Week 2 Project
Assignment Overdue – January 25 at 12:59 AM
Using the South University Online Library, research about virtual projects. Based on your research, answer the following questions:
Evolution of Project Management
By the time the Industrial Revolution was in full swing, civilized society found itself with an enormous, unprecedented production capacity due to an explosion of
technological innovation. Factories and mills and other centers of production were springing up faster than people could determine how to organize and run them well.
Even the concept of management as we know it today had to be invented, as did the modern form of production organizations.
Prior to industrial times, traditional forms of organization were churches, the military, monarchies, governments, and the family. These were these kinds of organizations
people knew about or knew how to run. It quickly became apparent; none would serve as the right model for running an industry. Of the several scholars who worked on
this problem, Max Weber’s work is most prominent.
Weber suggested that organizations need to have rules and procedures, specialization and division of labor, de�ned hierarchy, selection of workers based on competency,
and authority vested in the of�ce rather than the of�ce-holder.
Later, it became clear that this theory of organizing would work well when managing some projects but would not work for others. Some projects are so large they
encompass the entire organization. At the other extreme, some projects are so small they can easily �t into one of the organization’s functional divisions.
This course primarily talks about projects consisting of teams made up of people of disparate competencies drawn from different functional departments. For example, a
new product development team might involve people from legal, marketing, and sales.
When people are drawn from different functional departments, at least one of Weber’s rules must be broken or compromised. The new product team leader (the project
manager) must vie with the functional managers of the team for in�uence over the team. This type of structure is called a matrix structure.
The problem is many project managers lack clear authority or share it with functional managers in matrix structures. Regardless of organizational choices, the project
manager’s power is backed by the legitimacy of the organization itself, if not the actual chain of command. Subordinates follow the legitimacy of the position. It doesn’t
really matter who’s the boss; the boss represents the organization.
Paradoxically, however, and especially when the chain of command does not allow the project manager to have formal authority, personal in�uence is the main skill.
Personal in�uence does not always necessitate a charismatic leader, but it does at least require a person who understands how to negotiate and resolve con�icts. The
emerging picture is of a leader who �nds a humble balance between authority, personality, human skill, and technical skill.
Just as the leader of a larger enterprise would have to do, the manager of any sizeable project must plan the staf�ng of the project; develop organization charts and
position descriptions; clearly de�ne the roles and responsibilities of each team member; ensure proper training; make use of appropriate recognition and reward
schemes; comply with Human Resource Management (HRM), Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and
other laws and rules.
Sometimes, the hardest leadership challenge doesn’t directly involve the team members. Often, the project manager must negotiate with functional or other project
managers for the right people and the right duration of time to suit the project’s schedule. Because con�icts are inevitable, the manager must have good con�ict
resolution skills.
Sometimes, teams will be virtual. At times, the team members must work on the project site, and sometimes working virtually away from the physical site. In all cases, the
project manager must remain aware of how important it is for the team members to realize they may have no administrative “home” to return to when the project is over.
Some of these challenges are made unavoidable by the organizational choices inferred earlier, which makes this topic and project organization so important to study
together.
Additional Materials
View a Pdf Transcript of Webers’ organization of the future (media/week2/SU_MGT3035_W2_L2_G1 ?
_&d2lSessionVal=aVaTmfHd5UkmjmVnoP1XalSFd&ou=85477)
https://myclasses.southuniversity.edu/content/enforced/85477-17099880/media/week2/SU_MGT3035_W2_L2_G1 ?_&d2lSessionVal=aVaTmfHd5UkmjmVnoP1XalSFd&ou=85477
Page 1 of 1
MGT3035 Fundamentals of Project Management
© 2013 South University
Weber’s Organization of the Future
Max Weber (1864–1920) hypothesized that the organization of the future would have to replace
the caprice, nepotism, and arbitrariness of managers with a new style of management
characterized by the following key points:
Rules and Procedures: There would be rules and procedures defining how the
organization would and would not be allowed to run. The workplace would be reasonably
predictable and routines could be established and understood. This was to be coupled
with a system of written communication and records to establish organizational memory
and continuity.
Specialization and Division of Labor: Each person, including the manager, would have
a clearly defined job and clear tasks to perform. People would work in rational
accordance with their skills in departments or business functions organized by skill sets.
Defined Hierarchy: A clear hierarchy of authority and a chain of command from top to
bottom would exist. Therefore, downward lines of authority and communication would
also be established and a means of supervision and control would be clear.
Free Selection: Hiring and advancement would be based on technical competence
rather than family, political connection, or some other form of succession having little or
nothing to do with merit.
Separation of Office from Incumbent: The manager or office-holder would hold
authority if the individual held a particular office. Other than that, authority over others did
not exist at all.
Project Risk Assessment
Risk has been de�ned in many ways, but the “likelihood of a loss” is one common de�nition. Risk, therefore, implies probability.
So, like actuarial analysis in the insurance industry, precise risk management depends on historical data about similar events. But all projects are unique to some extent
and sometimes unprecedented. A problem with determining project risk is that there is often no data to assess the likelihood of a project being done on time, within
budget, and in keeping with performance criteria. In addition, historical data is usually scarce concerning the individual activities involved in the projects. However,
effective risk management can still improve the odds. For example, risks encountered in one project can be chronicled in a lessons-learned archive so that future
managers can at least consider historical experience.
Risk management begins before the project even begins. You might say risk starts when you are justifying the project to senior management. If this cannot be
accomplished, then the project should either be rejected or radically reassessed. A major project may not be supported by the senior management, especially when a
“capital” project important to the overall mission is doomed to fail.
Assuming overall strategic risks are manageable, we can turn our attention to the triple threat of project management. For example, risk analysis can reduce a project’s
overall cost by avoiding foreseeable cost problems or it can reduce the chaos of �nancial crises by anticipating the proper actions to be taken if foreseeable bad things
actually happen. Establishing reserves for costly schedule delays, resource availability, and budget overruns are other ways to manage. Many projects have been
cancelled because of cost overruns that violated contractual stipulations and ruined the business case for the project.
Clearly, the worst kind of risk is the risk that is ignored. The worst kind of risk management is irrational optimism assuming it is unnecessary or believing things can be
handled as situations arise.
Once you identify a threat or a problem, you want to come up with a plan to manage it. For example, can the existing process continue until the new one is in place? If the
new process takes more time, what is the contingency or backup plan? Risk analysis is done by identifying threats and then looking at the possibility of the threat being
realized.
Review threats periodically that you feel are adequate as the level of the risk can change. Some ways to get insights into what are threats is by listening carefully to your
customers, brainstorming with those you interact to get tasks completed, and reviewing your past projects for any similar issues with current projects.
Managers manage risk in everything they do. In project management, risk management should be formalized and executed according to a plan that takes all stakeholders
into consideration. Also to be considered are the technicalities of the dangers involved in �nishing over time, over budget, or without agreement to the prescribed project
scope documents. Risk management is important enough to create speci�c processes for controlling changes and ensuring adequate communications. During each of the
�ve phases—initiation, planning, execution, control, and closing, including risk analysis will ensure smooth project management.
Additional Materials
More About Risk (media/week2/SUO_MGT3035%20W2%20L3 ?_&d2lSessionVal=aVaTmfHd5UkmjmVnoP1XalSFd&ou=85477)
https://myclasses.southuniversity.edu/content/enforced/85477-17099880/media/week2/SUO_MGT3035%20W2%20L3 ?_&d2lSessionVal=aVaTmfHd5UkmjmVnoP1XalSFd&ou=85477
Page 1 of 1
MGT3035 Fundamentals of Project Management
© 2013 South University
Characteristics of a Project Manager
A few broad patterns seem pretty conclusive for the new, young, mid- to low-level project
manager.
First, relatively new managers at low levels of management still seem to rely on technical skill.
When someone gets promoted to management level, it’s probably because the person was good
at what he or she did at a nonmanagerial position. People, especially new people, look to the new
manager as the “go-to person” for resolving their day-to-day technical impasses.
The lesson?
The new project manager should be a teacher and coach. The proper slogan might be “Don’t
dominate; but don’t delegate either—demonstrate.” Technical skills still have immense value
in project management, but that’s only the beginning.
Second, with the job comes what is called legitimate authority. This is a really interesting
concept. Legitimate authority is the right to tell someone what to do. Where does this right come
from? It comes with the position and is one of the cornerstones of the theory of bureaucracy.
Weber observed that a new basis of organized power was needed to make the industrialized
society work—the invented and ultimately artificial power in the office, which an individual holds.
More About Risk
© 2016 South University
More About Risk
Senior level managers have the fiduciary responsibility to show the owners of the business an
economic justification for any major investment. Moreover, a portfolio of only high-risk projects is
usually a bad idea. The analysis of a potential project is always done in the context of total
enterprise management. The relative standing of a project with regard to risks should be
considered in the overall risk profile and strategy.
Early, detailed, and accurate scoping of project activities will reveal many of the potential and
inherent risks of a project’s technical challenges. Remember, the scope of the project involves all
the things that must be done, and also remember that all parts of the scope (deliverables), must
be verified near the close out of the project. Verification can become a nightmare if the scope is
poorly defined in the first place. Similarly, a major problem in many projects is scope creep. This is
the tendency for change requests going beyond the original intent of the project to be submitted.
Changes must be carefully monitored and controlled by a formal change request mechanism, and
changes to the scope should be rare and only made when required.
When it comes to being completed on time, the record of some kinds of projects is dismal. Since
all projects are somewhat unique, many, if not most, are technically novel. This seems especially
true of those projects seeking to make either incremental advancement to known technologies or
“breakthroughs” to state-of-the-art technologies. Therefore, while some schedule extensions are
almost inevitable when technical risk is high, they are manageable as “known unknowns”
because the general type of problem is already well understood.
A stakeholder management plan is advisable when many disparate stakeholders are involved. A
formal communication plan is also required if there are important external stakeholders, such as
investors and local communities. Senior management and stakeholders need to be made aware of
risk scenarios as situations evolve.
Attributes of a Good Project Manager
Research and development, engineering, and other disciplines are naturally project oriented, as are other industries, such as aerospace and construction. Despite all of its
orientation toward technology and technologists, the human challenges of leadership are still of paramount importance in project management. As you lead projects, you
will be expected to know how to get the job done with other employees that do not report to you. This requires use of leadership skills that needs to be developed. Here
are some examples to inspire leadership.
Richard Branson employs 25,000 people in 200 companies. According to him, “Having a personality of caring about people is important. You can’t be a good leader unless
you generally like people. That is how you bring out the best in them.”
Further, he is a believer in positive reinforcement and says, “For the people who work for you or with you, you must lavish praise on them at all times.” He adds, “If a �ower
is watered, it �ourishes. If not it shrivels up and dies.” He further adds, “It’s much more fun looking for the best in people” (Uhl-Bien, Schermerhorn, & Osborn, 2014, p.
310).
Lorraine Monroe serves as a leadership consultant and runs the Lorraine Monroe Leadership Institute, which trains educational leaders in visionary leadership to build
high-performing schools that can transform children’s lives.
Monroe’s many leadership ideas are summarized in what is called the “Monroe Doctrine.” It begins with this advice: “The job of the leader is to uplift her people—not just
as members of and contributors to the organization, but as individuals of in�nite worth in their own right” (Uhl-Bien et al. 2014, p. 106).
To succeed as a project manager, you need the right interaction patterns and communication abilities to accomplish your project management goals. These goals require
you to work with others that do not have the same goals as you do.
While some of the tasks of a manager are conceptually easy to understand, they are often dif�cult to practice well. Every manager has an implicit theory of leadership,
organization, and risk, but it is often a terrible and ironic mistake to assume that if they are easy to understand, they are also easy to execute. They are not. Research
indicates that the most common problems associated with failed projects are human beings.
There is an axiom in strategic management, “Structure follows strategy.” This means that a plan should be devised �rst and then the organizational structure should be
established. It also means a great strategy can become completely useless if determining the right kind of organizational structure is not considered as important as the
plan.
The project manager must be a good leader. Not all those leadership styles adopted from the popular press are right for a project manager. The imperatives, however, are
still ones of leadership. The great project manager will understand team building is one of the most important activities, and team management has different challenges
throughout all phases of the project life cycle.
Reference:
Uhl-Bien, M., Schemerhorn Jr., J. R., & Osborn, R. N. (2014). Organizational behavior (13th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Additional Materials
View a Pdf Transcript of Characteristics of a project manager (media/week2/SU_MGT3035_W2_L4_G1 ?
_&d2lSessionVal=aVaTmfHd5UkmjmVnoP1XalSFd&ou=85477)
https://myclasses.southuniversity.edu/content/enforced/85477-17099880/media/week2/SU_MGT3035_W2_L4_G1 ?_&d2lSessionVal=aVaTmfHd5UkmjmVnoP1XalSFd&ou=85477
