Project Management : The Managerial Process

Project Management strikes a balance between the technical and human aspects of managing projects. It is suitable for a course in project management and for professionals who seek a project management handbook. This text addresses the major questions and issues the authors have encountered while teaching and consulting with practicing project managers in domestic and foreign countries. The text is very contemporary and up-to-date. This application-oriented text provides a road map for managing any type of project--for example, information technology, R & D, engineering design, construction, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing. The text helps the reader discover the strategic role of projects in contemporary organizations, how projects are prioritized, what tools and techniques can be used to plan and schedule projects, what organization and managerial styles will improve chances of project success, how project managers orchestrate the complex network of relationships, factors that contribute to the development of a high performing project team, the project system which will help gain some measure of control, how project managers prepare for a new international project in a foreign culture, and finally how senior management can develop a supportive organizational culture for implementing projects.

Professor Emeritus

Erik W. Larson is professor of project management in the department of management, marketing, and international business at the College of Business, Oregon State University. He teaches executive, graduate, and undergraduate courses on project management, organizational behavior, and leadership. His research and consulting activities focus on project management. He has published numerous articles on matrix management, product development, and project partnering. He has been a member of the Portland, Oregon, chapter of the Project Management Institute since 1984. In 1995 he worked as a Fullbright scholar with faculty at the Krakow Academy of Economics on modernizing Polish business education. In 2005 he was a visiting professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. He received a B.A. in psychology from Claremont McKenna College and a Ph.D. in management from State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a certified project management professional (PMP).