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    Strategic Project Management as a Tool to Achieve Competitive Advantage

    Strategicplanning

    Current business trends force companies to find the right mix to become more efficient and agile; these two elements are important to achieve competitive advantage, which will result in increasing market share, revenue or efficiency. 

    For years, companies around the world have look for how to achieve competitive advantage through a traditional project management approach, this operational approach covers functions and operational controls, which include strict controls on schedules, budgets and resources. The results of these projects have not produced the expected benefits and competitive advantage even when operational controls were met. 

    On the other hand, some innovative companies seeking to dominate their business sector are practicing an alternative project management approach and opt for an evolutionary process that will take them from an operational approach to a strategic approach. Under this new perspective, projects will be used as the mean to achieve real business objectives that support business strategy.

    Research studies (Brown and Eisenhardt 1998) have confirmed that projects aligned with business strategy will be the foundation to take advantage over their competition and achievement of business objectives. The results suggest that companies choosing to adopt the new approach will require commitment at all levels in order to change the project management paradigm and establish the new way in which projects being undertaken will be aligned to business strategy and reach business goals.

    Under this new approach, projects must be dynamic, flexible and capable to adapt to possible changes in strategy or external factors. The project environment, although “mobile", must not lose sight that business objectives should be meet as established at project inception. This new approach should not change the project’s attribute of temporality.

    Companies adopting the strategic approach to project management must change the project selection process and establish a "competimeter" which contains project selection criteria as follows:

    • "Follow the race" is aimed to improve operations and achieving results in the short term. These projects usually allow the company to maintain its market position

    • "Winning the race” is designed to improve efficiency or effectiveness and the main objective is to increase market share

    • "Changing the rules of the game" is designed to create a new product or service that will make the company distinct from the others and strive towards the desired competitive advantage

    This project classification establishes that project outcome is not a product or service but how to approach the competition and win.

    Under the strategic approach, project manager’s role will expand and in addition to fulfilling their traditional functions, project managers will need to step into strategic and leadership roles. The project manager will turn into a strategic professional who will lead project and cross-functional team, will participate in board meetings where decisions are made about starting, continuing or cancelling projects based on business results.

    Once the company achieves the maturity level using the strategic approach to project management, projects will be identified during company’ strategy sessions counting with board members acceptance and their commitment to assist the project team when necessary.

    Having working with companies transitioning from the traditional project management operational approach to the strategic approach, I had the opportunity to see how the general manager cascaded the new project management approach across the organization. Solid results were achieved during the first eighteen months having all functional areas involved and collaborating in projects towards specific business goals.

    Companies willing to set a competitive advantage will adopt the strategic approach to project management and define what to do, how to do it and how to achieve business objectives through project aligned to company’s strategy.

    Reference:

    SL Brown and Eisenhardt, K. M. 1998 Competing on the Edge, Harvard Business School Press: Boston, MA

     

    Tags » Competitive Advantage Project Management Strategic Project Management Strategy
    • 15 November 2010
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  • Conrado Morlan's Space

    My passion is program and project management and how culture impacts the project outcome. I'd been managing global and regional projects around the world led and managed diverse and disperse teams and transformed programs into benefits.
    I had been exposed to several project management methodologies and achieved credentials from different project management organizations. I am the first Mexican to achieve the PgMP credential and mentoring potential candidates from Latin America.
    As an avid volunteer with PMI and with other organizations I participate in events that promote the project management culture. I have a strong multi-cultural background and speak fluently English, Spanish and Portuguese.
    I am a frequent speaker at regional and global project management congresses. You can read my columns in PMI Community Post and INyES Latino.


    Conrado Morlan, EzineArticles.com Basic Author

  • About Conrado Morlan

    My passion is program and project management and how culture impacts the project outcome. I'd been managing global and regional projects around the world led and managed diverse and disperse teams and transformed programs into benefits.
    I had been exposed to several project management methodologies and achieved credentials from different project management organizations. I am the first Mexican to achieve the PgMP credential and mentoring potential candidates from Latin America.
    As an avid volunteer with PMI and with other organizations I participate in events that promote the project management culture. I have a strong multi-cultural background and speak fluently English, Spanish and Portuguese.
    I am a frequent speaker at regional and global project management congresses. You can read my columns in PMI Community Post and INyES Latino.


    Conrado Morlan, EzineArticles.com Basic Author

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