to use them?' This book has the answer along with dozens of successful examples of how top organizations such as Hewlett-Packard, 3M, and NCR made it happen!? (Owen C. Gadeken, professor of engineering management, Defense Systems Management College, Department of Defense) ?This book adds a fresh, new dimension to the material on project management. It disseminates the knowledge gained in large, successful organizations such as Hewlett-Packard to those of us in smaller organizations, where the issues and likely solutions are much the same. Applying the lessons can make a difference in your company's success in managing and developing new products.? (Bob Stoy, vice president, Platform Development, Beckman Instruments) ?The most practical and usable material I've reviewed. This book is a must-read for any manager whose organization is serious about actually deriving tangible benefits from the implementation of project management. Two thumbs up!? (Bill Kern, president, Integrated Project Systems) ?The material presented by the authors has been sorely needed for a very long time. The text discusses virtually all of the issues that concern project managers who are trying to apply project management techniques within a modern organizational environment.? (Jim McDonald, please provide correct title, Lucent Technologies Project Management Department)