Moving from Corporate Strategy

MOVING FROM CORPORATE STRATEGY TO PROJECT STRATEGY

PETER W. G. MORRIS, Professor of Construction and Project Management School of Construction and Project Management, The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London ASHLEY JAMIESON, Research Fellow, School of Construction and Project Management, The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London

ABSTRACT

Much of the management writing around strategy tends to cover the practices at the corporate and business level; there is a dearth of writing about how corporate strategy gets implemented by projects and programs and translated into program or project strategies. This paper reviews evidence from four case studies together with questionnaire data from PMI Europe members, which shows that the processes, practices, and people issues involved in moving from corporate strategy to programs and projects is done in a much more systematic way than is generally recognized. The findings point to areas that future revisions of the PMBOK® Guide should be looking at.

Keywords: corporate strategy; project strat-

Introduction orporate strategy is one of the most actively researched and taught subjects in business today. Projects and project management are often quoted as important means of implementing strategy, but there is some confusion in the literature on how this happens and, in any case, the topic has not been the subject of detailed review. This paper reports on research funded by PMI, industry, and academia that addressed the way corporate strategy is developed and implemented via the management of portfolios, programs, and projects. It does so by detailing the key findings from four case studies, together with data from a survey of PMI members.

C

egy; portfolio management; program management; project management; value management; risk management; leadership; competencies

©2005 by the Project Management Institute Vol. 36, No. 4, 5-18, ISSN 8756-9728/03

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