Applied Business Transformation

It became clear to me that students were struggling because they did not have a solid understanding of how businesses work. Their questions were valid. Project management students were being parachuted into the middle of the concept of project management without any business context. When they tried to connect the dots, there was no context for them, and there was also no context for them to connect the dots from. I would take an entire three-hour class and map out the essence of what is in this book. I have been told many times by students that after they were introduced to these concepts, they understood what they had been learning for the last several years. This introduction clarified the concepts of previous project management classes.

The intent is to look at business from a high level (corporate vision) and identify all the major components necessary to deliver business benefits at the project level. The intent is to provide an overview of the infrastructure required to support a major business transformation effort. Some corporations may have some or all the infrastructure in place, whereas others may view this information as new. In any case, this is intended as an overview designed to allow the reader to explore the various infrastructure components and understand their functions.