Of Heart and Mind: Social Policy Essays in Honor of Sar A. Levitan

Book Description

updated for today's businesses-a proven model FOR assessment and ongoing improvement

Using the Project Management Maturity Model, Second Edition is the updated edition of Harold Kerzner's renowned book covering his Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM). In this hands-on book, Kerzner offers a unique, industry-validated tool for helping companies of all sizes assess and improve their progress in integrating project management into every part of their organizations.

Conveniently organized into two sections, this Second Edition begins with an examination of strategic planning principles and the ways they relate to project management. In the second section, PMMM is introduced with in-depth coverage of the five different levels of development for achieving maturity. Easily adaptable benchmarking instruments for measuring an organization's progress along the maturity curve make this a practical guide for any type of company.

Complete with an associated Web site packed with both teaching and learning tools, Using the Project Management Maturity Model, Second Edition helps managers, engineers, project team members, business consultants, and others build a powerful foundation for company improvement and excellence.

Customer Reviews:

Average at best..........2004-07-29

Kerzner's project management maturity model is legendary ... that may be a big part of the problem with this book. It's full of dated buzzwords, a wafer-thin, ultra-simplistic overview of strategic planning and provides little actionable material for integrating the strategic planning and project management processes.

From Kerzner, and for the price, I expected much much more!

Quick Read, worth the time.......2002-09-19

This is a very quick read book that talks about a general prject management Model for Companies and especially Technology Organizations within companies.
The Model offered isn't as restrictive or expensive as CMM (CMU's Capability Maturity Model), and outlines how common methods / processes / foundations can be brought together in an overall strategy for Technology organizations to develop in to true Project Oriented groups, working effective within a greater organization.

Much-needed effort, but has pitfalls.......2001-08-16

This book represents an excellent effort to apply the capability maturity model(CMM) to project management. For reference, the CMM was originated by Mitre Corp. and developed by the Software Engineering Institute originally as a benchmark for determining an organization's software engineering capabilities. It has become a widely used benchmark in the software engineering community and has been extended to other domains, such as human resources (the People Capability Maturity Model) and other disciplines.

The book starts off with an introduction, followed by three chapters that lay the groundwork for the author's maturity model: The Need for Strategic Planning for Project Management, Impact of Economic Conditions on Project Management, Principles of Strategic Planning. The ideas and material presented here are very much applicable to program management offices.

Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM) is introduced in the next chapter, which ties project management to an enterprise-wide strategic planning initiative. It also provides a project management-centric view of capability maturity. The next five chapters are devoted to each of the five levels of the PMMM: Level 1 (Common Language), Level 2 (Common Processes), Level 3 (Singular Methodology), Level 4 (Benchmarking), and Level 5 (Continuous Improvement).

The value of this is project management practices can be assessed against a standard benchmark for capability, which is something that cannot be achieved by comparing these practices against Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge.

There is one pitfall to the PMMM that the author proposes: it uses a different paradigm than the CMM, which is Level-1 (Ad Hoc), Level-2 (Repeatable), Level-3 (Defined), Level-4 (Managed) and Level-5 (Optimizing). This is not a problem outside of the software development industry and IT domain where the CMM is not known. However, because the CMM integrates project management into its process areas, the disparity of terminology, assessment paradigm and the model itself will cause confusion and make implementing the PMMM in a CMM organization a nightmare.

One thing I do like very much is the balanced approach the author takes. This is shown in a chapter titled "Special Problems with Strategic Planning for Project Management." Also, the case studies at the end of the book are excellent reading.

Here's the conundrum: the project management profession needs a benchmark and the PMMM is well thought out and thorough. However, the PMMM differs in many ways from the CMM. My personal take is at least the author drove a stake into the ground by raising an awareness of the need for a PMMM. He also has thought this through and the model itself is sound. I found the book invaluable and thought-provoking. It does lay the foundation for a PMO, as stated by a previous reviewer, and that is something that is only marginally addressed in the official U.S. PM standard (Project Management Body of Knowledge). The value outweighs the cited pitfall, in my opinion, and earns this book 5 stars and my recommendation that every serious PM read this book.

Its about time..........2001-05-25

I have spent the last three years building Project/Program Management Office (PMO) infrastructures, processes, systems and project manager training programs. The reason I love this book is that it explains the vital need of strategic planning for successful project management. Most of the project managers I have worked with have little, if any strategic planning training. We have had a significant amount of success with the projects where we started with a strategic planning session. It is about time that someone wrote a meaningful and useful book on strategic planning for project management. Thank you Harold Kerzner.

Average customer rating:
On Turning Point Detection in Cyclical Processes: With Applications to the Monitoring of Business Cycles (Statistika Institutionen, Goteborgs Universitet, Skriftserie, 27)
Eva Andersson
Manufacturer: Almquiest & Wiksell Intl
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Statistics | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 9122019324

Book Description

This Ph.D. thesis is based on four papers. In the first, a surveillance system for cyclical processes is presented and its basic properties are described. The aim is to detect a turning point as soon as possible after it has occurred. In the second, the properties of the non-parametric maximum likelihood ratio method for different shapes of the turning point are investigated. In part three, the effect of methods for seasonal adjustment on the ability to detect a turning point is investigated. Since data on business cycles are often monthly or quarterly, seasonal adjustment is necessary. And lastly, in the fourth, a comparison is made between different ways of specifying the monitoring system.

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"Craft" being the operative word

Enameling Instruction Made Easier

Enameling: Craft Workshop Series
Denise Palmer
Manufacturer: Southwater
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Framing | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Pottery & Ceramics | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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First Steps in Enameling

The Art of Enameling: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration

Cloisonne Enameling and Jewelry Making

Beginner's Guide to Enamelling (Beginner's Guide to Series)

Enamelling on Precious Metals

ASIN: 1842159224

Book Description

This book contains all the information you will need to produce some wonderful enameling projects.

Customer Reviews:

"Craft" being the operative word.......2007-09-06

This book is ok. It shows step-by-step how to complete many projects. I just thought the projects were pretty daggy and a bit ugly. I can see how you can learn the technique, I just wasn't very inspired. This book is more of a craft/hobby style book.

I also bought 'The Art of Enameling: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration' which I think is a fantastic book. If you are serious about making enamel jewellery I would recommend this book instead.

Enameling Instruction Made Easier.......2005-07-22

Excellent book to help you with this fine art. Will definitely recommend it to frineds and fellow artists.

Book Description

The Eisenhower Administration developed and implemented policies in Southeast Asia that contributed directly to the massive American military involvement in Vietnam in the decade after Dwight Eisenhower left office. Working with the most recently declassified government records on U.S. policy in Vietnam in the 1950s, David L. Anderson asserts that the Eisenhower Administration was less successful in Vietnam than the revisionists suggests. Trapped By Success is the first systematic study of the entire eight years of the Eisenhower Administration's efforts to build a nation in South Vietnam in order to protect U.S. global interests. Proclaiming success, where, in fact, failure abounded, the Eisenhower Administration trapped itself and its successors into a commitment to the survival of its own frail creation in Indochina. The book is a chronicle of clandestine plots, bureaucratic fights, cultural and strategic mistakes, and missed opportunities.

Anderson examines the politicla environments in Saigon and Washington that contributed to the deepening of American involvement. Contrary to other studies that highlight Eisenhower's restraint in preventing French collapse in Indochina in 1954, Trapped By Success shows how the administration publicly applauded South Veitnam's survival and growing stability, while it was actually producing an almost totally dependent regime that would ultimately consume billions of American dollars and thousands of American lives.

Customer Reviews:

Recommended by Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 295.......1998-12-04

This book is on the "Recommended Reading List" of Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 295, Indianapolis, Indiana

Average customer rating:

Delightful honest account of Ike's successes & failures

Eisenhower at Columbia
Travis Jacobs
Manufacturer: Transaction Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0765800365

Customer Reviews:

Delightful honest account of Ike's successes & failures .......2004-10-25

General Eisenhower's five year tour of duty as president of Columbia is told with great gusto and just the right amount of detail by historian Travis Jacobs. It's jammed with stories that make it fun to read from beginning to end. Plus you really get a sense of history about this nationally renown university. It starts with Murray Butler's 44 year reign--old, blind, and deaf--and the desparate search for a new dynamic replacement.

Was Ike anti-intellectual and anti-academic? Here you see both sides: He refused to honor John Dewey at a 1949 banquet; He was found sitting at his clean desk one day reading a Western novel; yet he spoke eloquently before a history class about the military books that influenced his decisions in Europe during WW2; he made surprise appearances in classes, including an economics course, although he was clearly more fond of Baker Field and the football games.

Critics said he vacationed too much, played too much golf and bridge with his buddies, made too many off-campus appearances, and was seldom available to Columbia professors and administrators. But some of that was due to his staff handlers, who shielded him from his Columbia colleagues. Jacobs tells a delightful story of how history professor Robert Livingston Schuyler got around his handlers and met up with the General on his way home for lunch (pp. 125-26).

After reading Jacobs' biography, I'm amazed how much Eisenhower accomplished, given his constant interruptions--trips to Washington, NATO leader, and running for President in 1952. Yet he gave a lot of good publicity to Columbia, which was hurting financially after the war, and got involved in many university projects (although he hated fundraising).

Jacobs is even handed in reporting on Ike's supporters and detractors. His conclusion is that Ike was ultimately good for Columbia, and Columbia good for Ike even into his presidency; a surprise ending. My only complaint is that you learn very little about his wife Mamie in the book. She's around, but you never know what she's thinking. Otherwise, a mighty enjoyable reading of a little-remembered part of Eisenhower's career.

Cold Warriors: Eisenhower's Generation and American Foreign Policy (Columbia Contemporary American History Series)

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Cold Warriors: Eisenhower's Generation and American Foreign Policy (Columbia Contemporary American History Series)
H. W. Brands
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

The Congress and America's Future (The 26th American Assembly, Columbia University, Oct 29 to Nov 1, 1964)

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The Congress and America's Future (The 26th American Assembly, Columbia University, Oct 29 to Nov 1, 1964)

Manufacturer: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0191010197

Product Description

Criticism of Congress is commonplace in American politics. When Congress passes presidential programs, it is accused of being a "rubber stamp"; when it balks, the cry is "obstruction." In recent years, however, responsible critics have increasingly expressed concern that Congress is losing its ability to act quickly and decisively. In this book, eight political observers report on the functions and procedures of Congress. The book discusses some of the roadblocks that prevent Congress from legislating effectively--among them seniority rule, the filibuster, the dispersion of power among specialized committees, and, above all, the growing insulation of Congress from other social groups and political institutions. Among the observations and proposals made in this book is the suggestion that, unless congressional leaders can reverse the trends toward dispersion, Congress may cease to be a legislative body in the traditional sense.

The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: Columbia University (The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower)

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The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: Columbia University (The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower)
Dwight David Eisenhower
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0801827205

Book Description

Volumes XII and XIII follow Eisenhower's career from January 1, 1951 to the day before his inauguration.

Volumes XII and XIII follow Eisenhower's career from January 1, 1951 tothe day before his inauguration.

Columbia University oral history collection

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Columbia University oral history collection
Katherine Graham Howard
Manufacturer: Microfilming Corp. of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00071T92C

The Eisenhower administration (Columbia University oral history collection)

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The Eisenhower administration (Columbia University oral history collection)
Elmer La Mar Buckner
Manufacturer: Microfilming Corp. of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Presidents & Heads of State | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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The Eisenhower administration project
Albert Charles Jacobs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Presidents & Heads of State | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

The Eisenhower administration project (Columbia University oral history collection collection)

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The Eisenhower administration project (Columbia University oral history collection collection)
Harold Boeschenstein
Manufacturer: Microfilming Corp. of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0667000577

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The Eisenhower administration project (Columbia University oral history collection)
Arthur Edward Burns
Manufacturer: Microfilming Corp. of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0667000631

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Dr. Goldenberg's Cannons of Commerce

Martial laws for business

Few Words, Real Intellect.

president

Simple Language, Deep Thoughts

The Art of War 3: The Canons of Commerce
Sun-Tzu Wu , and PH. D. David I. Goldenberg
Manufacturer: 1st Books Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Decision-Making & Problem Solving | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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The Art of War: The Denma Translation (Shambhala Library)

ASIN: 0759696403

Book Description

The Art of War 3 updates and converts Sun-tzu?

Customer Reviews:

Dr. Goldenberg's Cannons of Commerce.......2002-09-19

Business like war requires strategy, intelligence, etc., as exemplified brilliantly by David Goldenberg in The Art of War 3: The Cannons of Commerce. This book has a foreword, 13 chapters, an afterword, three appendices, a detailed bibliography and an index. Besides its timeliness, this well-written book offers great depth and experience-based knowledge. Different people will find a specific chapter(s) particularly appealing as their circumstances change. Dr. Goldenberg has provided a concise background about Sun-tzu. Those readers not familiar with Sun-tzu's classic will find this a pioneering interpretation of one of the rare books to have survived over 2,500 years. It is one of the leading books on strategic thinking and is widely embraced book by leaders and others. The author has brought to public attention many simple but usually missed vital points such as "consumers dominate the world of commerce. Those ignorant of this harsh fact mistakenly rely on a series of fallacies." Anyone who has called the customer service for help of major organization would appreciate the quote above. The author clarifies other crucial nuances, such as "invention is not innovation. Innovation commercializes a discovery or invention." The book brings well thought out and insightful attention to bear on many important topics; among them are leadership, weaknesses and strengths, and contingencies. Decision-makers at all levels of business and government would benefit greatly by reading this book carefully, rereading it regularly and seeing that their subordinates do so as well.

Martial laws for business.......2002-09-02

For two and a half millenia, business and military leaders alike have relied on the timeless wisdom of "The Art of War," by Sun-tzu, a Chinese military strategist.

What would Sun-tzu advise corporate directors and executives if he were alive today? While Dr. Goldenberg is not the first to ask this question, he may be the first to answer it usefully.
His modern-day "translation" of Sun-tzu's sage advice brings to life timeless wisdom for an everchanging world.

Art 3 offers sound guidance on strategy, citing important legal precedent: Paramount Communications v. Time Inc. (1989)--a case outlining the traits essential for "bone fide" strategic planning, including connection to long-term mission, assessment of threats and opportunities, and ongoing monitoring of progress against plan.

But topics covered here don't all hover at the 30,000+ strategy realm. Some zoom down to earth--to shed light on operational topics such as resource allocation and markets. Innovation and competitive intelligence also receive insightful attention. Extras include appendices, including a superb one on avoiding catastrophic failure.

Corporate directors serious about their oversight duties, as well as executives desiring to steer clear of trouble, will not want to face the future without this inspired guide.

Few Words, Real Intellect........2002-08-22

Written in a crisp style with profound depth and knowledge, Dr. Goldenberg has made a significant contribution to business strategy. There is genuine wisdom here for corporate leaders, in a radical departure from traditional Sun-tzu analyses.

For this reader the very best of this fine work is in Appendix One - Shareholder Value Debunked. If one accepts that the concept of shareholder value led to the spurious inflation of share value to increase the value of management's stock options, then our current corporate scandals may have been avoided.

Dr. Goldenberg, thank you for sharing your abundant intellectual capital!

O. Lee Duff
Anova Inc.

president.......2002-08-20

This book was very easy to read. I thought it was very insightful to how to do business. I have read many of the Art of War books and this one really was a positive look at business and commerce. Well done.

Simple Language, Deep Thoughts.......2002-08-20

"The Art of War 3: The Canons of Commerce is written in the style of Sun-tzu Wu himself: terse, brisk language that simplifies today's world of business complexity, a world burdened by 2,500 years of commerce since the general uttered his declarative instructions to his warriors. I feel like I am reading Hemingway.

"The Three Appendices alone are worth the price of a trip to your favorite bookstore. There, among other highlights, David Goldenberg's brilliant analysis boils down the University of Chicago's contributions to economic literature to something less than two paragraphs." David W. Crain, Ph.D., Adunct Professor of Strategy, Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California.

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