State the facts: The Widgets US company is an example of a functional organization. According to the textbook, this structure is the most common organizational type used in business today. The most common weakness in a functional structure from a project management perspective relates to the tendency for employees organized this way to become fixated on their concerns and work assignments to the exclusion of the needs of other departments (Pinto 45). An additional weakness of the functional structure is that it provides no logical location for a central project management function (Pinto 46). Also, Projects generally take longer to complete due to structural problems, slower communication, lack of direct ownership of the project, and competing priorities among the functional departments (Pinto 47).

The company is dealing with four main issues:
1. The products are slow to market
2. New innovations are passing right by WRU
3. Poor internal communications causing lost information "up the chain"
4. Department heads are blaming each other not taking responsibility

What would you advise? What structural design changes might be undertaken to improve the operations of the company? If I was consulting for this company, I would advise that the company try to create a hybrid organization that is both functional and project centered. The company should invest in a new department, a PMO, that is only dedicated to acquiring and managing new projects. This would resolve the issue of the company letting new innovations pass them by.

Pinto, Jeffery K. Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage, 3rd Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 7/2012. VitalBook file.

(an instructor response) Finish Strong!
Professor Earnshaw
5/10/2014 7:34:17 AM

Class, our first week ends tomorrow so please make sure you post your information in the two