The ninth edition of Harold Kerzner's substantial, substantive project-management guide offers the comprehensive charts, diagrams and graphs you would expect in a graduate-level textbook, and yet it is surprisingly readable and relevant. Considered by many to be the leading "project management bible" in the planning industry, Kerzner's book is a tour de force. Its 1,000-plus pages, thorough case studies and well-organized chapters empower you to select the areas where you most need to focus. getAbstract recommends it highly to students of the trade, practitioners and executives who want to learn more about managing projects.

This book is quite bad. You can tell it is the ninth edition because the material does not flow or build upon itself, it contradicts itself from section to section, and fails to use the same terminology from one section to the next. The questions at the end of the chapters often have nothing to do with the content in the chapter and sometimes even refer to non-existent figures or charts, which further leads me to believe that this book suffers from bad editing. Finally, there are literally thousands upon thousands of bullet points in this book (it reminds me of one big boring PowerPoint presentation), so it is really tedius to read. In fact this book put me to sleep more often than not, so if you suffer from insomnia, this might be just what you need.

This wordy book (1040 pages!) is filled with many unnecessary material. You have to be tortured with pages and pages (poor trees) just to get a few ideas, which makes it boring reading. I am reminded of Economics 101 texts of similar genre where each edition gets thicker and worse by assuming readers know less and less. It is not for intelligent readers.

Sin más vueltas, el Profesor Kerzner hace de la Administración de Proyectos en esta bibliografía , todo lo que se puede hacer para : aquel que no entienda la Aministración de Proyectos : Entienda !!!!!!!!!! Aquel que quiera profundizar sus conocimientos , encuentre los caminos, y como si fuera poco áquel que quiera certificar ante el PMI , tenga todos los elemntos y herramientas a su alcance.
Un libro inolvidable, para tenerlo entre esos 5 libros que usted siempre consulta en su profesión. Ahora si se dedica a la Administración de Proyectos de esos 5 libros , le aconsejo que primero consulte a este.
Angel M Neme
Subject Matter Expert
AS - SSA - Delivery Excellence
IBM Argentina

This book is a great, comprehensive read, very useful to any project management student or professional.

The coverage of planning, costing, and cost control was detailed and careful. Use of case studies in construction, manufactoring, and service sectors added perspective, and suggested new possibilities that would not be as obvious from study of one industry alone.

The definition and evaluation of what makes a project a success was identified, but the identifications were in many different sections of the book. The information was there, but was not presented as a persistent unified theme that was easy to follow.

The early sections on business organization and structure was a little elementary for those with ten of more years experience. And, these sections did not drill down on the organizational differences specific to project management.

A valuable book on most project management subjects.

Choosing Project Success - A Guide for Building Professionals

i use this book for this semester class and it is impressing me. Good content and explanation.

Kerzner's book is much more comprehensive than the PMBOK and the case studies alone make this a great addition to the PM's library. This really is a classic textbook and I highly recommend it for any project manager except one who is studying for the PMP exam. While the topics covered here represent everything in the PMBOK and more, the PMP exam is tailored to the PMBOK, so I recommend focusing preparation time on that publication.

The book is well structured (format, subject areas etc.), covers the key areas that are related to Project Management and provides a good balance of text and graphics that makes learning easier.

I have been thrown into a project management position at my job and procured this book to "brush up" on the technical aspects of project management (planning, networks, risk, scheduling, etc). The second half of this book was a great source for that information. However, the first half of the book I felt was pretty much useless for anybody who has worked in any level of management in the business world. Topics like management functions, staffing teams, and organizational structures are not specific to project management. I may have misunderstood the scope of this book when I bought it, but I felt that the first half of it was wasted on topics that anyone with business sense would already know.
I also found that the book didn't provide the typical bold-face terms with definitions following that I'm used to in a textbook. The text will often list several different definitions for key terms. There's also a lot of lists in this book, which I found to be at times detrimental to the point it was trying to present.

This is an excellent reference book on Project Management. If you want to read a book on PM in addition to PMBOK Guide, this is the book. There is lots of good stuff in it.

I will have to respectfully disagree with the reviewer who stated this book was not good for preparing for the PMP. Though I will have to admit that this depends on how extensive you want your PMP preparation to be as well as if throughly learning the subject of project management is more important than just passing the PMP. If this is the case, then this book will exceed these expectation on all counts.

On the structure and contents of the text, it has 23 chapters whereupon the first 10 chapters delve into the basic structure and organizational behaviors that create a need for project management. In a sense, these chapter deal with the "soft" issues in project management, since the success of projects depends on the people who work on them and the stakeholders and customers who support and drive the project initiative. As Kerzner states, "these first ten chapters are needed to understand the cultural environment for all projects and systems". For those preparing for the PMP, chapter 3 titled "Organizational Structures" gives an in depth exposition of the types of organizational structures such as functional, matrix, and projectized that you will need to know for the PMP exam. You can see where much of what is in the chapter no doubt influenced the PMBOK.

Chapters 11-20 go into the heart of project management such as planning, scheduling, cost control, estimating, procurement and quality. These chapter are indeed "hard-core" project management tools and techniques that are systematically discussed in depth. But this is where much of the meat of project management is discussed and where all the major PMP exam subjects are covered. Particularly relevant are these chapters:

11 - Planning
12 - Network Scheduling Techniques
14 - Pricing and Estimating
15 - Cost Control
17 - Risk Management
19 - Contracts and Procurement
20 - Quality Management

I would recommend reading these chapter once through, then answering the questions at the end of the chapters, and going back to sections you were not clear about. Unlike the previous editions, this one has answers for the end of chapter questions and I found them relevant to the study of the PMP exam.

The last 3 chapters are an advanced overview of topics such as developing your own project management methodology, critical chain (which you may get a question or two on), and the Project Management Office (PMO). These chapters can be glanced over or skipped for another time.

I can recall when I took a PMP exam prep class with the PMI LA chapter, that many instructors acknowledged the greatness of this book and the likelihood of learning everything you need to know for the PMP exam if studied exhaustively, but also kept saying what an enormous tome it is at 1000+ pages and the exhaustive technical details of project management laid out, that most recommended not to use the resource unless you had a lot of time and stamina.

Hearing this, I was both intrigued and intimidated when I saw this book at Borders, but after picking it up and skimming it over and reading some sections, I found it quite readable, if a bit text bookish and academic. I will say this though, it is definitely more readable then the PMBOK. I promise!

Consider though that if you read the PMBOK (which many recommend you read several times) and a couple prep books, you have in fact read thousands of pages preparing for the PMP exam.

In all seriousness though, if it is your desire to simply pass the PMP exam and/or your pressed for time, then perhaps it is better to just purchase the PMBOK and Rita's text (which I did not like at all) and just cram and memorize. There's nothing wrong with that, as people taking the PMP exam are busy professionals without a lot of time.

But if you are planning to take your time and want to throughly learn the science and art of project management as well as pass the PMP exam with flying colors, then I wholeheartedly recommend this book. One way or another you will be referencing this book if you are a true project management professional.

I utilized this book in my studies for the PMP exam, and was able to pass in the upper 80th percentile and did not need to resort to any form of memorization or cramming, nor did I resort to doing a "brain dump" sheet on the day of the exam.

Happy studies and good luck to all you aspiring PMP project managers!

-Don Kim, PMP

I will have to respectfully disagree with the reviewer who stated this book was not good for preparing for the PMP. Though I will have to admit that this depends on how extensive you want your PMP preparation to be as well as if throughly learning the subject of project management is more important than just passing the PMP. If this is the case, then this book will exceed these expectation on all counts.

On the structure and contents of the text, it has 23 chapters whereupon the first 10 chapters delve into the basic structure and organizational behaviors that create a need for project management. In a sense, these chapter deal with the "soft" issues in project management, since the success of projects depends on the people who work on them and the stakeholders and customers who support and drive the project initiative. As Kerzner states, "these first ten chapters are needed to understand the cultural environment for all projects and systems". For those preparing for the PMP, chapter 3 titled "Organizational Structures" gives an in depth exposition of the types of organizational structures such as functional, matrix, and projectized that you will need to know for the PMP exam. You can see where much of what is in the chapter no doubt influenced the PMBOK.

Chapters 11-20 go into the heart of project management such as planning, scheduling, cost control, estimating, procurement and quality. These chapter are indeed "hard-core" project management tools and techniques that are systematically discussed in depth. But this is where much of the meat of project management is discussed and where all the major PMP exam subjects are covered. Particularly relevant are these chapters:

11 - Planning
12 - Network Scheduling Techniques
14 - Pricing and Estimating
15 - Cost Control
17 - Risk Management
19 - Contracts and Procurement
20 - Quality Management

I would recommend reading these chapter once through, then answering the questions at the end of the chapters, and going back to sections you were not clear about. Unlike the previous editions, this one has answers for the end of chapter questions and I found them relevant to the study of the PMP exam.

The last 3 chapters are an advanced overview of topics such as developing your own project management methodology, critical chain (which you may get a question or two on), and the Project Management Office (PMO). These chapters can be glanced over or skipped for another time.

I can recall when I took a PMP exam prep class with the PMI LA chapter, that many instructors acknowledged the greatness of this book and the likelihood of learning everything you need to know for the PMP exam if studied exhaustively, but also kept saying what an enormous tome it is at 1000+ pages and the exhaustive technical details of project management laid out, that most recommended not to use the resource unless you had a lot of time and stamina.

Hearing this, I was both intrigued and intimidated when I saw this book at Borders, but after picking it up and skimming it over and reading some sections, I found it quite readable, if a bit text bookish and academic. I will say this though, it is definitely more readable then the PMBOK. I promise!

Consider though that if you read the PMBOK (which many recommend you read several times) and a couple prep books, you have in fact read thousands of pages preparing for the PMP exam.

In all seriousness though, if it is your desire to simply pass the PMP exam and/or your pressed for time, then perhaps it is better to just purchase the PMBOK and Rita's text (which I did not like at all) and just cram and memorize. There's nothing wrong with that, as people taking the PMP exam are busy professionals without a lot of time.

But if you are planning to take your time and want to throughly learn the science and art of project management as well as pass the PMP exam with flying colors, then I wholeheartedly recommend this book. One way or another you will be referencing this book if you are a true project management professional.

I utilized this book in my studies for the PMP exam, and was able to pass in the upper 80th percentile and did not need to resort to any form or memorization and cramming, nor did I resort to doing a "brain dump" sheet on the day of the exam.

Happy studies and good luck to all you aspiring PMP project managers!

-Don Kim, PMP
www.donkim.info

This book is well thoughtout and easy to read. The layout including the PMI PMP reference is excellent.

I'm a book worm. I have studied the PMBOK Guide, the three standard PMP Study Guides (Rita, Sanghera, and Crowe), this book, and many others. This book is a good reference book for project management. It has lots of useful stuff in it. However, following is my opinion:
1. This book is NOT compatible with the PMBOK Guide. Simple: this book (as the name suggests) adopts a system approach to project management while PMBOK Guide takes the process approach. A fundamental difference. This book was originally written long time ago (this is the 9th edition). The PMBOK guide and this book started from different roots.
2. Do not use this book to prepare for the PMI exams (CAPM and PMP). Due to the difference in approaches, you will end up getting confused and lost in 1000 pages of this book.
3. Don't be fooled by the reference to the PMBOK Guide at various places in the book. Just stamping a material with the PMBOK Guide reference does not make it compatible with the PMBOK Guide.
4. Now, the fact that this book takes a different approach from the PMBOK Guide is not necessarily a bad thing. You can use it if you are looking for approaches to PM other than the PMBOK Guide approach. You can also use this book for academic exploration after you have mastered the PMBOK Guide approach and passed your PMP exam (if that's what you are up to).
Bottom line: Good PM reference but not the right book for the PMP exam preparation.

I'm a book worm. I have studied the PMBOK Guide, the three standard PMP Study Guides (Rita, Sanghera, and Crowe), this book, and many others. This book is a good reference book for project management. It has lots of useful stuff in it. However, following is my opinion:
1. This book is NOT compatible with the PMBOK Guide. Simple: this book (as the name suggests) adopts a system approach to project management while PMBOK Guide takes the process approach. A fundamental difference. This book was originally written long time ago (this is the 9th edition). The PMBOK guide and this book started from different roots.
2. Do not use this book to prepare for the PMI exams (CAPM and PMP). Due to the difference in approaches, you will end up getting confused and lost in 1000 pages of this book.
3. Don't be fooled by the reference to the PMBOK Guide at various places in the book. Just stamping a material with the PMBOK Guide reference does not make it compatible with the PMBOK Guide.
4. Now, the fact that this book takes a different approach from the PMBOK Guide is not necessarily a bad thing. You can use it if you are looking for approaches to PM other than the PMBOK Guide approach. You can also use this book for academic exploration after you have mastered the PMBOK Guide approach and passed your PMP exam (if that's what you are up to).
Bottom line: Good PM reference but not the right book for the PMP exam preparation.

...but I enjoyed this one. Kerzner is a good writer. He is also remarkably funny considering the subject matter.

This is the best book i've ever read on PM. If you are thinking on taking the PMI exam, read this book. If you're looking for a book to learn PM, read this book. If you're trying to apply best practices on your PM day to day practice, definitely, read this book.
This book is a classic. I have heard some PMPs quoted and recomended this book.

This is the best book i've ever read on PM. If you are thinking on taking the PMI exam, read this book. If you're looking for a book to learn PM, read this book. If you're trying to apply best practices on your PM day to day practice, definitly, read this book.