Managing Project Uncertainty

Author : David Cleden
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351920413
Total Pages : 131 pages
Book Rating : 4.14/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Managing Project Uncertainty written by David Cleden and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-03-02 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dealing effectively with uncertainty requires today's project manager to be familiar with a broad spectrum of strategies, encompassing both 'hard' and 'soft' methods. This theme of unified thinking (i.e. the need to selectively draw upon a wide range of strategies in any given situation) will differentiate the book from its contemporaries. By picking up where traditional risk management techniques begin to fail, it brings together leading-edge thinking from a variety of disciplines and shows how these techniques can be used to conquer uncertainty in projects. The ability to make good decisions when faced with uncertainty is the real challenge. It is a universal truth that a decision is only as good as the information it is based on. But good information is often hard to come by, and all projects are vulnerable to the unknown and the unknowable. Thus, uncertainty becomes the sworn enemy of the project manager. Wherever we try to analyse, quantify, plan and act, uncertainty lies in wait to surprise us with its ambiguity and unpredictability. It lurks in every stage of the project lifecycle: in the planning (how long will this really take?), the initiation (this isn't the situation I expected!), the execution (who could have foreseen that happening?), and even the completion of a project (where are the expected benefits?). But managing uncertainty is a lot more than just applying risk management techniques. It requires a deep appreciation of how uncertainty arises and, by recognising its different guises, the appropriate strategies can be formulated. If we can learn how to reduce uncertainty, we can make better management decisions and increase the chances of the project succeeding. This book addresses five key questions: ¢ Why is there uncertainty in projects? ¢ How do you spot the symptoms of uncertainty, preferably at an early stage? ¢ What can be done to avoid uncertainty? ¢ What strategies can be used to deal with project uncertainty? ¢ How can both the individual and the organisation learn to cope more effectively in the future? The reader is assumed to be a either a project management professional, or a senior manager looking for ways to improve project management strategy within their organisation. As such, a foundation in project management basics is assumed, although not essential. The book then builds on this by exposing new ideas and concepts, and shows how these can be harnessed to tackle uncertainty in its many guises.

Author : Christoph H. Loch
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1118276825
Total Pages : 393 pages
Book Rating : 4.22/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Managing the Unknown written by Christoph H. Loch and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-11-30 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Managing the Unknown offers a new way of looking at the problem of managing projects in novel and unknown environments. From Europe's leading business school, this book shows how to manage two fundamental approaches that, in combination, offer the possibility of coping with unforeseen influences that inevitably arise in novel projects: * Trial-and-Error Learning allows for redefining the plan and the project as the project unfolds * Selectionism pursues multiple, independent trials in order to pick the best one at the end Managing the Unknown offers expert guidelines to the specific project mindsets, infrastructures, and management methods required to use these project management approaches and achieve success in spite of unforeseen obstacles. This book equips readers with: * Causal explanations of why unforeseeable factors in novel projects make traditional project planning and project risk management insufficient * Directly applicable management tools that help managers to guide novel and high-uncertainty projects * Real-world case studies of both successful and unsuccessful approaches to managing high uncertainty in novel projects

Author : Stephen Ward
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0470686499
Total Pages : 520 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book How to Manage Project Opportunity and Risk written by Stephen Ward and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-11-30 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since I wrote the Foreword for the second edition of this book, risk management processes have become much more widely used, but controversy about what should be done and how best to do it has grown. Managing risk is a risky business. Chapman and Ward provide an in-depth explanation of why it is important to understand and manage underlying uncertainty in all its forms, in order to realise opportunities more fully and enhance corporate performance. They show what best practice should look like. The implications go well beyond the conventional wisdom of project risk management, providing an enlightening new perspective. —Professor Tony M. Ridley Imperial College London, Past President, Institution of Civil Engineers Chris Chapman and Stephen Ward continue to educate the profession with this masterful exposition of the differences between, and the potentials for combinations of, risk, uncertainty and opportunity. Particularly welcome is the way they integrate this trio into the project lifecycle – the bedrock of project management control and organization. —Peter W.G. Morris Head of School and Professor of Construction and Project Management University College London Chris Chapman and Stephen Ward’s books on Project Risk Management have been an essential part of my repertoire for twenty years, and they are top of my recommended reading for the courses I do on that subject. In this book they have enhanced their previous work to focus on uncertainty management and emphasise more strongly opportunities for improving project performance, rather then just identifying what can go wrong. A structured process is an essential part of managing project uncertainty, and their process is one of the most powerful. This book will be added to my repertoire. —Rodney Turner Professor of Project Management, SKEMA Business School Lille A profoundly important book. With How to Manage Project Opportunity and Risk, Chris Chapman and Stephen Ward take a good thing and make it better. Members of the project management profession have been influenced for years by their insights into project risk management. With this latest instalment the authors demonstrate that risk and uncertainty needn’t be dreaded; in fact, the reverse side of the ‘risk coin’ has always been opportunity. My sincere appreciation to Chapman and Ward for turning this particular coin over and showing readers, academic and practitioner alike, the opportunity embedded in managing projects. —Jeffrey K. Pinto Andrew Morrow and Elizabeth Lee Black Chair in Management of Technology Sam and Irene Black School of Business, Penn State Erie

Author : Dr Dieter Fink
Publisher : Gower Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN 13 : 1472419065
Total Pages : 355 pages
Book Rating : 4.64/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Project Risk Governance written by Dr Dieter Fink and published by Gower Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2014-01-28 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Project Risk Governance, Dieter Fink breaks new ground in two ways. Firstly, he places project risk management in the context of today’s organisations in which objectives are increasingly implemented through projects to better respond to fast-changing markets. Secondly, he applies a governance perspective to examine project risk at the project and corporate levels, an approach which is significantly under-researched and for which theoretical knowledge and professional practice are at an early stage of maturity. Project risk governance falls between corporate governance and project governance and is attracting increasing attention. The author argues that there are two reasons for this. The first is the ‘projectisation’ of organisations, in particular within organisations conforming to the Project-Based Organisation (PBO) model. The second is the prevalence of a strategic approach to managing risk for the purposes of protecting organisational values and creating competitive advantage. The book addresses governance, strategy, value management and building enterprise-wide Project Risk Governance (PRG) capabilities. Chapters examine the role of projects in organisations and the need to integrate project and business strategy within the framework of the Project-Based Organisation. PRG is introduced via its links with corporate and project governance and its scope is covered in chapters that identify relevant processes, structures and relationship mechanisms. Contextual influences such as the professionalisation of project management are recognised and insights provided to increase readers’ understanding of uncertainty, risk events, and probabilities and of the essential requirements of managing risks at project level. The final chapter provides a roadmap to the stages and dimensions of a PRG maturity model.

Author : C. B. Chapman
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781601199263
Total Pages : 389 pages
Book Rating : 4.60/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Project Risk Management written by C. B. Chapman and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on sound conceptual foundations yet developed to meet practical concerns, Project Risk Management has become recognized as a standard work on its subject. It sets out the key issues and concepts involved in effective risk and uncertainty management in a clear and accessible way, providing a comprehensive discussion of risk management processes set firmly in the context of the project management task as a whole and focused on improving performance.

Author : Christian B. Smart
Publisher : McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN 13 : 1260473848
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.41/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Solving for Project Risk Management: Understanding the Critical Role of Uncertainty in Project Management written by Christian B. Smart and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2020-11-23 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Risk is real—but you can manage it with this hard-hitting guide to reducing risk on any project, in any industry All projects, large and small, are subject to various risks. But the failure to manage inherent risk with diligence and know-how can lead to devastating consequences for an organization. In this comprehensive hands-on guide, a renowned expert in the field provides everything organizations need to conduct project risk management the right way. Why do so many projects come in over schedule and over budget? How do projected expenditures and schedules line up with reality? How can you accurately assess risk to mitigate financial disaster? Through a methodical, statistics-based approach, Christian B. Smart reveals: The enduring problem of cost and schedule growth How rigorous project risk management can reduce the impact of uncertainty The systematic tendency to underestimate risk—and how to avoid it Ways to accurately assess confidence levels in project risk management The need for proper risk management at the portfolio level The author lays out common problems and explains how to effectively solve them. And while he employs a wealth of illustrative charts, graphs, and statistics, he presents the material in an accessible style, and peppers the text with powerful personal anecdotes. Ideal for project managers, business analysts, and senior decision makers in both the public and private sectors, Solving for Project Risk Management offers everything you need to ensure your projects run smoothly, on budget, and deliver the expected outcomes.

Author : Guy M. Merritt
Publisher : CRC Press
ISBN 13 : 1482278227
Total Pages : 250 pages
Book Rating : 4.24/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Proactive Risk Management written by Guy M. Merritt and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2020-10-28 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Listed as one of the 30 Best Business Books of 2002 by Executive Book Summaries. Proactive Risk Management's unique approach provides a model of risk that is scalable to any size project or program and easily deployable into any product development or project management life cycle. It offers methods for identifying drivers (causes) of risks so you can manage root causes rather than the symptoms of risks. Providing you with an appropriate quantification of the key factors of a risk allows you to prioritize those risks without introducing errors that render the numbers meaningless. This book stands apart from much of the literature on project risk management in its practical, easy-to-use, fact-based approach to managing all of the risks associated with a project. The depth of actual how-to information and techniques provided here is not available anywhere else.

Author : Robert K. Wysocki
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0470910682
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Business Analyst / Project Manager written by Robert K. Wysocki and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-08-20 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A breakthrough game plan illustrating the need for better collaboration between Project Managers and Business Analysts In The Business Analyst/Project Manager, author Robert Wysocki draws on his forty-five years of professional experience as a PM/BA to shed light on the similarities and differences of the roles and responsibilities of these two positions, the need for greater collaboration, and how to staff a project with one or both of these professionals. Examines the boundaries and interactions between the BA and the PM Looks at how to identify the skill sets needed to make the project a success The typical relationship of the BA and PM across the project management life cycle Making the best configuration of leadership assignments based on project characteristics Where the responsibilities of the BA leave off and the PM's begins and where the two have collaborative responsibilities How to use a PM/BA to enhance project performance How to foster a "dual career path" for PM/BAs development The in-depth discussion of the synergies between the two roles and the advantages of a combined PM/BA makes The Business Analyst/Project Manager a valuable contribution in your ability to be successful on the complex projects of the 21st century.

Author : Chris Chapman
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 520 pages
Book Rating : 4.58/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Managing Project Risk and Uncertainty written by Chris Chapman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2002-10-11 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title confidently puts forward a practical, new approach to decision making in an uncertain business world. Many variables are accounted for and the authors are innovative in integrating previous types of decision-making approaches with a more fluid, and therefore realistic model that can be applied across a wide range of contexts and decisions. A new title on a important topic that not only stands well on its own, but also complements Chapman and Ward's previous title Project Risk Management. This book is practical and rigorous yet written in an engaging way. It is perfect for courses, or to be used by practitioners.

Author : Management Association, Information Resources
Publisher : IGI Global
ISBN 13 : 179981761X
Total Pages : 1687 pages
Book Rating : 4.11/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Start-Ups and SMEs: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications written by Management Association, Information Resources and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2020-01-03 with total page 1687 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Smaller companies are abundant in the business realm and outnumber large companies by a wide margin. To maintain a competitive edge against other businesses, companies must ensure the most effective strategies and procedures are in place. This is particularly critical in smaller business environments that have fewer resources. Start-Ups and SMEs: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source that examines the strategies and concepts that will assist small and medium-sized enterprises to achieve competitiveness. It also explores the latest advances and developments for creating a system of shared values and beliefs in small business environments. Highlighting a range of topics such as entrepreneurship, innovative behavior, and organizational sustainability, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for entrepreneurs, business managers, executives, managing directors, academicians, business professionals, researchers, and graduate-level students.