Week 1 Discussion and Project

Project Management Strategy

In the context of project management, we need a precise understanding of the term “strategy.”

A strategy should not create con�icts of interest in the organization or sub-optimize the interests of one project for the bene�t of others.

The strategic view should address the longest relevant time frame. This can be a source of controversy, since some people assert that the rate of change in the modern

business climate makes strategic planning not only a waste of time but actually counterproductive. A more sensible position is that the time frame depends on the competitive landscape under analysis. Some industries still move slowly and are quite stable. In any view, projects play an important role in strategic planning and

execution, albeit sometimes in piecemeal fashion. But they should always have an eye to superordinate goals and objectives. At the very least, planning is a paramount

project management competency.

Obviously, obsessing on immediate crises is exactly what strategic managers must avoid. This does not mean that strategic managers do not get involved in crises or day-

to-day project operations, but that the resolution of crises and making operational decisions should be guided by the big picture.

Any single project is not a strategy—though some have immense strategic consequences. A strategy is a plan or at least a consistent pattern of choices and decisions and actions. A strategy is a staked out and defensible position in the marketplace; it involves moves and countermoves and may even require politics, ploys, and a degree of

guile.

The ultimate goal of strategic management is to create and sustain a competitive advantage. Although, every practicing manager boasts of his or her organization's

competitive advantage, research shows that a sustainable competitive advantage is rare.

Elements of a good organizational strategy:

Commits the entire organization to a direction that is very dif�cult or costly to reverse.

Is �exible and adaptable to change but does not equivocate.

Is clear about what the organization is and will do.

Is also clear about what the organization is not and will not do.

Additional Materials

Project Management Of�ce (PMO) (media/week1/SUO_MGT3035%20W1%20L3.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=7jk95E0XTOzwhgfWZYdxYEhmP&ou=85477)

View a Pdf Transcript of Strategy (media/week1/SU_MGT3035_W1_L6_G1.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=7jk95E0XTOzwhgfWZYdxYEhmP&ou=85477)

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