2 PMP Project Environments

Question 1

Balanced matrix structure

Answer 1

Downwards and Sideways but Project Manager and Functional Manager share equal power. Cons: lack of clarity on whom to report

Question 2

Cultural norms

Answer 2

Cultural norms describe the culture and the styles of an organization. Cultural norms, such as work ethics, hours, view of authority, and shared values, can affect how the project is managed.

Question 3

Enterprise environmental factors

Answer 3

Conditions that affect how the project manager may manage the project. Enterprise environmental factors come from within the project, such as policy, or they be external to the organization, such as law or regulation.

Question 4

Functional (or centralized) structure

Answer 4

In a functional organization structure, the organization is grouped into departments where people with similar skills are kept together in forms of groups; e.g., sales department, marketing department, finance department, etc. This helps organizations enhance the efficiencies of each functional group.

All authority (i.e., budget allocation, resource allocation, decision-making, etc.) belongs to the functional manager in a functional organization. Resources in functional organizations report directly to the functional manager. The functional manager reserves the authority to release resources based on their subject matter expertise. When the project ends, the resources are returned to the functional manager again for routine work.

Project managers typically do not exist in this type of organization structure; if this position exists, the role of the project manager will be very limited. The project manager may have the title of a coordinator or an expediter.

Question 5

Governance framework

Answer 5

Governance framework describes the rules, policies, and procedures that people within an organization abide by. Governance framework addresses the organization, but also address portfolios, programs, and projects. Regarding portfolios, programs, and projects the governance framework addresses alignment with organizational vision, risk management, performance factors, and communication.

Question 6

Hybrid structure

Answer 6

An organization that creates a blend of the functional, matrix, and project- oriented structures.

Question 7

Multidivisional structure

Answer 7

One parent Company: I.e. Disney (television, theme parks, broadcasting, resorts, etc). Duplication of efforts within the organization, but not within each department or division of the organization. Project manager has little authority in this structure and the functional manager controls the project budget.

Question 8

Organic or simple

Answer 8

Describes a loosely organized business or organization. There likely aren’t big formal departments and people work alongside one another regardless of roles and titles. The project manager likely has little control over the project resources and may not be called a project manager.

Question 9

Organizational process assets

Answer 9

Organizational process assets include organizational processes, policies, procedures, and items from a corporate knowledge base. Organizational process assets are grouped into two categories to consider: processes, policies and procedures, and organizational knowledge bases.

Question 10

Organizational Knowledge Repositories

Answer 10

Organizational knowledge repositories are the databases, files, and historical information that you can use to help better plan and manage your projects. This is an organizational process asset that is created internally to your organization through the ongoing work of operations and other projects.

Question 11

Organizational System

Answer 11

A system can create things by working with multiple components that the individual components could not create if they worked alone. The structure of the organization and the governance framework creates constraints that affect how the project manager makes decisions within the project. The organizational system directly affects how the project manager utilizes their power, influence, leadership, and even political capital, to get things done in the environment.

Question 12

Project-oriented structure

Answer 12

An organization that assigns a project team to one project for the duration of the project life cycle. The project manager has high-to-almost-complete project power.

Question 13

Strong matrix structure

Answer 13

Downwards and Sideways: In a strong matrix structure, the project manager enjoys more power than the functional manager. For example, the project manager has a say in the allocation of resources.

Question 14

Virtual organization

Answer 14

saas, collab platforms, Teams, Slack, can be all over the world.

Question 15

Weak matrix structure

Answer 15

Downwards and sideways: Functional Manager reigns supreme

Question 16

Matrix Structure

Answer 16

The authority of a functional manager moves vertically downwards, and the authority of the project manager moves sideways.

Since these authorities flow downward and sideways, this structure is called the matrix organization structure. In a matrix organization structure, employees may report to many managers, and some from one section may report to one boss while the rest report to a different boss.