Project and Program Management: A Competency-Based Approach

Choosing the right people to carry out a project is essential to its success. When multiple projects are combined into a complex program, the human aspect becomes even more important. This book is the first to truly balance a complete account of the technical aspects of project and program management with a practical approach to understanding and developing the core competencies required to accomplish desired goals. On the technical side, this book is a complete introduction to predicting costs, setting schedules, and assessing risks. On the people side, it sheds new light on how to mold different personality types into a team, how to motivate the team's members, and how to produce extraordinary results. The author details the essential parts of the program management approach, describing the best way to define, organize, and schedule the work to be done, identifying risks and controlling costs during the whole process.

Dr. Springer currently serves as the Executive Director for Purdue University’s Polytechnic Institute located in West Lafayette, Indiana. He has over thirty-five years of theoretical and industry-based practical experience from four disciplines: software engineering, systems engineering, program management, and human resources. Dr. Springer possesses a significant strength in pattern recognition, analyzing and improving organizational systems. He is internationally recognized, has contributed to scholarship more than 150 articles, presentations, books, and reviews on software development methodologies, management, organizational change, and program management. Dr. Springer sits on many university and community boards and advisory committees. He is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions; most recently he was awarded the Purdue University College of Technology Equity, Inclusion, and Advocacy Award.
Dr. Springer received his BS in computer science from Purdue University, and his MBA and doctorate in adult and community education with a cognate in executive development from Ball State University. He is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR and SHRM-SCP), in Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR), and in civil and domestic mediation. He is a State of Indiana registered domestic mediator.