Issue: Projects

This book provides a comprehensive survey of the issues involved in initiating, securing and accomplishing any project and will answer key questions, such as: How did the discipline grow? What do we mean by ‘project management’? What lessons have been learned – often painfully? And, how can past experiences be distilled into practical advice for those who wish to create and implement successful projects?”The management of projects” examines in detail, the experience gained, and lessons to be learned, from the management of projects over the past 50 years and will provide you with a record of the seminal events and documents in the development of the modern practice of the management of projects: a detailed picture of how project management is and has been practised in different industries, countries and cultures; a sense of the drama and excitement of the real world of projects; international perspective of the discipline; a model of best practice; and, a vision of how the discipline will evolve over the next decade or so.

Megaprojects and Risk provides the first detailed examination of the phenomenon of megaprojects. It is a fascinating account of how the promoters of multi-billion dollar megaprojects systematically and self-servingly misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get projects approved and built. It shows, in unusual depth, how the formula for approval is an unhealthy cocktail of underestimated costs, overestimated revenues, undervalued environmental impacts and overvalued economic development effects. This results in projects that are extremely risky, but where the risk is concealed from MPs, taxpayers and investors. The authors not only explore the problems but also suggest practical solutions drawing on theory, experience and hard, scientific evidence from the several hundred projects in twenty nations and five continents that illustrate the book. Accessibly written, it will be the standard reference for students, scholars, planners, economists, auditors, politicians and interested citizens for many years to come.