Project Management: Navigating the Complexity with a Systematic Approach - 2nd Edition

Reviewed by Craig Hopkins, Assistant Professor of Practice, Virginia Tech on 6/30/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The textbook covers core PM topics, relevant examples, and shows progress towards trends impacting the industry such as GenAI. Outlined well to break-down the subject matter into manageable sections and ease of readability. Clear and traceable learning objectives, takeaways, questions and exercises.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Content is technically accurate, aligned with PMBOK 6th and 7th editions, and reflects current best practices. No factual errors or overt biases were observed. Historical context is appropriately presented; and modern examples maintain the relevance of current challenges in industry.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Current and relevant focus on traditional methodology. Provides discussion of conceptual vs practical application of the concepts, which helps translate the content into real-world usage for students. References recent trends in Agile and digital project management; and includes a forward-looking commentary on AI and other disruptive technologies beyond Agile. Showing the interconnectedness of similar concepts (stakeholder management, risk mediation, communications and resource management) and how they are approached within the predictive and adaptive methodologies would further enhance the the learning experience.

Clarity rating: 5

The writing is clear and easily understood. Technical terms are well-defined in context, with consistent formatting and abundant examples and case studies. Jargon is explained where needed, making the text suitable for readers with varying levels of PM experience.

Consistency rating: 5

Chapters follow a uniform structure (objectives, content, exercises, key takeaways) that enables a clear flow for learning.

Modularity rating: 5

The text allows for great modularity, providing subsections of key topics. Breaking the content into digestible sections, enhances readability and engagement with the material.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Content flows logically from introductory concepts through the project lifecycle as aligned with the PMBOK.

Interface rating: 4

The PDF version for the second edition is not yet available - only online and epub.
The online version is very straightforward, accessible, and intuitive to navigate. Outside of the MS Project Tutorial, the text has a minimalist approach to visuals, which could disengage some learners.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Grammatically clean, with no significant errors noted. Sentence construction is appropriate for an academic text, and the tone is professional and informative.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The textbook is culturally neutral and uses examples (e.g., case studies in retail and government) that are inclusive and globally relatable. However, there is limited discussion of cross-cultural project management, which could enhance inclusiveness and real-world application.

Comments

This textbook is a suitable OER resource for courses in project management. It blends foundational theory with industry standard tools like MS Project, includes real-world examples, and is effective in guiding readers through the learning process. Minor improvements could include: integrating adaptive methodology into relatable predictive topics (stakeholder/risk management and communications), exploring additional PM software, expanding coverage of emerging trends like AI in project management and diversifying cultural/global cases.

Reviewed by Denise Scholten, Adjunct Professor, Mesa Community College on 4/29/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Its well-organized structure makes it easy to select relevant chapters or sections that align with specific learning objectives

Content Accuracy rating: 5

From my reading, the content is accurate.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Towards the end of the book, a dedicated chapter is devoted to covering iterative methodologies, such as Agile and Scrum, offering a focused exploration of these approaches. However, it's important to note that iterative methodology is not woven throughout the earlier chapters of the text. The book primarily emphasizes traditional project management techniques and processes, with iterative methodologies introduced as a separate and distinct section. While the chapter on iterative methods provides a thorough explanation of their principles, benefits, and application in modern project management, it doesn't integrate these concepts with the foundational content presented in the earlier chapters. This approach allows readers to understand the contrast between traditional and iterative methods but may leave those looking for a more integrated discussion feeling that iterative methodologies are somewhat isolated in the text.

Clarity rating: 5

One of the standout features of this book is its use of diagrams. Complex project management concepts are often simplified with well-crafted visuals, making them easier to grasp and apply. These visuals serve as powerful learning tools, enhancing the reader's ability to visualize processes, workflows, and key project management frameworks.

Consistency rating: 5

The structure of the book itself is another point of merit. The material is organized in a logical progression, ensuring that readers can build upon their knowledge without feeling overwhelmed. Each chapter builds on the previous one, and there are plenty of real-world examples and case studies that help to ground the theoretical content in practical application.

Modularity rating: 5

The book covers a broad range of topics in project management, structured in a way that takes readers from foundational concepts to advanced methodologies. The depth of coverage ensures that there is something for everyone

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book covers a broad range of topics in project management, structured in a way that takes readers from foundational concepts to advanced methodologies. The depth of coverage ensures that there is something for everyone

Interface rating: 5

The table of contents is exceptionally well-organized, making navigation through the book seamless and intuitive. Each section is clearly labeled, with topics grouped logically.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Correct - not that I encountered.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Correct.

Comments

From an educator's perspective, this book is an indispensable reference when developing project management courses. Whether designing an introductory course for beginners or a more advanced class, the book provides a wealth of material that can be tailored to different levels of instruction. Educators can use these visuals to illustrate complex concepts, breaking down theories in a way that students can easily understand and apply.

In summary, this book is not only a must-have for professionals but also an excellent teaching tool for educators. Its thorough treatment of topics, clear explanations, helpful visuals, and practical examples make it a fantastic resource for developing comprehensive, engaging, and effective project management courses

Reviewed by Carolyn McGary, Associate Professor, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 1/5/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Covers what I would expect in a project management book.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Up to date more than many other publications out there due to current year.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Published in 2022, Updated items as of 2023. Good relevance.

Clarity rating: 5

Writing seems to provide adequate context

Consistency rating: 5

Everything looks consistent.

Modularity rating: 5

Seems to be chunked well for student understanding.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Project management process makes the organization straight forward. Looks good.

Interface rating: 4

There are some charts/graphs/images where needed. Did not see videos.
I did notice that some of the figures and images may not have as much accessibility as they could (e.g. full alt text descriptions).

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Did not see any errors in grammar.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Did not notice any cultural references.

Comments

Has an instructor materials section hidden behind a password protection so instructors have to register for use. This is very clever and I will be keeping this in mind for my own publications.

Reviewed by Shaun Adams, Adjunct Professor of Business/Acquisition & Procurement, Tidewater Community College on 1/14/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

I've been teaching and applying Project Management practices for the past 17years in and outside of the classroom of Tidewater Community College, Newport News Shipbuilding, and MHI Ship Repair, LLC. I've been teaching and applying Project Management practices for the past 17years in and outside of the classroom of Tidewater Community College, Newport News Shipbuilding, and MHI Ship Repair, LLC.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I found no errors during reading. The book seems to be well proofed and edited.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Based on previous books, it is always good to have new books to support previously taught knowledge. I feel as if this book will be around a long time and utilized in both online and classroom applications. This book is focused on the basics of project management with updated techniques that is used in today’s project management applications.

Clarity rating: 5

This book is an easy read and can be easily comprehended by others. Visual examples provided are great.

Consistency rating: 5

This is well focused on the topic and no noticeable contradictions to normal practices.

Modularity rating: 5

Although there are 13 separate chapters of this book, each chapter built on the other. The content makeup from one chapter was like the next although each chapter provided different information. The tutorials, knowledge tests, and case studies supported each chapter taught.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Very consistent flow, organization, and structure. It provides complete details and learning objectives, content, take aways, test, and more from chapter to chapter.

Interface rating: 4

The online version of this book was easy to access through out. My only recommendation would be, when linking outside applications, that the link creates a new page in a new browser instead of keeping it inside. It makes it a little cumbersome to have to go back to the page left off instead of just closing out of the link that was clicked on.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I saw no grammatical errors though out the book.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I noticed no cultural relevance in this book as the topics were all business/project management related.

Comments

I enjoyed reading over this book and look forward to using it in upcoming teaching opportunities at my school and in the field. It’s an easy follow course book for anyone who is not familiar with the subject. For the teacher, it takes a lot of extra work out of creating curriculum when having good references throughout the book. This is a very well-grounded book by the group of authors. I look forward to using this book in the very near future.

Reviewed by Sangphil Kim, Associate Professor, Winona State University on 12/26/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This textbook covers all the chapters in Project management. However, some concepts are missing, especially some technical skills and managerial usages of those skills. Is it a good textbook for Project Management? It depends on how the instructor designs a course. If the instructor would focus on soft skills and skim technical parts, It can be a good textbook. Otherwise, it is not good enough since some technical concepts are missing. For example, it explain how to get a slack of a task from forward and backward scheduling, but slacks are used only to identify critical tasks. Slack is more than that. Slack is important when we want to minimize the project delay if there is shortage of resources (Resource constrained scheduling), or if we must delay/expedite some of tasks (managerial decision using slack).

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is accurate. I didn't find any errors or biased content.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Content is up-to-date, but not in a way that will quickly make the text obsolete within a short period of time. The text is written and/or arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written in lucid accessible prose. And, it provides adequate context for any jargon or terminology.

Consistency rating: 5

The textbook is consistent in terminology and framework. No issue found.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

This book is organized in a logical and clear fashion.

Interface rating: 5

The textbook doesn't have an issue with the interface. The textbook rather is excellent in the interface. It shows a lot of visual aids, especially screenshots in the tutorials for Microsoft Project.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I don't find any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The contents itself is hard to be offensive or insensitive. And I don't see any thing offensive/insensitive.

Comments

I really like to see a step-by-step tutorial of Microsoft Project in a textbook, though.

Reviewed by Jared Emard, Professor of Practice, Oregon Institute of Technology on 12/10/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

I've been teaching Project Management for Juniors and Seniors for 5+ years, and Oguz has everything (and a bit more) that I cover.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

No errors that I found. Seems well proofed.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Nice to have something so new, with references to how COVID has shaped the terrain and virtual PM. Though most of the text is built around traditional Project Management, there is one chapter devoted to agile techniques. I found that to be a nice nod.

Clarity rating: 5

Very easy to understand. Plenty of visual examples.

Consistency rating: 5

No contradictions that I noticed.

Modularity rating: 5

This was one of my favorite parts! Each of the 13 chapters followed a very similar structure, but they almost all included things like cases, MS Project tutorials, and knowledge test quizlets. It would be very easy to mix and match or just pull out the tutorials into a lab book for example.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Very consistent organization. I knew what to expect in each chapter. Learning Objectives->Content->Cases->Key Takeaways->Knowledge Tests->Attributions.

Interface rating: 3

Easy linking throughout, however, when choosing the knowledge test at the end of each chapter, it routes you to the web version with the quiz. While this works swimmingly, I was working off the PDF, and the only way back is the browser back arrow, which returned me to the beginning of the entire text or the PDF. I would love an option to return to the point I left off without being forced into the browser version.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No concerns

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Nothing that I noticed. Of course, the topics are mostly budgeting and scheduling so....

Comments

I'm looking for a good OER solution for a PM course I teach with Juniors and Seniors in Engineering and Business. This is a tantalizing option. Oguz successfully hits on all topics I cover in class, with a few more besides.
The text is well organized, and incorporates cases, and knowledge tests along the way, but one of the biggest boons for me is the addition of step-by-step instructions on how to use MS Project to do some of this work. It does not go deep into MSP, but it's a great starting point to give my students the basics. I've found that setting students (even IT seniors) in front of MS Project without any specific instruction can be problematic.
If there is something this text is missing, it's visuals. Though chalk-full of tables, graphs and matrixes, I don't remember seeing one colored image. I know it takes space and could become an attribution nightmare, but I think my students will utilize this text more if it shows more visual interest than a 1929 dictionary.
One chapter towards the end devoted to agile management isn't enough to do any good, but I still appreciate seeing it. It's good to remind ourselves that there is more than one successful way to practice in this field.
Finally, this text draws a lot of its statistics, definitions and more from PMI. It's nice to see the material grounded in industry standards.