Programme and Project Management - Essay Example

This paper is aimed at developing a comprehensive understanding of the concepts of strategic project management and its roles in the modern project management context. The paper presents a review of various studies in order to incorporate a precise and detailed study of strategic project management under the literature review segment. It moves forward to analyze a case in an organizational context of use and application of strategic project management so as to align the theory better with the practice and gain practical insights into the theoretical study.

The second part is a case study of strategic project management implementation in respect to Marathon Oil Company. The case tries to understand factors responsible for success of the communication and brand building project adopted by the company, thereby connecting the theory with practicality. According to Callahan and Brooks (2004), Strategic Project Management is the appropriate and fitting use of all kinds of project management tools, knowledge and skills, that these deliverables of the project contribute towards company goals and strategic company objectives in a manner that can be easily measured.

SPM or Strategic Project Management also takes into account the manner of company’s business and allows scope for undertaking fewer risks so as to gain significant payoffs. However, apart from this, the most important aspect of SPM is that senior leadership has to be involved in selection, definition and prioritization of projects that are undertaken in a company. Hence, strategic project management can be further defined as the process of making selections, measuring and managing outcomes of a project, which in turn ensures optimal outcome of a project.

All projects that are undertaken by a company to meet a designated set of criteria are established by organizational leadership, which together makes sure that they are well-aligned with the strategic organizational