Search results for ""management concepts, inc""

The path to successful source selection begins with Source Selection Step by Step: A Working Guide for Every Member of the Acquisition Team. Whether you are new to the acquisition team or an experienced practitioner looking to sharpen your skills, this comprehensive, highly readable handbook will guide you through the entire acquisition process, from designing an effective source selection plan, to preparing the solicitation, evaluating proposals, establishing a competitive range, and documenting the source selection decision. With clarity and frankness, Charles Solloway presents government source selection in a step-by-step guide that offers readers quick access to needed information. In addition to guidance about the process, the book includes: • Techniques to streamline the process and reduce time and expense • Ways to avoid common pitfalls • Alternatives to common procedures that yield better results • Methods to involve contractors more effectively • Definitions of the key terms associated with government source selection. Make this book your first stop for quick and easy guidance on all aspects of government source selection.

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Interpersonal skills and awareness are key to building productive relationships with colleagues, associates and clients; to working collaboratively, solving problems and making informed decisions. With the growing complexity of portfolios, programs and projects, and the increasing geographic dispersion of stakeholders, the skills needed to communicate and understand others effectively have never been a more essential part of the blueprint for management success. Interpersonal Skills for Portfolio, Program and Project Managers brings into sharp focus the importance of these people skills or 'soft' skills to achieving results and ensuring customer satisfaction. With an emphasis on how approach and technique can be adapted to get the best out of the different situations and types of interaction that occur day-to-day in the business environment, this accessible resource includes: - Strategies for building effective, high-performing teams - Guidelines for efficient teamwork in a virtual context - Systems for handling stress and dealing with crises - Methods for motivating and leading your team to success With this wealth of practical advice to draw on and proven tools to put into practice, productive, rewarding interpersonal interaction will soon become second nature.

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Six Sigma is a collection of ideas and tools that many organizations are using as part of their efforts to improve the quality of their products and services. Six Sigma for Project Managers explores the concepts that project managers need to know to make six sigma work for their organizations.

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Today's Best Performance Improvement Practices Tailored to Government Performance-Oriented Management: A Practical Guide for Government Agencies will help you make a smooth transition from a management philosophy that is reactive and task-oriented to one based on a vision of accomplishment. With this practical, authoritative, and comprehensive guidebook, you'll have a tested framework and process for making the change to performance improvement. The method is based on the acclaimed Malcolm Baldrige Assessment Criteria for performance improvement, which are regarded as a national benchmark. Performance-Oriented Management will give you a solid understanding of the basics of performance improvement. With this must-have resource, you'll: • Get a detailed method to position your organization for major change • Understand the benefits of performance-oriented, rather than task-oriented, management • Learn how to determine your destination (vision) and your starting point (assessment) • Discover why top management must initiate and drive the change • Learn why assessment and strategic planning are of paramount importance — not add-on programs for an already-overloaded workforce • Find out why it's critical that planning drives the budget, rather than the budget driving planning. Develop a step-by-step, comprehensive, top-down method for implementing performance improvement

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With a new chapter on Scrum agile, updates throughout, and many additional PMP test tips, this new edition builds on the solid foundation of the first edition. The structure of this update maps closely to the PMBOK guide V5 and is designed to assist anyone studying for the PMP and other certification exams. Helpful sections cover: networking and social media tips for PMs, including the best professional organizations, virtual groups, and podcast resources; formulas PMs need to know, plus a template to help certification candidates prepare and self-test for their exams; quick study sheet for the processes covered on the PMP exam; key changes in PMBOK guide V5, for readers familiar with earlier versions who want the skinny on the new version. -- Edited summary from book.

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The Government Manager’s Guide to Contract Negotiation Federal managers often find themselves at the negotiating table, charged with reaching a solid, fair deal for their agency. Now, you can gain a competitive edge in even the most difficult negotiations with time-tested, effective tactics from a noted authority on federal negotiations. This guide will help you understand the negotiation process, plan for it, develop strategies and tactics, anticipate and counter the other side’s strategies and tactics, and conclude and document the negotiation. Concise, accessible, and authoritative, this book offers a veritable arsenal of winning strategies that you and your team can use in your next negotiation.

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Learn how you can apply this strategic method to boost flexibility and innovation in business arrangements. Find out how PBC is being used by government and industry leaders to motivate sellers to deliver products, services, and solutions that meet or exceed buyers’ requirements. Discover how to apply performance standards, metrics, and other incentives for superior results. Become familiar with current techniques such as the performance work statement (PWS), statement of objectives (SOO), quality assurance surveillance plan (QASP), and more.

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From the novice to the most experienced and senior project manager, triple constraint issues are at the core of the most crucial decisions about a project. The Triple Constraints in Project Management explores the triangle of time, cost, and performance that bounds the universe within which every project must be accomplished - and shows how controlling the hierarchy of constraints can mean the difference between success and failure on virtually any project.

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New Technology and global businesses and organizations are making virtual project management offices (VPMOs) more important and more prevalent than ever.Successfully operating a VPMO requires project managers to employ additional skills and address different challenges from those necessary to operate a traditional PMO. This book covers the range of issues and aspects that must be considered and implemented to assure the proper establishment and optimal maintenance of a VPMO. Both experienced and novice PMO leaders will benefit from the book's approach and coverage.

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Right-Brain Project Management: A Complementary Approach looks at contemporary project management from a fresh perspective, exploring "right-brain" approaches that are intuitive and capitalize on natural human thinking and activity. Coupled with the logical and formal, or "left-brain," methodology associated with conventional project management, facilitation of right-brain functions offers a good range of techniques for project success. Presenting extensive research and the experiences of project managers who use right-brain approaches successfully, this book sheds a unique and hopeful light on conquering the challenges of contemporary projects. Learn how the successful project manager can become a whole-brain project manager by enlisting resources from both the right and the left sides, and how to further enhance project management by incorporating innovation and flexibility.

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Learn how to establish successful business relationships and winning contracts for both parties. Get a solid grounding in the acquisition process, learn the roles of key players, and discover the rules of the game. This practical book briefs you on key steps in contract formation, essential elements of a binding contract, principal objectives for buyers and sellers, and much, much more. Whether you’re forming a contract for the first or fiftieth time, you’ll improve your results with best practices and tools for success.

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Neal Whitten's Let's Talk! More No-Nonsense Advice for Project Success focuses on best project behaviors, by answering more than 700 insightful, personal, and sometimes sensitive questions on a broad range of topics from leadership, communication, and culture, to accountability, ethics, and conflict resolution. Following on the heels of Neal Whitten's No-Nonsense Advice for Successful Projects, this book offers more of the no-nonsense advice that has helped countless leaders and projects. This book is for those who aspire to become consistently effective leaders, project members, or employees and therefore become more valuable to their projects and organizations.

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Many buyers and sellers focus their efforts on getting the contract - and don't properly plan, staff, or supervise contract administration and closeout. This ActionPack book shows you how to prepare for the post-award phase so that you the maximize success of your contract. You'll get a firm grounding in contract administration - plus practical tools to help you avoid delays and cost overruns and improve performance and customer satisfaction.

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The U.S. Department of Defense and the related defense industry together form the largest and most powerful government and business entity in the world, developing some of the most expensive and complex major systems ever created. U. S. Military Program Management presents a detailed discussion, from a multi-functional view, of the ins and outs of U.S. military program management and offers recommendations for improving practices in the future. More than 15 leading experts present case studies, best practices, and lessons learned from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, from both the government and industry/contractor perspectives. This book addresses the key competencies of effective U.S. military program management in six comprehensive sections: • Requirements management • Program leadership and teamwork • Risk and financial management • Supply chain management and logistics • Contract management and procurement • Special topics

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Software Project Management: Measures for Improving Performance focuses on more than the mechanics of project execution. By showing the reader how to identify and solve real world problems that put schedule, cost, and quality at risk, this guide gets to the heart of improving project control and performance. • Identify measurement needs and goals • Determine what measures to use to maximize the value of data • Interpret data and report the results • Diagnose quality and productivity issues • Use metrics data to solve real problems This is a must-read for project managers and engineering managers working in organizations where deadlines are tight, the workload is daunting, and daily crises are the rule rather than the exception. The text provides simple run rate data through progressively advanced measures, as well as: • Examples that show you how to combine measures to solve complex problems • Exercises that guide you through best practices for metric program development and implementation

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You don't need sophisticated statistical analysis or software to improve the probability of project success. This book offers a proactive project management process for managing project risk from project initiation through planning, execution, control and closure. In addition, you'll apply a new technique for program risk auditing that lets you explore risk in multiple related projects. You'll learn how to uncover hidden risk during the planning phase and how to track and manage it throughout the project. You'll also learn to enhance project value by building a risk management repository to support ongoing knowledge transfer.

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At last - the first comprehensive and practical guide to the work breakdown structure (WBS) in 45 years! This book offers vital new perspectives on how to apply the WBS to today's different types of projects that produce products, services or results. You'll learn how to use WBS throughout the project lifecycle to plan, control and communicate. Your new insights into the WBS principles, plus checklists and proven action steps, will improve the planning of new projects and help you launch projects more efficiently and effectively.

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The Business of Government is your guide to a new breed of business planning that meshes private sector strategies with a methodology designed exclusively for the public sector. No other strategic planning guide offers this hands-on, public sector focus. The Business of Government provides guidance, tools, and real-world examples you can use right away to analyze where you stand and what specific steps are needed to take you to the "managing for results" platform that is the centerpiece of the Results Act of 1993 – and your springboard to a whole new level of performance. It explains how to initiate, manage, measure and sustain a remarkable transformation - an approach proven to produce a dramatic impact on public policy and service to the citizen. Plus, the book includes model documents ready to adapt for your own program, including an actual business plan, sample financials, and sample performance report. Learn how to define and deliver a new era of results as you: • Dramatically improve critical thinking and innovation • Develop a business strategy proven to work in government • Overcome implementation obstacles - including "old culture" • Align support organizations • Establish a senior management council • Oversee strategy implementation teams • Write annual performance reports explaining your results Profit from expert advice on applying today's best "smart government" tools, including these: 1. Strategies: Transformational leadership strategies that address change-resistance, skills gaps and other challenges. 2. Gap analysis methodology: A proven model for assessing how your organization may have drifted from mission — and how to get back on track. 3. Tactics: Specific technology, human resource, and process solutions for adjusting and invigorating your programs. Case studies: Real-world "lessons learned" to help you apply the most successful solutions

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Follow the Path to Success in Federal Construction Contracting Opportunities abound in federal government construction contracting, but the devil is in the details. Companies performing work for the federal government must plan and operate based on very specific guidelines and regulations. Knowing how to work within those strict parameters makes the difference between success and failure. Federal Construction Contracting Made Easy is your road map to successfully identifying, planning, and completing government construction projects. This book guides you in finding opportunities, preparing winning proposals, and staying in compliance on construction projects. It is the one resource you will need to work in this competitive arena. The book provides guidance on: • Understanding the Federal Acquisition Regulation and knowing when and how to use it for your benefit and protection • Preparing quality control and safety programs that comply with federal regulations and processes • Determining when a change order is required and how to price and properly process • Identifying a claim and knowing how to process it Federal Construction Contracting Made Easy is an invaluable resource for construction firms, architect/engineer firms, subcontractors, and vendors that want to do business with the federal government. Plus! A handy glossary of terms is included. Bonus: Federal Construction Contracting Made Easy: A Field Guide to the FAR is available as a supplement for project superintendents.

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Reduce risk and improve the overall performance of IT assets! Federal IT Capital Planning and Investment Control is the first book to provide a comprehensive look at the IT capital planning and investment control (CPIC) process. Written from a practitioner’s perspective, this book covers a range of topics designed to provide both strategic and operational perspectives on IT CPIC. From planning to evaluation, this valuable resource helps managers and analysts at all levels realize the full benefits of the CPIC process.•Explore the full range of IT investment principles and practices •Learn CPIC project management techniques including earned-value management, integrated baseline review, cost-benefit analysis, and risk-adjusted cost and schedule estimates•Identify strategies to improve how your organization manages its IT portfolio and selects, controls, and evaluates investments •Discover how to leverage scarce IT resources and align investments with program priorities •Benefit from the in-depth coverage—excellent for the experienced as well as those new to the CPIC process

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Pricing is at the heart of every deal in government or business – but figuring out the right approach isn’t easy. This ActionPack book gives you an overview of key estimating and pricing issues – and outlines a variety of approaches to cost estimating and pricing. Whether you’re an entry-level or experienced professional, you’ll learn invaluable new techniques for achieving the best pricing results.

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Learn to use this proven-effective method to integrate cost, schedule, and technical performance. Get a briefing on essential terms, key objectives, benefits of EVM, best practices and how to implement them, regulations governing the use of EVM, and much, much more. If you’re new to EVM, you’ll get the basic understanding you need to apply techniques. If you’re already familiar with EVM, you’ll increase and strengthen your knowledge for greater success.

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Metrics for Project Management: A Formalized Approach describes a comprehensive set of project management metrics in an easy-to-read format. Through a unique presentation of metrics through the categories of "things," "people," and "enterprise," you'll learn how metrics can: • Guide you toward informed decisions • Help the enterprise recognize the sum of its collective capabilities • Ensure that plans for producing and delivering products and services are consistently realistic, achievable, and attainable • Link the efforts of individual team members with the overall success of the project • Indirectly promote teamwork and improve team morale This methodical, logical approach to metrics will help you: • Gauge the success of the project team through specific tools • Assess the motivation, performance, and behavior of team members • Assess organizational capabilities and collective project management performance • Handle enterprise issues: project management maturity, competency, and project portfolio management • Establish a metrics program • Select metrics and implement schedules Clear and easy to understand, this book is a valuable guide to using these powerful techniques for performance improvement. With immense potential benefits, Metrics for Project Management is a smart investment for any organization.

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With a clear focus on how business objectives determine project value, this book explains how to use an "investment-based" perspective to integrate finance, risk management and strategic planning. You'll develop workflows that overcome constraints of time, cost and scheduling as you benefit from new tools that relate processes directly to business goals: the project balance sheet and the time-centric earned value system. In addition, a new goal decomposition methodology gives you the best chance of getting projects started - and getting them accomplished successfully.

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The Government Manager’s Guide to the Work Breakdown Structure The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a cornerstone of managing any project. Every government manager should understand how to construct a WBS in the project or program lifecycle. This quick reference presents the fundamental WBS principles, pragmatic steps for the government manager to follow in developing a project WBS, and a checklist for the project manager to use in reviewing a WBS. In addition, DOD recommendations for avoiding pitfalls in constructing a WBS are highlighted.

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This master reference is essential if you contract with the government! Correctly pricing your goods or services—and making certain that those prices are in compliance with myriad federal rules and regulations—is essential to doing business with the government...and ensuring your commercial success. Cost-Based Pricing: A Guide for Government Contractors shows you how to appropriately estimate and price for government contracts and defend those estimates in a government contracting and subcontracting environment. This practical book includes coverage of all government pricing rules and regulations as well as pertinent aspects of related laws, such as the Truth in Negotiations Act. The book walks you through every step of the estimating process. From figuring direct labor costs to intra-company transfers to contract modifications, the coverage is extensive yet accessible for even those new to the process. Using Cost-Based Pricing, you will be able to: • Develop more realistic estimates • Enhance your support of those estimates in negotiations • Avoid violations of the Truth in Negotiations Act • Increase your chances of securing a fair and reasonable price Cost-Based Pricing: A Guide for Government Contractors can make the difference between your success—and profitability—and failure in the federal government arena.

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When companies embrace the power of collaboration it becomes clear that complex problems can be solved when a group of people with different skills and expertise work together as a cohesive and productive team. Getting teams to work productively is central to good project management. This book takes you through creating the structure and implementing the techniques you will need to ensure that such teams work as efficiently and effectively as possible. Project Team Dynamics clearly outlines methods for launching and developing a team and creating a framework to deal with the inevitable difficulties that any team will encounter. Author Lisa DiTullio uses examples from contemporary project management to demonstrate the success of these straightforward and adaptable techniques and also to show the associated dangers of not building a strong team culture.

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Take the First Step Toward Building a Strong Foundation in Federal Acquisition! This book is an essential guide to understanding and working within the complex world of federal government contracting. It offers brief but comprehensive explanations of the major phases and essential tasks in the contracting process. Written in a clear and easy-to-understand style, this resource provides the perfect foundation for building a thorough understanding of federal contracting. Author Paula Compton focuses on the most problematic areas of federal contracting, highlighting the deficiencies cited most often by the Government Accountability Office and Inspector General audits and reports, such as:• Not performing market research • Inadequate independent government cost estimates • Violation of the bona fide needs rule • Insufficient statements of work • Inadequate price or cost analysis Anyone new to government acquisition will find that reading this book is the ideal first step on the path to understanding the federal acquisition process. Seasoned contract professionals will find it an excellent quick review.

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Ethically problematic cases occur everywhere, but rarely can the implications be as wide-reaching or the consequences as serious as with those in the arena of public management. Most people working in the public sector want to do the 'right' thing, but the issues involved can be complex, and sometimes the answers are anything but easy. This third edition of Practical Ethics in Public Administration offers, at its core, the tools, techniques and methods needed to clarify difficult or problematic ethical situations and to determine the best course of action. Designed for use as a text on public administration and professional ethics courses, or as a reference book for those working in the public sector, Practical Ethics in Public Administration is an engaging and informative blend of theory and practice. The authors introduce established ethical theories and, using real-life and hypothetical examples, develop a unified ethical approach that can be applied to everyday situations. Readers will learn the ethical nature of questions such as whether to fire an employee, how to allocate departmental funds and how to evaluate an employee's performance in a yearly appraisal. New material in this edition also covers the emerging ethical issues related to private-public partnerships, the shift from compliance-based to moral-based integrity and the context of moral complacency.

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The Best Guide to Past Performance Evaluation in Government Contracting Just Got Better! The Past Performance Handbook has long been the resource contracting professionals have turned to for guidance on evaluating contractor performance and making award decisions in competitive acquisitions based on the evaluation results. Now this essential resource has been completely updated and revised to bring readers the most up-to-date information they need to conduct past performance evaluations. Past Performance Handbook: Applying Commercial Practices to Federal Procurement, Second Edition, not only includes a detailed explanation of the process of past performance evaluation, but also presents new approaches to standardizing assessment areas and rating scales, streamlining the source selection process, and ensuring that awards are made to the most qualified offerors. This thoroughly revised second edition offers: • Additional focus on the collaboration between the government and contractors in providing past performance information • Enhanced definitions of numerical scoring, adjectival ratings, color coding schema, and risk assessments — all consistent with the current guidelines issued by the Department of Defense and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) • Updated citations from the Federal Acquisition Regulation, OFPP, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) • Abridged GAO decisions that provide details for citations included in the text. Contracting officers and contractors working with the government will find value in every chapter of this updated edition.

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Get an overview of the legal underpinnings of the contracting process. Learn why things are done in certain ways. And become familiar with the constitutional, statutory, and regulatory laws behind the rule or practice. This ActionPack book will equip you with a deeper understanding of government contracting practices to inform all your contracting activities. Ideal for all levels of professionals from novices to senior managers.

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Project Requirements: A Guide to Best Practices gives project managers tools they can assimilate and apply easily to improve project success rates, reduce development costs, reduce rework, and accelerate time to market. Based on experience and best practices, this valuable reference will help you: • Clarify real requirements before you initiate project work • Improve management of project requirements • Save time and effort • Manage to your schedule • Improve the quality of deliverables • Increase customer satisfaction and drive repeat business

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Learn how to create a measurement-oriented program for your unique organization. With new insights on measurement as a communications tool, this book offers step-by-step guidance on how to use specific quantitative actions-and-results assessments to ensure the success of key initiatives. You'll master the new skills needed to incorporate stakeholder requirements into the structure and operation of the measurement program. You'll also learn how to implement a measurement program and develop understanding of the measurement life cycle, including how to keep your tactics and processes evolving to stay in step with your organization and new challenges.

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