The authors studied sixty large engineering projects (LEPs), projects as various as a hydro dam in Venezuela, offshore oil platforms in Norway, a subway in Turkey, and the Boston Harbor cleanup. What they found during their research will allow managers to understand and evaluate the relationships between institutions and strategy, risk management, and corporate governance in general.

The book is based on an international research project that analyzed sixty LEPs, among them the Boston Harbor cleanup; the first phase of subway construction in Ankara, Turkey; a hydro dam on the Caroni River in Venezuela; and the construction of offshore oil platforms west of Flor, Norway. As the number, complexity, and scope of large engineering projects (LEPs) increase worldwide, the huge stakes may endanger the survival of corporations and threaten the stability of countries that approach these projects unprepared. According to the authors, the "front-end" engineering of institutional arrangements and strategic systems is a far greater determinant of an LEP's success than are the more tangible aspects of project engineering and management. The book is based on an international research project that analyzed sixty LEPs, among them the Boston Harbor cleanup; the first phase of subway construction in Ankara, Turkey; a hydro dam on the Caroni River in Venezuela; and the construction of offshore oil platforms west of Flor, Norway. The authors use the research results to develop an experience-based theoretical framework that will allow managers to understand and respond to the complexity and uncertainty inherent in all LEPs. In addition to managers and scholars of large-scale projects, the book will be of interest to those studying the relationship between institutions and strategy, risk management, and corporate governance in general. Contributors Bjorn Andersen, Richard Brealey, Ian Cooper, Serghei Floricel, Michel Habib, Brian Hobbs, Donald R. Lessard, Pascale Michaud, Roger Miller, Xavier Olleros

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.

Today's Most Effective Guide for Applying Project Management to Implement Organizational Strategies -- Now Updated and Expanded! Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation delivers complete guidance on applying the theory, processes, practices, and techniques of project management to support strategic planning. Written by two world-renowned project management leaders, this new edition presents the latest methods for using flexible teams to implement organizational strategies -- especially changes to products, services, and processes. Designed for use in both large and small organizations, this updated classic ranges from the project management process...to project planning, monitoring, evaluation, and control...to continuous improvement through projects. This resource offers new material on project portfolio management, earned value, project management maturity, nontraditional teams, project partnering, project management outsourcing, and much more. The Fifth edition of Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation features: Detailed coverage of all advances in project management theory and practice Helpful sections added to each chapter, including chapter summary, additional sources of information, discussion questions, project management principles, case study, assignment, and checklist Updated examples and exercises on key project management topics A larger format with sidebars to highlight major issues This new material: chapters on "The Evolution of Project Management" and "Successful Project Teams" Inside this Updated PM Classic: Introduction to Project Management * The Strategic Context of Projects * Organizational Design for Project Management * Project Operations * Interpersonal Dynamics in the Management of Projects * The Cultural Elements * New Uses of Teams

A critical element of the challenges and opportunities for today's large engineering projects are associated with the multi-type and networked relationships between these projects and their various stakeholders. This dissertation advances a multidisciplinary approach-Stakeholder Value Network (SVN) analysis-as a unique lens to examine, understand, model, and manage these stakeholder relationships. The SVN approach, based on the Social Exchange Theory (SET), unifies both social and economic relationships into a common framework, under which all the stakeholder relationships are formed by the use of subjective utility analysis and the comparison of alternatives. Next, restricted and generalized exchanges are identified as two basic patterns for stakeholders to exchange both tangible and intangible value, and from this, the missing links between relationship types and exchange patterns are also discovered. In the end, the network implications, such as stakeholder importance or salience, are inferred as the outcome of both value exchanges and the structural properties of the network consisting of stakeholders and their exchange relationships. According to the above theoretically grounded assumptions, a four-step methodological framework (viz., Mapping, Quantifying, Searching, and Analyzing) is developed for the SVN analysis. As part of this development, a network utility model is built to quantify the value delivered to the focal organization (viz., the large engineering projects) through the channel of generalized exchanges. Meanwhile, the benefits from as well as a feasible way for the integration of stakeholders and strategic issues are explored under the SVN framework. In addition, for the purpose of reducing the egocentric bias associated with the pre-selection of a focal organization, the four-step framework is further developed to interpret the implications of the SVN from the perspective of the whole network. The computational challenges arising from this new development are met by the construction of a dedicated mathematical tool for the SVN analysis, namely, the Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM) modeling platform. Corresponding to the two-stage development of the methodological framework, two large real-world engineering projects are studied respectively: The first one, Project Phoenix, is a retrospective case and applies the SVN analysis from the focal organization perspective. Based on this case study, the descriptive accuracy of the SVN analysis is validated, through a comparison of important stakeholders derived from Mangers' Mental Model, the "Hub-and-Spoke" Model, and the SVN Model. Specifically, it is found that Managers' Mental Model is similar to the "Hub-and-Spoke" Model, and both models miss the Public Media and the Local Governments as important stakeholders at the beginning of the project. On the contrary, even with only prior information, the SVN Model identifies the importance of these two stakeholders by capturing the impacts of indirect stakeholder relationships as generalized exchanges. The reasons why generalized exchanges matter for today's large engineering projects are further examined from psychological, sociological, economic, and managerial aspects. The second one, China's Energy Conservation Campaign, is a prospective case and applies the SVN analysis from the whole network perspective. In this case study, five basic principles are first proposed for modeling the intraorganizational hierarchies of large and important stakeholders, and then these principles are tested as an effective means to manage the structural complexity of the SVN in the modeling process. During this process, the instrumental power of the SVN analysis is demonstrated. The SVN approach becomes complete with the above theory, methodology, tool, and meaningful findings from two representative case studies. At the end of this dissertation, two conceptual innovations are conceived to bridge the gap between the SVN analysis and systems architecting, and the theoretical, methodological, as well as empirical directions of future research on the SVN approach are also discussed.

This book reviews the general theory of strategy, relates it to the particular circumstances of the construction industry, and shows how it can be applied in practice. It brings together ideas from economics, marketing, management, business and politics to develop strategic management for both contractors' firms and the associated professions. Substantial changes have occurred in the industry since the book was first published in 1991. This Second Edition reflects the major developments that have followed the Latham and Egan reports, and includes new chapters on international strategy and marketing, showing how they can contribute to the strategic planning of construction organizations. The book will provide a valuable tool for the strategic development of construction firms. "Ten years separate the editions during which period a significant number of British, (and other), construction firms which had survived generations of proprietors merged, changed beyond recognition or ceased trading. One can not but wonder if publication of a work on strategic planning some twenty year earlier might have saved some of them." Construction Manager "The book presents the essential elements for managing at this higher level and should be a must for any construction professional who aspires to an executive position in industry as well as any student for construction management, project management and organizational management in construction. It comes highly recommended" Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management