The Strategic Project Office: A Guide to Improving Organizational Performance (Center for Business Practices)

Book Description

Describing the initiation, design, execution, and control of a strategic project office, this book provides step-by-step instructions for establishing a PMO. The author emphasizes cost management, cultural change, risk assessment, resource allocation, and skills tracking to increase project value, organizational efficiency, and productivity. He explores various aspects relating to planning and implementing the strategic project office, and concludes by considering how to change the organizational culture to match the new organization. Concise and easy, the book covers the many pitfalls and minefields and provide strategies to avoid them.

Customer Reviews:

A solid book.......2007-09-01

I really liked this book. It provides what the name implies... a "strategic" overview of how to use the project office to "improve organizational performance". It's not the biggest book so don't expect an encyclopedia of project office knowledge, but from an organizational leader perspective, it seems to hit the mark for me.

Consulting Drivel.......2003-05-30

Imagine this: a consultant that sells project management offices writing a book to tell us about how great they are. Kind of like a 1990s stock analyst boasting about how great a telecom company's stock is just after his buddy in the investmant bank did the IPO.

This book is nothing more than a white paper selling PMOs. The findings paint a rosy picture for project managers, but it does not actually approach strategy credibly from a VP's point-of view, let alone that of a CEO (i.e. the people who develop strategies).

Furthermore, this book has no substance nor credible analysis behind its findings. Just because a company puts credence behind its PMO does not make it "strategic," regardless of where it's located in the corporate hierarchy. Strategy is the material of Michael Porter, Clay Christensen, Peter Drucker, Dave Teece, etc., and they're not talking about PMOs. The material presented in the book may be of some interest for rank-and-file project managers, but it's definitely not a book about developing and executing strategy.

The Strategic Project Office - A Guide to Organizational Per.......2003-02-28

I thought I had a pretty complete library on Project Management and the PMO. However, this is the most authoritive volume I have encountered. There are step by step instructions and direction on establishing a PMO and best practices within that organization. There are also many of the pitfalls and minefields associated with starting this type of office. The chapters are easy to read, and concise. The information is well organized and presented best suited to a mid-level professional involved in PMO or Project Management activities.
I wholeheartedly recomend this to those who have never setup a PMO or best practices organization. Those who have much experience in this fields may be looking for other specialized topics.

The Strategic Project Office: A Guide to Improving Organizational Performance

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The Strategic Project Office: A Guide to Improving Organizational Performance
J. Kent Crawford
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SMKMYO

Product Description

This book if the first comprehensive resource that fully describes the initiation, design, execution, and control of a project office--emphasizing cost management, cultural change, risk assessment, resource allocation and skills tracking to increase project value, organizational efficiency, and productivity.

Book Description

"British business - for all its pretensions to play on the world stage - seems content to bumble along. The lack of urgency, the sloppiness about time-keeping and disregard for service in general pervade all sectors of British industry. Retailers complain about sluggish sales but seem unconcerned about their inability to supply what people want; exporters claim that they have brilliant products but cannot attract buyers because the strong pound makes them unattractive; and manufacturers seem intent on making what they want rather than what the market demands. It is not just this writer who is angry, frustrated and puzzled."

Customer Reviews:

A touching remembrance of pigeon.......2003-10-13

I very much enjoyed this book, so much so I read it in one weekend and was sorry it wasn't much longer. The author discusses his connection to pigeons from his very young years to midlife. Even though he grew up on the East Coast and I grew up on the West Coast we had some of the same experiences with pigeons and those who keep and race them. Reading it brought back fond and bittersweet memories of my birds and the loft I had at my parents' house. Both the birds and my beloved parents are long gone and I miss them all and those carefree days of adolence. I enjoyed reading about the author's experiences with his birds, especially finding and raising rare and exotic breeds. I hope the author writes another book about pigeons and it is much longer than this one. He has an easy to read style of writing.

a great book.......1999-01-21

nice and helpfull book for me and my childre

Book Description

A combination of poetry, nature writing, and biography in one book-length "persona-poem."Combining the best of poetry, nature writing, and biography, Pamela Alexander in her book-length "persona-poem" brings to life John James Audubon and a world not yet aware of nature's limits. She distills the essence of this remarkable naturalist-artist and gives him voice to tell his life's story in fragments of letters, journal entries, actual vignettes and lyrical passages, Captivating and accessible, her poem reads with the authority of autobiography, the dramatic coherence of a novel, and the evocative clarity of an Audubon print. The reader, briefly transported to the natural world of America a century and a half ago, cannot help but contrast its condition today and feel a poignant sense of loss.

Book Description

Wilderness 911 takes all backcountry travelers from the basics of first aid to more advanced wilderness medicine with straightforward, step-by-step instructions. For situations when aid-givers don't have the proper supplies, this guide teaches creative and medically sound problem-solving for emergency situations.

The easy-to-follow format walks you through "Signs and Symptoms" and "Treatment," and notes "When to Worry" signs for a broad spectrum of medical emergencies. "Tricks of the Trade" sidebars offer improvisational techniques, such as closing wounds with dental floss, hair, or duct tape; treating burns or creating an airtight dressing with honey and plastic wrap; relieving mouth bleeding with a tea bag, and many more.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Start...........2001-09-26

This guide is well-written & concise. As a medical professional, I found very helpful suggestions in each chapter's "Backcountry Hints" section. Most procedures explained by Weiss are simple enough for anyone to perform. However, many of them also involve some sort of medication, equipment (bandages, ointment, etc...) and occasionally a little prior healthcare knowledge. It seems to be geared toward treating emergencies until you can get adequate medical care. So, it is not really a "survival guide" in the sense that it does not address long-term illness/care or desperate conditions when there are no supplies at all. This book is ideal for a hiking group with an average first-aid kit on board. It is a good buy: handy, small, packable and would be useful in some First Aid courses.

WILDERNESS 911.......2001-03-15

As I am the air wing commander & president of Malheur County Sheriff Search & Rescue, with M.C.S.O. in Oregon, our service area consists of over 10,000 sq. miles of lakes, rivers deserts & mountians. We have 40 to 50 members & after buying & reading Wilderness 911 by Eric A. Wiess, M.D. I was so thrilled with its easy to read format, its step by step process & its laymen terms & the fact its outline is on "improvised" care in the back country, where we live when we are called out, was a must have item for us. We now have A Wilderness 911 book for every member to carry in there 24hr &48hr back packs as standerd equipment. We also are going to incorperate parts of it in to our monthly training. any hunter or person going anywhere remote needs to take this with them, it may be the most valuable item with you when you need it. Sincerly Danny L. Cone president of Malheur County Sheriff Search & rescue. Vale Oregon.

Great book fo all around first aid, not just in the outdoors.......2000-04-21

This is a great first aid book to have around the house, not just in the outdoors. It also has alot of problems that are more specific to the outdoors, like information about the different tick-borne diseases, snake bites, etc. Read it all the way through or just use it as a reference, it s avery helpful book.

Good Job.......1999-12-02

I am currently teaching a high school class on first aid and emergency medicine. I found the information in this book to be very helpful. I am a Emergency Medical Tech and thought the author had many good ideas from personal exprience.

Outstanding Reference.......1999-04-29

There are books that might change your life, ... this book could save your life or someone close to you. This is also a great book for anyone who lives in California where an earthquake can delay 911 help by hours or even several days.

Anyone who has studied Wilderness Medicine knows Eric Weiss, M.D. as one of the leading experts. As the Associate Director of Trauma and an emergency physician at Stanford University Medical Center, Board of Directors of the Wilderness Medical Society, consultant to the National Geographic Society, Army Special Forces, American Red Cross, and the medical editor for Backpacker Magazine, he offers practical advice that is easy to understand.

The author has also published A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness and Travel Medicine which is another book that every backpacker should have since it is small enough to have in your backpack or emergency supplies.

These are books that we recommend for persons in the Hiking for Fun and Fitness Class. See hp22f.webjump.com for more details.

Average customer rating:

Comparing five books about writing book proposals

Thank you Pat Walsh for Telling the Truth

Good Solid Guidance Merges With Appreciative Humor

You NEED this book

I should have read this book 2 years ago.

78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might
Pat Walsh
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Authorship | Publishing & Books | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Similar Items:

Some Writers Deserve To Starve: 31 Brutal Truths about the Publishing Industry

The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile

Roberts Rules Of Writing: 101 Unconventional Lessons Every Writer Needs to Know

The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers

Give 'Em What They Want: The Right Way to Pitch Your Novel to Editors and Agents, A Novelist's Complete Guide to : Query Letters, Synopses, Outlines

ASIN: 0143035657
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Book Description

For the hundreds of thousands who buy writersÂ' guides every year, at last thereÂ's one that tells the ugly truth: writers who canÂ't get published are usually making a lot of mistakes. This honest, often funny, book shows them how to identify their own missteps, stop listening to bad advice, and get to work. Drawing on his experience as founding editor of MacAdam/Cage, Pat Walsh gives writers what they needÂ—specific, straightforward feedback to help them overcome bad habits and bad luck. He avoids the optimistic, sometimes misleading directions often found in publishing how-to books and presents the industry as it is, warts and all. Here is the first guide that tells writers just what the odds against them are and gives them practical tips for evening them.

Customer Reviews:

Comparing five books about writing book proposals.......2007-04-08

I bought five books to help me write a book proposal:

"How to Write a Book Proposal, 3rd edition," by Michael Larsen

"78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published & 14 Reasons Why It Just Might," by Pat Walsh

"The Forest for the Trees," by Betsy Lerner

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published, 4th edition," by Sheree Bykofsky and Jennifer Basye Sander

"Think Like Your Editor," by Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunado

The worst was "How to Write a Book Proposal." This book felt like a bad date, like I wanted to wash my hair after reading it. The intent is to teach you to be an "Authorpreneur (r)." Yes, Larsen has registered this word. You'll learn such gems as everyone has 250 friends, and each of them has 250 friends, so you can "spread the word" about your book to more than 62,000 people by e-mail. I think there's a word for that -- spam. Larsen also says to include your promotion plan in the book proposal, including pushing "the paperback edition as hard as you can" when it's published a year after the hardcover edition. I'm not an agent or editor, but I'd think that an agent would giggle quietly to themselves if you were so presumptuous as to include a marketing plan for the paperback edition. (To the author's credit, he doesn't say you should suggest which actor should play the main character in the movie version of your book.) Then there's the chapter about including illustrations and cover art. Excuse me, I thought the editor and art director develop the cover art? I can't imagine creating the book cover to include in the proposal. And the author recommends including a "surprise," such as a baby shoe with a note saying "Now that I have a foot in the door." The book has one good piece of advice: pick a good title. For example, "How to Write a Book Proposal" is a title that will make 100,000 aspiring writers buy your book, regardless of how awful the book is.

"78 Reasons" was good. Some sections are wrong, such as #38 and #39, which correctly advises against paying for a vanity press to publish your book but confuses this with self-publishing. I've successfully self-published two books, and unsuccessfully self-published one book. The correct answer is that if you have a niche book in a niche market you know well, self-publish. Self-publishing mass market books is a recipe for disaster. Some of the advice is excellent, such as #16, about "killing your little darlings" (a scene you think is brilliant, that you build the rest of the book around). While most of this book is sound advice to a novice writer, as an experienced writer I didn't learn anything new.

"The Complete Idiot's Guide" covers the entire process from thinking of an idea through book proposals, book contracts, publicity tours, etc. It's a good overview but each chapter is too short. You'll need to buy another book about book proposals, etc. I'm keeping my copy as a reference to turn to occasionally but it's not the last word.

"The Forest for the Trees" starts with six essays about writing, with topics such as alcoholism, self-promoting poets (starting with Walt Whitman), the childhood of famous writers, writers who are too successful too young, etc. These are interesting reading. The second half of the book is essays about publishing, starting with literary agents. One paragraph describes the plethora of surprise gifts writers include with their query letters. She's received baby shoes, presumably from readers of Larsen's book. She says: "Please resist the temptation to do any of these outlandish things...a simple, dignified letter with a clear statement of your intent and credentials will win more affirmative responses than any gimmick or hype." If you read Larsen's book, read Lerner's book as the antidote. The next essays are about dealing with rejection, the life of editors, what writers want from editors, how book covers are designed, book titles selected, etc. This book is descriptive, not proscriptive, so you'll learn how the world of books operates, if not be told how to write a book and get it published. I enjoyed the author's "voice" and I recommend this book.

The best book is "Thinking Like Your Editor." The first half of the book is about preparing your book proposal. Unlike the other four books, reading this book made me completely rewrite my book proposal. The author begins by emphasizing the three most important things about a book: audience, audience, and audience. Who is going to buy your book? Not who might be sort of interested in your book, but who will feel that he or she must read your book. I'd thought about this before, but reading Rabiner's book made me think lucidly about this. She then walks you through the elements that must be in a book proposal, such as your thesis, or what makes your message unique and new and challenging; why is now the time to publish this book; and why are you the person most qualified to write it. The second half of the book is about writing your book, including the importance of narrative tension in non-fiction writing, and of presenting a balanced "argument" to make your views more convincing. The other four books made me say, "uh-huh, uh-huh" and not do anything. Rabiner's book made me spend several days working on my proposal. (My 2003 paperback copy has the typos corrected.)

Thank you Pat Walsh for Telling the Truth.......2007-01-03

A big relief from books that promise "tricks" for getting an agent or publisher, Pat Walsh's book tells it like it is. Quite simply, the book you have written may not be good enough for publication. No one wants to hear that, one of the reasons vanity publishers flourish today (and Walsh takes a well-deserved dig at them, too.)

Read a very well-written book by an editor who has seen it all OR believe certain vanity presses' claims that you are just being "ignored" by the big, elitist publishing houses.

Good Solid Guidance Merges With Appreciative Humor.......2006-12-21

I was originally looking at buying this book for my sister who aspires to be a sf/fantasy writer "one day."

I checked it out of the library and found it to be an engaging page turner with no holds barred advice coupled with tongue-in-cheek humor. I wound up buying a copy for my sister and for myself.

This book provides witty presentation of facts of the publishing industry and what agents, editors, and publishers are looking for or not looking for. I felt like I was sitting in Pat Walsh's living room and he was the pal who cared enough to give me the heads up on what it is exactly that I would be getting myself into with regard to a decision to make a career of writing. This is not the book for you if you only want to hear the candy-coated side of the scenarios that can play themselves out after you write and submit a manuscript for publication to an agent, editor or publisher.

I found this an enjoyable read that told the truth in plain language and I really appreciated this. Keep up the good work Pat. You many think you are not a good writer but this could not be further from the truth. I'll look for other non-fiction works from you.

You NEED this book.......2006-10-25

You need this book if you are contemplating a career as an author. You need this book, if you are shopping your manuscript around. You need this book if you are involved with an author.

This book is so good that it almost makes me want to be a novelist and send Pat Walsh a query.

I'm a business consultant to small publishers, so I speak at conventions for small and independent publishers and I moderate groups for self- and small publishers. Many would-be authors are also at these conventions and in these groups. I wish I could afford to buy this book by the carton and hand it out to them. I would save time, and they would avoid heartbreak.

Pat Walsh gives almost exactly the advice I give to authors, but he does it much better than I ever could. Buy this book. Read it. Re-read it frequently.

I should have read this book 2 years ago........2006-08-04

I have made literally every mistake in the book on my road to becoming a published author. If I had read this book 2 years ago I would have learned from Pat's experience instead of my own. I recommend this book to all unpublished writers, but read it before you ever send off your first submission! If you are a published author but your book has been published by either a POD or self published, then you need to read this book ... NOW!

78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published And 14 Reasons Why It Just Might

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78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published And 14 Reasons Why It Just Might
Pat Walsh
Manufacturer: Penguin USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JJYI0U

Average customer rating:

78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might
Pat Walsh
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJAK84

Book Description

Billed as "The World's Largest Photographs," Eastman Kodak's 18-by-60-foot Coloramas brought photography to the masses with a spectacular display of communicative power. During its forty-year run in Grand Central Terminal in New York City, the Colorama program presented a panoramic photo album of American scenes, lifestyles, and achievements from the second half of the twentieth century. Produced in association with the George Eastman House Collection, Colorama explores the history of these colossal images. A selection of the most striking images are beautifully reproduced, making these images available to viewers nostalgic for American life in decades gone by, as well as people with a personal connection to the original display in Grand Central Station.

Customer Reviews:

Colorful cliches.......2006-02-04

A few million passengers must have seen these colorful images over the forty years they promoted Kodak at Grand Central. A total of 565 photos, changed about every three weeks from May 1950 though they were not always one giant image, frequently two twelve foot wide ones were used either side of the central photo. Some of these are shown in the book and I think they really weaken the impact of just one photo sixty foot wide by eighteen deep.

There is no escaping that these photos are basically marketing (where people are shown there is always a camera in sight) but the fascinating thing about them is the way they capture white middle-class aspirations of fun times with their carefully posed tableaus of everyday life in bright colors. Three-quarters of the series were taken by Kodak staff photographers and the rest by professional freelancers including landscapes by Ansel Adams, who said his efforts were '...aesthetically inconsequential but technically remarkable'. Norman Rockwell apparently art directed some scenes and I guess he was in his element because so many of the photos show potential Saturday Evening Post cover material.

My only criticism of this handsome little book is that there aren't enough of the 565 photos in the book, only forty-three are shown as feature images. Considering how nostalgic these now look I would have loved to see at least a hundred or so, presented in a coffee-table style large book.

Incidentally, put Kodak Colorama into your favorite search engine and you can see a website devoted to the program, with some interesting technical shots of how these huge transparencies were created.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Nostalgia Revisited.......2005-10-09

I appreciated this book for the nostalgia factor. Too young to have seen these photos the first time around, I enjoyed seeing scenes from a happier era. I especially liked the photos from around the NY area including upstate NY and Connecticut.

A missed opportunity.......2005-08-03

Whilst the content is exclusive, the editorial well and knowledgeably written, and providing a facinating insight into the political and cultural mores of the United States through these originally impressive still lives, this book is ultimately a disappointment. The idea that you can take photographs that are astonishing for their sheer size and scale (their whole raison d'etre) and then publishing them in a book smaller than a regular A5 hardback is utterly absurd, presenting them with a fold in nearly every picture and losing any possible sense of scale. The publishers have missed a great opportunity here.

Beautiful photography, good critical essays.......2004-11-17

This compilation of Kodak's Coloramas is a great start and I hope there will be more scholarship available on the subject. The essays are suprisingly critical and provide some good insights on the societal/cultural implications of the advertisments. I only wish there were more of them. Also, this is not a complete collection of the images, which would also be great. Overall, a nice coffee table book, just wish there was more of everything.

COLORAMA OF CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

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COLORAMA OF CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
no Author
Manufacturer: Chicago Natural History Museum Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QAC5MK

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Colorama of Chicago Natural History Museum
None
Manufacturer: Chicago Natural History Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000M5GJA8

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Aladdin Colorama

Manufacturer: Invader Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 9024392829

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Beauty & the Beast Sticker Colorama

Manufacturer: Invader Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 9024392691

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Colorama
Golden Books
Manufacturer: Golden books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Colorama
*
Manufacturer: Thames & Hudson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K22DJY

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Colorama

Manufacturer: Invader Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Colorama: Clara Dudley's color-idea book

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Colorama: Clara Dudley's color-idea book
CLara Dudley
Manufacturer: Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007GPX7C

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Dino Colorama

Manufacturer: Invader Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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