Project Management Case Studies

First, a summary of what is contained in the book - 437 pages objectively documenting 68 real life Case Studies spanning the last 20 to 30 years and 1 very neat Time Management exercise at the end. The Case Studies are typically 3-4 pages long with a couple that are 40-50 pages long and a few that are only 1 page long. The Case Studies are roughly divided into 16 Chapters that don't necessarily follow the Process Groups or Knowledge Areas in the PMBOK Guide (PMI). Example chapter names are 'Negotiating for Resources', 'Project Estimating', and 'Project Planning'. Each chapter starts with a 1 page summary of the author's opinion on that topic - no more, no less! The Case Studies themselves sound like factual description of what happened with absolutely no judgment or analysis following any of the Case Studies.

Since I like to end a review on a good note, the CONS first - the blurb on the back of the book makes three claims out of which two are clearly suspect. The claim regarding the Case Studies covering a wide range of industries is definitely true. The claim regarding 'follows and supports preparation for the PMP certification exam' is not supported by the content in the book. The only way this claim would come true is if you attended a class led by a very competent instructor that can glean the relevant points from these Case Studies and present what you need to pass the PMP. The Instructor's manual is ONLY available through the publisher directly if you represent a University teaching Project Management curriculum. The third claim is regarding the book presenting the best practices and pitfalls of PM implementations in the real world. For this claim to be true, one would expect discussions of the Case Studies presented in the book by the author and a summary of lessons learned so you can understand what these best practices and pitfalls are. Without the best practices and pitfalls EXPLICITLY stated, how do you know for sure what they are? Isn't the assumption that you don't know them, one of the reasons for reading the book? Anyway, this does not happen anywhere in the book except very briefly and indirectly at the beginning of each of the 16 chapters (1 page per chapter).

The language used is sometimes hard to interpret. I was thrown off track quite a few times by some ambiguous statements and I had to read them carefully a second time to interpret them correctly. I have not noticed this problem with other Kerzner books. There are also quite a few typos and grammatical errors that may be common for a First Edition.

The last CON - I really wish the book had an extra 200-300 pages of Kerzner's interpretations of these Case Studies and his opinions of how things should have been handled. I would have paid three to five times the price of this book if that had been included. Oh, well. I will sign up for one of his classes.

Okay, the PROS - there aren't many books on Project Management that have real world Case Studies. And definitely not as valuable as the ones presented in this book. For this reason alone, this book is worth a LOT more than its price. And to top everything, these Case Studies are presented in a very objective way so that you can try to see things the way they really are and engage in educational discussions with a group of experienced professionals to gain not just PM knowledge but PM WISDOM.

The time management exercise (about 24 pages) is one of the best sections in the entire book. It is simple, yet worth spending time on. The Case Studies of the Denver Airport (under the Managing Scope Changes Chapter) and the Space Shuttle Challenger (under the Project Risk Management Chapter) are probably the most valuable Case Studies (in my opinion). These are the Case Studies that are 40 and 50 pages respectively that I mention at the beginning of the review.

The Preface carries a very important observation (and message) regarding how these basic project management mistakes are still being repeated even 20-30 years later in modern day corporations. This is very profound as it implies that these mistakes can be avoided by Project Managers that learn from the past mistakes made by other corporations (from these Case Studies). It is amazing that something so simple has not happened in the Project Management profession even after all these years.

I have treasured this book since the day I received it and I am looking forward to joining a local group of experienced Project Managers (meaning the Austin chapter of the PMI) to discuss and learn from these Case Studies. A definite buy AFTER obtaining the PMP Certification. In my opinion, it will only confuse the reader who is focussed on passing the exam to read these Case Studies that don't have any analysis associated or references to the PMP exam (I didn't find the word PMP anywhere between the covers of this book).

I hope you found this long and objective review helpful and that you benefit from these Case Studies.


This Book Improves with Age and Time   May 19, 2003
 20 out of 25 found this review helpful

My first thought as I laid this book down from my first reading was, "How can I get my money back?"

However, the longer it lay on the shelf, I found myself, uncharacteristically, drawn back into its pages.

Most of the case studies were drawn from the author's consulting practice and generally focus on at least one or two specific points. Other than on-the-job training, the author states that case studies and situations are the best method to learn project management. I agree and would add; that the more experienced individuals you add to your study circle, the more you will mine from your reading and study of this book.