Organizational Enablers for Project Governance

Ralf Müller, Jingting Shao, Sofia Pemsel

• Publisher: Project Management Institute
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781628250848
• eBook ISBN:
  9781628251111
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

While corporate culture plays a significant role in the success of any corporation, governance and "governmentality" not only determine how business should be conducted, but also define the policies and procedures organizations follow to achieve business functions and goals. In their book, Organizational Enablers for Project Governance, Ralf Müller, Jingting Shao, and Sofia Pemsel examine the interaction of governance and governmentality in various types of companies and demonstrate how these factors drive business success and influence project work, efficiency, and profitability. The data for the studies was collected through interviews with six companies in Sweden and China and a global web-based questionnaire that garnered 208 responses. Using this data the authors conducted four studies, employing various research methodologies, to investigate the different systems of governance and their relationships to organizational success. Based on these results, the authors discovered that organizational enablers (including key factors such as leadership, governance, and influence of project managers) have a critical impact on how organizations operate, adapt to market fluctuations and forces, and make essential changes over time.

Appendix

Appendix A1: Case Study Protocol

Project title: Organizational Enablers for Project Governance

Introduction

Research questions

1. What are the project governance practices in organizations of different sizes and in different geographies?
2. What are the organizational enablers for project governance in these organizations?
3. How does project governance evolve in these organizations?

Theoretical framework

Initial literature review shows that the field of organizational enablers (OE) for project governance has not been investigated thoroughly in recent years. PMI defines OEs as structural, cultural, technological, and human-resource practices that can be leveraged to support and sustain the implementation of best practices in project, program, and portfolio management. Depending on industry, sectors, geographical contexts, and organizational size, previous research has shown that organizations implement different approaches to project management. This research project consequently aims to develop a framework for project governance in organizations of different sizes and sectors and in different geographies.

Role of protocol in guiding team

This protocol provides information on the data collection procedure, as well as the data collection instrument.

Data collection procedures

The initial round of interviews aims for approximately 20 interviews at six companies. The purpose is to identify typical organizational enablers for project governance in project-based organizations (PBOs). Targeted interviewees are managers responsible for groups of projects, such as portfolios or programs of projects.

A further aim is to collect information on the feasibility of a longitudinal case study within the companies and the companies’ interest in pursuing a case study for assessing one of the organizational enablers identified.

Data collection plan

Longitudinal data collection

• Two rounds of data collection over a period of one year will be done in each case organization to identify process elements, their significance, and their changes over time for enabling and performing project governance.

Type of evidence sought

• The type of evidence sought includes perceived organizational enablers by mid- to high-level management. This includes information about the organization, its projects and governance approach, and the organizational enablers plus their particular context.

Roles of people to be interviewed

• Middle and higher management with responsibility for groups of projects

Documents to be studied

• Organizational structure

Business model

• Governance documents, such as policies, guidelines, procedures, and so on

Expected preparation prior to visit

• Search and review documentation about past project governance practices and degree of projectification of the firms to be interviewed
• Interviews should be held by two researchers, tape recording done wh...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Theoretical Perspective and Literature Review
• Research Design and Methodology
• Case Companies and Narratives
• Conceptual and Qualitative Studies: Analysis and Results
• Quantitative Study: Analysis and Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions
• Appendix
• References