Organizational Culture and Its Effects on Project Management

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Topics: Change Management, Resource Management, Talent Management, Work Breakdown Structures (WBS), Knowledge Shelf

Organizational culture is made up of the attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors of its employees and underlying assumptions. In addition, “the importance of culture is that it forms the foundation of the business logic brought to any specific decision or problem; there is little chance something will be done that violates the culture, as it would mean contradicting fundamental beliefs” (Kleinbaum, 2009). If an organization’s culture is not supportive of project management, project management tends to be viewed as an additional burden and interference to the daily work. If there is no effective project management office (PMO) and no standard processes, procedures, measurement, and organization culture across projects, projects will operate differently from one project to the next as well as from one department to the next. Project culture within an organization can essentially can make or break the projects undertaken by that organization.

One of the most important components of organizational culture is values—namely, the values defined by the executive management. They need to be promoted and touted at every opportunity, and whenever any employee displays those values, he or she should be recognized and/or rewarded. Most organizations have a written statement of values, but some of these get lost in day-to-day activities.

Changing an …

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