Reconstructing Project Management - Hardcover

Morris, Peter W. G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470659076 ISBN 13: 9780470659076

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013

Synopsis

This hugely informative and wide-ranging analysis on themanagement of projects, past, present and future, is written bothfor practitioners and scholars. Beginning with a history of thediscipline’s development, Reconstructing ProjectManagement provides an extensive commentary on its practicesand theoretical underpinnings, and concludes with proposals toimprove its relevancy and value. Written not without a hint ofattitude, this is by no means simply another project managementtextbook.

The thesis of the book is that ‘it all depends on how youdefine the subject’; that much of our present thinking aboutproject management as traditionally defined is sometimes boring,conceptually weak, and of limited application, whereas in realityit can be exciting, challenging and enormously important. The bookdraws on leading scholarship and case studies to explore thisthesis.

The book is divided into three major parts. Following anIntroduction setting the scene, Part 1 covers the origins of modernproject management – how the discipline has come to be whatit is typically said to be; how it has been constructed – andthe limitations of this traditional model. Part 2 presents anenlarged view of the discipline and then deconstructs this into itsprincipal elements. Part 3 then reconstructs these elements toaddress the challenges facing society, and the implications for thediscipline, in the years ahead.  A final section reprises thesweep of the discipline’s development and summarises theprincipal insights from the book.

This thoughtful commentary on project (and program, andportfolio) management as it has developed and has been practicedover the last 60-plus years, and as it may be over the next 20 to40, draws on examples from many industry sectors around the world.It is a seminal work, required reading for everyone interested inprojects and their management.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Bravo! . . . a tour de force on the philosophy, methods andpractices of project and program management; a feast of PM lore,knowledge and insight . . . provides the most complete andwell-integrated coverage of the evolution of project managementwritten to date . . . a must-read for teachers, students and reflective practitioners of the art and craft of projectmanagement.
Raymond E. Levitt, Kumagai Professor of Engineering,Director, Stanford Global Projects Center, University ofStanford

This book has something for everyone C facts, ideas, conceptsand theories that will be of interest to students, practitionersand managers alike. Through whatever lens you are looking atproject management, whether past, present or future, you willalmost certainly fi nd the answer in this book.
Mike Brown, Director of Project and Programme Management,Rolls-Royce plc, Derby

For anyone involved in thinking about projects, whether asdeliverers, teachers or researchers, this book will fascinate andchallenge in equal measure.
Robbie Burns, Regional Director, Western and Wales Region,Infrastructure Projects, Network Rail

Every thinking professional in the fi eld should read it; everyserious library must contain a copy. This book confirmsPeter’s place as THE world’s leading critical thinkeron the increasingly important topic of managing projects.
David L. Pells, Managing Editor, PM World Journal, Houston,Texas

This hugely informative and wide-ranging analysis on themanagement of projects, past, present and future, is written bothfor practitioners and scholars. Beginning with a history of thediscipline’s development, Reconstructing Project Managementprovides an extensive commentary on its practices and theoreticalunderpinnings, and concludes with proposals to improve itsrelevancy and value. Written not without a hint of attitude, thisis by no means simply another project management textbook.

The book is divided into three major parts. Following anIntroduction setting the scene, Part 1 covers the origins of modernproject management C how the discipline has come to be what it istypically said to be; how it has been constructed C and thelimitations of this traditional model. Part 2 presents an enlargedview of the discipline and then deconstructs this into itsprincipal elements. Part 3 then reconstructs these elements toaddress the challenges facing society, and the implications for thediscipline, in the years ahead. A final section reprises the sweepof the discipline’s development and summarises the principalinsights from the book.

This thoughtful commentary on project (and program, andportfolio) management as it has developed and has been practicedover the last 60+ years, and as it may be over the next 20 to 40,draws on examples from many industry sectors around the world. Itis a seminal work, required reading for everyone interested inprojects and their management.

About the Author

Peter Morris is Professor of Construction and ProjectManagement at University College London (UCL).

He is the author of The Management of Projects (ThomasTelford, 1994) and, with George Hough, of The Anatomy of MajorProjects (John Wiley & Sons, 1987) and with Ashley Jamiesonof Translating Corporate Strategy into Project Strategy(PMI, 2004). He is co-editor with Jeffrey Pinto of The WileyGuide to Managing Projects (Wiley, 2005); and, with JeffreyPinto and Jonas Söderlund of The Oxford Handbook of ProjectManagement (OUP, 2010).

He is a past Chairman of the Association for Project Management(APM) and Deputy Chairman of the International Project ManagementAssociation (IPMA).  He received the Project ManagementInstitute's 2005 Research Achievement Award, IPMA's 2009 ResearchAward, and APM's 2008 Sir Monty Finniston Life Time AchievementAward.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0470659076
• ISBN 13: 9780470659076
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 344