John RiceSustainment Engineer| Lockheed MartinHarmony, Fl, United States
Aubry, M., Hobbs, B., & Thuillier, D. (2007) presented a theoretical contribution to the study of organizational project management and of the project management office (PMO). The PMO should no longer be considered an isolated island within an organization. Their premise was that the PMO is part of a network of complex relations that links strategy, projects, and structures and thus is a point of entry into the organization to study the foundations of organizational project management.
They argued that the study of such complex relationships within an organization should turn away from the traditional positivist approach to a new conceptual framework. The proposed theoretical framework draws from three complementary fields – innovation, sociology, and organizational theory – to form an innovative understanding of the PMO and organizational project management.
Do you agree or disagree with an explanation that the PMO is part of a network of complex relations that links strategy, projects, and structures and thus is a point of entry into the organization to study the foundations of organizational project management?
They argued an organization should turn away from the traditional positivist approach to a new conceptual framework; what is your organizational framework of the PMO?
Aubry, M., Hobbs, B., & Thuillier, D. (2007). A new framework for understanding organizational project management through the PMO. International journal of project management, 25(4), 328-336. Saving Changes...
I'm not sure that I'd reference this as a "new" framework any more as this research work is more than a decade old.
I would agree that the old model of a purely directive PMO is unlikely to be a good fit with most contexts. Rather, having PMOs as a catalyst for improving value delivery which implies significant interactions across all aspects of a value stream is more sustainable.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
John
you are reading a lot of good books, looking at your posts here, and certainly Aubry/Hobbs are significant research authors for project management which I can recommend.
As to the suggested old and new role of a PMO, I do not see this in reality. Building my first PMO from 1995, it already was fully embedded in the governance structure and active part of the human network and also decision making structures. How else could it produce value? Same applies to my last PMO built 4 years ago.
I recommend as one of the first books on PMOs, by David Frame, 'The Project Office', from 1997, where you also find this stance. You will see not much has changed for PMOs in 25 years.
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
We live in an age where technology changes so quickly that we believe our thinking has changed at the same pace. For those who think agile is only twenty years old, I suggest you read A Passion for Excellence, by Peter Drucker and Nancy Austin. Saving Changes...
