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PMDQWeek1.docxJenny Turner
TuesdayJun 9 at 3:29pm
How does the current economic climate affect strategic planning for the organization as well as for project management? Provide commentary to support the importance of strategic planning in both strong and weak economies.
The economic climate can affect strategic planning for the organization as well as for project management in many ways. According to Kerzner (2005), “strategic planning is the process of formulating and implementing decisions about an organization’s future direction” (p. 15). Strategic planning is a vital process in the survival of a company as a business must adapt to the changes in the economy or not prosper. The current economic climate is less than ideal. Therefore, companies must have strategic plans in place for when the economy begins to decline as well as effectively plan projects around the economic changes. For example, during a good economy, companies in the cruise industry are focused on increasing profits and looking for growth opportunities. Therefore, they would focus on completing projects that would result in expansion opportunities such as the construction of a new and bigger ship. When the economy started to decline, and the cruise industry was majorly affected by the spread of Covid-19 the previous strategic plans would almost have to come to a complete stop as new plans and projects would be created for each company to survive the economic decline. These plans would include raising billions of dollars in funds through stocks and liquidation of assets to fund operations while unable to set sail or through project management activities to train employees and purchasing items necessary for the safe return of passengers. The “normal” operational activities during a good economy would quickly change, and the companies must adapt to these changes to survive.
Strategic planning is crucial during both strong and weak economies. “During favorable economic times, changes in management style and corporate culture occur very slowly” (Kerzner, 2005, p. 11). In this aspect, management may become comfortable, so projects and strategic planning objectives, may take longer to accomplish as time constraints will be up to the people in charge instead of outside forces. However, strategic planning is still essential to ensure growth and take advantage of opportunities during this time. When the economy starts to decline, strategic planning remains a crucial aspect of the business. Communication of any new goals or activities must be spread throughout the organization to keep the different levels of management informed as well as employees with what is happening within the company. This communication is necessary to implement and motivate change. Sometimes this means rapid change as we have recently seen with the onset of the virus. Whether or not the economy is in a good place, strategic planning is vital for a company to grow and change in a way that promotes success.
Reference: Kerzner, H. (2005). Using the Project Management Maturity Model: Strategic planning for project management (2nd ed.). Retrieved from https://redshelf.com
WednesdayJun 10 at 9:50am
How does the current economic climate affect strategic planning for the organization as well as for project management? Provide commentary to support the importance of strategic planning in both strong and weak economies.
It is impossible for an organization to predict the future. With the possibility of change whether an economic collapse or uptick a business must be able to adapt their strategic plan. The period between recognizing the need for change and garnering the ability to manage change is usually measured in years (Kerzner, 2005, p. 11). According to Kerzen when the economic times are favorable management is slow to make changes because they don’t want to “rock the boat”. However, when in economic deterioration occurs, a business can’t make changes fast enough to keep up. Having a strategic plan will help in preparing the business for possible changes to the economy. Having a strategic plan is like preparing a business for the what ifs. Having a project manager with a firm project methodology in place can be essential to a business being prepared. Strategic planning for project management, combined with a good project management methodology, can compress the gaps on time, cost, and quality (Kerzner, 2005, p. 11). When the economy is strong, and customers are spending strategic planning helps close the gap with competition and quality. When the economy is weak strategic planning helps to keep the companies, product remain visible and relevant. Regardless of the whether its economy is strong or weak having a strategic plan is essential to business survival.
Reference:
Kerzner, H. (2005). Using the Project Management Maturity Model: Strategic planning for project management (2nd ed.). Retrieved from https://redshelf.com
WednesdayJun 10 at 7pm
Project Management Matuity Model (PMMM) is the process of using project management principles to establish a framework for organizational project selection, implementation and problem solving from their privious encounters (Jedd, 2005). There are five levels of maturity (Kersner, 2005).
Level 1, common language. This is the level where organizations realizes the importants of project management and beginning to transition into a project managment focused organization from a tasks oriented one. Establishing the commond language either using the ones from the Project Mangement Body of Knowledge Guide or one that is unique to the organization or industry
Level 2, common processes. The organization developes a common process in applying the project management principle in order to duplicate success and evaluate problems.
Level 3, Singular methodology. This streamlines the project management methodology into a synchronised method for communication and implementation.
Level 4, Benchmarking. Benchmarking sets the short term goals for evaluation of prject success and maintaining competitive edge. It is a continuous process.
Level 5, Continuous improvement. Management use the data collected in benchmarking to determine the success of the project and fine tune the singular methodology to be more efficient.
Strategic planning is a process that stears the direction of the organizational growth (Kersner, 2005). It can helf the organization to understand and communicate the importance of project management and provide the support and environment for the 5 levels of PMMM. This can then implemente the methodology as organizational policy. Strategic planning can also influence the culture of the organization and help the projects to reach level 5 maturity
Jedd, M. (2005, June). Growing up. PM Network, 19(6), 62-66. Retrieved from ProQuest Database (Document ID: 198718978).
Kerzner, H. (2005). Using the Project Management Maturity Model. Strategic planning for project management (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
ThursdayJun 11 at 3:30am
Review the “Foundation of Excellence” section of Chapter 4 of the text.
The project management maturity model (PMMM) is the process in which an organization goes about reaching excellence in project management. To reach the level of excellence, the organization has to go through five levels of maturity in their organization.
Common language: In the first level of PMMM, business, or organization is just attempting to learn and understand project management. This is after the organization realizes that they are in need of adapting it into their operation. In this level, there tends to be some conflict when adapting to this new process at this level. This is the level where personnel becomes certified in PMP.
Common process: In the second level of PMMM, the organization has its personnel develop processes for actions that take place within the organization. With this process, the organization can gauge what works and what does not to improve the success of the project and the organization.
Singular methodology: This is the third level of PMMM in this process the organization puts all the processes together as the recognize the benefit to the organization that the overall project management process is more beneficial for the organization. The overall process for the organization is integrated with the established process.
Benchmarking: This is the fourth level of PMMM; at this level, the organization would compare themselves against some competitors to gauge how they are performing and what they may need to improve. It is important that a business or organization regularly conducts self-assessments to determine how to improve so that they can continue to be successful.
Continuous improvement: Is the fifth level of PMMM; the organization reviews the information gather in level four and determines what course of action is best in improving the process and effectively improving the organization.
Explain how strategic planning can enable a company to reach level five of their PMMM.
Strategic planning can be used to help a company reach the fifth level of PMMM by outlining what needs to be done to reach each level. The planning is normally done by middle management as they have a firmer grasp on how the organization actually operates. In the plan, they need to identify what are the requirements that allow the organization to move from level to level. Then work out a process on how to achieve that goal.
Kerzner, H. (2005). Using the Project Management Maturity Model: Strategic planning for project management (2nd ed.). Retrieved from: https://redshelf.com
