In management jargon, there has been a trend to append the strategic label wherever possible. These include strategic management, strategic planning, strategic marketing, strategic manufacturing and strategic accounting and finance. So, it is no surprise that the attention is getting bigger for the development of Strategic Project Management (SPM). Of late, many leading project management organizations have taken major initiatives to enlighten the executive management about the importance of strategic running and benefits of project management.
Though SPM sounds professional and valuable, what is the significance of the addition of the word strategy to project management? What is the meaning of SPM? Is it equivalent to Project Management Institute's (PMI) project management maturity model? Michael Poli of Stevens Institute of Technology defines project strategy as, "The project perspective, direction and guidelines on what to do and how to do it, to achieve the highest competitive advantage and the best project results." The PMI defines SPM as "the centralized management of one or more project portfolios; an approach to achieve strategic goals by selecting, prioritizing, assessing and managing projects, programs and other related work based upon their alignment and contribution to the organization's strategy and objectives."
These definitions suggest that SPM is a combination of elements. However, Professor Sebastian Green, Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Professor of Management and Marketing at University College, Cork, defines SPM as "The management of those projects which are of critical importance to enable the organization as a whole to have competitive advantage." According to Green, there are three attributes of having a core competence. |
