Project Set Strategies


Book Description

Project Set Strategies focuses on an issue of vital concern to corporate managers: the development and implementation of strategy. Regretfully, this topic has received too little attention in the literature of finance and has been treated in completely in the management journals. In fact, not everyone recognizes that it falls within the sphere of finance. However, since the important issues discussed in this book strategically shape the destiny of the company and can seal its fate long before the point is reached where conventional finance considerations come into play, it is essential that this recognition be acknowledged. From the management point of view, it has long been realized that strategic elements playa crucial role in the continued well-being of the firm. Nevertheless, this truth is overlooked to some extent with most management techniques since there is insufficient typification, often leading to unjustified generalizations and inadequate attention to the requirements of the specific situation. Also, these management techniques are not grounded upon the long-established fmancial economic theories of valuations and thus can lead to misdirected guidance. Since the two academic disciplines of "management" and "finance" have much insight to offer each other, this book represents an effort to link the strategic management area to a theoretically sound and usable financial e- xv xvi PREFACE nomic foundation. In this way, the probability of errors of omission or unjusti fied generalizations is decreased and help is offered for ascertaining more relevant goal-directed recommendations.




Strategic Project Management Made Simple


Book Description

When Fortune Magazine estimated that 70% of all strategies fail, it also noted that most of these strategies were basically sound, but could not be executed. The central premise of Strategic Project Management Made Simple is that most projects and strategies never get off the ground because of adhoc, haphazard, and obsolete methods used to turn their ideas into coherent and actionable plans. Strategic Project Management Made Simple is the first book to couple a step-by-step process with an interactive thinking tool that takes a strategic approach to designing projects and action initiatives. Strategic Project Management Made Simple builds a solid platform upon four critical questions that are vital for teams to intelligently answer in order to create their own strong, strategic foundation. These questions are: 1. What are we trying to accomplish and why? 2. How will we measure success? 3. What other conditions must exist? 4. How do we get there? This fresh approach begins with clearly understanding the what and why of a project - comprehending the bigger picture goals that are often given only lip service or cursory reviews. The second and third questions clarify success measures and identify the risky assumptions that can later cause pain if not spotted early. The how questions - what are the activities, budgets, and schedules - comes last in our four-question system. By contrast, most project approaches prematurely concentrate on the how without first adequately addressing the three other questions. These four questions guide readers into fleshing out a simple, yet sophisticated, mental workbench called "the Logical Framework" - a Systems Thinking paradigm that lays out one's own project strategy in an easily accessible, interactive 4x4 matrix. The inclusion of memorable features and concepts (four critical questions, LogFrame matrix, If-then thinking, and Implementation Equation) make this book unique.




Project Strategy and Strategic Portfolio Management


Book Description

Projects have become the de facto method of implementing business strategy and operations. As such, understanding how projects relate to business strategy and managing projects strategically is increasingly important to effective and efficient business management This book is designed as a short and concise treatise on how to go about doing that. The authors start by figuring out how the project relates to the rest of the business and environment and what separates it from other projects and functions. They go on to discuss how you can use principles of strategic management to better organize and manage the various projects you may be dealing with on a daily basis so that they are strategic in nature. In essence, this book details how to approach answering the important strategic questions in project management like—“Why is the project being implemented? How does the project relate to the major strategic goals of the organization? How do we accomplish the performance goals for the project so that they help achieve the major strategic goals of the organization?”




Organizational Project Management


Book Description

Improve Your Business Results Through Organizational Project Management Organizational project management (OPM) aligns project deliverables with strategy. Understanding this emerging process is essential for all stakeholders, from the corporate sponsor to project team members. OPM is a valuable new tool that can enhance your organization's successful execution of projects in alignment with strategic priorities. Under the editorship of Rosemary Hossenlopp, PMP, ten contributors from around the globe, representing a wide variety of industries, offer valuable insights on how OPM can give any organization the competitive edge. They discuss how to • Improve business outcomes • Better align project work with strategies • Set priorities • Organize project work Whether you direct projects, fund projects, or conduct project work, Organizational Project Management: Linking Strategy and Projects is vital to your understanding of this emerging business discipline.




Project: Strategy


Book Description

Strategic planning is the starting point for projects and often the primary reason for a project’s success or failure. It has the potential to enable every organisation to realise its ideals and actualise its values, whether it be a small start-up business, a large international company or even an entire society. Project leaders and project-orientated organisations need to understand strategic planning to recognise their position and environment, and make rational decisions when selecting and defining their projects and programs. But, those same principles can have broader, more profound, and more ambitious applications too. Project: Strategy is a practical handbook that enables organisations of any size, and employees at all levels within them, to form strategic plans and actively contribute to them throughout a project’s development. Rather than focus on superficial exercises, this book draws from knowledge outside of business and management – humanities, philosophy, psychology, technology, and engineering – to create a holistic view and a depth of understanding you would never achieve with SWOT analysis alone. Taking the reader on a pragmatic journey, it teaches self-reflexion, social responsibility and creative thinking with application to their projects and plans, but also to their working relationships and to their organisations. This book is also an ideal introductory book to progressive programs on strategic planning, with a focus on collaborative work, open strategy, and open strategic planning on a social level. It provides a wealth of learning tools and case studies to demonstrate best practice. This is the ideal guide to project planning for anyone that wants their planning decisions to be as wise as they are savvy.




Real Project Planning: Developing a Project Delivery Strategy


Book Description

Successful projects are the basis for a successful company, but many professionals lack the basic skills required to accomplish this. The IChemE Project Management Subject Group has recognized the need to provide resources to deliver these skills, and has developed a series of books to share the latest best practice – engineering essentials. This second title, though primarily written from the perspective of engineering projects within the process industries, is generic enough to support project managers in many other disciplines. It provides for those starting out in project management, is ideal for students as a university textbook, and is also an indispensable reference for established project managers. - Get up and running on your project quickly and effectively - Focuses one step at a time on the needs of engineering, industrial and process projects for career project managers and those involved with projects intermittently




Strategies for Project Sponsorship


Book Description

Optimize the Role of the Project Sponsor The project sponsor is critical to project success, yet it is a role that is often assigned to a member of the organization with little knowledge or training in project management practices. This creates challenges not only for the sponsor but for the project manager. The organization suffers too if key members of the project team are not fully utilized, as valuable resources are wasted. In Strategies for Project Sponsorship, the authors address this challenge from all three vantage points—that of the project manager, the project sponsor, and the organization. Based on their practical experience and solid research, they offer practical methods that project manager s can use to optimize the participation of the sponsor. They also offer clear and straightforward guidance for project sponsors on how to properly execute their duties and contribute to project success. Executives will gain valuable perspective on the organization's projects and key players. From defining the roles and responsibilities of the project sponsor to suggesting specific practices that maximize the working relationship between the sponsor and project manager, this book is the ultimate guide. Examples from real-world sponsor experiences, as well as tips, techniques, and tools, enhance its applicability and practicality. This book should be given to every newly assigned project sponsor, read and referred to by every project manager, and on the desk of every organizational executive as a reference.




Playing to Win


Book Description

Explains how companies must pinpoint business strategies to a few critically important choices, identifying common blunders while outlining simple exercises and questions that can guide day-to-day and long-term decisions.




Content Strategy at Work


Book Description

Content is king... and the new kingmaker... and your message needs to align with your model and metrics and other mumbo jumbo, right? Whether you're slogging through theory or buzzwords, there's no denying content strategy is coming of age. But what's in it for you? And if you're not a content strategist, why should you care? Because even if content strategy isn't your job, content's probably your problem—and probably more than you think. You or your business has a message you want to deliver, right? You can deliver that message through various channels and content types, from Tweets to testimonials and photo galleries galore, and your audience has just as many ways of engaging with it. So many ways, so much content... so where's the problem? That is the problem. And you can measure it in time, creativity, money, lost opportunity, and the sobs you hear equally from creative directors, project managers, and search engine marketing specialists. The solution is content strategy, and this book offers real-world examples and approaches you can adopt, no matter your role on the team. Put content strategy to work for you by gathering this book into your little hands and gobbling up never-before seen case studies from teams at Johns Hopkins Medicine, MINI, Icebreaker, and more. Content Strategy at Work is a book for designers, information architects, copywriters, project managers, and anyone who works with visual or verbal content. It discusses how you can communicate and forge a plan that will enable you, your company, or your client get that message across and foster better user experiences. - Presents a content strategy framework and ways to implement in both in-house marketing departments and consultancies - Includes case studies, interviews, and lessons learned from retail, apparel, network television, business-to-business, automotive, non-profit, and higher ed brands - Details practical sales techniques to sell content strategy and use content strategy processes to sell other services and larger projects




Strategic Project Management


Book Description

Based on expert practitioners contributions from across the globe including Brazil, Jamaica, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Strategic Project Management: Contemporary Issues and Strategies for Developing Economies offers modern experiences, best practices, and tools for individuals and teams working in pro