Making the Case

  ProjectsAtWork  

Survey shows organizations value project management as a way to improve business performance. But challenges remain.

Inconsistent project management approaches, inefficient resource allocation, and improper project selection and sizing head the list of the biggest challenges facing organizations, according to a recent survey conducted by the Center for Business Practices (CBP) in partnership with Projects@Work.

Other issues facing organizations include project manager competency, economic pressures and limited visibility of project activities, according to Project Management: The State of the Industry, which polled 1,000 project professionals and senior-level executives in industries including manufacturing, health care and information technology.

To address these and other challenges, organizations are conducting a number of project management improvement initiatives led by PM software implementation (78 percent), methodology (69 percent) and staff training (69 percent), the survey found. On average, companies spend $745,000 a year on these and other improvement initiatives, with the most going to implementing project offices ($193,000).

"It's clear from this survey, more and more companies value project management as an important element of business performance improvement," says Jim Pennypacker, director of the CBP, the research arm of consulting and training firm …

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