Successful Project Management
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Book review / International Journal of Project Management 19 (2001) 189±193
Successful Project Management Milton Rosenau, John Wiley, 1998, 343 pp. ISBN: 0 471 29304 0, £40.95 My main comment when I receive a book of 350 pages purporting to tell the reader how to successfully manage projects is that it probably covers only a fraction of the requirements and skills of a successful project manager. A look at the debate on the various bodies of knowledge will show that there is no universal agreement on the skills and these skills are very wide-ranging. There are many issues that such a book cannot possibly cover in any great depth. Added to that, books tend to concentrate on the planning aspects of project management and gloss over (and some may say more important) aspects (such as success criteria, con®guration management, quality). I feel that this book is no exception. The book has an introductory chapter on projects and the project management process. The book is then structured into ®ve main parts: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
goal de®nition (3 chapters); project planning (7 chapters); leadership (5 chapters); project monitoring (5 chapters); project completion (2 chapters).
There is a sixth part of four chapters examining other project management issues such as small projects, new product development and project management software. Each chapter is a separate topic and includes a summary of typical problems, a case study (the Materials Study Project) and a summary of highlights. It is good that the book stresses the importance of strategy and success criteria when de®ning the project goals. However, the Triple Constraint of time, cost and performance (similar to the Iron Triangle) is quoted as
191
the measure for success. This doesn't go anywhere near discussing the various interpretations of success from the dierent stakeholder viewpoints. The chapters on project planning spend much time on tools such as network diagrams and bar charts. They provide nothing new on planning a project which hasn't been covered many times before. Part 3 entitled `Leading the people who work on the project' is about how a project is organised Ð organisation structures, recruitment, support team structures Ð rather than leadership although there is a brief discussion on motivation, stimulating creativity and communication. The parts on monitoring and project completion are factual with little analysis of the key issues. The book is aimed at people who are professionals in a discipline (such as an engineer, a computer programmer, oce administrator) who have no experience in project management but need these skills to achieve an organisational goal. From that point of view it would be useful as a primer, although it would have bene®ted greatly from a bibliography if the reader wished to investigate certain issues in more depth. It is written in a very readable style with many illustrations and examples. However, I do not see the book appearing on the library bookshelves of any academic institutions. I wouldn't expect to see it appearing on a reading list for a project management subject. It doesn't say anything new that would interest academics or students. At over £40 it is rather over-priced for the value it would give to the reader. It is written from the author's extensive industrial experience and is a useful initial introduction into project management for those new to the discipline. However, there are many other books that provide the same introduction. J. Wateridge The Business School, Bournemouth University, UK
PII: S0263-7863(99)00054-X
Financial Protection in the UK Building Industry Will Hughes, Patricia Hillebrandt, John Murdoch. A & F N Spon, 1998, 189 pp. ISBN: 0 419 24290 2, £65 This book is based on an academic research project, and accordingly has the structure that one expects for such a report. It is an impressive piece of work and tackles a problem area which has not been widely written about. The subject of ®nancial protection is looked at from many standpoints including the insolvency of any one of the parties to a contract; the failure to perform by any party; the problems of late, incomplete or total non-payment; the failure of main contractors to pass on payment on time; retention money: performance bonds; demand bonds;
parent company guarantees; professional indemnity insurance; collateral warranty; inherent defects insurance; insurance of the contract works. The over-riding message of the text is that this is a complex area, and one which merits careful study. Moreover the implication is that the whole subject is somewhat confused with many overlapping areas, with the potential for unnecessary duplication and/or omissions. There is clearly scope for lawyers to advise on the way to ensure protection, but this is something that should really be undertaken by quantity surveyors. However it is in the interest of clients and consultants to be fully aware of the pitfalls and the means of protecting against them. The report concludes that overall, clients are
Successful Project Management Milton Rosenau, John Wiley, 1998, 343 pp. ISBN: 0 471 29304 0, £40.95 My main comment when I receive a book of 350 pages purporting to tell the reader how to successfully manage projects is that it probably covers only a fraction of the requirements and skills of a successful project manager. A look at the debate on the various bodies of knowledge will show that there is no universal agreement on the skills and these skills are very wide-ranging. There are many issues that such a book cannot possibly cover in any great depth. Added to that, books tend to concentrate on the planning aspects of project management and gloss over (and some may say more important) aspects (such as success criteria, con®guration management, quality). I feel that this book is no exception. The book has an introductory chapter on projects and the project management process. The book is then structured into ®ve main parts: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
goal de®nition (3 chapters); project planning (7 chapters); leadership (5 chapters); project monitoring (5 chapters); project completion (2 chapters).
There is a sixth part of four chapters examining other project management issues such as small projects, new product development and project management software. Each chapter is a separate topic and includes a summary of typical problems, a case study (the Materials Study Project) and a summary of highlights. It is good that the book stresses the importance of strategy and success criteria when de®ning the project goals. However, the Triple Constraint of time, cost and performance (similar to the Iron Triangle) is quoted as
191
the measure for success. This doesn't go anywhere near discussing the various interpretations of success from the dierent stakeholder viewpoints. The chapters on project planning spend much time on tools such as network diagrams and bar charts. They provide nothing new on planning a project which hasn't been covered many times before. Part 3 entitled `Leading the people who work on the project' is about how a project is organised Ð organisation structures, recruitment, support team structures Ð rather than leadership although there is a brief discussion on motivation, stimulating creativity and communication. The parts on monitoring and project completion are factual with little analysis of the key issues. The book is aimed at people who are professionals in a discipline (such as an engineer, a computer programmer, oce administrator) who have no experience in project management but need these skills to achieve an organisational goal. From that point of view it would be useful as a primer, although it would have bene®ted greatly from a bibliography if the reader wished to investigate certain issues in more depth. It is written in a very readable style with many illustrations and examples. However, I do not see the book appearing on the library bookshelves of any academic institutions. I wouldn't expect to see it appearing on a reading list for a project management subject. It doesn't say anything new that would interest academics or students. At over £40 it is rather over-priced for the value it would give to the reader. It is written from the author's extensive industrial experience and is a useful initial introduction into project management for those new to the discipline. However, there are many other books that provide the same introduction. J. Wateridge The Business School, Bournemouth University, UK
PII: S0263-7863(99)00054-X
Financial Protection in the UK Building Industry Will Hughes, Patricia Hillebrandt, John Murdoch. A & F N Spon, 1998, 189 pp. ISBN: 0 419 24290 2, £65 This book is based on an academic research project, and accordingly has the structure that one expects for such a report. It is an impressive piece of work and tackles a problem area which has not been widely written about. The subject of ®nancial protection is looked at from many standpoints including the insolvency of any one of the parties to a contract; the failure to perform by any party; the problems of late, incomplete or total non-payment; the failure of main contractors to pass on payment on time; retention money: performance bonds; demand bonds;
parent company guarantees; professional indemnity insurance; collateral warranty; inherent defects insurance; insurance of the contract works. The over-riding message of the text is that this is a complex area, and one which merits careful study. Moreover the implication is that the whole subject is somewhat confused with many overlapping areas, with the potential for unnecessary duplication and/or omissions. There is clearly scope for lawyers to advise on the way to ensure protection, but this is something that should really be undertaken by quantity surveyors. However it is in the interest of clients and consultants to be fully aware of the pitfalls and the means of protecting against them. The report concludes that overall, clients are
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