The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management, 5th Edition

Preface

Economic upheavals have sharpened the need to effectively manage transformation and innovation. Project management remains critical but is no longer sufficient; project portfolio management is now widely embraced as a strategy for aligning resources with strategic direction and iterative development methods are spreading to new industries.

This fifth edition retains the book's primary focus on excellence in project management and continues to include the enterprise project management factors that influence project success.

Parts 1 through 4 have been refreshed to stay current, including a greater emphasis on stakeholder management and the introduction of change management. Industry is increasingly concerned with measuring projects by the value they contribute to the firm. This emphasis can be seen in many chapters, particularly Chapter 4, which describes the core questions related to authorizing a project.

The most substantial updates to this edition address iterative development and the reality that innovation continues to play a larger role for nearly all firms. Chapters 3 and 10 are completely new.

More than ever, organizations are in need of leaders who can synthesize facts and assumptions to set a direction. Many government, for-profit, and nonprofit organizations have less predictability about their future than at any time in the past 50 years. Project management continues to be a discipline for navigating through turbulent circumstances.

The basics of project ...