Page 13 - DMGT521_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Project Management

Notes 2. Is this person experienced in working in similar organizations and is that experience
transferable to this project?
3. Does this person know the politics of our organization and have the savvy to navigate
these situations?

Skills and Knowledge

1. Does this person have adequate knowledge about the subject of this project?
2. If some of these skills are weak is there support available in the organization to offset the
problem?
3. Does this person have adequate technical skills for this project?
4. Does this person have the skills understand the root causes of potential problems and
keep them from reoccurring?

Project Management Experience

1. Has this person led projects of similar scope, size, length and priority?
2. Is this person on a growth track to lead more complex projects?

1.6 Fitting Projects into Parent Organisation

Earlier in this unit we referred several times to problems caused by the way projects are organized
and fit in as a part of the parent organization. It is now time to deal with this subject. It would be
most unusual for a PM to have any influence over the interface between the project and the
parent organization. This arrangement is a matter of company policy and usually is decided by
senior management. The nature of the interface, however, has a major impact on the PM’s life,
and it is necessary that the PM understand why senior managers make what appears to be the
worst of all possible choices for the interface.

More on “Why Projects?”

Before examining the alternative ways in which a project can interface with the organization, it
is useful to add to our understanding of just why organizations choose to conduct so much of
their work as projects. We spoke above of project-oriented firms. In addition to the managerial
reasons that caused the rapid spread of such organizations, there were also strong economic
reasons. First, devising product development programs by integrating product design,
engineering, manufacturing, and marketing functions in one team not only improved the product,
it also allowed significant cuts in the time-to-market for the product.

Example: In the 1990s, Chrysler Motors (now owned by Fiat) cut almost 18 months from
the new product development time required for design-to-street and produced designs that
were widely rated as outstanding. This brought new Chrysler models to market much faster
than normal in the automotive industry. Quite apart from the value of good design, the economic
value of the time saved is immense and derives from both reduced design labor and overhead,
plus earlier sales and return on the investment— in this case amounting to hundreds of millions
of dollars. The same methods were used to enable General Motors to redesign and reimage their
Cadillac and Buick models in response to the sharp decline in demand during the steep business
downturn of 2008. This same process also allows a firm to tailor special versions of standard
products for individual clients.

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