The role of the project manager continues to evolve, presenting new challenges to established practitioners and those entering the field for the first time. This second edition of Peter Fewings' groundbreaking textbook has been thoroughly revised to recognise the increasing importance of sustainability and lean construction in the construction industry. It also tackles the significance of design management, changing health and safety regulation, leadership and quality for continuous improvement of the service and the product. Using an integrated project management approach, emphasis is placed on the importance of effectively handling external factors in order to best achieve an on-schedule, on-budget result, as well as good negotiation with clients and skilled team leadership. Its holistic approach provides readers with a thorough guide in how to increase efficiency and communication at all stages while reducing costs, time and risk. Short case studies are used throughout the book to illustrate different tools and techniques. Combining the theories underpinning best practice in construction project management, with a wealth of practical examples, this book is uniquely valuable for practitioners and clients as well as undergraduate and graduate students for construction project management.
Strategic Issues Management explores the strategic planning options that organizations can employ to address crucial public policy issues, engage in collaborative decision making, get the organization′s "house" in order, engage in tough defense and smart offense, and monitor opinion changes that affect public policy. In this fully updated Second Edition, authors Robert L. Heath and Michael J. Palenchar offer practical, actionable guidance that readers can apply to organizations from large Fortune 500 companies to nongovernmental organizations and start-up high tech companies. Features Includes a NEW chapter on brand equity, updated examples, theories and cases throughout, new information on activists and activism, and increased attention to the role that technology plays in issues management Explores ways public relations, risk communication, and crisis communication can be used to address crucial public policy options Advises managers on ways to lessen the chance of a crisis becoming an issue through an examination of crisis preparation and responses Addresses the topic of reputation management by exploring the connection between issues management and brand equity using examples from McDonald′s and Wal-Mart Challenges managers to engage in collaborative decision making with community leaders and residents to reduce the chance that undue fear will translate into unnecessary regulation or legislation Opens each chapter with case study vignettes and closes with summary questions and issues management challenges Strategic Issues Management is appropriate for courses in Corporate/Strategic Communications, Public Relations Management, Crisis/Risk Communication, Strategic Management, Public Relations Management, Organizational Communication, and Public Policy and Administration.
This book is motivated by the emerging rehabilitation of industrial policies as a tool for supporting economic transformation and high rates of growth in developing countries. It argues that underperforming disciples of the Washington Consensus 'market fundamentalism' should learn and practice the art of systemic industrial policies, which requires a medium-long term strategic perspective and intelligent proactive state interventions in markets. However, it also stresses that rehabilitation requires that industrial policies be developed and implemented in a context of home- grown public-private alliances that avoid state 'capture' by special interests. It first examines the 'how' of industrial policy in the public sectors of ten non-Latin American countries in Asia, Europe, and Oceania that have been successful in promoting economic catch-up with rich countries, or have performed better than Latin American countries with similar resource endowments. The book defines '10+1' generic First Principles for the use, design, and execution of modern industrial policies, and then examines the experiences of nine Latin American and Caribbean governments against these First Principles. The authors identify large gaps in the organizational and operational effectiveness of their public sectors, and suggest ways to close these gaps.
The euro area's framework for monetary policy implementation was introduced in 1999. Eleven years on, this volume examines the theoretical and historical underpinnings of the framework, how it has fared in practice, and what challenges it is likely to face in the future. The technology serving the implementation of monetary policy has historically been the exclusive preserve of a narrow group of specialists but the recent global financial crisis brought the issue into the public eye, as the supply of base money exploded while inflation risked turning into deflation. This book addresses all the aspects of monetary policy implementation, with particular emphasis on the European Central Bank and the euro, allowing a more informed assessment of a neglected, but important, aspect of economic life, and a better understanding of the exceptional developments brought about by the financial crisis. Written by the leading money market operators at the European Central Bank who were involved in creating and implementing the framework, and who are still managing monetary policy implementation at the Bank today, this book provides a rare insider account of how the framework has evolved, how it works in practice, and the challenges of monetary policy implementation going forward.
The ability to harness Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) is increasingly at the heart of competitiveness and sustainable growth. As countries engage in an increasingly competitive global economy, they are trying to weave ICT into their development strategies, in the same way enterprises have learned to use ICT to transform their business models and strategies. This integration offers a new path to development that is responsive to the challenges of our times. In National Strategies to Harness Information Technology, Nagy Hanna and Peter Knight provide a framework for assessing the opportunities, challenges, and prospects for “e-transformation” and for analyzing the options and innovations adopted to manage the e-transformation process. They ask hard questions: what does it take to harness ICT to transform an economy? Why some countries accelerate their development journey with ICT while others fail? How did successful countries balance the need for strategic leadership with bottom up innovation? Can countries reduce the risks of digital divide? What have been the roles of government and private sectors? What lessons can be learned for countries at different levels of development? Featuring contributions from country experts, the editors and authors provide in-depth case studies of ICT deployment in Singapore, Finland, the Philippines, and South Africa, and asses the progress of such efforts. The result is an essential resource for academic researchers, policy analysts, policymakers, and industry leaders interested in the role of ICT in national development, innovation, and economic growth. In National Strategies to Harness Information Technology, Nagy Hanna and Peter Knight provide a framework for assessing the opportunities, challenges, and prospects for “e-transformation” and for analyzing the options and innovations adopted to manage the e-transformation process. They ask hard questions: what does it take to harness ICT to transform an economy? Why some countries accelerate their development journey with ICT while others fail? How did successful countries balance the need for strategic leadership with bottom up innovation? Can countries reduce the risks of digital divide? What have been the roles of government and private sectors? What lessons can be learned for countries at different levels of development? Featuring contributions from country experts, the editors and authors provide in-depth case studies of ICT deployment in Singapore, Finland, the Philippines, and South Africa, and asses the progress of such efforts. The result is an essential resource for academic researchers, policy analysts, policymakers, and industry leaders interested in the role of ICT in national development, innovation, and economic growth.