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MANAGING PROJECTS

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Projects represent nonroutine business activities that often have long-term strategic ramifications for a firm. In this chapter, we examined how projects differ from routine business activities and discussed the major phases of projects. We noted how environmental changes have resulted in increased attention being paid to projects and project management over the past decade. In the second half of the chapter, we introduced some basic tools that businesses can use when planning for and controlling projects. Both Gantt charts and network diagrams give managers a visual picture of how a project is going. Network diagrams have the added advantage of showing the precedence between activities, as well as the critical path(s). We wrapped up the chapter by showing how these concepts are embedded in inexpensive yet powerful software packages such as Microsoft Project. If you want to learn more about project management, we encourage you to take a look at the Web site for the Proj...
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Organisational Development

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The use of the phrase ‘people and organisational development’ to recognise all – or a subset – of the practices, structure and function of HRM appears to have gathered some impetus in many organisations, particularly in the public and third sectors (e.g. www.cfoa.org.uk, www.birmingham.ac.uk, www.wateraid.org.uk and many others). Holbeche (2012) argues that there are consequences of the increasing emphasis on the contribution of OD to organisational performance. She sees emerging roles for:
a) Organisational prospectors who can scan and interpret the business environment so as to anticipate future business – and workforce – needs;
b) Organisational architects who can design flexible, ‘future-proof ’ structures that support agile shifts in behaviour within ethical and well-being expectations. This endeavour should support the creation of healthy working environments where individuals are enabled to increase their discretionary effort ( Purcell et al., 2003 );
c) Developers of individual and organisational capability who can grow skills and capture knowledge;
d) Change agents who can initiate, manage and sustain the shifts needed, while managing competing political agendas.

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OPERATIONS AND SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES

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MANAGING QUALITY

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INTRODUCTION to OPERATIONS and SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

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BUSINESS PROCESS

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