Decisions: An Engineering and Management Perspective

Content: Preface xiii    1 CONFRONTING THE REALITIES IN DECISION-MAKING 1     History of Failed Projects 2     Organizational Discipline 5     Sources of Decision-Making Knowledge 7     Making Organizational Decisions 9     Key Points 11     Notes 12     2 MANAGING THE ORGANIZATION 13     Management Model 14     New Management Paradigm 15     Executives 17     Managers 19     Engineers and Other Discipline Specialists 24     Project Managers 25     Common Requirements for Executives, Managers, Engineers and     Other Discipline Professionals, and Project Managers 28     Key Points 40     Notes 41     3 DECISIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES 43     The Knowledge Chain 44     External Decision Drivers 46     Expanding Worldwide Operations 48     Dealing with Acquisitions and Mergers 49     Restructuring Organizations 52     Investing in New-to-the-Market Product/Services 55     Investing in New Technologies 57     Entering New Markets 59     Discontinuing a Product Line 60     Promoting Innovation and Entrepreneurship 61     Locating Business Operations 65     Key Points 66     Notes 67     4 DECISIONS AND PROJECT SCOPE 69     Organizational Decisions 70     Low Impact to High Impact 71     Simple to Complex 72     Low Cost to High Cost 74     Low Risk to High Risk 74     Upgrade to Innovative 76     Current Business to New Business Unit 77     Current Business Unit to a New Game 78     Decisions in Functional Units 79     Limited Scope to Expanded Scope 80     Strategic to Operational 81     Knockouts 82     Thinking Before Doing 83     Key Points 87     Note 88     5 MACRO DECISION TO IMPLEMENTATION 89     Executing the Decision 90     Using Tools and Techniques 91     Describing the Problem 94     Improving IT Project Performance 96     Advancing Project Management Practice 99     Managing Project Cycle Time 103     Managing with a Systems Perspective 109     Key Points 111     Notes 112     6 MAKING PEOPLE DECISIONS 113     Energizing the Human Resource Department 114     Hiring Practices 116     Evaluating Employee Performance 120     Assessing Employee Potential 122     Promotions and Appointments 124     Selecting Team Members 126     Selecting the Right People 130     Assigning Work 131     Transitioning From Specialist to Manager 132     Salary Schedules 134     Continuing Education 134     Building a Succession Competence 136     Key Points 137     Notes 138     7 DEVELOPING DECISION-MAKING COMPETENCIES 139     Decision Dilemmas 140     Learning to Make Decisions 144     Educating for Decision-Making 147     Dealing with Ambiguity 153     Executing the Deliverables 156     Key Points 162     Notes 163     8 IBM ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA: THE SILVERLAKE PROJECT 165     Birth of IBMR Minnesota 166     Project Fort Knox 167     IBMR Faces Market Challenges 168     New Directions for IBM Rochester 168     Furey Asks the Hard Questions 169     Ambitious Goals 173     Market Launch 176     Lessons Learned 177     Key Points 184     Notes 185     9 BOEING AND THE 787 DREAMLINER 187     Dreamliner Scope and Expectations 188     Boeing-The Enterprise 189     The 787 Dreamliner Challenges 192     Commentary 198     Key Points 213     Notes 216     10 COMMUNICATION IN DECISION-MAKING 219     New-to-the-Market Product 221     What is Communication? 226     Types of Communication 228     Organizational Context 231     Barriers to Effective Communication 234     Ethical Issues in Communication 253     Eliminating the Communication Barriers 255     Key Points 258     Notes 259     11 EVALUATING DECISION-MAKING PERFORMANCE 261     People 262     Purposes 264     Processes 265     Strategic Thinking 266     Culture 267     Products and Services 268     Resources 270     Leadership 275     Innovation and Entrepreneurship 276     Organizational Readiness 278     Policies and Procedures 279     Employee Benefits 279     Downsizing 280     Going Global 281     Government Regulations 282     Offshore Operations 282     Integrating Organizational Units 283     General Governance Issues 284     Key Points 289     Notes 292     Index 293