Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling
The bestselling project management text for students and professionals—now updated and expanded This Eleventh Edition of the bestselling “bible” of project management maintains the streamlined approach of the prior editions and moves the content even closer to PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). New content has been added to this edition on measuring project management ROI, value to the organization and to customers, and much more. The capstone “super” case on the “Iridium Project” has been maintained, covering all aspects of project management. Increased use of sidebars throughout the book helps further align it with the PMBOK and the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Exam. This new edition features significant expansion, including more than three dozen entirely new sections and updates on process supporting; types of project closure; project sponsorship; and culture, teamwork, and trust. This comprehensive guide to the principles and practices of p
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The most comprehensive PM textbook and excellent study gude for the PMP,
On the structure and contents of the text, it has 23 chapters whereupon the first 10 chapters delve into the basic structure and organizational behaviors that create a need for project management. In a sense, these chapter deal with the “soft” issues in project management, since the success of projects depends on the people who work on them and the stakeholders and customers who support and drive the project initiative. As Kerzner states, “these first ten chapters are needed to understand the cultural environment for all projects and systems”. For those preparing for the PMP, chapter 3 titled “Organizational Structures” gives an in depth exposition of the types of organizational structures such as functional, matrix, and projectized that you will need to know for the PMP exam. You can see where much of what is in the chapter no doubt influenced the PMBOK.
Chapters 11-20 go into the heart of project management such as planning, scheduling, cost control, estimating, procurement and quality. These chapter are indeed “hard-core” project management tools and techniques that are systematically discussed in depth. But this is where much of the meat of project management is discussed and where all the major PMP exam subjects are covered. Particularly relevant are these chapters:
11 – Planning
12 – Network Scheduling Techniques
14 – Pricing and Estimating
15 – Cost Control
17 – Risk Management
19 – Contracts and Procurement
20 – Quality Management
I would recommend reading these chapter once through, then answering the questions at the end of the chapters, and going back to sections you were not clear about. Unlike the previous editions, this one has answers for the end of chapter questions and I found them relevant to the study of the PMP exam.
The last 3 chapters are an advanced overview of topics such as developing your own project management methodology, critical chain (which you may get a question or two on), and the Project Management Office (PMO). These chapters can be glanced over or skipped for another time.
I can recall when I took a PMP exam prep class with the PMI LA chapter, that many instructors acknowledged the greatness of this book and the likelihood of learning everything you need to know for the PMP exam if studied exhaustively, but also kept saying what an enormous tome it is at 1000+ pages and the exhaustive technical details of project management laid out, that most recommended not to use the resource unless you had a lot of time and stamina.
Hearing this, I was both intrigued and intimidated when I saw this book at Borders, but after picking it up and skimming it over and reading some sections, I found it quite readable, if a bit text bookish and academic. I will say this though, it is definitely more readable then the PMBOK. I promise!
Consider though that if you read the PMBOK (which many recommend you read several times) and a couple prep books, you have in fact read thousands of pages preparing for the PMP exam.
In all seriousness though, if it is your desire to simply pass the PMP exam and/or your pressed for time, then perhaps it is better to just purchase the PMBOK and Rita’s text (which I did not like at all) and just cram and memorize. There’s nothing wrong with that, as people taking the PMP exam are busy professionals without a lot of time.
But if you are planning to take your time and want to throughly learn the science and art of project management as well as pass the PMP exam with flying colors, then I wholeheartedly recommend this book. One way or another you will be referencing this book if you are a true project management professional.
I utilized this book in my studies for the PMP exam, and was able to pass in the upper 80th percentile and did not need to resort to any form of memorization or cramming, nor did I resort to doing a “brain dump” sheet on the day of the exam.
Happy studies and good luck to all you aspiring PMP project managers!
-Don Kim, PMP
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|Comprehensive. One stop for Project Management knowledge.,
The best way to review this monumental book on project management is to list the most common arguments for and against the book.
The book presents comprehensive knowledge of project management that you can substitute only by purchasing several books on the subject by other authors. Dr. Harold Kerzner is also one of the most respected experts on Project Management. Dr. Kerzner now has several companion books to supplement this main text book. One area that the book was considered lacking in the past was with regards to case studies. You can now buy his latest book that is dedicated to covering just case studies. The writing style is extremely easy to read and follow. Once you read his explanation on any topic, you will find that it is hard to disagree with him because his explanations are very compelling.
The reasons many people have disliked the book – the book is too boring to read, it is too long a book, it is a compilation of bullet lists, there are not enough case studies (or problems/exercises), etc. I can’t say anything about the first complaint because it is actually true but if you are in the middle of a project and have a burning question, I can promise you that is isn’t so boring to pull up the relevant section in the book and find a reasonable explanation to your question. The book is very long because it is an exhaustive treatment of the Project Management field. There is no reason to read it in one sitting. Regarding being a compilation of bullet lists, it does seem that way. But when you have been in project management for a while and have an appreciation for the difficulty of the field, the lists don’t get in the way. The author has enough explanations surrounding the bullet lists that I never found them annoying. To address the complaints regarding case studies, problems/exercises, there is now a book dedicated to case studies and I believe there have always been workbooks that he authored which contained more problems/exercises.
A good approach to follow regarding the usage of this book is to buy it early on in your career but stop after reading just the first few chapters. As you are gaining experience and have been exposed to a majority of the project management field, it is time to refer to this book more often. I have followed the book through several editions over the years and looked up various topics as questions popped up in my mind while going through a project. I am yet to finish the whole book (this is my 7th year reading the various editions of his book) after all these years but I didn’t expect to. It is a great reference book and I have been using it as one.
There are better books to read on project management if you looking for a quick overview. ‘The Little Black Book of Project Management’ by Michael Thomsett comes to mind along with ‘Project Management – Planning and Control’ by Rory Burke. If you are looking for help with the PMP preparation, I highly recommend ‘PMP Exam Prep’ by Rita Mulcahy. Read my review on her book for more detailed information on taking the exam.
IIL offers several Project Management classes that are taught by excellent instructors if you like what you read in this book and are looking for more of the same. A copy is given out as part of the class materials (for some of their classes). I hope you benefit from reading this book as much as I did and thanks for your patience. This is indeed a difficult book to review.
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