OM378 essay (single-spaced Word doc in 12pt font, more that 2 pages)Internal Environment – the Organization“Organization” is multi-purpose. Projects happen in non-profits, schools, families, cl

OM378 essay (single-spaced Word doc in 12pt font, more that 2 pages)

Internal Environment – the Organization

“Organization” is multi-purpose.  Projects happen in non-profits, schools, families, clubs, etc – not just in a for-profit corporation.  Internal factors may lead to the need for a project, and they will also affect how a project is managed.

“A new CEO is hired and feels the organization needs to become more customer-focused.”

“A company has a policy that all travel receipts have to be turned in as paper copies in order to approve the expense report, but employees are complaining that most of their travel reservations are made electronically, without paper copies of the receipt.”

“A marketing manager in a functional organization structure is put in charge of a project to test pilot a new printer.  She has a team of marketers working on it, but when she realizes they need help from Research & Development, she has no power to add someone to her team – she has to make the request of the R&D manager, and then negotiate for the resources.”

· Culture is often described as “the way we do things around here.”  The tip of the iceberg – the outward sign of a culture – are the artifacts (whether people have pictures and plants at their desk, for example) and behaviors (the group goes out for birthday parties once a month).  Attitudes and beliefs are the unseen aspects, which lead to behavior.

· Policies and Procedures shape how employees interact with each other and with their external environment.  Policies dictate how administrative tasks are completed, how procurement contracts are awarded, etc.

· Organization Structure (the classic ones are functional, matrix, and projectized, but they come in many more flavors) generally dictates the power a project manager, as a project manager.

Reflect on you own experiences

Think of an organization in which you’ve worked or volunteered.  What was the culture like?  How were decisions made?  How were (or would have been) projects selected and managed?  What was the power of the project manager?  How did policies and procedures affect the culture and project management?  How did organizational structure impact culture, decisions, and project management?

Please submit a single-spaced Word doc in 12pt font.  I would expect that 2 pages would be sufficient to discuss your experiences, though you are not limited to 2 pages.