Customer Reviews

Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Several people I have talked to seem to have mixed feelings about this book. Most never get past the first few pages in the book and many are afraid not to have this book prominently displayed on their desks. The latter is to avoid someone mistaking them for a junior project manager.

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.

Harold Kerzner has written a tome that encompasses virtually all areas of Project Management (PM). Where he excels is in placing PM in the Organizational context. A read of this book can tell you how PM will fit into an organization, and the types of conflict that can arise when line management and project management come together.

Some aspects of the book (e.g. planning and project leadership/influence skills) are comprehensive enough to be books themselves. If you did not buy this one book, you might haveto buy many different books at higher cost to achieve the same coverage of topics. I have also found the author's coverage of issues to be thoughtful, comprehensive and meaningful. It is not fluffy.

Do not expect to start using this book the day you get nominated as a Project Manager. This is more in the nature of a study book, and less like a workbook, or a what-do-I-need-to-do-starting-tomorrow-morning guide. However your diligence in studying its contents will, I believe, be richly rewarded.

What do I not like about this book? * The author's endless fascination with bullet points. In some places the book reads like it was a transcript of his lectures. * Style of delivery is very dry. There is no change of tempo. * Poor figures. I could not understand many of the statistical figures at first glance. * Bad taste in cartoons. 'Nuff said. * The binding -- it is gummed at the spine for a very heavy book. Handle it roughly and it will come apart.

This book may have great information for project managers, but not for PMP certification candidates. The style is extremely dry, abstruse, and boring, making it difficult to plow through. IT IS NO GOOD FOR PMP SELF-STUDY BECAUSE THERE ARE NO ANSWERS TO TESTS AND CASE STUDIES. Ditto for the workbook. Kerzner appears to be a self-important, stuffy academician who managed to turn his lecture notes into a money tree. Typos and unintelligible "sentences" abound. NOT worth $75. Spend your money elsewhere.

If you have questions on any aspect of Project Management, this is the book to consult. From organizational behavior and structure to planning, scheduling and controlling processes vital to the successful practice of project management. Most of the vital issues are discussed in a thorough, thoughtful way.

If the book has a weakness, it is in the area of Integration - in my mind, the most difficult section of the PMP exam. The book is not only written as an undergraduate and graduate students, but also functional and senior managers. Its structure reveals the author's apparent belief that the practice of project management is more behavioral than quantitative.

His first five chapters lay the foundation for an understanding of project management principles. Chapters 6 through 8 deal with support functions of conflict and time management; chapters 9 and 10 deal with management support. Quantitative approaches to planning, time, cost and performance are developed in Chapters 11 to 15. Chapter 16 deals discusses trade-offs. The balance of the book deals with advanced topic and future trends.

If your budget limits you to the purchase of one project management, this is the one to own.

The editors' laziness undermines the value of this 1100-page book, which includes hundreds of project management terms. This book has no glossary, and new terms are not emphasized with bold text. I cannot recall ever seeing a textbook edited like this, and do not know why John Wiley & Sons, Inc would torment users of this book by neglecting these conventions.

If the publisher corrects this egregious oversight, I would give the new edition 4 or 5 stars. The content if good if you dedicate the time to read. If you need to build your PM vocabulary or brush up on some concepts, go somewhere else.

This book may have been great 10 years ago but not now. It is very cumbersome to read due to its illogical presentation.

It keeps on repeating over and over that the project manager should be able to wheel and deal with the line manager and basically depend on the line manager for work that needs to tbe done. If the project manager does not have the authority to obtain resources from a line manager, then the project manager would be stupid to accept the position in the first place.

I was disappointed with the book as a whole and the first thing that came to mind after I finished reading it, was to ask for most of my money back. ....

Dr. Kerzner's is, undoubtedly, the most comprehensive book on the subject of Project Management. The MAJOR shortcoming of the PN Bible (as it is now called), it is the lack of all the answers. Unless you are a bona-fide University lecturer with a documented (!) course your are teaching, John Wiley will not sell you the Instructor's Manual, and you are out of luck. The book is, without it, VERYlecturer-unfriendly. Moreover, Dr, Kerzner needs a better Editor. Soeone who knows the need of the PM community and, with the use of a better structure, boxes, shades, italics, highlights etc., make 8th Edition much more comprehensible.

I must agree with someone from Singapore.

I have used Kerzner as a textual job reference since the 4th Ed. As a fairly experienced PM, the text is an excellent desk reference. A wonderful well rounded text.

However as an instructor, it quickly became clear to me that students without a broader business background need a lot of handholding to understand the assumptions that cross functional mid and upper level managers take for granted. It is good at giving you the skeleton, but you have to know how to attach the flesh yourself. It gives you things to think about but you still have to weed the good from the bad and make decisions on your own. After all, PM isn't about doing things one way. This book will not do your job for you or teach you how to do your job, but it can help you do a better job.

I still believe this is an excellent text, but not for those "green" to the field or for PMP review.

And yes, the cartoons are stupid...

I have relied on this book for years as the single source for the critical project management information I've needed. The only way the author could have improved it is by streamlining some of the content. I bought my copy of the 8th edition - and he has done just that! This book has been completely revised and streamlined! It is still the best source of information for the PMI Certification Exam. I rely on it almost daily as an off-the-shelf reference while I'm on the job! If you have skipped buying Kerzner's book in the past because you've seen it all - now's the time to upgrade your library.

This book makes a great door stop (at 1203 pages long) but is of little use for anything else. Aside from being extremely redundant and non-explicit in the case studies given, it is very boring (and hard to follow due to this). The book consists of pages and pages of bulleted lists that serve little purpose as well as very bad charts and diagrams. I believe the class consensus for this book was to choose another one for the next global project management course offered. If you can avoid buying it you're better off.