Successful Project Management, Second Edition
Designed to be practical, stimulating and challenging, this workbook describes the skills, techniques and considerations involved in successful project management.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Successful Project Management, Second Edition
Working within the Organizational Framework
There are some important differences between the ways that projects and organizations are managed.
Organizations are primarily concerned with the long run and with long term-targets.Their prime objective is that of survival, of continued existence, and in order to achieve this they are often prepared to sacrifice their original aims or radically alter their form or structure. This survival is not a time-related goal but a continual one that runs in front of the organization like a standing wave on the bow of a ship.2
ACTIVITY 12
Complete the following table3.
| Organizations | Projects | |
|---|---|---|
| Timescale | Long term | |
| Horizon | Unlimited | |
| Objectives | Continuing survival | |
| Outcomes | Replicas or hybrids |
FEEDBACK
From the work you did in the first section of this book, you will have recognized that projects work on a short-term timescale and have a clearly defined horizon.Their objectives are completion and termination and their outcomes are unique and one-off.
An organization can use a project to help it achieve its goal of long-term survival.As you have seen, projects can provide an opportunity for an organization to change direction or even restructure itself.There is, however, always a certain tension between a project and its client organization.
TYPES OF PROJECT ORGANIZATION
There are three main forms of project organization:
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Client-centred The project team is integrated into the client organization, working for the project on a part-time or informal basis.The project makes use of the organization's personnel, expertise and infrastructure. It probably shares...
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