Project Management/Organization

Organization is an entity made up of a body of people. Organizations include institutions, businesses or any association with a collective goal and is linked to an external environment.^[1] This lesson covers the organization element of project management.

Objectives and Skills

Objectives and skills for the organization portion of Project+ PK0-004 certification include:^[2]

Identify common project team organizational structures.
- Functional
  - Resources reporting to functional manager
  - Project manager has limited or no authority
- Matrix
  - Authority is shared between functional managers and project managers
  - Resources assigned from functional area to project
  - Project manager authority ranges from weak to strong
- Projectized
  - Project manager has full authority
  - Resources report to project manager
  - Ad hoc resources
Recognize types of organizational change.
- Business merger/acquisition
- Business demerger/split
- Business process change
- Internal reorganization
- Relocation
- Outsourcing

Readings

Multimedia

Activities

For an organizational chart, use a tool such as: Creately: Tools, Templates and Resource to Draw Org Charts/Hierarchy Charts and create a hierarchical chart for your organization or school. In addition, review Wikipedia: Diagramming software.
Review three organizational structures CPD: How Do Organizational Structures Affect Projects and Project Management. Consider which kind of organizational structure you are associated with.
- How does it affect your environment? How would the other structures affect where you work?
- Write a summary of the affects and your opinion on the best suited structure for your organization.
Review Tutorialspoint: Decision Making Process. With the steps given about decision making process, compare it to the way your organization makes decisions.
You have been assigned the task of implementing the internal process standards for the organization in which you work. Research standardization methods using tools such as:
- ISO: New ISO standard on project management.
- Write a summary justifying why you would or would not choose any of these methods to use for your organization.
Review TechNet Magazine: Business of IT Understanding Regulatory Compliance. Choose a best practices compliance method to make your organization compliant and research it.

Lesson Summary

An organization consists of multiple people that has a collective goal and is linked to an external environment.^[3]
There are a variety of legal types of organizations, such as corporations, governments, armed forces, charities, and educational institutions.^[4]
According to management science, most human organizations fall roughly into four types including committees, ecologies, matrix, and hierarchies.^[5]
Organizational culture can cause a change in which the way people and groups interact with each other, clients, and stakeholders.^[6]
Organizational structure provides the foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest as well as determines which individuals get to participate in which decision-making processes, and thus to what extent their views shape the organization’s actions.^[7]
A functional organizational structure is fitting as a producer of standardized goods and services at large volume and low cost. In addition, at coordination and specific tasks, which makes producing a limited amount of products or services efficient and predictable.^[8]
In a matrix organization the functional manager assures that each type of expert in the organization is well-trained, and measured by a boss who is super-expert in the same field and the executive manager tries to get projects completed using the experts.^[9]
Matrix organizational structure can be weak, balanced, or strong.^[10]
An organizational chart shows the relations between people within an organization. There can be various types such as hierarchical, matrix, or flat.^[11]
Governance can pertain to the processes of interaction and decision-making among the actors involved in a collective problem that lead to the creation, reinforcement, or reproduction of social norms and institutions.^[12]
Governance structures and principles recognizes the rights and responsibilities among different participants in the corporation (managers, shareholders, and other stakeholders) and includes the rules and procedures for making decisions in corporate affairs.^[13]
Even if the organization is a geopolitical entity (nation-state), a corporation (organization incorporated as legal entity), a socio-political entity, or an informal one, its governance is the way the rules, norms, and actions are produced, sustained, regulated and held accountable.^[14]
In regards to governance mechanisms, this would include monitoring the actions, policies, practices, and decisions of corporations, their agents, and affected stakeholders.^[15]
ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, is an independent, nongovernmental organization. Its standards aid in the creation of products and services that are safe, reliable and of good quality.^[16]
Using the phase-gate model for product development identifies problems and assesses progress before the project's conclusion. Using this model on a large project reduces complexity of what could be a large and limiting innovation process and creates a straightforward rule-based approach. When a phase-gate model incorporates cost and fiscal analysis tools such as net present value, the organization can potentially be provided with quantitative information regarding the feasibility of developing potential product ideas. Finally, the model is an opportunity to validate the updated business case by a project's executive sponsors.^[17]
The SDLC attach to phases that are important to developers, such as planning, analysis, design, and implementation. There are different types of SDLC models which are waterfall, fountain, spiral, build and fix, rapid prototyping, incremental, synchronize and stabilize. The waterfall model is the oldest and is more commonly used for project management.^[18]
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) identifies major phases and milestones of a project in a summary. It also includes the scope and timelines which will be part of the initial project description to get the approval for the project.^[19]
The basic Project Management Processes/Stages of development may be used regardless of methodology. The major process groups include Initiating, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing.^[20]
Virtual team, which can also be known as remote team, refers to a group of individuals that work together from different locations and communicate through technology. Such technology can be e-mail, Fax, video, or voice conferencing in order for each individual to collaborate on the task the team is working on.^[21].

Key Terms

adaptive software development: a software development approach used when requirements cannot be clearly expressed early in the life cycle.
agile software development: a method for software development that uses new approaches, focusing on close collaboration between programming teams and business experts.
business acquisition: one entity takes ownership of another entity's stock, equity interests or assets.
business demerger/split: a form of corporate restructuring in which the entity's business operations are segregated into one or more components.
business merger: a legal consolidation of two entities into one entity.
business process: an activity or set of activities that will accomplish a specific organizational goal.
deliverable: a product or services, such as a technical report, a training session, a piece of hardware, or a segment of software code, produced or provided as part of a project.
executive steering committee: coordinating people and other resources to carry out the project plans and create the products, services, or results of the project or project phase.
functional organization structure: an organizational structure that groups people by functional areas such as IT, manufacturing, engineering, and human resources.
human resources frame: a frame that focuses on producing harmony between the needs of the organization and the needs of people.; internal reorganization; an overhaul of a company's internal structure to improve efficiency, cut costs, re-position the business, and deal with corporate changes such as mergers and acquisitions.
IT governance: the authority and control for key IT activities in organizations, including IT infrastructure, IT use, and project management.
matrix organizational structure: an organizational structure in which employees are assigned to either functional managers or project managers.
organization culture: a set of shared assumptions, values, and behaviors that characterize the function of the organization.
organizational chart: shows the relations between people within an organization. There can be various types such as hierarchical, matrix, or flat.
outsourcing: an organization's acquisition of goods and services from an outside source.
phase-gate (or stage-gate or waterfall) process: a a project management technique in which an initiative or project (e.g., new product development, software development, process improvement, business change) is divided into distinct stages or phases, separated by decision points known as gates.
predictive life cycle: a software development approach used when the scope can be expressed clearly and the schedule and cost can be accurately predicted.
project feasibility: an analysis and evaluation of a proposed project to determine if it is technically feasible, is feasible within the estimated cost, and will be profitable.; relocation; change in the physical location of a business due to rising costs at the current facility, better tax breaks in a different location, changes in its target market, etc.
project manager: the person responsible for working with the project sponsor, the project team, and other people involved to meet project goals.
project organizational structure: a hierarchical organizational structure that groups people by major projects and in which the organization earns its revenue primarily from performing projects for other groups under contract, i.e. defense, architectural, engineering, and consulting companies.
software development life cycle (SDLC): a framework defining tasks performed at each step in the software development process. SDLC is a structure a development team follows within the software organization consisting of a detailed plan describing how to develop, maintain and replace specific software.
structural frame: a frame that deals with how the organization is structured and focuses on different groups roles and responsibilities to meet the goals and policies set by top management.
waterfall model: it is the oldest SDLC type and is more commonly used for project management than any other. It is a sequential design process in which progress is seen as flowing steadily downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases of Conception, Initiation, Analysis, Design, Construction, Testing, Production/Implementation and Maintenance.

Review Questions

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An _____ consists of multiple people that have a collective goal and is linked to an external environment.

An organization consists of multiple people that have a collective goal and is linked to an external environment.
There are a variety of legal types of organizations such as, _____, _____, _____, _____, and _____.

There are a variety of legal types of organizations such as corporations, governments, armed forces, charities, and educational institutions.
According to management science, most _____ fall roughly into four types including _____, _____, _____, and _____.

According to management science, most human organizations fall roughly into four types including committees, ecologies, matrices, and hierarchies.
Organizational _____ can cause a change in which the way people and groups interact with each other, clients, and stakeholders.

Organizational culture can cause a change in which the way people and groups interact with each other, clients, and stakeholders.
Organizational _____ provides the foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest as well as determines which individuals get to participate in which _____, and thus to what extent their views shape the organization’s actions.

Organizational structure provides the foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest as well as determines which individuals get to participate in which decision-making processes, and thus to what extent their views shape the organization’s actions.
The three basic organizational structures are ____, ____, and ____. Project managers have the most authority in a ___ project organization, an intermediate amount of authority in a ___ organization, and the least amount of authority in a pure ___ organization.

The three basic organizational structures are functional, matrix, and project. Project managers have the most authority in a pure project organization, an intermediate amount of authority in a matrix organization, and the least amount of authority in a pure functional organization.
In a _____ organization the functional manager assures that each type of expert in the organization is well-trained, and measured by a boss who is a super-expert in the same field. The executive manager tries to get projects completed using the experts.

In a matrix organization the functional manager assures that each type of expert in the organization is well-trained, and measured by a boss who is a super-expert in the same field. The executive manager tries to get projects completed using the experts.
Matrix organizational structure can be _____, _____, or _____.

Matrix organizational structure can be weak, balanced, or strong.
An organizational _____ shows the relations between people within an organization of which there can be various types such as _____, _____, or _____.

An organizational chart shows the relations between people within an organization of which there can be various types such as hierarchical, matrix, or flat.
_____ can pertain to "the processes of interaction and decision-making among the actors involved in a collective problem that lead to the creation, reinforcement, or reproduction of social norms and institutions."

Governance can pertain to "the processes of interaction and decision-making among the actors involved in a collective problem that lead to the creation, reinforcement, or reproduction of social norms and institutions."
Governance _____ and _____ recognize the rights and responsibilities among different participants in the corporation (managers, shareholders, and other stakeholders) and includes the rules and procedures for making decisions in corporate affairs.

Governance structures and principles recognize the rights and responsibilities among different participants in the corporation (managers, shareholders, and other stakeholders) and includes the rules and procedures for making decisions in corporate affairs.
Even if the _____ is a geopolitical entity (nation-state), a corporation (organization incorporated as legal entity), a socio-political entity, or an informal one, its _____ is the way the rules, norms, and actions are produced, sustained, regulated and held accountable.

Even if the organization is a geopolitical entity (nation-state), a corporation (organization incorporated as legal entity), a socio-political entity, or an informal one, its governance is the way the rules, norms, and actions are produced, sustained, regulated and held accountable.
In regards to _____, this would include monitoring the actions, policies, practices, and decisions of corporations, their agents, and affected stakeholders.

In regards to governance mechanisms, this would include monitoring the actions, policies, practices, and decisions of corporations, their agents, and affected stakeholders.
ISO, the _____, is an independent, nongovernmental organization which aids in the creation of products and services that are safe, reliable and of good quality.

ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, is an independent, nongovernmental organization which aids in the creation of products and services that are safe, reliable and of good quality.
At each _____, the continuation of the process is decided by (typically) a manager or a steering committee.

At each gate, the continuation of the process is decided by (typically) a manager or a steering committee.
The second phase of the product development process is _____.

The second phase of the product development process is scoping.
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) identifies major _____ and _____ of a project in a summary. It also includes the _____ and _____ which will be part of the initial project description to get the approval for the project.

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) identifies major phases and milestones of a project in a summary. It also includes the scope and timelines which will be part of the initial project description to get the approval for the project.
The basic Project Management Processes/Stages of development may be used regardless of _____. The major process groups include _____,Planning, _____, Monitoring and Controlling, and _____.

The basic Project Management Processes/Stages of development may be used regardless of methodology. The major process groups include Initiating, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing.
Virtual team, which can also be known as _____, refers to a group of individuals that work together from different _____ and communicate through technology. Such technology can be e-mail, _____, _____, or voice conferencing in order for each individual to collaborate on the task the team is working on.

Virtual team, which can also be known as remote team, refers to a group of individuals that work together from different locations and communicate through technology. Such technology can be e-mail, Fax, video, or voice conferencing in order for each individual to collaborate on the task the team is working on.
_____ Software Development is an approach to software development where solutions evolve through the effort of organizing, collaborating and functional teams with their customer or client. The software encourages a rapid response to _____ and supports planning, development, and improvement.

Agile Software Development is an approach to software development where solutions evolve through the effort of organizing, collaborating and functional teams with their customer or client. The software encourages a rapid response to change and supports planning, development, and improvement.

Assessments

References

[1] Wikipedia: Organization

[2] CompTIA: Project+ Certification Exam Objectives: PK0-004

[3] Wikipedia: Organization

[4] Wikipedia: Organization

[5] Wikipedia: Organization

[6] Wikipedia: Organizational culture

[7] Wikipedia: Organizational structure

[8] Wikipedia: Organizational structure

[9] Wikipedia: Organization

[10] Wikipedia: Organizational structure

[11] Wikipedia: Organizational chart

[12] Wikipedia: Governance

[13] Wikipedia: Corporate governance

[14] Wikipedia: Governance

[15] Wikipedia: Corporate governance

[16] Wikipedia: International Organization for Standardization

[17] Wikipedia: Phase-gate model

[18] Wikipedia: Systems development life cycle

[19] Wikipedia: Systems development life cycle

[20] Wikipedia: Project management

[21] Wikipedia: Virtual team

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