Project Management: A Managerial Approach (Hardcover)

~ Jack R. Meredith; Samuel J. Jr. Mantel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The book is primarily intended for use as a college textbook for teaching project management at the advanced undergraduate or master's level. The text is appropriate for classes on the management of service, product, engineering projects, as well as information systems (IS). Thus, we have included some coverage of material concerning information systems and how IS projects differ from and are similar to regular business projects. The authors draw upon their personal experiences working with project managers and on the experience of friends and colleagues who have spent much of their working lives serving as project managers in the "real world." Thus, in contrast to the books that are about project management, this book teaches students how to do project management.
Project Management: A Managerial Approach 5E addresses project management from a management perspective rather than a cookbook, special area treatise, or collection of loosely associated articles. It addresses the basic nature of managing all types of projects - public, business, engineering, information systems, and so on - as well as specific techniques and insights required to carry out this unique way of getting things done. It deals with the problems of selecting projects, initiating them, and operating and controlling them. It discusses the demands made on the project manager and the nature of the manager's interaction with the rest of the parent organization. It covers the difficult problems associated with conducting a project using people and organizations that represent different cultures and may be separated by considerable distances. It even covers the issues arising when the decision is made to terminate a project.

From the Back Cover

Putting a man on the moon, building the pyramids, even creating a robust database for a large organization... These might seem like impossible achievements, but they are all the results of carefully implemented project management techniques.

Taking a managerial approach, Meredith and Mantel's text equips you with the insight into human behavior, knowledge of organizational issues, and quantitative methods you need to do project management. You'll learn how to select, initiate, operate, and control all types of projects—from public works and engineering projects to information systems.

The text puts you in command of the latest thinking in the field, including:

• Strategic project management: Chapter 2 is now oriented toward using project selection as a major tool for achieving the strategic objectives of the organization.
• Risk manqagement: The authors discuss risk management throughout the text and explain how to evaluate risk using simulation software, such as Crystal Ball. In addition, the text is accompanied by a student version of Crystal Ball® 2002.
• Earned value: Chapter 10 features extensively expanded coverage of earned value and includes a detailed example that illustrates the calculation of earned value during the execution of a project.
• Project Management Office: Chapter 4 (Project Organization) contains substantial discussion of the Project Management Office. Additional references to this topic also appear throughout the text.
• Activity-on-node notation: Chapter 8 (Scheduling) has been reoriented to focus on activity-on-node notation, which is used in most of today's software packages.

Includes a free trial version pf Microsoft Project 2002®!

A CD-ROM containing a 120-day free trial version of Microsoft Project 2002® and a student version pf Crystal Ball® 2002 accompanies the text. In addition, the text features new exercises in the end-of-chapter material that rely on he use of computer software. Microsoft Project and Excel printouts are updated and now integrated throughout the text where appropriate.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 704 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 5 edition (December 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471073237
• ISBN-13: 978-0471073239
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #647,524 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than the previous Editions, October 13, 2003

By	Arthur Gousby, III (AZ, CA, FL) - See all my reviews

I bought this book because it was required for a class I am taking. I had the 3rd Edition already and wasn't too impressed. But this 5th Edition is much more appealing. I just became PMP certified and reviewing this book before taking the exam was a great primer to get my head out of pure PMBOK and into real world Project Management. The case studies and Directed Readings are great for seeing real world PM activities. I would suggest the book for guidance and classroom type learning. If you're an experienced PM then this book is too academic and won't feed your intellect. Buy something else.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars NOT FOR THE PMP EXAM, October 15, 2001

By	Guy G. Arnone "jerryno" (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Project Management: A Managerial Approach, 4th Edition (Hardcover)

I can not believe that PMI recommened this book for preparing for the PMP exam. It is not worth the money unless you know absoultely nothing about PM.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing for a Seasoned PM, April 25, 2008

By	David J. Coleman (Alaska) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Project Management: A Managerial Approach (Hardcover)

Leave this book in the academic community. Ignore it in the real world PM office.
This book puts greater emphasis on academic PM babble than it does on real world project management necessities. As such, the book de-emphasises many important points that are necessary to run a project in the real world.
The critical path method in this book suffers from an -off by one- error. Check the PMBOK (2000) for verification.
The authors made many references to the work of others which made the book twice as long as it could have been. No one had time to read any of the references that appeared to be interesting with hope of finding actual usable and valuable information.
There was only passing references of risk, the importance of communication, personalities, and schedule disruption. There was nothing on these subjects that would assist a PM in the real world.
Disappointingly, this book only used 1/3 of a chapter for Earned Value. It put minimal emphasis on EV other than to provide the equations. EV is very important in the PM world.

The chapter on Project Termination was good. - The rest of the book was disappointing.

This book should be used for academic PM introductory purposes only.

Sorry for the disappoint review but I was disappointed.