Earned Value Project Management, 3rd Edition

"Earned value" is a project management technique that is emerging as a valuable tool in the management of all projects, including and, in particular, software projects. In its most simple form, earned value equates to fundamental project management. This is not a new book, but rather it is an updated book. Authors Quentin Fleming and Joel Koppelman have made some important additions. In many cases, there will be no changes to a given section. But in other sections, the authors have made substantial revisions to what they had described in the first edition. Fleming and Koppelman's goal remains the same with this update: describe earned value project management in its most fundamental form, for application to all projects, of any size or complexity. Writing in an easy-to-read, friendly, and humorous style characteristic of the best teachers, Fleming and Koppelman have identified the minimum requirements that they feel are necessary to use earned value as a simple tool for project managers. They have also witnessed the use of simple earned value on software projects, and find it particularly exciting. Realistically, a Cost Performance Index (CPI) is the same whether the project is a multibillion-dollar high-technology project, or a simple one hundred thousand-dollar software project. A CPI is a CPI ... period. It is a solid metric that reflects the health of the project. In every chapter, Fleming and Koppelman stick with using simple stories to define their central concept. Their project examples range from peeling potatoes to building a house. Examples are in round numbers, and most formulas get no more complicated than one number divided by another. Earned Value Project Management-Second Edition may be the best-written, most easily understood project management book on the market today. Project managers will welcome this fresh translation of jargon into ordinary English. The authors have mastered a unique "early-warning" signal of impending cost problems in tim

Customer Reviews:

Unique book about a powerful project management tool

By Mike Tarrani "Jazz Drummer" - March 18, 2001

This is the only book that I know of that is totally devoted to earned value project management. Before proceeding with a review I believe that a few facts about earned value project management are in order. First, earned value project management has graduated from a tool that was little known outside of the Department of Defense contracting community to a mainstream project control tool. This milestone occurred when it became a part of the Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).Second, "earned value" is a misunderstood term. I have had clients who thought it was a consultant's trick to raise prices or hide the true costs of projects in a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Just the opposite is true - earned value is a proven, powerful tool with which to control project costs and schedules. If you use it any poor estimating from the project planning phase will become quickly apparent, allowing you to recalibrate the project before it gets out... read more

Application of Earned Value can avoid legal problems.

By Harinath Thummalapalli - April 6, 2003

As explained in Chapter 12, applying Earned Value concepts on projects in a publicly traded company may avoid legal problems surrounding accurate reporting of the financial situation of a company. This is because most projects if not completed could result in inaccurate financial reporting for a publicly traded company (if some form of performance measurement wasn't used while the project was in progress). It is interesting that this book was written before the accounting scandals of 2001-2002 and one of the few books that addresses this aspect. I don't know how much of the accounting scandals involved projects but I wouldn't be surprised if the SEC starts imposing stricter rules on the financial reporting surrounding projects in the future.This book is an excellent treatise on how to measure project performance from both a cost and schedule perspective. This is what Earned Valued Analysis is all about. The book never gets too complicated and is easy to follow the whole way (200... read more

Where is the rest?

By D. Laffineuse "David" - August 16, 2004

So far I have found two books dedicated to the topic of earned value: this book by Fleming and Koppelman and another book entitled `Using Earned Value' by Alan Webb. Note that I am not listing the earned value `Cliff notes' entitled `Project Management: The Commonsense Approach" by the Lamberts, which will not add to your understanding of earned value management or analysis, and serves, at best, as a memory jogger on the basic concepts.

"Earned Value Project Management, Second Edition" by Fleming and Koppelman provides a good treatment of the history of earned value and of the calculation methods of its core measurements. However the book falls short in terms of methods of analysis and interpretation of these measurements, which is really where project managers need guidance and expertise. Indeed calculations are automated by the scheduling packages (e.g. Microsoft Project, Primavera, etc.), in other words getting the numbers is never the problem (although some packages... read more