Project Management: Analyzing Organizational Structures for Projects

This report examines three key organizational structures in project management: functional, matrix, and project. It explores the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of each structure, highlighting how they impact project managers' authority, communication, and decision-making processes. The analysis includes a comparison of the structures, considering factors such as resource allocation, team dynamics, and project success. The report also addresses project characteristics, constraints, and potential problems that influence the selection and effectiveness of each organizational structure. The report concludes with a summary of the organizational structure's impact on the project's environment and the project manager's role. The paper is supported by citations from academic sources and project management literature.

RUNNING HEAD: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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Project Management

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Organizational structure.............................................................................................................2
Functional organizational structure........................................................................................3
Project organizational structure..............................................................................................4
Matrix Organizational Structure.............................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The component, which is vital for the growth of any project team, is project management. A
well-organized structure and well-structured project team help in giving assistance to the
work. Misaligned project administration teams give a negative influence on the result of the
plan. This occurs since the organizational structure has an effect on the project manager
ability; thus, it affects the working condition of the project. It is very much famous that a
non-structured team often has a lack of guidance (Jones, 2013).
This paper will be an emphasis on the three organizational structures i.e. Functional
Organizational Structure, Matrix Organizational Structure, and Project Organization
Structure.
Organizational structure
As everyone knows that, the group of person is called as the organization that work together
to accomplish the goal of the organization in order to achieve success. Whereas a project
manager needs to explain by the project management office arrangement.
An organizational structure can be outlined as the expert and control within the association.
Management of project helps in knowing the reporting relationship in a specific organization
(Zheng, 2010).
Depending upon the organization situation, an association is divided into 3 ways.
 Functional Organizational Structure
 Project Organization Structure
 Matrix Organizational Structure

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Functional organizational structure
(Michalski, 2011).
The characteristics of this structure is that there is a system of the hierarchy in a functional
organizational structure where authority takes decision-related to the budget, agenda, and
tools rest on the bears of the functional executive who owns an important stage of expertise in
the similar ground. Therefore, we can say that the project in this kind of the organizational
structure has no expert, whereas in some of the organizational structure the position even
does not exist (Michalski, 2011)
In this type of organizational arrangement, the effort is broken down into various sections, for
instance, human resource section, sales division, finance, public associations, management,
etc.

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Constraints of this structure are that Employees in various teams do not get the chance to
meet and share viewpoints, segregation is done, and coordination between the employees is
eliminated.
One of the problem associated with this is that it can be more related to the traditional
business where the staff is managed over by a manager depend upon their functions in the
association and the department head to senior management most often do communication.
The most wonderful thing about this organizational structure is that the employees are very
much efficient in their work in their particular department. Everyone is very accountable in
their own work ad every person know who has to contact when anything goes wrong (Square,
2018).
This may also result in the reduction of loyalty and enthusiasm over time as the work may
prove monotonous sometimes. In addition to this, the cross-communication also becomes
poor as there is indirect flow of the communication rather than direct and decision-making
process is also affected as the high stage of the bureaucracy.

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Project organizational structure
(Too, 2014).
The characteristics of this project organizational arrangement is that the overall differing of
the functional organizational arrangement even however in this structure also the individual is
staff according to their work criteria.
This type of organizational arrangement is framed in a method that the project manager has a
project stage. The project manager has expert above the budget of the scheme, agenda, and
the project team. He is the one who has to manage each and every segment of the project
(Too, 2014).
He always stays on the top of the hierarchical arrangement and plays the role of the
supporting person for the scheme to the employees of the organization. At the end of the plan,
the project team associates are free & incomes focused near parts that are more relevant.
The most wonderful thing almost this type of the arrangement is that it has a strong and
straight established line of the expert, which results in the quicker decision-making, and
support to the person is granted in a rapid time basis.

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Constraint for this organizational structure is that sometimes closing a plan can mean losing
the job if the trade has moved on and extra role is not accessible.
By their nature, devoted teams suck up assets to work on just one object. They can limit the
number of schemes the business can do at any one period, particularly when different plans
require the same facilities.
In this kind of the organizational structure, communication becomes effective and easier and
project member team in more knowledge on the dissimilar types of the project as the
necessity for them rises.
To problem to project organizational structure is that workers may feel pressurizes, and they
feel a lot of work pressure on them especially when they work on the same project most of
the time. This may result in poor announcement in the team associates as all the employees
are absent extra or less playing “catch-up” (HARRIN, 2018).
Matrix Organizational Structure

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(Eppinger & Browning, 2012).
The characteristics of this organizational structure is that is lying in between the functional
organizational structure and project organizational arrangement spend upon the type of the
matrix structure is actuality performed.
For example, it can be said that the matrix organizational structure is somehow like to that of
the project organizational arrangement in the logic that the project manager is accountable for
a project. If the organizational is consecutively working a weak matrix structure than the
project may come into the hand of the functional director as it will become a functional
association (Eppinger & Browning, 2012).
The constraint of this structure is that the conflict may arise on the different projects as
conflict may arise for the same resources for different projects. Some conflict among
business-as-usual tasks & project work for persons, specifically when both directors are
giving them different significances.
It can be said that the project manager & functional manager has same ability in the project in
the case of the balanced matrix association. If any association finds itself functioning in an
active situation, then this could be the correct arrangement to run by it has & encourages
better competence, serving the business answer to consumer anxieties or modifications in the
marketplace, earlier.
The problem associated with this is that it increases the ineffectiveness and complexity in the
command of chain when the employee is assigned to both project and functional mangers.
This can be simply attained as the project manager displays project expert in the straight
method whereas the functional manager displays in the upright manner i.e. flowing
downward.

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For instance, the project manager is accountable for handling the strategy structure, schedule,
and the budget though the functional manager is accountable for the allocating of the
responsibility and outlining such responsibilities as well as overseeing the presentation of the
tools, etc. (Galbraith, 2011).
Conclusion
From the above paragraphs, it can be summarized that about the organizational structure is
and how much importance does it keep for the project manager to get the knowledge for the
various organizational structure.
The above paragraphs also outline about the merit and demerit of running an organizational
structure, whether it is a matrix, project or functional. The decision, which has to be taken,
totally depends upon the environment of the organization in which it operates, as well as the
nature of work being done.

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Bibliography
Eppinger, . S. D. & Browning, T. R., 2012. Design structure matrix methods and
applications.. s.l.:MIT press..
Galbraith, J., 2011. Designing the customer-centric organization: A guide to strategy,
structure, and process.. s.l.:John Wiley & Sons..
HARRIN, E., 2018. Pros and Cons of 3 Project Organizational Structures. [Online]
Available at: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/pros-and-cons-of-project-organizational-
structures-4105214
[Accessed 2 july 2019].
Jones, G., 2013. Organizational theory, design, and change.. s.l.: NJ: Pearson.
Michalski, R. P. S. a. K. P., 2011. Matching organizational structure and social network
extracted from email communication. In International Conference on Business Information
Systems. s.l.:Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg..

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Square, M., 2018. Functional Organization: The Advantages And The Disadvantages.
[Online]
Available at: https://www.management-square.com/functional-organization/
[Accessed 2 july 2019].
Too, E. a. W. P., 2014. The management of project management: A conceptual framework
for project governance.. International Journal of Project Management, 32(8), pp. 1382-
1394..
Zheng, W. Y. B. a. M. G., 2010. Linking organizational culture, structure, strategy, and
organizational effectiveness: Mediating role of knowledge management.. Journal of Business
research, 63(7), pp. 763-771..