Suggested Readings

A classic and the beginning of modern management. Very readable, fundamental, and basic, it remains an essential book for students, aspiring managers, and seasoned professionals ….. current in today’s world.

Drucker’s ideas have had an enormous impact on shaping the modern corporation, with his work turning modern management theory into a serious discipline. He influenced or created nearly every facet of its modern application, including decentralization, privatization, and empowerment, coining terms such as the “knowledge worker”. Considered the most influential management thinker of the 20th century, his ideas have been disseminated in over 35 published books between 1939 to his death in 2005, and translated into multiple languages throughout the world.

This is a prophetically powerful book, where Charles Handy describes the compelling need to manage our lives in a sounder and more satisfying fashion, where there is a greater importance attached to doing “ethical business”. Despite the book being almost 20 years old, these are familiar topics to many today.

Handy describes how change is occurring more rapidly than ever, challenging the assumptions and traditions of previous decades. He ranges widely over the paradoxes of economic activity, business, family, education, citizenship, money, relationships, and explains how the changing nature of society is transforming business. He has numerous insights on how to manage both the aims of society and those of the business community in this changing world.

Peter Drucker is widely accepted as the most influential contributor to modern management. This book, by John Flaherty, is a comprehensive analysis of Drucker’s work.

For those new to Drucker, it is a crash course on his most profound discoveries over the last six decades. Many of his early ideas are still applicable today. For those already familiar with his work, the book offers deeper insight into some of his more novel and far-reaching concepts. Whichever category you are in, this book is a recommended read to all levels of management and students of business.

This book introduces readers to the basic concepts of emotional intelligence and shows how to apply them to their project goals. In order to run projects successfully, project managers need to master more than the technical knowledge.

The more complex the project, the more significant that interpersonal skills become to achieving a successful outcome. Without people skills and the ability to lead effectively, even the most carefully planned project can quickly fall apart.

A remarkable book packed with insightful management examples and motivating ideas on how the future will be. He argues that the management paradigm of the last century—centred on control and efficiency—no longer suffices in a world where adaptability and creativity drive business success. To thrive in the future, companies must reinvent management.

Probably best served by a quote from the book …….

“There isn’t any law that prevents large organizations from being engaging, innovative, and adaptive – and mostly bureaucracy free. Even better, it really is possible to set the human spirit free at work. So no more excuses. It’s time for you to buckle down and start inventing the future of management…My goal in writing this book was not to predict the future of management but to help you invent it…From the first time since the dawning of the industrial age, the only way to build a company that’s fit for the future is to build one that is fit for human beings as well.”

This is a great book for Program Managers and aspiring Program Managers, and is the supplementary text for our Advanced Diploma of Project Management. The book reflects the most recent developments in the area of Program Management and offers connections between business strategy and value realisation, beyond multiple-project management.

Thiry emphasises the need for program specific processes, based on an iterative life cycle and the management of multiple stakeholders and their expectations. He analyses the best organisational structures for program management and provides tools and techniques to deal with complex, unplanned change in a structured manner. The book has a robust theoretical framework and is supported by numerous case studies throughout.

This book is designed to help those new to the field understand the processes and complexities of strategic management in a readable and accessible way. The approach of this book is to show strategic management to be a flexible and ongoing process, responding to the changing needs of organisations in light of new developments, and not a set of rules to be applied in a mechanistic or ad hoc manner.

The fourth edition has maintained the style and readability of the previous edition, while incorporating and examining the new developments of the discipline.

Patrick Lencioni weaves a tale about a CEO facing the ultimate leadership crisis: Uniting a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company.

Throughout the story, Lencioni reveals the five dysfunctions which go to the very heart of why teams – even the best ones – often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team.

This is a compelling fable with a powerful yet deceptively simple message for all those who strive to be exceptional team leaders, a timeless reminder that leadership requires as much courage as it does insight.

This book helps provide a deeper understanding of agile principles, methodologies, and practices. By utilising the principles discussed in the book, project managers will strengthen their ability to meet risks and complexities of individual projects, and will help all business managers and leaders understand how to find the appropriate balance between control and agility in their overall business strategy.

Cobb includes examples taken from real-world companies that illustrate good and bad agile project management. It encourages us to think outside the square, with collaboration to adapt methodology to help solve the problem, rather than force fitting a project to a particular methodology.

The “Strategic Partnering Handbook” is an internationally renowned how-to guide for creating successful partnerships and alliances both within and across borders. The new edition features revised strategies coupled with current case studies and examples.

Lendrum argues that in order for businesses to grow and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, they must develop quality relationships between customers and suppliers – both within and outside the organisation. To illustrate this point he draws on fresh case studies and research to present the many facets of modern strategic partnering.

This recently refreshed version of the global bestseller from the 1990’s is more current than ever. Emphasising the critical need for leadership to make change happen, this book provides the vicarious experience and positive role models for leaders to emulate.

The now-legendary eight-step process for managing change with positive results has become the foundation for leaders and organizations across the globe. By outlining the process every organization must go through to achieve its goals, and by identifying where and how even top performers derail during the change process. It is a practical resource for leaders and managers that are charged with making changes in the workplace.

Charles Handy is the author of many best-selling books on management, and despite this book being first published in 1978, it is as current today as it ever was.

Handy offers a unique approach to understanding different management styles – in the book, he identifies four Greek gods (Apollo, Zeus, Athena, and Dionysus) that typify the organizational cultures of the four. He then matches godly attributes to each, in the hope that his analogy will spark insight and serve as a diagnostic tool for resolving conflicts that result from clashing styles.

To quote Charles Handy himself:

“This is not a ‘how to’ book so much as an ‘aha’ book, as when one says “Aha, of course!” Increasing our understanding of what is going on, and why it is that way, is all that I have ever tried to do.

One of the most influential books ever written on the development of project management, focussing on achieving strategic change, including embedding corporate change after a project is completed. Whilst there is a 4th Edition coming in 2014, the content is still a must read for all new and existing project manager.

This book has advice that will help you avoid the pitfalls of project management and manage your projects successfully. Referring to the nine knowledge areas in PMBOK throughout the book, it also covers the major project management techniques including Traditional (Linear and Incremental), Agile (Iterative and Adaptive), and Extreme. It lays out a comprehensive overview of the various project management approaches and tools today, with step-by-step instruction and practical case studies. A new edition is available in late 2013.

Critical Chain is written as a novel, not like a project manager’s how-to guide. This book is a story about a professor trying to attain his tenure at a university’s business school. The plot is used to maintain interest in the subject and provide a real life feel to the book. It provides plenty of real-world examples. The book walks the reader through a series of steps to establish the principles for the discussion. It is written for someone with a modicum of project management background.

The book starts by pointing out the problems with how time estimates are normally done on projects. It then provides a primer on the Theory of Constraints and an example of its implementation in a steel mill. With the foundation set, it proceeds to show how the Theory of Constraints can be applied to schedule generation, resources constraints and multiple projects.