INTRODUCTION
Project management is the discipline of planning, organising, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives (Cleland & Gareis, 2006:1-4). According to Burke (2007:28-30), modern day project management started in the early 1900’s with Henry Gantt’s development of the barchart, and project management techniques which were specifically developed for the military and aerospace projects of the 1950’s and 1960’s in America and Britain.
Today, companies are encouraged to change their management systems to adapt to the project management environment. A project is defined as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service (PMBOK, 2004:4). According to Sandhu & Gunasekaran (2004:673-690), a project is a set of inter-related tasks that are undertaken by an organisation to meet defined objectives, that has an agreed start and finish time, is constrained by cost, and that has specified performance requirements and resources. Projects are usually led by a project manager who is a professional in the field of project management.
Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project. However the project manager has to interface with the line management, according to Kerzner (2006:7). Projects are performed by people and managed through people, so it is essential to develop an organisation structure which reflects the needs of the project (Burke, 2007:304). Organisations use project management to bring key people together to achieve specific goals (Palmer, 2002:101-105).
According to Gido & Clements (2003:336-339), Conflict can arise from poor or organisational issues can cause conflict in a project. mbiguous project communication, lack of information sharing, or failure to make timely decisions. Problems caused by conflict include: confusion; waste of time, money and opportunity; diminished productivity; de-motivation of individuals and teams; internal conflicts and power struggles and ultimately project failure (Box & Platts, 2005:370-387).
Due to the numerous working interfaces, complicated networks, and diversified team members of a large project, coordination efficiency among members of the team is vital to the project’s success (Cheng, Su & You, 2003:70-79). One of the simplest, yet most effective things upper management can do is to set out the company’s policy for project management; thus establishing the vision for how the company wants to best utilise project management concepts and gives a clear downwards communication (Eve, 2007:85-90). Successful executives and managers must maintain an appropriate balance between strategic and operational concerns, as they conduct the affairs of their organisation in a project management environment (Czuchry & Yasin, 2003:39-46).
The first and most basic lesson learnt regarding project management implementation, is that top management must demonstrate its unequivocal and visible support for a transition to the project management way of goal achievement (Brown & Botha, 2005:1-7). When senior management place the responsibility for project success with the project manager, without providing adequate authority and at times, implemented changes that further undermine the project manager’s authority; it leads to project failure (Kennedy & Marx, 2009:368-373).
The starting point for ensuring that matrix structures work effectively is to ensure that there is a genuine need for them (Rees & Porter, 2004:189-193). Matrix structures should not be introduced simply on the basis that they are fashionable. It is also important to note that work teams do not exist in a vacuum, but are part of a larger organisational system with distinct cultural and structural characteristics (Tata, 2000:187-193).
BACKGROUND TO STUDY
An organisational structure is a mainly hierarchical concept of subordination of entities that collaborate and contribute to serve one common aim. Organisational structure allows the expressed allocation of responsibilities for different functions and processes to different entities such as the branch, department, workgroup and individual. A hierarchical organisation is an organisational structure where every entity in the organisation, except one, is sub-ordinate to a single other entity. This arrangement is a form of a hierarchy. In an organisation, the hierarchy usually consists of a singular/group of power at the top with subsequent levels of power beneath them.
This is the dominant mode of organisation among large organisations; most corporations, governments, and organized religions are hierarchical organisations with different levels of management, power or authority. Organisations have recognised that performing organisational projects has increased both organisational efficiency and effectiveness, thus organisational projects are becoming more of a norm than an exception these days. Each type of organisation has advantages and disadvantages pertaining to project implementation. The organisation should establish firm, standardized project management systems.
The matrix structure leads to institutionalised conflict which, if properly channelled, should lead to a number of advantages, such as efficiency and flexibility in used of resources, technical excellence of solutions, motivation and development of employees and the freeing of top management from routine decision making (Rowlinson, 2001:669-673). According to Brown (2008:1-9), a seven step organisational process needs to be formally instituted in an organisation through a thoroughly planned strategy to ensure that appropriate project management processes and tools.
PROBLEM FORMULATION
In recent years, managers of for-profit private organisations have been under considerable market pressures to re-orient the strategies, operations and business models of their organisations. In a response to these pressures, the organisational structures of these organisations have been steadily re-engineered from mechanistic, rigid and closed system-oriented to a more organic, flexible and open system-oriented (Gomes, Yasin & Lisboa, 2008: 573-585).
Most managers focus on how the project methodology can adapt to it’s organisational context, however, in doing so, they sacrifice the flexibility and dynamism of the project approach for the bureaucratic, control-based view of functional organisations (Thiry, 2006:22) The questions to be addressed in this study are as follows:
- How does the organisational structure affect the project manager’s effectiveness?
- To what degree is the effectiveness of the organisational structure sabotaged by the human factor?
- Which organisational structures are best suited for project management?
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Literature review Published material in the form of books, journals, magazines, newspaper articles, government publications and the Internet formed part of establishing a well-informed theoretical background.
Target population The population was restricted to companies in the Western Cape Province, for economic reasons; as most companies are within easy reach. The population comprised project management practitioners. For the purpose of this study, project management practitioners are persons practising project management, who are given the responsibility and accountability for implementing projects in an organisation. In industry, the title varies from company to company. The commonly used titles are Project Supervisor and Project Manager.
The companies to be included in the study must be practising project The companies must have a formal project management for more than five years. management structure in place. It is anticipated that many companies may not be keen to share information on this subject. Therefore, to increase the probability of reaching the required sample size, organisations in the entire province were chosen.
Sample selection and method of sampling A combination of convenience and judgement sampling was used, in light of the geographical dispersion of the organisations. Care was taken to include a broad variety of project management practitioners. The organisations were grouped according to industries. In the absence of previous research, a minimum sample size of one hundred project management practitioners will be chosen for the study. The sample size has been determined on the basis of the cost of the exercise and accessibility to the various companies.
The method of data collection The survey method will be used. A personal interview using a structured questionnaire will be used to obtain the required information. This method was chosen as it is simple and allows for clarity of questions.
Statistical Analysis Descriptive statistics will be used for the initial analysis. The MoonStats package will be used for data analysis. Cross-tabulation and correlation will be used to establish simple relationships between the organisational structure and it’s effects on project management in the business.
