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    Identifying the Forces Driving Frequent Change in PMOs
    Identifying the Forces Driving Frequent Change in PMOs
    Identifying the Forces Driving Frequent Change in PMOs
    Ebook361 pages2 hours

    Identifying the Forces Driving Frequent Change in PMOs

    By Monique Aubry, Brian Hobbs, Ralf Muller and Tomas Blomquist

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    About this ebook

    Project Management Offices (PMOs) are not etched in stone. They are complex entities which go through frequent transformations during their average two-year life span. So, what does that mean to project professionals? Identifying the Forces Driving Frequent Change in PMOs answers this question for both researchers and practitioners based on a three-year research effort focused on the organizational change process surrounding the transformation of a PMO. Seventeen case studies and 184 responses to a questionnaire provide the foundation. Results show the temporary nature of PMOs and reveal that significant changes in PMOs can be associated with an organization's internal and external environment.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherProject Management Institute
    Release dateAug 1, 2011
    ISBN9781628250220
    Identifying the Forces Driving Frequent Change in PMOs

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      Identifying the Forces Driving Frequent Change in PMOs - Monique Aubry

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      CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

      1.1 Context of this Research

      Project management has come to play a central role in the management of organizations in almost all fields of human activity. Bredillet, Ruiz, and Yatim (2008) reported from World Bank data that 21% of the world's gross domestic product (GDP) is gross capital formation, which is tightly related to project activities. This is also reflected within organizations where a greater portion of their activities is organized by projects. Over the last decade, many organizations have implemented one or more Project Management Offices (PMOs) as part of organizational project management, attributing a variety of both operational and strategic roles to their PMOs (Dai & Wells, 2004). While PMOs are now a prominent feature of organizational project management, the underlying logical argument that leads to their implementation or renewal is still not fully understood.

      People responsible for establishing or managing a PMO have a great variety of options with respect to both the organizational structures and the functions within the mandate of the PMO. In addition, executives ask for value from these structures and PMO managers are often hard-pressed to show value for money. The current state of knowledge of PMOs and how they contribute to value creation provides PMO managers with very few resources. The practitioner community is looking for standards, or at least guidelines, to help them and their executives to be more successful in establishing and managing PMOs. On the other hand, the project management research community is looking for recognition of its theoretical base within the larger management research community. An international effort has been made recently to formalize theoretical knowledge in the field of project management with the identification of nine schools of thought (Bredillet, 2007). Research on PMOs relates more specifically to the Governance School (Bredillet, 2008). The research presented in this paper will contribute to theoretical knowledge not only on the PMO but more largely to organizational project management and its dynamic context.

      Many consultants and some researchers have written on PMOs in recent years. The focus of the vast majority of this work has been on identifying the characteristics of PMOs and a limited number of variables that would drive the configurations of new or existing PMOs. The implicit underlying assumptions in the current literature are that there are a limited number of variations of PMOs and that PMOs are relatively stable structural entities. However, results of a survey of 500 PMOs documented a great variety and lack of consensus on their value, their structure, and the functions included in their mandate (Hobbs & Aubry, 2007).

      On the other hand, at least three independent surveys have shown that the average age of PMOs is approximately two years (Hobbs & Aubry, 2007; Interthink Consulting, 2002; Stanleigh, 2005). This has not changed in recent years. The authors know of no research results that are inconsistent with these observations. Therefore, PMOs are often not stable structures but temporary arrangements with a rather short life expectancy.

      In the same vein, the case studies conducted by Dr. Aubry as part of her doctoral thesis (Aubry, 2007) illustrated the temporary nature of PMOs. This case study research revealed that significant changes in PMOs can be associated with changes in senior management personnel, their organizational or strategic vision, or both. The case study results indicate that a more fruitful approach for future research would be to focus on the organizational change process surrounding the implementation or the transformation of a PMO, rather than focusing on the characteristics of the PMO as a static organizational entity. The pertinence of this process approach to a better understanding of PMOs has been validated in the context of executive workshops held in Canada, the United States, Australia and Europe.

      Following recommendation for future research, the present research addresses the organizational change process surrounding the transformation of a PMO. Results presented in this monograph come from two sources of data: 17 case studies and 184 responses to a questionnaire. Both have been orchestrated in a global methodological strategy. Results illustrate the temporary nature of PMOs and reveal that significant changes in PMOs can be associated with the organization's internal or external environment.

      In light of the current organizational context described above, the high-level objective of this research is to understand the forces that are driving the frequent reconfigurations of PMOs. More specifically, this research intends to answer these questions:

      Why do PMOs change? What are the drivers?

      How does the change happen? Is there a dynamic change process?

      What is changing? What are the characteristics or functions that are changing?

      Is there any pattern of change?

      Results from this research should contribute to building the theoretical foundations of project management more specifically in the Governance School. It should also provide guidance to project management practitioners and upper management executives in the implementation, remodeling and management of PMOs.

      1.2 The Origin of this Research

      This monograph aims at providing an in-depth understanding of the PMO transformation process. It delivers the results from a three-year research project specifically dedicated to changes affecting PMOs. This research was undertaken as a continuous effort from the earlier stages of a research program on PMOs within the Project Management Research Chair at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM; www.pmchair.uqam.ca). In 2003 and 2004, this research program was launched in order to develop a better understanding of this important phenomenon.

      The objectives of the research program are twofold. The first objective is to produce a reliable description of the present population of PMOs. The second objective is to develop a better understanding of PMOs, why they take on such a variety of forms, and the dynamics surrounding their creation, transformation, and action in organizations. As shown in Table 1.1, the research program includes six phases, with this specific research corresponding to Phase V.

      Table 1.1. Research Program on PMOs at UQAM

      Over the last several years, many conversations at professional congresses and workshops have revealed a negative interpretation of frequent PMO transformations. A PMO change is often considered the result of a failure or a deficiency in the PMO. Thus, a new configuration of the PMO, one may think, should correct the fault and last forever, though this is rarely the case. From this perspective, multiple failures lead to a loss of legitimacy and confidence in the PMO and sometimes in the global project management approach.

      During the in-depth case studies of 12 PMOs in Phase III of the research program, the idea of a process of PMO transformation came up prominently in interviews (see Aubry, 2007). While the questionnaire for semi-structured interviews asked for a description of the evolution of the PMO structure, respondents’ replies described how they have understood the transformation of their PMO. In-depth analysis of interview transcripts in a grounded theory approach offered a first understanding of PMO transformation in terms of a continuous process.

      This research has emerged from divergent perspectives on the reasons why PMOs are changing so often. On one side, changes are seen as the result of a failure on the part of the PMO. On the other side, change is seen as simply a natural periodic phenomenon.

      This research has the particularity of being realized in collaboration with Umeå School of Business, Umeå University, Sweden. Aubry was a post-doctoral researcher at Umeå School of Business. This collaboration translated into rich case studies and, more significantly, cross-fertilization of ideas throughout the research.

      CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

      The organization that never changes eventually loses synchronization with its environment, while the one that never stabilizes can produce no product or service efficiently. Accordingly, there is always change embedded in the stability of an organization, just as there is always stability embedded in its change. Some things must remain fixed as other things shift. (Mintzberg & Westley, 1992, p. 46)

      It is not difficult to capture the PMO's reality in a snapshot. What is difficult is to make sense of the pace of its transformation. As Mintzberg and Westley (1992) suggest, organizational change is a necessary feature in every organization. The PMO is no exception to this rule. In this context, we intend to review the literature on PMOs and organizational change and to propose a conceptual framework that will help make sense of the PMO's transformation process. Change is defined as the act, process or result of changing. Similarly, transformation is defined as an act, process or instance of transforming or being transformed (Merriam-Webster, 2007). In this monograph we use the terms change and transformation

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