This textbook is an adaptation of other open educational resources (OER) but is specifically designed for students at an introductory level of project management (PM). The purpose of this textbook is to provide a free resource dedicated to college students and as a gateway to understanding PM principles. It consists of the text body, which is structured into fourteen chapters to be delivered over a fourteen-week semester, where each chapter discusses the concept of one topic related to PM. The chapters define PM and its types and differentiate PM from everyday activities. It then describes PM from an organizational perspective, including culture and structure’s effect on PM. The five steps of the PM processes are then discussed individually in different chapters, in addition to sub-processes such as budgeting, scheduling, procurement and communication. Both the project manager and project team are introduced separately so that their characteristics and relationships are appreciated. After that, in the last chapter, Agile PM is presented as a contrast to conventional PM.

At the end of each chapter, a business case is presented to demonstrate the concept in real-life scenarios, allowing the instructor to present the topic concept in a real business world context, and the relation between the concept and application is clear. The business case is also included to allow group discussions and develop peer-to-peer interactions and collaboration. Following the business case, a set of interactive exercises, designed with H5P, are included for a quick assessment of the understanding of the topic.  In support of this textbook, a set of slides for each chapter is prepared for online/in-class teaching.  Therefore, for the best utilization of the book, the instructor should employ all elements of this OER to reach the course learning outcomes.

For the Student

Each chapter in this text begins with a list of the relevant learning objectives and ends with a case study. Each chapter also includes interactive knowledge check questions and a list of key terms.

For the Instructor

Please share your adoption and any feedback you have about the book with us at oer@fanshawec.ca

The following resources are available:

• Interactive exercises for students to check their knowledge are provided at the end of each chapter.
• Slide decks can be found under ancillary resources in the appendix.
• Video resources have been embedded in the text where applicable.
• Key terms are highlighted throughout the chapter and summarized at the end of each chapter.