THE APPROACH

Over the past several decades, more and more work has been accomplished through the use of projects and project management. The use of projects has been growing at an accelerated rate, and not just in engineering and information technology, but also in all the business disciplines: marketing, finance, human resources, accounting, operations, legal, and, of course, management. One of the most interesting areas of growth, however, has been in the use of projects to achieve the strategic goals of organizations. The exponential growth of membership in the Project Management Institute (PMI) is further convincing evidence, as are the sales of computer software devoted to project management. Several societal forces are driving this growth, and many economic factors are reinforcing it. We describe these in Chapter 1 of this book.

A secondary effect has also been a major contributor to the use of project activity. As the use of projects has grown, its very success as a way of getting complex activities carried out successfully has become well established. The result has been a striking increase in the use of projects to accomplish jobs that in the past would simply have been turned over to someone with the comment, “Take care of it.”

What happened then was that some individual undertook to carry out the job with little or no planning, little or no assistance, few resources, and often with only a vague notion of what was really wanted. The simple application of routine project management techniques significantly improved the consistency with which the outcomes resembled what the organization had in mind when the chore was assigned. Later, this sort of activity came to be known as “enterprise project management,” “management by projects,” and several other names, all of which are described as the project-oriented organization.

Some of these projects were large, but most were quite small. Some were complex, but most were relatively straightforward. Some required the full panoply of project management techniques, but most did not. All of them, however, had to be managed and thus required a great many people to take on the role of project manager in spite of little or no education in the science or arcane art of project management.

One result was rising demand for education in project management. The number of college courses grew apace, as did the number of consulting firms offering seminars and workshops. Perhaps most striking was the growth in educational opportunities through post-secondary schools offering “short courses”—schools such as DeVry Institute, and ITT. In addition, short courses were offered by colleges and community colleges concentrating on both part-time and full-time education for individuals already in the work force. An exemplar of this approach is the University of Phoenix.

Communications from some instructors in these institutions told us that they would like a textbook that was shorter and focused more directly on the “technical” aspects of project management than those currently available. They were willing to forego most of the theoretical aspects of management, particularly if such were not directly tied to practice. Their students, who were not apt to take advanced course work in project management, had little use for understanding the historical development of the field. For example, they felt no need to read about the latest academic research on the management of knowledge-based projects in a manufacturing environment. Finally, instructors asked for increased use of project management application software, though they added that they did not want a replacement for the many excellent “step-by-step” and “computing-for-dummies” types of books that were readily available. They wanted the emphasis to be on managing projects, and not on managing project management software.

These requests sounded sensible to us, and we have tried to write such a book.

ORGANIZATION AND CONTENT

With few exceptions, both readers and instructors are most comfortable with project management texts that are organized around the project life cycle, and this book is so organized. In Chapter 1 we start by defining a project and differentiating project management from general management. After discussing the project life cycle, we briefly cover project selection. We feel strongly that project managers who understand why a project was selected by senior management also understand the firm's objectives for the project. Understanding those things, we know, will be of value in making the inevitable trade-offs between time, budget, and the specified output of the project.

Chapter 2 is devoted to the various roles the project manager must play and to the skills required to play them effectively. In addition, we cover the various ways in which projects can be organized. The nature of project teams, including multidisciplinary teams, and the behavioral aspects of projects are also discussed.

Project and risk planning, budgeting, and scheduling are covered in Chapters 3 to 5. Planning the project initiates our discussion in Chapter 3, where we introduce the work breakdown structure and other planning aids such as the RACI matrix, and end with a thorough discussion and illustration of risk management planning. Project budgeting is then described in Chapter 4 where we introduce the use of simulation through software such as Crystal Ball^® to analyze financial risk. Risk analysis using Oracle's Crystal Ball^® 11.1 (CB) simulations is demonstrated in several chapters with detailed instructions on building and solving simulation models. Software is used throughout the book, where relevant, to illustrate the use and power of such software to aid in managing projects. Chapter 4 also includes a helpful mathematical model for improving cost estimates, or any other numerical estimates used in planning projects. Chapter 5 initially uses standard manual methods for building project schedules, and Microsoft Project^® 2010 (MSP) is then demonstrated for doing the same thing.

Chapter 6 deals with resource allocation problems in a multiproject setting. A major section of this chapter is devoted to the insights of E. Goldratt in his book Critical Chain.* Chapter 7 concerns monitoring and controlling the project, especially through the use of earned value analysis, which is covered in detail. The final chapter deals with auditing, evaluating, and terminating projects.

Interest in risk management has grown rapidly in recent years, but the subject gets only minimal attention in most introductory level project management textbooks. We deal with risk throughout this book, introducing methods of risk management and analysis where relevant to the subject at hand. For example, simulation is used in Chapter 4 for solving a project budgeting problem, in Chapter 5 on a scheduling problem, and in Chapter 6 for examining the impact of a generally accepted assumption about probabilistic project schedules that is usually false, and also to test the usually false assumption that multitasking is an efficient way to improve productivity.

We are certainly aware that no text on project management could be structured to reflect the chaos that seems to surround some projects throughout their lives, and a large majority of projects now and then. The organization of this book reflects a tidiness and sense of order that is nonexistent in reality. Nonetheless, we make repeated references to the technical, interpersonal, and organizational glitches that impact the true day-to-day life of the project manager.

PEDAGOGY

The book includes several pedagogical aids. The end-of-chapter material includes Review Questions that focus on the textual material. Discussion Questions emphasize the implications and applications of ideas and techniques covered in the text. Where appropriate, there are Problems that are primarily directed at developing skills in the technical areas of project management as well as familiarizing the student with the use of relevant software.

In addition to the above, we have included Incidents for Discussion in the form of caselettes. In the main, these caselettes focus on one or more elements of the chapter to which they are appended. Several of them, however, require the application of concepts and techniques covered in earlier chapters so that they also serve an integrative function.

More comprehensive cases are also appended to each chapter. A special set of these, beginning in Chapter 3, is associated with the same project, which continues on through the following chapters—the planning, building, and marketing of an assisted living facility for people whose state of health makes it difficult for them to live independently, but who are not yet ill enough to require nursing home care. Each chapter is followed by a continuation of this case calling upon the ideas and methods covered in that chapter. With all these cases, integration with material in other chapters is apt to be required.

We include Learning Objectives for each chapter but instead of putting them at the beginning of the chapter, we have added them to the Instructors' Manual. Many teachers feel that their students should have the Learning Objectives as they begin each chapter. Many don't. Many teachers like to use their own LOs. Many do not like to use LOs because they feel that students focus solely on the listed objectives and ignore everything else. Given our LOs in the Instructor's Manual, each teacher may opt for his or her own notion on the matter.

We have used Excel^® spreadsheets where appropriate throughout the book. Microsoft Office^® is widely available, and with few exceptions students and professional project managers are familiar with its operation. A free 60-day trial edition of Microsoft Project 2010^® is available with each new copy of the book through the contact information below. It will run on Microsoft's Windows 8^® as well as several earlier versions of Windows^®. Note that Microsoft has changed their policy and no longer offers a 120-day trial, only a 60-day trial. Please be sure to plan your course accordingly. Additionally, Microsoft Project 2010^® software is available through Dreamspark Premium, an annual membership program that provides the easiest and most inexpensive way for universities to make the latest Microsoft software available in labs, classrooms, and on student PCs. Through Wiley's partnership with Microsoft, software available via Dreamspark Premium is provided at no charge to qualifying departments upon adoption.

Contact your Wiley representative (click on “Who's My Rep” at www.Wiley.com) when you have selected a Wiley textbook to adopt. Schools must qualify, and some restrictions do apply, so please contact your Wiley representative about this opportunity. Once qualified, your department will be awarded membership, and you, your colleagues, and the students in your courses can begin downloading the software from a remote hosting server.

Microsoft and Wiley are working together to make obtaining software for your department easy for you. E-mail us at [email protected] for details or call 1-888764-7001. For more information about the Dreamspark Premium program, go to www.dreamspark.com.

Microsoft Project^®, which is included in Dreamspark Premium, was chosen because it is a competent piece of software that is used by a large majority of all project management software users. While Project 2010^® is available for free with the adoption of this text, schools and professionals with access to earlier versions are not at a disadvantage. Almost all the relevant commands are the same in all versions, and the standard printouts are very similar. One exception is found in the case of earned value calculations and reports. There are slight variations among versions, and some vary slightly from the Project Management Institute standards. The differences are easily handled and are explained in Chapter 7. With this exception, we do not differentiate between the versions and refer to them all as Microsoft Project (MSP).

Each copy of the text comes packaged with a registration card, which professors and students can use to download a free trial edition of Oracle's Crystal Ball^® 11.1. For those professors using an e-book version of the text, instructions for accessing Crystal Ball (CB)^® are posted on the Instructor Companion web site for the text. If you have questions, please contact your local Wiley sales rep. We have demonstrated in Chapters 4, 5, and 6 some of the problems where the use of statistical decision models and simulation can be very helpful in understanding and managing risk. Detailed instructions are given. In addition, a number of the end-of-chapter problems have been rewritten to adapt them for solution by Crystal Ball^®. These can be found in the Instructor's Manual along with added instructions for use of the software. Crystal Ball^® was chosen because it works seamlessly with Excel^® and is user friendly. As is true with MSP, earlier versions of Crystal Ball^® use the same basic commands as version 11.1, but the later version has a new instructional ribbon. Outputs are not significantly changed. Version 11.1 runs on Windows 8^® and earlier versions of Windows^®. We will not differentiate between different versions of Crystal Ball^®.

Because this text is oriented toward practice, not research, the end-of-chapter bibliographies reflect our notions of minimal requirements. We have included several works that are classics in their fields—quite irrespective of the date of their publication. West Churchman's 1979 book on the “systems approach” is still one of the most thoughtful and readable works on that subject. Herzberg's 1968 Harvard Business Review article on motivation was written long before many of our readers were born, but is a widely reprinted seminal article on the subject. While most of our citations date from the past 10 or 15 years, we have tried to cite the best, the original, and the readable in preference to the most recent.

As we have noted elsewhere, projects have failed because the project manager attempted to manage the software rather than the project. We feel strongly that students and professionals should learn to use the basic project management techniques by hand—and only then turn to software for relief from their manual efforts.

As is true with any textbook, we have made some assumptions about both the students and professionals who will be reading this book. We assume that they have all had some elementary training in management, or have had equivalent experience. We also assume that, as managers, they have some slight acquaintance with the fundamentals of accounting, behavioral science, finance, and statistics. We even assume that they have forgotten most of the statistics they once learned; therefore, we have included an appendix on relevant elementary statistics and probability as a memory refresher.

WHAT'S NEW

Both students and instructors have been generous and kind with their comments on the first four editions of this book. They have given us very useful suggestions and feedback such as proposing that we integrate the material on Crystal Ball^® directly into the chapters where it is used, which we have done. In this edition we have also tried to improve the flow of material and have moved some topics around a bit to achieve this. First, we moved the extensive Crystal Ball^® simulation description out of the introductory Chapter 1 and into the budgeting Chapter 4 to illustrate how to simulate costs to evaluate budget risks. And we moved the discussion of risk management earlier, from Chapter 4 to the project planning Chapter 3, since risk pervades all the aspects of project planning, and especially scope, time, and cost. To make room for the risk discussion in Chapter 3, we moved the discussion of multidisciplinary teams to Chapter 2, which seems to be a better fit for the topic also.

Reviewers also asked us to comment about how budgets and activity expediting are actually handled in practice, so we checked many practice-oriented magazines and journals and then queried some project managers we knew. The result is a few paragraphs in Chapters 4 on budgeting and Chapter 6 on resource allocation describing the vagaries and real-world dynamics project managers commonly face in these areas.

To further improve the student's perspective of project management from the view of project managers in actual practice, we describe their situation throughout the text as one of constantly making trade-offs between not only the three main goals of scope, time, and cost but also risk and other implied ancillary goals such as organizational improvement, strategic goals, and future opportunities. To highlight these areas where we talk about trade-offs and risk, we have added new icons to the book margins where important discussion on these topics appears. We have also added a new icon to indicate areas of discussion that we believe exemplify “best practice” in the project management field. And we have expanded our references to locations in PMBOK^® that discuss the topic at hand for those who are also studying for the Project Management Professional^® (PMP) or other certification exams offered by the Project Management Institute.

Last, we added a large number of additional problems and mini-cases to the appropriate chapters where reviewers asked for them. We also added another simulation example in Chapter 5 to illustrate costs in a network. We also reduced our discussion on some topics that reviewers suggested, such as the design structure matrix.

SUPPLEMENTS

The Instructor's Manual will provide assistance to the project management instructor in the form of answers/solutions to the questions, problems, incidents for discussion, and end-of-chapter cases. This guide will also reference relevant Harvard Business School type cases and readings, teaching tips, and other pedagogically helpful material. Wiley maintains a web site for this and other books. The address is www.wiley.com/college/mantel. The site contains an electronic version of the Instructor's Manual, an extensive set of PowerPoint slides, sample course outlines, and test questions to test student understanding.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There is no possible way to repay the scores of project managers and students who have contributed to this book, often unknowingly. The professionals have given us ideas about how to manage projects, and students have taught us how to teach project management. We are grateful beyond our ability to express it.

We are also grateful to a small group of individuals, both close friends and acquaintances, who have graciously shared their time and knowledge without stint: James Cochran, Louisiana Tech University; James Evans, University of Cincinnati; Karen Garrison, Lucidity Consulting Group; Timothy Kloppenborg, Xavier University, Ohio; Samuel J. Mantel, III, RadioShack, Inc.; Jim McCarthy, McCarthy Technologies, Inc.; the late Gerhard Rosegger, (2008), Case Western Reserve University; and Stephen Wearne, University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology.

For this edition we thank the following reviewers: Jesus Jimenez, Texas State University; Steve MacQueen, Midlands Technical College; Al Morelli, University of Southern California; Dee Piziak, Concordia University, Wisconsin; James Szot, The University of Texas at Dallas; Marlee Walton, Iowa State University; and Richard Wendell, University of Pittsburgh.

Above all, we thank Suzanne Ingrao, Ingrao Associates, without whom this book would have been unreadable. Our gratitude is also extended to Wiley Editors Lisé Johnson and Brian Baker who did their best to keep us on track, on time, and of composed mind.

Finally, we owe a massive debt to those colleagues who reviewed the original manuscript of this book and/or its subsequent editions: Kwasi Amoako-Gyampah, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; James M. Buckingham, United States Military Academy, West Point; Michael J. Casey, George Mason University; Larry Crowley, Auburn University; Catherine Crummett, James Madison University; George R. Dean, DeVry Institute of Technology, DuPage; Geraldo Ferrer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Linda Fried, University of Colorado, Denver; William C. Giauque, Brigham Young University; Bertie Greer, Northern Kentucky University; David Harris, University of New Mexico; H. Khamooshi, George Washington University; Bill Leban, Keller Graduate School of Management; Leonardo Legorreta, California State University, Sacramento; William E. Matthews, William Patterson University; Sara McComb, University of Massachusetts Amherst; J. Wayne Patterson, Clemson University; Ann Paulson, Edmonds Community College; Patrick Philipoom, University of South Carolina; Arthur C. Rogers, City University; Dean T. Scott, DeVry Institute of Technology, Pomona; Richard V. Sheng, DeVry Institute of Technology, Long Beach; William A. Sherrard, San Diego State University; Kimberlee Snyder, Winona University; Louis C. Terminello, Stevens Institute of Technology; and Jeffrey L. Williams, University of Phoenix. We owe a special thanks to Byron Finch, Miami University, for a number of particularly thoughtful suggestions for improvement. While we give these reviewers our thanks, we absolve each and all of blame for our errors, omissions, and wrong-headed notions.