Project Management

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By Peter Tarhanidis, Ph.D.

There is a dramatic increase in the strategies corporations implement to meet the needs of their stakeholders. Driving value from all parts of an organization and its functions may seem like repetitive exercises—and even feel more like a medieval gauntlet with only a few successful programs. HBR (2021) wrote that by 2027, about 88 million people will be working in project management—with economic activity reaching $20 trillion USD. Also noted: Only 35% of projects are successful, leaving immense waste of resources.

There are many reasons projects fail. HBR (2021) states of the 70% of failed projects, and after exhaustive root-cause analysis across all industries, one can identify common themes such as undervaluing project management skills and methods, and poor performance. Yet organizations that apply project management methods recognized their performance had a 2.5 more times chance to be successful, and organizations can waste 28 times less resources. As such, when applied, the implementation of PM methods works.

Yet in a world filled with a variety of project taxonomies, many organizational boards are now contemplating the need to implement environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. Forbes states the benefits of ESG and CSR initiatives include:

  1. Advancing organizational culture, empowering staff to do social good, and welcoming diversity.
  2. Encouraging partners and investors who are interested in long-run strategy to manage risks and opportunities by emphasizing the organization’s ethics.
  3. Raising an organization’s staff confidence and productivity, creating a workplace that achieves the business mission.

Therefore, to ensure success for ESG and CSR programs, an organization’s top leaders need to prioritize and align across all the organization’s businesses. Leaders can use the balanced scorecard to achieve this alignment, and can extend its use across the entire project portfolio.

This theory was developed by Kaplan and Norton, which state the balanced scorecard method converts the organization’s strategy into performance objectives, measures, targets and initiatives. Linking the concept of cause and effect, the balanced scorecard covers four perspectives:

  1. Customer: How do customers see us?
  2. Internal: What must we excel at?
  3. Innovation and learning: Can we continue to improve and create value?
  4. Financial: How do we look to shareholders?

Marr (N.B.) reported over 50% of companies have used this approach in the United States, the United Kingdom, Northern Europe and Japan. One clear benefit has been to align the organization’s structure to achieve its strategic goals.

In conclusion, applying project management methods and aligning an organization’s performance through the balanced scorecard can unlock ESG and CSR benefits that can supercharge a company’s efforts to achieve its mission.

References

  1. HBR: The Project Economy Has Arrived
  2. HBR: The Balanced Scorecard—Measures that Drive Performance
  3. Project Management Statistics: Trends and Common Mistakes in 2023
  4. Forbes: Three Reasons Why CSR And ESG Matter to Businesses
  5. Balanced Scorecard: How Many Companies Use This To

Posted by Peter Tarhanidis on: June 14, 2023 04:12 PM | Permalink

Comments (6)

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Luis Branco CEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, Ldª Carcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear Peter
Very interesting what it brought to our reflection and debate
Thank you for sharing, for the cited articles and for the conclusions.

For some companies operating in certain sectors of activity, it is mandatory to present management and ESG reports

avatar
Peter Tarhanidis Director | President and CEO | Adjunct | Board Member| Johnson & Johnson | Praxis Advisory | Columbia University Chatham, Nj, United States
Thank you, Luis, good comment!

Regards,

Peter

avatar
Maxim Shevelev Haifa, Ta, Israel
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!

avatar
Tiago Lourenco PMP® MSc Project Manager & GDPR Expert | Creator of GDPR StepWise™| Founder - Structured PM Ltd London, Eng, United Kingdom
Thank you for sharing your, great read!

avatar
Peter Tarhanidis Director | President and CEO | Adjunct | Board Member| Johnson & Johnson | Praxis Advisory | Columbia University Chatham, Nj, United States
Hi Maxim and Tiago thank you for your kind words!

avatar
wael ahmed project manager| Red Sea Consultant asyut, AST, Egypt
Thank you for your kind words

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