• Reilly, Richard R., et al: The Human Side of Project Leadership, Project Management Institute, 2007
  

“The Human Side of Project Leadership” is a collection of academic studies related to the human side of project management. Taken as a group, the three studies illuminate the ways in which leadership, project spirit and conflict management skills impact project success.

Edited by Stevens’ Professor Richard R. Reilly, the book features experts from Stevens’ Howe School of Technology Management, including Zvi Aronson, Peter Dominick, Patricia Holahan, Thomas Lechler, Ann Mooney, Reilly, and Aaron J. Shenhar. Also contributing was Allen C. Amason, University of Georgia.

“To a large extent, project success depends on human behavior – especially the behavior of the team leader,” said Reilly. “Project management training most often focuses on mastering the tools and applications of project management, such as operational performance, planning and budget management. Good leadership skills enable a project manager to harness the energy and capabilities of a project team in such a way that the performance of the team is greater than the sum of its parts.

“Often referred to as the ‘human side’ of project management or ‘people skills,’” he said, “leadership is widely accepted as the critical factor in determining the ultimate success or failure of a project.”

The book is now available for sale at the Project Management Institute website: http://www.pmi.org/Marketplace/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?GMProduct=00100088601.

• Shenhar, Aaron J., Reinventing Project Management, Harvard Business School Press, 2007

Projects are the engines that drive innovation from idea to commercialization. In fact, the number of projects in most organizations today is expanding while operations is shrinking.. Yet, since many companies still focus on operational excellence and efficiency, most projects fail—largely because conventional project management concepts cannot adapt to a dynamic business environment. Moreover, top managers neglect their company’s project activity, and line managers treat all their projects alike—as part of operations.

Based on an unprecedented study of more than 600 projects in a variety of businesses and organizations across the globe, Reinventing Project Management provides a new and highly adaptive model for planning and managing projects to achieve superior business results.

• Stohr, Edward A., et al: Guarding Your Business, Plenum US, New York, NY

Guarding Your Business outlines the organizational elements that must be in place to protect the information and physical assets of typical businesses and organizations. The book recognizes the need for an architecture integrated within the organizational environment for systematic protection. Such an architecture is offered along with the building blocks to make organizations resistant to human error and resilient under physical attack or natural disaster. The book addresses risk assessment, determination of quality-of-service levels that balance safety versus cost, security versus privacy, determination of access rights to data and software, and a security-conscious culture in the organization. Questions answered by experts from academia and industry include: How can one organize for security? What organizational structures, policies, and procedures must be in place? What legal and privacy issues must be addressed?