Goal Directed Project Management (GDPM) is a method developed by the authors, based on practical experience. It has been refined over 40 years and is still widespread in curricula in universities/colleges and adopted as a standard approach by organisations all over the world.
The book is different from other textbooks in project management as it is a focused approach on how to do it, rather than a general discussion. The book emphasises PSO (People, System, and Organisational development), the need to develop People (training and motivation) and Organisation in conjunction with Systems/technical development if you want desired results. The book presents detailed and practical guidance on how to plan, organise, and control PSO projects through hierarchical planning with practical methods and tools (milestone and activity planning and responsibility charts). Uncertainty and multi‑project management are also covered.
New in this edition is benefit realisation. Most of the work on benefit realisation takes place after a project has been delivered, but a lot can be implemented within the framework of the project. Research shows that the greatest degree of project success is achieved when there is a close relationship between benefit realisation and project management, and between project owner and project manager.
By:
Erling S. Andersen,
Kristoffer V. Grude,
Tor Haug,
Tor Haug
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: 5th edition
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9781032994666
ISBN 10: 1032994665
Pages: 268
Publication Date: 31 October 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Foreword to the New English Edition, Preface, 1. Introduction, 1.1 Themes and outline of the book, 1.2 PSO project, 1.3 Goal Directed Project Management (GDPM), 2. Characteristic features of a project, 2.1 A unique task, 2.2 Should lead to a specific result, 2.3 Resource requirements, 2.4 Time limit, 2.5 Project management, 3. Pitfalls, 3.1 Cracks in the foundation, 3.2 Pitfalls in planning, 3.3 Pitfalls in organising, 3.4 Pitfalls in controlling, 3.5 Pitfalls in execution of project work, 3.6 Pitfalls in benefit realisation, 3.7 How to avoid the pitfalls - some considerations, 4. The foundation of the project, 4.1 Division of roles in project work - the principle responsibility chart, 4.2 Purpose of the project and project goals, 4.3 Purpose structure, 4.4 Stakeholders and stakeholder analysis, 4.5 Project mandate, 5. Project benefits, 5.1 The concepts of profit, benefit and cost, 5.2 Benefit/cost analysis, 5.3 The work tasks related to the project's benefit realisation, 5.4 Are we ready to see all the possibilities?, 6. The decision criterion for start-up and examples of start-up documents, 6.1 Decision criterion when establishing the project, 6.2 The ""Good physical working environment"" project - project mandate and benefit realisation plan, 7. Global planning - milestone planning, 7.1 Principles of planning, 7.2 Division of a project, 7.3 Practical milestone planning, 8. Global organizing - milestone responsibility chart, 8.1 Principles of project organising, 8.2 Responsibility chart, 8.3 Milestone responsibility chart - the responsibility for reaching the milestones, 8.4 Time scheduling and resource estimation, 8.5 Uncertainty in the project, 8.6 Project budget, 9. Detailed planning and detailed organising, 9.1 Principles of project activity planning, 9.2 Activity planning, 9.3 Activity budgeting, 10. Project control, 10.1 What is control?, 10.2 Principles of project control, 10.3 Control at activity level, 10.4 Control at milestone level, 10.5 Financial reporting and control, 10.6 Project-based learning, 11. Quality in project work, 11.1 The significance of projects for the quality of the base organisation, 11.2 Procedures to increase quality, 11.3 Quality of the planning documents, 12. The organisation’s project culture, 12.1 A good project culture,12.2 Top management, 12.3 Line management, 12.4 Project owner, 12.5 The steering committee, 12.6 The project manager, 12.7 The employee representatives, 12.8 A projectivity programme, 13. Goal Directed Project Management - example and summary, 13.1 Forms, 13.2 IT support, 13.3 Example project ""New possibilities in new premises"", 13.4 Is the requirement specification fulfilled?, 14. Goal Directed Project Management in multi-project environment, 14.1 Use of projects to meet the challenges, 14.2 Concepts of project, project programme and project portfolio, 14.3 Programme management, 14.4 Portfolio management, 15. Sources and supplementary literature
Erling S. Andersen is professor emeritus of project management at BI Norwegian Business School. He has published several books and articles on systems development, project management, and management in general. Kristoffer V. Grude, M.Sc. Business, is former Norwegian managing partner and European director of Coopers & Lybrand consulting (Now PWC) and has a lifetime of experience of international business development, consulting, and project management. Tor Haug has worked on developing methods for electronic processes and routines through his own company.
