Organizational Structures

PROJECT ORGANIZATION STRUCTURES

The role that a project manager plays in a project is often influenced by the type of the organization structure in which he/she functions. Three typical structures are;

1. Functional,

2. Pure Project and

3. Matrix

FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE

This is where a project becomes a part of one of the functional divisions of an organization. For example a project involving the development of a product would fall under the GM product development, as would a project to construct a local area network for all computers in the product development department. For functionally organized projects, the project is assigned to the functional unit that has the most interest in ensuring its success or can be most helpful in implementing it.

There are advantages and disadvantages of using functional elements of the parent organization as the administrative home for a project – assuming that one has chosen an appropriate function.

The major advantages are:-

1. There is maximum flexibility in the use of staff. If the proper functional division has been chosen as the project’s ‘home’, the division will be the primary administrative base for individuals with technical expertise in the fields relevant to the project. Experts can be temporarily assigned to the project, make the required contributions, and immediately be reassigned to their normal work.

2. Individual experts can be utilized by many different projects. With the broad base of technical personnel available in the functional divisions, people can be switched back and forth between the different projects with relative ease.

3. Specialists in the division can be grouped to share knowledge and experience. Therefore, the project team has access to whatever technical knowledge resides in the functional group. This depth of knowledge is a potential source of creative, synergetic solutions to technical problems.

4. The functional division also serves as a base of technological...