Strategic Alignment, Value Delivery, and Project Management: Key Questions and Implications

Career Structures for Project Managers in Project-Oriented Organizations

1 HRM practices need to be aligned to the organization’s strategy. If the organization has made the strategic decision to be project oriented, what does this suggest for the career structure for project managers mentioned above?

2 The service dominant logic of marketing suggests that organizations should work with clients to deliver value for both the client and the host organization. What implications does that have for:
1. Stakeholder engagement
2. Contractors trying to win new business
3. Investors marketing their new investments

3 Operational practices need to be aligned to the organization’s strategy. If an SME has made the strategic decision to be project oriented, what does that mean for its operational rocesses?

4 When operating overseas, should an organization adopt local safety practices, or the safety practices of its homeland?

5 • Consider the differences in experience that an employee might encounter in their career in a semi-projectised organization compared to a projectised organization. What are the implications of this for the HR department?

• Is the frequency of occurrence of a CPO (Chief Projects Officer) likely to increase or decrease in large organizations in the future and why?

• Is role progression from project manager to programme manager to portfolio manager desirable?

6• What distinguishes a global project manager from other project managers? Is demand likely to increase or decrease for such a person in the future and why?

• Investigate the similarities and differences between global project management and complex project management. In practice, which term is likely to be more useful and why?

• What types of proximity can you identify and how do they contribute to global project management?

• Explain how abductive reasoning can contribute to grounded theory and action research.

7 • In what way can culture influence success criteria and success factors?
• Is diversity always an asset?
• In a multicultural project setting which tends to dominate, organization culture or national culture?

8 • What is the difference between project success criteria and factors and project management success criteria and factors?

• What evidence is there to support the view that project management can add competitive advantage to a firm?

• In what way if any can project management contribute to strategy development?

9 • What is the role of exploration and exploitation in evolutionary learning?
• How does evolutionary learning contribute to the value a firm obtains from project management?
• What are the essential elements for evolutionary learning in a strategy-project context?

10 Consider the importance for organizations to have a career structure for projects managers:
1. To provide a framework for individuals to judge their current position, and the competencies they need to develop to meet their career aspirations

2. To provide a framework for the organization to develop people to meet its future requirements

3. For the organization to be able to match the competencies of individuals to the requirements of projects