Project Management

and Organizations
The name of the game, the
players, and the rules
 Goals
⑤ Understanding what is a project, what is
the life cycle of a project and how it
differs from other types of works
⑤ Understanding the influences
organizations exert on project and project
executions
⑤ Understanding the players and the
relationships among them
⑤ Detailing the process groups and the
knowledge areas
 Internet References
Books
⑤ http://www.esse3.unitn.it
⑤ http://www.pmi.org
⑤ http://www.sybex.com

Historical References: http://www.wikipedia.org;

look for:
⑤ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_project_manageme
⑤ Frederick Winslow Taylor,
⑤ Henry Laurence Gantt
 What is a project
A project is a temporary endeavor
undertaken to create a unique
product, service, or result
 What is a project
⑤ Temporary:
 definitive begin and end (either because the
goals are met or the project is closed - goals
cannot or will not be met)
 projects’ results are not necessarily temporary
(see project and product lifecycle)
⑤ Unique products, service, or result:
 A product which is quantifiable (e.g. a
component, …)
 A capability to perform a service, such a
business function
 A result, such as knowledge (collected in
documents, presentation, …)
⑤ Progressive elaboration
 Development by steps and in increments
 Projects and
Operational Work
Work can be categorized either as project
or operational.
⑤ Common characteristics:
 Performed by people
 Limited resources
 Planned, executed, and controlled
⑤ Differences:
 Project: obtain goals and termimate
 Operational Work: sustain the business
 Examples
⑤ Cooking dinner
⑤ Preparing a dinner for friends
⑤ Mass producing a car
⑤ Designing a car
⑤ Publishing papers
⑤ Developing a software system
 Projects vs. Strategic
Planning
Projects are a means of organizing activities
that cannot be achieved using
organization’s normal operation limits and
are often used to achieve an
organization’s strategic plan

Typically authorized by:

⑤ A market demand
⑤ An organizational need
⑤ A customer request
⑤ A technological advance
⑤ A legal requirement
 Project Management
Context
⑤ Project and Program Management
 set of projects managed in a coordinated way
in order to achieve some sort of benefit
 Programs may be cyclical (fundraising,
publishing a newspaper, …)
⑤ Portfolios and Portfolio Management
 A collection of projects or programs and other
work grouped together to facilitate
management and meet strategic objectives
 Project Management
Context
⑤ Subprojects
 Projects may be divided in subprojects
(altough the sub-projects may be referred to
as “projects” and managed as such).
 Examples: (based on the process) a phase of a
project, (based on skills) plumbing or wiring in
building a house, (based on technologies)
automated testing of a software product.
Characteristics of a
Project (Part II)
(some of) The rules
(and the board game)
 Project Life Cycle
⑤ Projects are usually organized in phases
⑤ Typically (but not necessarily)
organizations define (or adopt) their own
life cycles, namely
 The technical work to be done in each phase
 The deliverables to be produced by each
phase (a deliverable is a measurable and
verifiable work products)
 Who is involved
 The rules of transition from one phase to the
next
 Project Life Cycle

Idea
Inputs PM Team

Phases Initial Intermediate Final

Charter Plan Progress

Acceptance Handover
Outputs Scope
Statement
Baseline Approval

Product
 Project Life Cycle
Initial Phase Initial Phase Closing Phase

Cost and Staff

Influence of stakeholder
Cost of change
Project Life Cycle and Product
Life Cycle

Upgrade

Business Plan Operations Divestment

Idea

Product

Phases Initial Intermedi Final

ate
 What is a project (part
2)
⑤ Projects can be seen from (at least) two points of
view:
 As a sequence of phases
 As a variation of the plan-do-act-check loop

⑤ Some common characteristics and relationships:

 Hierarchical (each major process is decomposed in
smaller processes)
 Iterative (it may repeat over time)
 (sort of) mutually recursive (think, e.g., of subprojects)
 Process Groups
⑤ If we take a slightly different point of
view, we can start organizing the
activities necessary to carry out a
project in process groups
⑤ The organization is a variation of the
plan-do-act cycle
 Process Groups

Monitoring &
Controlling

Planning

Initiating Closing

Executing
 Process Groups
⑤ Initiating: defines and authorizes the project
⑤ Planning: defines and refines the project
objectives and plans the course of actions
⑤ Executing: integrates people and resources to
carry out the project management plan
⑤ Monitoring and controlling: measures and
monitors progress to identify variances
⑤ Closing: formalizes acceptance of the product,
service, or results and brings the project to an
orderly end.
 Levels of Activity

Execute

Plan

Closing
Initiate
 Process Groups and
Project Boundaries
Monitoring & Deliverables End User
Controlling

Planning

Project
Project
Initiator/Sponsor Initiating Closing
Inputs

Project Process
Executing Records Assets
 Project and
Organizations
(Some of) the players and
(some of) the rules
Functional/Hierarchical
 Remarks
⑤ Operational decisions originate at the top
of the hierarchy and propagate
⑤ Sharp distinction of functions and rigid
structure

⑤ Good for small firms, geographically

concentrated, with a small set of standard
products, mainly focused in operational
work
⑤ Organization of work in projects is clumsy
(unless project managers are in the
Direction)
Divisional
 Remarks
⑤ First example: Du Pont (1921)
⑤ Strategy located in the Direction
⑤ Responsibility and operational
decisions are taken by the Division
⑤ Allows for specialization to specific
markets/sectors (e.g. expert in the
A.I.)
⑤ Profits and losses are shared
 Remark
⑤ (Fierce) competition among divisions
⑤ Divisions tend to operate on smaller term
goals
⑤ Duplication of functions may increase
costs

⑤ Projects within Division are relatively

simple. Interdivisional projects more
complex.
 Projectized
⑤ Project is central
General

⑤ Disadvantages:
Direction

Administration
Project 1 Project 2 Project 3
 lack of
and Finance
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specialization
are needed to see this picture.
 continuity of work
and reallocation of
people after the
project ends
 Matricial
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General
Direction

Administration
Marketing Production Sales Personnel
and Finance

Project A

Project B

Project C

Project D
 Matricial
General
Direction

PMO Administration
Marketing Production Sales Personnel
and Finance

Project A

Project B

QuickTime™ and a
None decompressor
Project C are needed to see this picture.

Project D
 Matricial
⑤ Structural “accommodation” of projects
⑤ May or may not contain a PMO (Project
Management Office) for sharing
resources, monitoring and control
⑤ Two bosses “syndrome”
⑤ The point is where the decisions are
taken:
 Weak matrix
 Balanced matrix
 Strong matrix
 Weak Matrix
⑤ Responsibility mainly located in the
functional areas
⑤ PM more as a facilitator (helps keeping
focus, monitor and control) and negotiator

⑤ Useful in structures where products are

standardized but production is complex
⑤ Facilitates an orientation of the
organization towards a project
management culture
 Strong Matrix
⑤ PM is responsible of:
 Planning operational activities (it “tells”
functional areas what has to be done - in
practice slightly weaker than that!)
 Coordinating people
 Monitoring and Controlling progresses
⑤ Friction between PM and Functional Areas:
 PM focused on shorter term goals
 Functional area responsible inclined to think of
the lending personnel as a “favour”.
 Necessity of mediating requests of different
projects and project managers for the
Functional Areas
⑤ Good for complex products with standard
 Balanced Matrix
⑤ Something between Strong and
Weak
⑤ Need for a PM
⑤ PM hasn’t got all the authority of a
Strong Matrix (usually embedded in
a functional unit - it may report to
the person responsible of an area)
Dedicated Team
 Dedicated Team
⑤ A special unit is created for the duration of the
project. PM has complete responsibility over the
planning, team, etc.
⑤ Similar to projectized organization
⑤ Example: Lockheed-Martin (sixties):
 60 C54 airplanes (milliard dollars contract), 12000
pieces per airplane, several subcontractors
 Dedicated team with ~ 11000 hundred people
⑤ Disadvantages include:
 Strong focus on shorter term goals
 Re-allocation of people after the project’s end
 Integration in the company (e.g. evaluation of
people, feeling of belonging to the company)
 Summing up…

Functional Weak Matrix Balanced Strong Projectized

Matrix Matrix

PM Little or Limited Low to Moderate to High to

Authority none Moderate High almost Total

Resource Little or Limited Low to Moderated High to

Availability none Moderate to High almost total

Who Functional Functional Mixed Project Project

controls the Manager Manager Manager Manager
project
budget
Project Part-time Part-time Full-times Full-time Full-time
Manager
Role
Project Part-time Part-time Part-time Full-time Full-time
Managemen
t
Administrati
ve Staff
 A side remark…
⑤ Changes in a structure are subjected to
the Organisational Lag (organizations
and personnel have “hysteresis” -
Kerzner)
Technology/changes
organization

personnel
 Strategy for
introducing new
techniques (Swartz and
Davis)
Strategic importance

High

Medium

Low

Resistance to change

Low Medium High

 Strategy for
introducing new
techniques (Swartz and
Davis)
Strategic importance

High

Medium

Low

Resistance to change

Low Medium High

Projects and their
Environment
The players
The players

Project
Sponsor

Project
Manager

Project
Management
Team

Project Team

Project Stakeholder
 The Players
⑤ Stakeholders:
 who is involved in the project and/or people
whose interest may be affected by the project
⑤ Stakeholders:
 may have different influence and varying level
of responsibility during the project
 may have positive or negative influence on
the project
 may be difficult to identify
 The Players
⑤ Customer/User: person or organization that will use
the results of a project. There may be multiple
layers of users.
⑤ Performing Organization: the organization mostly
involved in the project
⑤ Project team members: the group performing the
work
⑤ Project management team: the members of the
team directly involved in project management
⑤ Sponsor: person or group providing the financial
resources
⑤ Influencers: people or groups not directly related to
the project who could influence the course of a project
 The Players (ctd)
⑤ There may be overlaps among
different stakeholders (the customer
may also be the sponsor)
⑤ There are other characterisations:
Internal/external
Sellers and contractors
…
 The Players (you)
⑤ Project Manager:
 person responsible of managing the project
 person responsible of managing stakeholder
expectations
 a negotiator and a facilitator
 the reference person for a project

⑤ Some skills
 communication and negotiation skills
 a little predisposition to risk
 goal oriented
 Leadership

⑤ Summing up (according to Sernia):

 Solid know-how
 A lot of common sense
 Professional correctness
 A bit of style
 The role of the PM
⑤ The PM ensures Cost
that the project
goals are met
according to the
constraints

Time
Quality
 The PM and its
environment
sponsor

Expectations, Achievable goals

resources

performing resources Constraints, opportunities

organization influencers
results PM
Goals, plan, …

Products,
Achievable goals,
Services, or results
Information,
Commitment
requirements
… project
customer team
Process Groups and
Knowledge Areas
 Process Groups and
Knowledge Areas
⑤ Process Groups defines the activities
necessary to carry out a project
⑤ Knowledge areas organize the skills
necessary to carry out the project
groups
 Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring and Closing
Controlling

Project Management Develop Project Develop project Direct and manage Monitor and control Close project
Integration charter and management plan project execution project work;
preliminary Integrated control
scope statement change
Project Scope Management Scope planning, scope Scope verification;
definition, create WBS scope control

Project Time Management Activity Definition, Schedule control

sequencing, resource
and duration
estimation, schedult
development
Project Cost Management Cost estimation, cost Cost control
budgeting

Project Quality Management Quality planning Quality assurance Quality control

Project Human Resource HR planning Acquire project team, Manage project team
Management develop project team

Project Communication Communications Information distribution Performance reporting,

Management planning stakeholder
management
Project Risk Management Risk Management Risk monitoring and
planning, risk control
identification,
qualitative and
quantitative risk
management, risk
response planning
Project Procurement planning Plan purchases and Request seller Contract administration Contract closure
acquisition; plan responses; select
contracting sellers