Strengthening the connections between strategy and organizational project management

Introduction It has often been said that hope is not a strategy and that a wait-and-see attitude is not a plan. “Strategy is the great work of the organization. In situations of life or death, it is the Tao of survival or extinction. Its study cannot be neglected” (Grant, 2016, p. 3). This chapter provides a brief overview of the Project Management Institute's (PMI) Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) standard. According to PMI's website, “A standard is a document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, which provides for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context” (“What is a Standard?,” 2016). This is followed by foundational concepts in strategic management to highlight relevant frameworks and contributions from select scholars in strategy – Robert Grant, Michael Porter, Jay Barney, and Henry Mintzberg. After that, the chapter discusses the importance of linking the strategic management and OPM3 processes that span project, program, and portfolio (PPP) management. Then, the chapter briefly summarizes some limitations of the OPM3. The chapter concludes with recommendations. The purpose of this chapter is to help project management researchers enhance their appreciation of concepts from strategic management and understand some of the limitations of OPM3. According to PMI, the OPM3 model is a framework that “defines knowledge, assessment and improvement processes, based on Best Practices and Capabilities, to help organizations measure and mature their portfolio, program, and project management practices” (Project Management Institute, 2013, p. 239). The three elements of OPM3 include knowledge of OPM3 best practices, assessing organizational capabilities to identify areas for improvement, and improving the organization accordingly. The OPM3 process is akin to Deming's classic quality improvement cycle, which covers planning, doing, checking, and acting/adjusting. The OPM3 standard does not discuss any of the classic strategic management frameworks reviewed in this chapter. Instead, the standard covers strategy narrowly, in terms of execution versus the entire strategic management process consisting of long-term goals, a deep understanding of the competitive environment and appraisal of organizational resources, followed by implementation and evaluation.