Week 3 Flashcards
what happens when organisations are successful?
they grow and as they do their structure has to meet and adapt to this growth and so meet new market needs
- each organisation is unique and can be organised around products/ services offered, location of operation, type of customer etc
why are ‘project orientated organisations’ increasing?
- Increased need for speed, agility, and flexibility
- Producing innovative new products/ services require teams with multiple specialisms
- “Destabalising” nature of technology
- Senior managers can’t manage everything!
what are functional organisation?
- they are structured around individual functions eg marketing, production, sales
- a standard structure that is divided and each function has limited interaction with other functions
which two ways do functional organisations run projects?
- Project is “owned” by the particular function
– Normally the function that is most interested / has the most appropriate resources and other functions provide support - Project work shared across relevant functions
– Senior manager appointed as project manager
what are the ADV of projects in functional organisations?
- Flexible use of staff
- Experts can work on multiple projects
- Project Team has access to specialists across the organisation
- Technological and policy continuity
- Project success can lead to promotion opportunities
what are the DISADV of projects within functional organisations?
– Customer is not the focus of concern as day to day tasks needed to be one take priority
– Responsibility is unclear, who takes praise/ blame?
– Coordination issues between departments, some can perform more than others
– Project is less important than functional department as loyalty will remain within department not with the project
– Motivation issues as members can be busy with their own work
what are projectised organisation?
- functional departments report directly to CEO, each project then becomes its own ‘department’, eg each project has all functions it needs
- policies and procedures can be dictated by senior management or by project team
what are ADV of projects in projectised organisations?
- PM has full control over project
- simple reporting structure as chain of command is easier
- improved communication
- increased commitment and motivation from team as they’re employed solely on project
- faster and more efficient decision making, as done need approval from other functions
what are the DISADV of projects within projectised organisations?
- Duplication of effort eg is there a need for 2 risk assessments, 1 for each project
- Resource hoarding
- Risk of having “overly specialised” staff
- Projectitis can lead to competition and worries about the future as members can become attached to projects overtime
what is a matrix organisation?
A ‘hybrid’ approach of ‘functional’ and ‘projectised’ organisations which gains advantages of both and tries to overcome some of the disadvantages
- has a v flexible structure
what is a strong matrix?
- looks like a projectised structure
- PM controls what and when people do but the functional manager decides who is actually assigned to the project and how the work will be done
what is a weak matrix?
- looks like a functional structure
- PM has to identify and ask snr management for resources needed from other functional departments
- tasks can be outsourced externally if there aren’t adequate internal resources
- team members are effectively ‘loaned out’ to projects from functional departments which can cause friction as dept. heads may not want this
what is a balanced matrix?
- power and authority is shared between functional managers and PM
- Work of some functional departments is required across multiple projects (e.g. IT department), these departments remain functionally organised as their members aren’t assigned to projects, instead they are asked to conduct project work as required
what are the ADV of projects within matrix organisations:
- Project is the focus
- Clear responsibility as PM is solely responsible
- Access to organisation-wide expertise
- Reduced projectitis, as members return to functional depts after
- Better use of organisation’s resources
- Large degree of flexibility
what are the DISADV of projects within matrix organsations?
- Unclear decision-making power, who gets final say?
- high competition between projects for resources
- Negotiating for resources is difficult
- Reporting lines are unclear, as members have more than 1 boss
- Staff may still become “discipline-oriented”, as they still have loyalty to one dept.
