OVERVIEW

There has been a marked increase in the number of companies that regard themselves as project oriented. Consequently, so has there been an increase in the recognition of the impact of successful projects on the profit-loss status. Therefore, there is a heightened pressure to assure that projects are successful in terms of deliverable results, cost, and delivery date. Global projects with virtual teams have emerged as vehicles by which the cost and duration of projects can be reduced while maintaining a reasonable control on the quality and scope of projects. As a result, there are financial and operational incentives to develop an infrastructure that is friendly to virtual projects. This friendliness will be manifested by strategic imperatives to formulate a customized set of procedures and guidelines specifically for the virtual projects of the organization. Further, the globalization of business has resulted in greater interest in a more comprehensive suite of the best practices of project management.

Through the use of virtual teams, managing organizations by projects has become the reality, because teams and their associated projects are no longer limited by physical boundaries. The fundamental change is that, with the virtual team as an option, geographic location is no longer the primary context in which to define and pursue business opportunities in support of strategic goals and competitive objectives. Managing organizations by projects is a philosophy based on the principle that strategic goals of the corporation can be achieved through the planning and execution of a series of projects...