Project Management for the 21st Century, Third Edition
A modern, proven approach to project management that has the potential to supply structure, focus, and control to drive work to success.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Project Management for the 21st Century, Third Edition
Chapter 15: Culture Factors in Projects
HOW IS CULTURE INVOLVED IN PROJECTS?
Culture is a vague term. Here are some definitions that are useful.
-
Culture is the integrated pattern of knowledge, belief, and behavior.
-
Culture consists of the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits, of a racial, religious, or social group.
-
Culture is the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an organization.
All three of these are valuable to us here. When you undertake a project, it is in the context of an organization. The people who are involved in the project and the organization exist within a wider culture.
Organization Culture
Culture impacts projects in several major ways. One is the environment of the organization. Culture here includes the following:
-
How issues are addressed. Issues can be viewed as negative in some companies. So you must call them opportunities.
-
How decisions are made. In some companies, decision-making is passed upward delaying the time for action.
-
How actions are taken. Culture can place a limit on direct action.
-
The extent to which the organization supports initiative and empowerment versus control. The degree of discretion varies by company.
-
How work is organized. This can be an individual or collective thing.
-
How work is reviewed. If too much trust is placed on employees, then there may be no review. If the employees say that things are OK.
-
The value placed on project management. Some companies have yet to adopt formal project management-whether traditional or modern.
-
The degree of flexibility and structure in work.
Copyright ACADEMIC PRESS 2002 under license agreement with Books24x7
