This is the first practice standard that the Project Management Institute (PMI®) has developed to complement and elaborate on the information contained in its de facto global standard for the profession, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – 2000 Edition. It provides guidance and universal principles for the initial generation, subsequent development, and application of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Successful project management uses planning techniques to define the project objectives in sufficient detail to support effective management of the project. The WBS provides the foundation for defining work as it relates to project objectives and establishes the structure for managing the work to its completion. Each descending level of a WBS represents an increasingly detailed definition of the project work.
This PMI standard provides an introduction to the WBS concept, defines the WBS and its characteristics, discusses the benefits of using a WBS, and demonstrates how to build a WBS and determine if it is sufficient for subsequent planning and control. A unique feature of this handbook is the inclusion of 11 industry-specific WBS examples. Constituting over half of the book, these examples aid the reader in further understanding, creating, and using WBSs in the following industries or applications:
-Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical (OGP) -Environmental Management -Process Improvement -Pharmaceutical -Process Plant Construction

-Service Industry Outsourcing -Web Design -Telecommunications -Refinery Turnaround -Government Design-Bid-Build -Software Implementation

这是项目管理协会（PMIВ®）制定的第一个实践标准，以补充和阐述其事实上的全球专业标准《项目管理知识体系指南》（PMBOKВ®指南）2000版中的信息。它为工作分解结构（WBS）的最初生成、后续发展和应用提供指导和普遍原则。成功的项目管理使用规划技术来定义足够详细的项目目标，以支持项目的有效管理。WBS为定义与项目目标有关的工作提供了基础，并为管理工作的完成建立了结构。WBS的每一个层次都代表了对项目工作越来越详细的定义。
本PMI标准提供了对WBS概念的介绍，定义了WBS及其特点，讨论了使用WBS的好处，并演示了如何建立一个WBS并确定它是否足以用于后续的计划和控制。本手册的一个独特之处在于包含了11个特定行业的WBS实例。这些例子占全书的一半以上，有助于读者在以下行业或应用中进一步理解、创建和使用WBS。
-石油、天然气和石油化工（OGP） -环境管理 -流程改进 -制药 -加工厂建设
-服务业外包 -网页设计 -电信 -炼油厂周转 -政府设计-投标-建造 -软件实施