Project Management Best Practices: Achieving Global Excellence, 4th Edition, is a reference based on PM methodologies adapted and used by leading companies to complete their projects successfully. It guides the reader on how to implement every phase of a project in alignment with the industry’s best practices. It is a comprehensive book that discusses best practices throughout the years, from past to present. It also touches on other PM aspects such as implementation problems (migraines), processes, culture, training and education, along with many real-world examples.
Book Details
The hardcover book is about 7.4 in. wide, 1.8 in. thick, and 9.4 in. long, weighing about 3.1 pounds. It has 784 pages divided into 19 chapters. Aside from the hardcover, it is also available in paperback and Kindle format. It was published in the English language by Wiley Publishing in March 2018. This is its 4th edition. ISBN-10: 111946885X; ISBN-13: 978-1119468851
Price
Target Audience
Project Management Best Practices is ideal for corporate training as well as a college textbook. The book also comes with an Instructor’s Manual and Powerpoint lecture slides for classroom purposes. Both experienced and new project professionals can benefit in reading the book, regardless of industry they belong to.
What Customers Say
George B. (Amazon) stated that he found many useful tips, reminders and helpful practices in Project Management Best Practices. As a PM for more than 20 years, he enjoyed learning about industry practices from big global companies given as examples in the book.
Rich M., PMP (Amazon) stated that he appreciated the diligence and depth of research that went into the book. He mentioned that it contains real examples of enterprises’ practices, and details on how they completed their projects successfully.
Ricardo V. (Goodreads) described it as a very good case studies book from Dr. Kerzner. He stated that not all the companies used as examples were huge international enterprises, which made it hard to make comparisons with. However, he still finds it a very good book.
Content, Approach, Style
Content: Project Management Best Practices is divided into 19 chapters that starts with the concept of best practices. It then proceed to discuss challenges or migraines, and the aspiration to achieve PM excellence. It also covers in detail with examples other aspects such as methodologies, integrated processes, corporate culture, management support, training and education. It discusses informal vs formal project management, behavioral excellence, measuring ROI, project office, Six Sigma, PMO, PPM, Agile and Scrum, value-driven PM, and more.
Approach/Tone: The author presents facts based on research, and discusses the topics in direct classroom-formal tone. He presents the history of the topic, up to the latest practices and the most recent updates.
Style: The book is over 700 pages, but the paragraphs are of readable length and with lists and summaries. There are many tables and figures to help the reader understand the concepts in a more visual way. Each topic also contains a few real-world examples, so the reader can understand the discussions in a more tangible way.
Why Buy the Book
Project Management Best Practices is a comprehensive reference of best practices in a wide array of industries from past to present. The research is significant and substantial, and will give readers a great amount of knowledge and examples that can be useful to their current situation.
Author
Dr. Harold Kerzner received his MS in Engineering and his Ph. D at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). He also has an MBA from Utah State University. Dr. Kerzner is with the Institute of International Learning since 1991. He is Senior Executive Director of the Institute that provides project management education for corporations around the world. He is a recognized expert on project management, as well as program and portfolio management, total quality management, and strategic planning. Some of the books that Dr. Kerzner has authored includes Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, Project Management Case Studies, and Project Management 2.0, among others.
