10-Minute Guide to Project Management.
Jeff Davidson. 2000. Indianapolis, Ind.: MacMillan. 182 pages.
Reviewed by: Pamela J. Read, St. Mary’s College of California
10-Minute Guide to Project Management is an informative
and instructional book for project managers. It gives readers
the essence of what they need to know to manage a project,
whether they are new to project management or experienced
in the process. The book covers every detail of project management
from assembling a team, planning, watching the budget, which
serves as a useful and necessary constraint, and reporting
the results. Each chapter focuses on a variety of tasks, and
offers basic information that should be considered or acted
upon that will help the project manager achieve the targeted
goal or objective. This book is for the busy professional,
and it has been written as a quick reference guide. Each chapter
contains a lesson that can be learned quickly and efficiently
on a daily basis.
10-Minute Guide to Project Management was written to help
organize and facilitate project management, which can be complex
and difficult to manage if not monitored closely. Project
management is not new, but if a project is supposed to be
successful then the process must be managed. This book offers
great insight into defining what a project is, which helps
undermine the magnitude of the change, problem, or issue at
hand. Projects are described as a “series of related
events” and “one event leads to another.”
The author believes that people-oriented project managers
are better than task-oriented managers, because, as the author
indicates, people are the most important aspect of any project.
They represent a critical element in a successful project
and offer many suggestions for working within a group or leading
a team.
This book offers plain English definitions and cautions, and
an easy roadmap that allows project managers to map out their
projects. The roadmap includes project objectives, strategies,
plans, methods, tools, resources, implementation, and control.
These are all useful and insightful, as they provide the background
for the details and strategies. The use of plain English and
caution offers specific terminology for project language,
while alerting the project manager to hazards, warnings, or
threats that can ultimately place a project at risk.
The author, Jeff Davidson, is quite effective at explaining
why it is important for project managers to understand the
objectives that must be accomplished in a project. He also
makes a point of alerting or highlighting why it is necessary
for project managers to understand the background of the project
being justified, including the politics, who the players are,
and the roles they will play, and he is insistent that regular
feedback is key, that keeping others informed is a prime directive,
and that stakeholders should never be surprised.
The book offers additional working tools for project managers,
including work breakdown structures (WBS), which depict the
tasks that are necessary to achieve successful completion
of the project. These are followed by Gantt charts, which
enable the project manager to view start and stop times easily
for project tasks, and finally, the PERT/CPT charts, which
offer a degree of control that is essential for many projects.
By explaining these components, explaining how they work,
and why they are important, the project manager receives a
clearly defined process that can then be implemented. The
WBS should includes tasks that can be related directly to
what needs to be accomplished, but caution is advised for
having too many tasks, as this can lead to the focus being
on details or activities instead of the outcome. The WBS helps
develop the project into phases and reduces the chance that
something will be missed.
This book offers some great suggestions for presenting and
reporting project results, and includes suggestions for both
formal and informal presentations, as well as some good professional
instructional lessons for everyday communication, using e-mail,
voice mail, fax, or other written communications. When reporting
on a project, project managers are cautioned to be prepared,
brief, and concise. The author further suggests some good
professional tools and lessons for everyday communication
and how to properly use e-mail, voice mail, faxes, memos,
and notes as communication tools.
I would recommend this book to all project managers. It provides
readers a plan for managing projects by being precise and
organized. It can be used as a handy reference guide, and
the illustrations for the WBS and Gantt charts were extremely
helpful as a reference for the written material. The author
is consistent and methodical in his presentation and guide
to project management. The book fulfills its promise to be
concise, brief, and easily understandable.
The Other 90%: How to Unlock Your Vast Untapped Potential for Leadership and Life.Robert K. Cooper. 2001. New York: Crown Business. 256 pages.
Reviewed by Charles McGrue , University of Phoenix
In today’s society, everyone seems to be caught up in
the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Instead of taking
time to relax, too many people use that time to get more work
done. Instead of spending that time with loved ones, too many
people spend that time with work, getting ready for work,
or finishing up work. Instead of investing time in finding
new ways to relax, too many people invest time in work and
other stressful environments.
The author, Robert Cooper, reflects upon different learnings
throughout his lifetime and how what he has learned has helped
him become a better person, and a more relaxed person. To
emphasize what he has learned, he recounts incidents from
time spent with his grandfathers and encounters from people
he has met on his travels to other countries. After referencing
each encounter, Cooper provides advice that readers should
try in order to make themselves better people.
Both of Cooper’s grandfathers had great influence on
his life. As Cooper writes of different events, he references
how each of his grandfathers encouraged him to view the situation
differently. For example, one time one of Cooper’s grandfathers
hired some immigrant workers to do some yard work. None of
the immigrants spoke English. While doing the work, Cooper
was left to work alongside the immigrants and wound up in
a predicament. The immigrants were in need of something, but
because of the language barrier, Cooper’s response to
the immigrants’ aggressive needs was to try and ignore
them. His grandfather saw what was going on and came over
to handle the situation. Cooper learned that there is more
than one way to communicate. Therefore, if Cooper had used
another means, such as hand gestures, he would have known
that the immigrants wanted water.
In addition to his grandfathers, Cooper also learned from
people he met on his travels. The people whom he spoke of
learning from in his travels were the people from Tibet. One
person in particular was an elderly man who had journeyed
to the top of a mountain with Cooper and a Tibetan guide.
Once at the top, Cooper learned a valuable lesson. Apparently
the elderly Tibetan was a victim of a tragedy. The Red Army
lined up his family and shot them—this made the Tibetan
the sole survivor. Cooper was told the entire story of what
had happened and then learned that when something of that
nature happens, people have two options: continue to let the
tragedy bother them or go on with life. Although the elder
was full of grief, he decided that continuing with life was
all he could do.
Cooper devotes several pages to notes and acknowledgments
as he thanks his family and colleagues. Within these pages,
he references where he got all of his material and allows
for adequate accolades for each person who contributed to
the book. Most of all, Cooper reconfirms what he has learned
from his grandfathers and travels. He also states that everyone
needs to take a break in life. By taking time out to take
a break, we can ensure a more successful life.
Market Research Matters: Tools and Techniques for Aligning Your Business.Robert Duboff and James Spaeth. 2000. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 320 pages.
Reviewed by Jason Regala, University of Phoenix
Market research has been explored tirelessly ever since the
introduction of a market system. The earliest salespeople,
who may have been tribesmen in the Sahara Desert in search
of goods to sell, probably comprehended the basic knowledge
of market research. Today, market research has become so well
defined and studied that marketers are thinking of even more
ingenious methods of applying market research. One such examination,
Market Research Matters, explores the systematic relationship
between market research and business success. Robert Duboff,
director of National Marketing for Ernst & Young and former
vice president of Mercer Management Consulting, comes together
with Jim Spaeth, the president of the Advertising Research
Foundation, to understand marketing in a progressive sense.
Market Research Matters focuses on the premise that
market research contributes to a significant portion of business
success. A lack of market research, or undirected research,
can lead a company to failure. Duboff and Spaeth emphasize
that market research directs forward movement, but at the
same time, reinforcing past research must be done. The authors
suggest that a proactive approach, in addition to proper market
research, could benefit a business in what they term “strategic
anticipation.” Their research touches upon some of the
tools market researchers could use to stimulate and position
their companies ahead of their competitors.
To understand why market research is such a necessity, marketers
must understand the history of their businesses. Too many
times companies are focused on what the company is doing now
or what will be happening in the immediate future. Market
Research Matters emphasizes that marketers need to reflect
on the past to get a proper mindset for the future. Duboff
and Spaeth imply that revolutions in product development,
such as burglar alarms and cable TV, were impossible decades
ago. At the same time, futurists miscalculated revolutions
in technology in industries, such as the Internet, where businesses
are now suffering from the dot-com bust. The past can certainly
aid in a company’s decision-making, but the current research
allows companies to position themselves above their competitors.
Analyzing the consumer is the initial tool that Market
Research Matters focuses on in developing strategic anticipation.
According to Duboff and Spaeth, the buyer’s habits and
interests need to be researched in various methods. Learning
from successful companies is another technique to gain insight
on how to serve customers. Once the research has been completed,
developing a method of implementing strategic anticipation
is the next course of action. Expectedly, Duboff and Spaeth
emphasize the anticipation in their term “strategic anticipation.”
Marketers learn to foresee the dynamic nature of business
in ways like customer priorities, spending, and company positioning.
Throughout their book, the authors touch upon numerous case
analyses’ to illustrate their points. In one chapter,
Duboff and Spaeth explore Coca-Cola’s lack of future
planning in creating New Coke. In fact, the problem with Coke
was that its aging packaging was more problematic than the
flavor. The assumptions that were made in Coca-Cola’s
situation, and other businesses, were based from poor anticipation
of the needs and wants of the consumer. However, market research
does not stop at researching the past and present.
Market Research Matters further touches upon research
to keep businesses ahead of their competition. Product branding
is a notion that Duboff and Spaeth highlight in the book.
Developing a product that separates itself from others signifies
an image to consumers regarding quality and value. A product
that has physical and qualitative attributes can differentiate
itself from other products. Nonetheless, it is the whole package
of consumer beliefs, perceived differentiation, and consumer
loyalty that signifies brand loyalty. Once the brand becomes
established, research needs to be done to turn ordinary customers
into loyal customers. The authors explore this concept with
even more detail, but simply put, attracting customers is
not clear-cut. The market researcher must evaluate and test
Duboff’s concepts of customer loyalty. Customer loyalty
is certainly an area that small and large businesses alike
aim to succeed in. However, one of the most profound parts
of Market Research Matters focuses on employee retention.
Employee satisfaction can tell a great deal of how a company
performs. Without quality employees, companies waste valuable
time and money in more ways than one. Recruiting, training,
and the initial investment of valued employees are impossible
to quantify, but the numbers are significant. Furthermore,
businesses today are focusing on becoming more customer-oriented.
A labor force that is customer-service oriented takes time
to develop and is not easily replaced. To keep a business
ahead of its competition and in the mindset of strategic anticipation,
companies must research product branding, customer loyalty,
and employee retention.
Market Research Matters does what it is supposed to do—educate
readers as to the means of applying market research to within
and outside the company. This book is somewhat dry, but it
does offer some creative means of applying strategic anticipation
to a market researcher’s action plan. However, Market
Research Matters suffers from the same plague that self-help
books often share. By bulleting key ideas and terms throughout
the book, the authors imply that there is a secret solution
to becoming what the reader is not. It would be great if it
were that easy.
The Arts of Leadership.Keith Grint. 2001. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. 452 pages.
Reviewed by Kathleen English, University of Phoenix
Leadership is still much discussed, studied, and sought after,
even though we now live in supposedly more democratic times
with flatter organizations and empowered employees.
But how can we best understand leadership? Are leaders born
or are they made? Do they have particular traits or is everyone
a potential leader? Do the requirements for leadership change
over time or are there timeless patterns? Do traditional approaches
help us pick and develop leaders or are there alternative
ways that advance our understanding?
In this book, Keith Grint, who has been studying and teaching
leadership for more than a decade, investigates the notion
of leadership in a series of historical case studies and rich
essay portraits of some of the most famous, and infamous,
leaders, such as Florence Nightingale, Richard Branson, Horatio
Nelson, Martin Luther King, Henry Ford, Adolph Hitler, and
so on.
Grint’s main purpose in writing this book is to share
with his readers the limits of leadership, in particular,
the capacity of leaders to make mistakes. In effect, for organizations
to succeed, the followers must play their part and cannot
rely upon the leader or leaders to secure success alone, because
that success is a social and not an individual achievement
and because followers carry the responsibility of compensating
for leaders’ errors. This, he says, is one of the greatest
ironies of leadership, for, while we traditionally look to
leaders to solve problems, it would seem that leaders are
most likely to be successful when they reflect the problem
straight back to where they have to be solved—at the
feet of the followers.
The first part of the book considers four sets of parallel
cases where leadership appears to be the cause of the success
and failure. The second part of book takes the four critical
issues arising from these parallel cases (identity, strategic
vision, organizational tactics, and persuasive communication)
and explores them in detail.
One reason why we have such difficulty explaining and enhancing
leadership, Grint argues, is because we often adopt perspectives
and models that obscure rather than illuminate the issues
involved. The reliance upon traditional scientific analysis
has not provided the anticipated advances in our understanding,
because leadership is more fruitfully considered as an art,
or more exactly, as an array of arts, rather than as a science.
At the beginning of the book, Grint says that before he began
to study leadership seriously, his knowledge of it was complete.
He knew basically all there was to know, and he had already
spent more than a decade practicing it as a senior representative
of a trade union in England. He said he should have stopped
then because ever since that time, his understanding has decreased
in direct proportion to his increased knowledge. In effect,
the more he reads, the less he understands. This is exactly
what I get from the book.
