No Project Is An Island Analysis
No project is an island
PMBOK defines a project as “a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result”, and most theory and practice in project management assumes that the project is a discrete entity existing independent of exogenous factors and context (Institute, 2013). However, this view has been challenged by Engwall (Engwall, 2003) and others. Early work by Mintzberg (Mintzberg, 1993) promoting projects as ad-hoc forms led to the formation of the Scandinavian School (Sydow et al., 2004, Lundin and Söderholm, 1995) that views projects as temporary organisations embedded within organisations and influenced by contextual factors and history but limited, to an extent, by defined boundaries. This paper will take …show more content…
We seem to be heading towards a “projectified society” where project management and time-limited organisational structures are not only used for handling extraordinary undertakings, but also represent an increasing proportion of organisations’ ordinary operations (Lundin and Söderholm, 1998, Hobday, 1998). The practice perspective emphasises the importance of context (Suchman, 2007). Internal processes of a project are influenced by its historical and organisational context, i.e. the project’s environment. Structures and procedures employed need to be understood in relation to previous and simultaneous courses of activity, future plans, standard operating procedures (SOPs), traditions and the norms of its surroundings. Project practices evolve temporally through history over prior, present and future projects, as well as spatially, in their organisational …show more content…
Specifically, Engwall found that the management of a hydropower project challenged many of the old established norms and structures of the parent organization and this poor alignment with the context environment doomed the project to failure. In contrast, “The Transmission Project was managed in accordance with the institutionalized structures of its environment” and “was commonly regarded as one of the most successful project assignments ever undertaken by the division”. The implication is that project managers must pay close attention to the contextual environment; “projects are open systems and… [research] emphasizes the fruitfulness of a contingency approach to project
PMBOK defines a project as “a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result”, and most theory and practice in project management assumes that the project is a discrete entity existing independent of exogenous factors and context (Institute, 2013). However, this view has been challenged by Engwall (Engwall, 2003) and others. Early work by Mintzberg (Mintzberg, 1993) promoting projects as ad-hoc forms led to the formation of the Scandinavian School (Sydow et al., 2004, Lundin and Söderholm, 1995) that views projects as temporary organisations embedded within organisations and influenced by contextual factors and history but limited, to an extent, by defined boundaries. This paper will take …show more content…
We seem to be heading towards a “projectified society” where project management and time-limited organisational structures are not only used for handling extraordinary undertakings, but also represent an increasing proportion of organisations’ ordinary operations (Lundin and Söderholm, 1998, Hobday, 1998). The practice perspective emphasises the importance of context (Suchman, 2007). Internal processes of a project are influenced by its historical and organisational context, i.e. the project’s environment. Structures and procedures employed need to be understood in relation to previous and simultaneous courses of activity, future plans, standard operating procedures (SOPs), traditions and the norms of its surroundings. Project practices evolve temporally through history over prior, present and future projects, as well as spatially, in their organisational …show more content…
Specifically, Engwall found that the management of a hydropower project challenged many of the old established norms and structures of the parent organization and this poor alignment with the context environment doomed the project to failure. In contrast, “The Transmission Project was managed in accordance with the institutionalized structures of its environment” and “was commonly regarded as one of the most successful project assignments ever undertaken by the division”. The implication is that project managers must pay close attention to the contextual environment; “projects are open systems and… [research] emphasizes the fruitfulness of a contingency approach to project