Chapter 2 – Project Management and Information Technology Context

Question 1

Four Frames of Organizations

Answer 1

• Structural:
	- Roles
	- Rules
• Political:
	- Power
	- Competition
• Human Resources:
	- Needs
	- Skills
	- Relationships
• Symbolic:
	- Culture
	- Meaning

Question 2

Organizational Structural Classification

Answer 2

• Pure Project Organization
• Functional Project Organization
• The Matrix Organization

Question 3

Pure Project Organization

Answer 3

A model of a business where project managers have total control over the project they oversea.

Advantages
• Project manager:
	- Full authority over the project
• Report to only one boss
• Shortened communication line
	- Quick decisions are made
• High:
	- Team pride
	- Motivation
	- Commitment

Disadvantages
• Resources:
	- Duplicated
• Ignores:
	- Organizational goals
	- Policies
• Lack of new technology transfer
	- Weakened functional divisions
• No functional area home

Question 4

Functional Project Organization

Answer 4

The end of the project organization spectrum. Its theme is housing the project within a functional division

Advantages
• Team member:
	- Can work on several projects
• Maintains:
	- Technical expertise
		~ Even if individuals leave the project/organization
• Has a functional area home
• Project’s technical problems:
	- Creates synergistic solutions by:
		~ Critical mass of specialized functional-area experts

Disadvantages
• Weak motivation
• Client needs:
	- Secondary
	- Responded to slowly
• Shortchanges:
	- Unrelated aspects of the project to the functional area

Question 5

The Matrix Organization

Answer 5

• blend properties of functional and pure project structure
• Different project (rows of matrix)
• Borrow resources from functional areas (column)
• Senior management must then decide whether a weak, balanced, or strong from of a matrix is to used.

Advantages
• Enhanced communication between functional divisions
• Project manager:
	- Held responsible
		~ For the successful completion of the project
• Minimized:
	- Duplication of resources
• Has a functional area home
	- Compared to pure project organization
• Follows organization policies

Disadvantages
• Reports to:
	- Two bosses
• Doomed to failure:
	- Unless PM has strong negotiation skills
• Sub-optimization is a danger
	- Hoarded resources

Question 6

Stakeholders Groups

Answer 6

• Management:
	- CEO, Senior Managers, IT Managers
• Project Team:
	- Systems Analyst, Programmer, End User
• External environment:
	- Competitor, Suppliers/Vendor, Political
• Client/Customer
	- Internal
		~ Organization policies
		~ Rules
		~ Regulations
	- External

Question 7

Managing Stakeholders

Answer 7

• Assess the environment
• Identify the goals
• Assess your own capabilities
• Define the problem
• Develop solutions
• Test and refine the solutions

Question 8

Project Manager’s responsibilities

Answer 8

• Acquiring Project Resources
- Refer to:
~ Personnel
~ Material resources
• Necessary to successfully accomplish project objectives
- Reasons that cause lack of resource support:
~ Vague project goals
~ Lack of top management support
~ Non-understandable requirements
~ Under development projects due to not enough money
~ Attitude of distrust between top management and project managers

• Managing Expectations
- End users, IT staff, Senior management

• Motivating and Building Team
- Communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, persuasion

• Having a Vision and Fighting Fires
	- Able to:
		~ Think strategically
		~ Consider the “big picture”
		~ Make immediate, tactical decisions to solve current problems (crisis, daily project challenges)
		~ Detail oriented

Question 9

Key Criteria for Selection of a project manager

Answer 9

• Credibility
	- Believable
	- Credibility:
		~ Technical
		~ Administrative
• Sensitivity
	- Politically astute
	- Aware of interpersonal conflict
• Leadership, Style, Ethics
	- Ability to direct project
		~ In ethical manner

Question 10

The Project Team

Answer 10

• IT projects
	- Requires various resources
	- People:
		~ Most valuable resource
		~ Greatest influence on the project’s outcome
• Human resource:
	- Consume up to 80% of its budget
• Critical task:
	- Selecting
	- Staffing
		~ The project
• Staffing:
	- Recruit
	- Assign people to the project team
• Selecting:
	- Right mix of people with both:
		~ Technical : Video editing, programming
		~ Nontechnical : Communication skills, presentation skills
	- Can influence project’s outcome
• Chosen based on:
	- Technology skills
	- Business/organization skills
	- Interpersonal skills

Question 11

Trends affecting project management

Answer 11

• Globalization
	- Trading
• Outsourcing
	- Getting services from other company (internet)
	- Examples:
		~ Onshore (local)
		~ Offshore (overseas)
• Virtual Team