Effect of PMO and its Attributes on Project Success
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Date
2018-01
Authors
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Publisher
The British University in Dubai
Abstract
Purpose: The Project Management Office has become in trend in many organisations, although its role and maturity level differs from an organisation to another. There is extensive research that claims a direct correlation between PMO existence (within the organisation) and the successful delivery of projects (within the organisation), however a critical review of the literature does not actually articulate which precise attributes of PMO’s contributes to specific elements of project success. These factors are likely to have a negative impact on the confidence of organisations to invest significant resources in establishing PMO’s. This paper aims at examining how PMO’s can effectively contribute to the successful delivery of projects, by critically reviewing the existing literature on ‘PMO’s’ and ‘project success’ concepts and facilitating a clear understanding of their relationships; evaluating the roles and attributes of PMOs and their impact upon the successful delivery of projects, and utilising empirical data to gain an understanding of the relationship between the roles and attributes of PMOs and their impact upon the successful delivery of projects.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Since the research is exploratory in nature and aims at gaining insight into the topic of discussion, the researcher used a qualitative research method through structured interviews. The sample of respondents was selective in nature and aimed at project management professionals in a project-oriented organisation. Respondents’ experience and knowledge was important to ad expert insight into the study.
Findings: The findings of the study revealed that there is a positive relationship between the establishment of a PMO and enhancement of project success— taking into consideration that the PMO and its relevant governance structures are well established in the organisation. though no actual, quantifiable link has been taken into consideration. The PMO is well-established in the organisation under study, and contributes to the enhancement of the projects. So using the organisation as an example, and in order to better understand this link and capture the relationship, the author suggests measuring success levels and factors according to the PMO’s function/level in the organisation.
Research Limitations/implications: This research was limited to a specific group of professionals in one organisation, using one research method only.
Originality/value: The findings of this paper could be used as a baseline for further research in the field relevant to the UAE.
Description
Keywords
Project Management Office (PMO), project hierarchy, United Arab Emirates (UAE), project governance, project success