Project Quality Management: Why, What and How, Second Edition

Like the first edition, this book provides the reader with a historical perspective on quality and an introduction to project quality management; the second edition brings some updates and welcome enhancements. The book is a good match for our introductory treatment of project quality management in a graduate degree program in project management. We require our students to read Chapters 1 – 5 prior to a module on quality foundations & strategy and the rest of the book prior to a module on project quality control. Rather than just completing the reading with the risk of not giving it much thought, the addition of “Points to Ponder” and “Exercises” at the end of each chapter in the second edition will help students reflect on their experiences prior to class and prepare for what should be a much richer classroom discussion. A new Chapter 13, “Why Not Quality?” discusses the reasons quality improvements may not be made (despite it being in the organization’s best interest to do so) and introduces the reader to the realities of organization culture and the difficult challenge of changing it. Organization development is addressed by three new appendixes on project training, project leadership and leading change. As others have noted in their reviews of the first edition, this may be the best book available for framing the generally accepting principles of quality in the project context in a manner that is aligned with the processes described in the Project Management Institute’s “A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge.”