The Enterprise-level Project Management Model (EPMM) dispels
the assumption that project management existence occurs with little discussion
of where that project comes from. The
business validation and expected business value; why there is even a project
and how to manage it within the constraints of the enterprise. In effect
projects are treated as if they were islands independent of external
constraints and factors. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Imbedding the
project into an enterprise context introduces a number of factors external to
the project that impact the project management life cycle (PMLC). Many of those
factors are related to resource capacity and schedule availability.
The origins of the EPMM date from the 1960s. The
Objective/Strategy/Tactic Process was in its embryonic stage at that time and
in use at Texas Instruments in its Corporate Research & Development
Division in Dallas, Texas.
The Business Environment
The Business Environment is fickle, somewhat unpredictable and
continuously changing. In the past 60 years it has been heavily influenced by
the relentless march of technology and the intrusion of the internet into all
aspects of our economic and social lives.
Business is global
Outsourcing dominates the support service businesses (call centers and
help desks, for example) and software development . The US is trending towards
becoming a knowledge-based economy and suffered the loss of many jobs that will
never return. The number of displaced workers continues to grow as businesses
struggle to recoup their market positions. You may not sell in the
international markets but your competitors sell in your markets and your
business decisions are forced to take on an international perspective.
Success goes to the creative and courageous
Those who can envision products and services put themselves at great
risk. The early entrants into social media applications are testimonials to
that success. But the secret is more than a matter of creativity. The business
idea must include barriers to entry or an unknown software developer will
replicate your idea from another part of the world, set themselves up as a
competitor and your business will be in harm's way. So the business environment
is one of high speed and high change with technology and the internet as the
driving force. On the positive side, the world is your market. Place has no
place in the marketing mix! It is obvious that an EPMM is a critical success
factor (CSF) in the 21st century marketplace.
The Business Environment
The Business Environment is fickle, somewhat
unpredictable and continuously changing. In the past 60 years it has been
heavily influenced by the relentless march of technology and the intrusion of
the internet into all aspects of our economic and social lives.
Enterprise Capacity
Clearly Enterprise Capacity is the driver of any strategic model. So any
Tactic that relates to the creation or maintenance of Enterprise Capacity will
be a strategic project. Capacity is defined at the resource level and was first
discussed in EPM1e. When we elevate the discussion to the enterprise level,
resources take on a different perspective and become an enabling factor and a
constraining factor. Management decisions regarding Resource Capacity are
complex and challenging due to the number of dependent factors.
Market Opportunities can only be exploited within the capacity of the
Enterprise to support them. The Business Environment is in a constant state of
flux so Market Opportunities will come and go. Any of those opportunities can
be exploited if and only if Enterprise Capacity adjusts to align with those
opportunities. One of the big questions for senior management is how to spend
enterprise resources and how to adjust that allocation as Strategy Portfolio
performance occurs.
The reference here is to the resources that are available for allocation
to projects. In a multi-year planning horizon resource capacity might be
upgraded or increased through projects, programs or portfolios designed for the
purpose of expanding or enhancing enterprise capacity to more effectively align
to and to support attainment of the Objectives defined in the Strategic Plan.
As stated above resource capacity, availability and the
interdependencies among those resources are both a constraining factor and an
enabling factor. As a constraining factor what the enterprise should do is
limited by what the enterprise can do and finally leads to what the enterprise
will do. As a counter measure to the constraining factor the enterprise needs
to assure the alignment of not only resource supply but also resource
availability against the business demands for those resources. So resource
capacity is a dynamic tool that can be adjusted as a deliverable from the
planning exercises. Expanding or enhancing resources will reduce the schedule
contention between resources but that is a business decision that arises during
the fulfilment of the Strategic Plan.
As an enabling factor resource managers collaborate with functional
business managers and LOB managers to creatively solve problems and enable the
exploitation of new business opportunities. These collaborative efforts result
in the commissioning of projects, programs and portfolios to project managers
who function as the enablers.
Objectives
The integration of Objectives/Strategies/Tactics (OST) into a system is
an embodiment of the Strategic Planning Process (SPP). OST has its roots in the
emerging product planning processes developed and used by Texas Instruments in
its Corporate Research & Engineering Division in the early 1960s. TI/OST
required one quarter each year for the development of the strategic plan.
Objectives are generated at the highest levels of enterprise management
as a direction-setting guide for those who will suggest Tactics for reaching
the Objectives of the enterprise. In effect, the enterprise knows where it is
(its current state) and knows where it would like to be (its desired end
state). The missing ingredient is how to get there? Strategies and their
aligned Tactics describe that journey. As Figure 1-1 clearly shows, those
Tactics are defined through a collection of projects, programs and portfolios.
Strategies
Strategies are the guide for proposing Tactics and are the short-term
variables in the SPP.
Each Strategy has a Strategy Manager. They are assigned as part of the
SPP and manage their Strategy until all projects in their Strategy Portfolio
are completed. The responsibilities of a Strategy Manager include:
- Strategy Portfolio
planning and management
- Monitor portfolio
performance and content in order to maximum expected business value
contributions from their portfolio
- Adjusting project
scope and schedules to accommodate resource capacity and availability
- Monitor portfolio
performance and adjust resource allocation to assure maximal business
value to the enterprise.
- Negotiating resource
requirements and utilization among all Strategy Managers
The relationship between Objectives, Strategies and Tactics can be
complex and create interdependencies due to resource capacities and
dependencies among and between resources.
Tactics
These will be offered in the form of potential project, program or
portfolio ideas to be carried out within the planning horizon (3 or 5 years is
common). Tactics are ideas for products, services or processes submitted to the
EPMM in the form of one page documents called Project Overview Statements
(POS). (The POS was first introduced in 1995 in EPM1e and has matured to its
present form.). The extent to which a Tactic aligns with the Strategies of the
enterprise is an important factor in any prioritization exercise of the
proposed Tactics. The strength of that alignment and other factors (like risk
and expected incremental business value) are the basis for decisions on which
Tactics will be prioritized and approved. These projects, programs and
portfolios represent the Tactics that convert available resources into
incremental business value.
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