19 Aug PROJECT MANAGER PERCEPTIONS OF THE VALUE OF ORGANISATIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of organizational project
management in delivering project value and from a project manager’s perspective is the
framework delivering project success. The world of project management has changed over
the last twenty years to meet the changing demands required by organizations, who are
applying leaner operation models with fewer resources, risk adverse, project constraints and
restricted budgets to deliver projects. Consequently the need for management within
organisations is to focus on choosing the right projects to add business value, benefits and
return on investment is more important now than ever before.
The area that the dissertation aims to study is the value of organizational project management
and project manager’s experience of its impact on project success. Therefore the research
question is “How can Organizational Project Management deliver Project Value”
Theme 1
What are the Success Factors required in the Project life cycle phases to Deliver the
Project Objectives
Theme 2
The Value of Organizational Project Management is a strategy execution model in
improving project success rates (Portfolio, Programme, Project Management
alignment)
Theme 3
Academic and Industry research confirms that there is still a high level of project
failures across all industry sectors (Average success rates are at 30% while failure rates
are at 70% according to Project Management Institute Studies and Standish Reports)
Reserach Findings
This section presents the findings of the semi structure interviews. The interviewees
were all professional project managers with over ten year’s experience each. The
interviewees were selected from a cross section of industries.
Information Technology (Project Budgets €40 million & 14 projects ongoing)
Financial Services (Project Budgets €50 million & 5 projects ongoing)
Construction (Project Budgets €120 million & 6 phases / projects ongoing)
Banking (Project Budgets €30 million & 10 projects ongoing)
Hospitality (Project Budgets €10 million & 3 projects ongoing)
Conclusions
The study started out asking the questions “How can organizational project management
deliver project success”. The decision making process for selecting the right projects is
critical for organisations in today’s business environment to successfully achieve competitive
advantage and generate profits. Organizations have become leaner operations with fewer
resources, risk adverse, project constraints and restricted budgets to deliver projects.
Consequently the need for management within organisations to focus on choosing the right
projects to add business value, benefits and return on investment is more important now than
ever before. Since 2005 the development of portfolio and programme management
capabilities has led organisations to take a more strategic approach to project delivery and
linking the business project selection to values, benefits and return on investment is crucial.
The literature review has shown there is a lot of opinions and interpretations with very little
agreement on how organizational project management can deliver project value. The research
findings show a disconnect between project managers in their day to operations and a lack of
senior management support in helping them deliver project deliverables, there is a
misalignment between both parties and this is one of the main reasons for project failures. For
project management to remain relevant and competitive in today’s business environment,
new approaches have to be found, a collaborative approach by project managers in
developing the business strategy and aligning it to the project values / benefits and this needs
to be demonstrated and communicated to senior management executives for their buy in. This
is summarize by Noordzij (2014, p 62) who states that executives focus on business goals,
results and outcomes from the project. Project managers and consultants focus on tools and
techniques. This misalignment is related to the cognitive gap what sellers promote and buyers
need to hear,
There is agreement amongst the academics and interviewees that having the right resources in
place for leadership and stakeholders support, defined roles and responsibilities, experienced
and certified project managers and a formal project methodology this will enhance project
success rates.
Recommendations
They results from the study show that project management is applied in many industry
sectors, but the understanding of project management values by academics, industry bodies,
project managers and senior executives are still varied and problematic. There is a range of
academic research written on project management values, success and failure factors. The
areas of project management need to develop the business and strategic organizational value
concepts in alignment to projects. Project managers need to develop their sales skills as part
of their overall skill set in selling project management to senior level executives
Organizational project management needs to be developed into a simpler model that is easily
understood by both project managers and senior executives on the value and benefits
delivered.
Article written by Padraig Friel MPM MBA MScPM CMC 19th August 2025.
MBA Thesis and Dissertation National College of Ireland 2017 “Project Manager Perceptions of the Value of Organizational Project Management”