Customer Reviews

Quantifying the Value of Project Management

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This booklet is a major disappointment, and I am surprised that a professor of civil engineering from UC-Berkely would co-publish this together with a graduate researcher and call it a "book". This is not a book, it is a booklet at best.

I have purchased dozens and dozens of books on project management over the years and this one ranks in the bottom decile.

It is "49 pages" in total length consisting of the following:

Pages 1-3 introduction.
Pages 47-8 references.
Pages 4, 16 and 30 completely blank.
Pages 49 author contact information (consultants); actually the last 5 pages of the book are generically entitled "Upgrade Your Project Management Knowledge with Leading Titles from PMI" and are solely advertisements.

The booklet also contains glaring errors making for confusing and potential misleading conclusions, for example:
Page 24 Table 3-1 the equation is in error,
Page 28 Figure 4-1 the figure is mislabeled,
Page 29 Figure 4-2 part of the diagram is completely missing.

Unfortunately, the trade association (PMI) publisher of this "booklet" continues to struggle with putting out much needed quantifiable case studies demonstrating the value of project management. This booklet is not the way to do it, nor is it the way to develop a project management consulting business.

By the way, PMI sells this booklet for an amazing $...(see back cover of the book). I paid substantially less than that thru "Used" on Amazon.com and still wish I hadn't bothered. PMI should know better.

Save your money, invest it elsewhere. Two books that have some helpful resources for quantifying the value of project management include:

"The Project Management Scorecard", especially chapters 4-16.
"The New Project Management", especially chapers 12-13.

Other project management books I have read and found beneficial:

"Successful IT Project Delivery"
"Visualizing Project Management"
"Project Management Nation"

"Project Management: Best Practices for IT Professionals"
"Idiot's Guide to Project Management"
"Project Management Professional: Study Guide"

David B. Schoon

I purchased the book expecting some practical approach. I was disappointed; it's all theory, and there are too many mistakes in the text.