Project Management in an Organization - Essay Example

Project Management Task Introduction A project refers to an endeavor by an organization or individuals to achieve set goals and objectives. It is usually time bound and with expected outcomes in terms of benefits and costs. Project management refers to the art of applying monitoring and management skills in executing a project with the aim of achieving the best outcomes possible (Gibson, 2000). That is minimizing the costs while maximizing the benefits from the project work. In project management it is key to consider the relevant parties that influence and are affected by the project that is set to be implemented. These individuals are also known as the stakeholders. Thus the stakeholders are the individuals who have interests in the outcomes of the project and also those who stand to be affected by the project. There are several theories that have been put forward to explain the stakeholders as a major influence in a project. Social science stakeholder theory (Gibson, 2000). stresses more on the need for considering the social aspects of the project influence in identifying stakeholders and their influence on the project. (Wicks & Jones, 1999) .convergent stakeholder theory emphasizes the need for a mutual understanding and trust between the stakeholders and managers to implement a successful project. Stakeholder analysis is an important step in any project wok as can be highlighted as follows; Relevance; the management needs to know in details the concerns of the stakeholders so as to make the project more relevant to the needs of the targeted groups enhancing the objectives. Credibility; by indulging the stakeholders, the activities of the project are made more credible thus gaining more support from the donors and the targeted beneficiaries. All these work towards the success of the project. Publicity and image; a project that considers the effects especially the negative effects of its activities such as pollution develops and improves its social image. This has an effect of enhancing success of the organizations’ activities. Assessing the relevant stakeholders and the interests of each helps the project acquire more insight into the proposed project. This in turn works to avail more ideas and information on methods of implementation, possible outcome and challenges that may have been overseen during the project planning process. Stakeholders can be identified by either those who are internal or the external ones. They can also be classified by those affected directly or indirectly; those who oppose the project and the supporters and finally those actively involved in the operations and those under the strategic team. Even though there exists several classifications of stakeholders, we will adopt that of two main broad categories to explain and show the different interests that they have in a project: Internal stakeholders- these refers to individuals who are affected by the project from within the implementing organization. They directly engage in the running of the activities in the project. They are also referred to as the primary stakeholders. External stakeholders- are the parties who are affected from outside the implementing organization. They don’t necessarily participate in executing the project but they are affected either negatively or positively by the project processes and outcomes. Also known as the secondary stakeholders. Under the internal stakeholders we can further identify the individual grouping and their influence on the project that is to be implemented. Shareholders- these are the main owners of any project work, they are the parties who come up with the project. They are also the financiers for the project to be implemented. Their concerns are more inclined to the economical returns of the project which include the availability of the required capital input, the market share of the project, the profits to be yielded form the project and the life cycle of the project that is how long can it last. Managers- they are responsible to oversee the implementation process and give advice where need be necessary. They counter check the set implementation plan to appraise whether the scheme is in line with the scheduled time and costs and make necessary adjustments along the way. Employees- are the workers who are contracted or employed to provide their services in the implementation process of the project. Their main interest include the payment and benefits, proper communication channel and good working conditions. The external stakeholders may not be directly involved in the operations of the project but they still influence the project and the possible outcomes. Some of them are affected by the project such can be as listed below; Clients-these are the individuals who are set to consume the end product of executing a project. Some of the interest include the ethical nature of the outcome and the process, the value of the products and the customer relations of the subject organization. Suppliers- they are also external stakeholders who input into the project determines the success of the project. They avail the input needed to facilitate the activities of the project. They mainly aim for fair and equal business opportunity from the management. Trade unions- these are organization formed by workers and laborers to help champion for their rights. They also assist in collective bargaining by the workers for their demands. Some of the interests include better pay, job security and proper working conditions. Creditors- these are the organizations that help finance the project through extending credit facilities. They are fascinated in the liquidity of the association and the credit worthiness so as to minimize possible losses by defaulters. Community-during the project implementation there are surrounding environment can either be affected positively or negatively. Such include displacement of the inhabitants of the project premises, noise, water and chemical pollution from the project activities. Other positive effects include provision of social amenities by the project, availing of job opportunities which help improve the social welfare of the surrounding community. Government- The government has a great interest in projects as it is also charged with the responsibility of the citizens at large. It looks into the taxes on the project activities, the influence of the project on the citizens’ diversity, potential employment opportunities, both positive and negative externalities resulting from the project. A framework can be develop to assist the project manager effectively analyze the stakeholder influence in the project. Step One: Identify the possible stakeholders in the project this as we have done in the previous section we found there were; Shareholders and owners, senior managers and junior managers, employees, clients, dealers, creditors, communal, trade unions and the government. Step Two; this involves assessing the level of influence that the various stakeholders have on the project and the nature of their influence. It can be divided into two categories that is; a) High Influence; these are those with a lot of interests in the activities that will be carried out in the implementation process and can greatly influence the course of the projects. They include shareholders, owners, senior managers and the government. The category of senior managers, donors and owners need to be actively engaged in running the operations of the project. While the group including shareholders, government, creditors, suppliers need to be managed closely though not actively involved in the activities but may have great influence on the project. b) Low influence; these are people who are significant to the project but have very low influence on the success of the project some of them include the trade unions, clients, community. The management needs to monitor their activities so as to ensure they don’t affect the project such as the case with trade unions and customers and also keep them informed of the activities on going in the project work such as the case with the surrounding community. Step Three; be fully aware of the stakeholders in terms of their influence and source of influence. (Greene & Elfrers, 1999) .classified the basis of influence in the following ways. Expertise- this can arise from the skills and knowledge mastered which influences others. Referent- derived from ones personality such as admiration of ones traits enabling influence. Information- is based on ones’ access to valuable information that is able to churn influence. Connection- this comes from ones’ ability to popularize with individuals of significant positions thus being able to influence actions on other people. Legitimate- arises from a person holding a high ranking position in an organization or institution. Coercive- is based on consequences that arise from failure to conform to standards or set rules. Reward- this is as a result of providing inducements to complement those who comply. Together with analyzing their sources of influence you could also look into the preferred means of communication, how much information to avail to them and also their commitment level to the project at hand. Either they may be positively committed to ensure the project succeeds or negatively inclined towards the success of the project. These three steps can facilitate the managers with a great analysis tool for drafting the stakeholder interests, influences and relations with respect to the project implementation. The process of coming up with the above framework and implementation of the project may be faced by different obstacles some of which can be discussed as follows; Communication channel- this has to be really considered by the project managers. The means of communication used to relay information to the respective stakeholders needs to be precise and effective according to the various levels of the stakeholders. Poor communication makes it very hard to establish a mutual agreement with the stakeholders and communication of their interests. Varying Interests- the project manager is faced with the problem of accommodating interests of different parties for a common goal. Especially in the case of political influences there are a lot of bureaucratic red tape that hinders the progress and establishment of common interest of the relevant stakeholders. Thus cases where there are several contradicting interests it becomes challenging. Resources- such as time and monetary resources. In every project work time and monetary resources are crucial in the success of the project. But they are also the major constrains in implementing the project work. The process of stakeholder analysis may be time consuming and expensive to the organization. In conclusion one fact is clear, every project manager needs to assess the stakeholders of the project by looking at their interests and the influence they may have on the project success or otherwise he risks failure of the project (Morris & Hough, 1993). References Jones, T.M and Wicks, A.C (199) “Convergent Stakeholder Theory” Academy of Management Review 24 (2): 206-221. Gibson, D. (2000). “The Moral Basis of Stakeholder Theory” Journal of Business Ethics. 26: 245-257. Liisa Sallinen, Inkeri Ruuska, Tuomas Ahola, (2013) "How governmental stakeholders influence large projects: the case of nuclear power plant projects", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 6 Iss: 1, pp.51 – 68 Read More