Are major programs considered temporary of permanent organizations

Are major(ip) syllabuss considered fly-by-night of permanent wave organizationsFrom a management post, should major programs be regarded as permanent or flying organizations?Change is permanent therefore all musical arrangements are temporary. So does it matter if management regards major programs as temporary or permanent giving medications? The answer is it does. major(ip) programs are a social construct and there appears to be signifi heapt differences in culture, behaviour and performance that vary with the perception an makeup attaches to its lifespan. In this strive we will ask what major programs are, how they come about, what their purpose is, how they are planned and how all of this should be taken into account when considering whether they should be regarded as temporary or permanent disposals. We will explore cultural and behavioural characteristics to be found in permanent and temporary organisations and consider how this affects performance and outcomes. We wi ll refer to theories of organisational pattern to interpret how major programs might be classified and bodily structured in order to assess whether a temporary or permanent organisation is beat out suited to effective management. Finally, we will come to a resultant about whether, from a management perspective, drops should be regarded as temporary or permanent.Major programs can be descryed as the big version of programs which, themselves, are a collection of projects being operated for a common goal. Big in this consideration1refers to long epoch (c7-10 divisions), and high cost ($1bn). Beneath the surface there are many other complicating variables that impart each major program with its individual character. These include just now are non limited to significant bespoke harvest-festival customisation, unprecedented scale, significant reputational factors, transformational change, continuous changes throughout life. With all this combined they present a practically more complex and challenging environs than the single project.Major programs are commissi aced in order to deliver a step change on a strategic scale. Quinn (1978) says they are a response to change deficit. Thiry (2007) says the take aim to change is usually caused by an unsatisfactory condition (p.119) which could be unsatisfied ambition. As they consume a substantial share of the organisations resource and capital for a sustained period they are authorised through the strategic plan. The deficiency to maintain this link to strategic in got creates one of the most important issues and challenges relating to temporary or permanent form. In his widely respected work The Rise and make pass of Strategic Planning Mintzberg makes the argument that plans and strategy are not all deliberate. They operate within an unstable world where factors beyond organisational control are evermore interacting to create new realities. In this world the intended strategy is impacted or replaced by what Mintzberg footing as emergent strategy. Due to their duration, major programs must adjust to changed circumstances by making changes to their own plans and objectives. By virtue of their scale they also need to feed back into the strategy planning environment as an input, which will in turn influence emergent strategy via a Double Loop process (Thiry and Deguire 2007). From a company management perspective it is therefore important that a major program is operated through an organisation whose life expectancy and philosophy is aligned with strategic intent rather than special father and end points along a simple time line. In the opinion of Thiry this requires regular reviews to ensure the program is on taper, requiring adjustment and still needed. The bourne date that is determined by the realisation of benefits rather than a handover to trading operations at product completion (Thiry 2007). Taking this notion still further, some major programs are now set up around a Build Own Operate (BOO) model, Jaafari (2007). BOOs are permanent organisations designed to counter the risk that project teams see themselves as temporary organisations who are not involved in realising benefits. To theorists like Thiry the link between the major program organisation and strategy is paramount. He states that programs need to produce business level benefits and are a link between strategy and projects Thiry (2007) p.114). So from its inception to its termination point the life of a major program is governed by strategic pitching.The role of the plan also has an influence on the practicalities of working via a temporary or permanent structure. depict teams organised according to conventional project management standards work best with fixed and accurate plans. The plan is the vehicle for their organisation. By approving the plan the permanent organisation is effectively creating a contract that delegates authority to a topical anesthetic organisation Ives (2005) p.45 that can take decisions and act quickly without constantly referring to the chain of command as it goes about its business. This style of project management, works well with a well-defined and accurate plan. But the plan for a ten year major program costing $1bn is inevitably going to be inaccurate (ref Mintzberg). The role of the external environment is likely to be greater, the program leader will be oblige to spend time dealing with outside bodies (regulators, pressure groups) Hobbs and Miller (1988) p.147, there will be a need to appraise and review Thiry (2007) p.133 and, with so frequently company resource tied up in its operation, the program has a role to play in institutional learning, staff training and development. These fluid conditions do not support the fixed plan model. They are more familiar to general managers in a permanent organisation than project managers in a temporary organisation. This creates a tension in organisational design. The fact that project m anagement has become the popular engine of change even leading to colonisation and the projectification of friendship Maylor et al (2006) p.664 testifies to dissatisfaction with past performance. Major programs had a history of failing even before they were called major programs. The adoption of a project approach is proof that organisations need special help to overcome internal resistance and opposition to strategic change. The project establish temporary organisation offers the promise of being more single-minded, target driven, dynamic, better at lateral communication, faster at decision taking and acting, undistracted, specialised and clear in mission.To explore the implications of adopting a temporary organisation structure in more detail it is useful to refer to A conjecture for the temporary organisation Lundin, R.A. and Soderholm, A. (1995). This theory refers to basic concepts of Time, Task, Team and Transition. It suggests that permanent organisations have a view of the world that is establish on their presence continuing forever. By contrast temporary organisations use time as a primary measure. signalise events actions are dimensioned against a linear time-line. Whilst permanent organisations are accountable for financial performance, the temporary organisation is given dispensation from fiscal contributions and any other distractions. The temporary organisation (Team) is funded to deliver an output which will eventually be transferred (via Transition) to the permanent organisation who will use it to create value in line with the strategic intent. The temporary organisation could be regarded as an entrepreneurial substitution for market pricing.According to the theory the temporary organisation passes through a sequence of phases that begin when a group promotes the Task for the project (Action based entrepreneurialism). Fragmentation of commitment building occurs when the team decouples from the organisation from other past, contemporary or ev en future sequences of activities. intend isolation describes the process where the team closes itself away by deliberately isolating the organisation to execute the plan for which the whole operation should proceed like a train moving at high speed towards the end station without unwanted stops. Institutionalised Termination describes the process where the team is recoupled to the organisation and delivers their output to operations via a bridging process. Although this sequence would support a conventional project, a temporary organisation following this behaviour is unlikely to successfully span a ten year major program lifecycle. The emphasis on isolation, time based delivery and a fixed plan is unrealistic. Over a ten year period the temporary and permanent organisation will need to systematically exchange information, staff and revised plans. Splendid isolation with high speed delivery and no unwanted stops is not practical.Lundin and Soderholm only considered two types of p roject. Unique where the project was exploring new ground and repetitive which was a project (like construction) based on previously tried and tested plans. To move the discussion forward it would be useful to consider how a program might be classified in order to create an steal organisational design that fits the needs of strategy. In the case of major programs even repetitive projects (for example bridge building) present sufficient local variation for the managers to feel their task is unique. To consider whether temporary or permanent is best it would be useful for management to be able to assess the context of their specific project. Shenhars diamond Model Shenhar (2007) based on contingency theory is useful for this. It appears to be applicable to the full spectrum of projects from single project to major program. Shenhar eschews the one size fits all p.10 Shenhar (2007) methodology of standard project management in favour of using classical contingency theory to address th e need for adapting the responsibility style to the right project Shenhar (2007). Having studied 600 projects Shenhar developed a view using Uncertainty and change, Complexity and Pace (UCP) as dimensions for plotting project profiles in his Diamond Model. To obtain readings to feed into the model managers are asked to follow a three step process to assess the Environment, Product and Task for the project. The goal is to use this data to plot a project profile that can then be used to identify specific managerial activities, decisions and style that are best appropriate for each level and each project type. The UCP model was expanded into NTCP with 13 readings on a four dimensional scale.Figure 1 NTCP Model (c) Shenhar 2006 (Reinventing Project Management)The system allows management to map out the stove / profile of a project with each point along the four dimensions analysed by variables giving relevant advice. A major program might well have a Complexity that is described at th e Array level (large widely dispersed collections of systems component together to achieve a common purpose). Shenhars system states the Project Organization for this should beAn umbrella organization usually a program office to mastermind subprojects many staff experts technical, administrative, finance, legal etc. p.191 Shenhar (2007) Wiley.But he does not apply contingency theory to the structuring of an organisation. He also takes a conventional view on project lifetime. Though he is dismissive of narrow project management by Triple Constraints (cost, time and scope) he accepts the norm that projects can be seen as temporary organisations within organisations.The use of contingency and organisational theory in project organisation design is purposefully addressed by Molloy and van Donk. In their paper From organising projects to projects as organisations they detect a turn to a focus on structural, contextual and contingent factors or projects that supports an exploration of the relevance of organisational theory to project management p.131 Molloy et al (2008) They refer to the work of Mintzberg which bases organisational structure on nine design parameters influenced by five contingency factors, to map types of project to Mintzbergs five organisation structures (Simple, Machine bureaucracy, Professional bureaucracy, Divisionalised form, Adhocracy). Although major programs were not specifically included in this exercise Molloy and van Donk encourage the view that under disparate circumstances different organisational structures will be needed to be successful p.130.The message that is evolving for management from this exploration is that the question of whether major programs should be regarded as temporary or permanent organisations is entwined in a wide range of threads. Context, adaptation, flexibility, strategic alignment and a departure from the rigid standardisation of project management appear to be present. This is not a concern if you take the view that major programs can hold both permanent and temporary status. If you also believe it is possible to design a temporary organisation with a different management structure to the standard project management approach, you open the door to organisational theory and a contingency based approach and, this seems worthwhile.Organisational designers like Galbraith provide access to theories that have grappled with issues that are currently challenging project management and major project management. In particular, the view that organisations make out and gain advantage through organisational structure (Ref like the New Management Paradigm Gareis (2007) p254. The need for wider thinking is apparent from the realisation that major programs are commensurate of evolving from start-up to termination over ten years whilst passing through phases where they develop into large-scale enterprises involving many participants divided across many activities and sub-projects. There are provab le parallels with the way that permanent organisations develop under similar conditions. For management who have given the go ahead on a strategic plan with a ten year timeframe and a $1bn budget there are potential benefits in a contingency based process that uses Galbraiths Star system Galbraith et al (2002). This works through a dedicated organisational design process that starts with Strategy and progresses through Structure, Processes, Rewards system and People planning (including policies on training and development). This seems a well-founded alternative to a one size fits all philosophy that presumes a project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service. PMI (2000).At this point we have travelled some distance from the original question about whether major programs should be regarded as permanent or permanent organisations. We started with strategic alignment because this is so important given the scale and importance of major programs. This wa s shown to be difficult to maintain using an approach based on project management in a temporary organisation that is narrowly managed by methods built around the Triple Constraint of time, cost and scope (Shenhar 2007). Major programs require input from many of the behaviours and methods used by permanent organisations. But this has to be managed carefully. Major programs still require the benefits of separation from the permanent organisation that accrue from successfully harvesting project virtues of dynamism and commitment to change. As long as project methodology is not allowed to gum-up progress with unhelpful bond to rigid controls and time based management, it can still offer an escape from the failure of permanent organisations to adopt change and give up bureaucratic structures. In search of a way to combine project management with appropriate organisational theory we saw how to classify a project using contingency theory and we were introduced to the Star framework that could be adapted to the management of major programs. Organisational theory has covered much of the ground that leads to discussion over whether major programs should be regarded as temporary or permanent organisations. Contingency theory and organisational design theory offers a way to design a delivery organisation that blends the benefits of both worlds.The conclusion from this discussion is definite. From a management perspective the decision to establish a permanent or temporary organisation for major projects should always be contextual. The start point is strategy. From this position management has to take account of the characteristics of the project and its environment. Calling on frameworks of analysis, a design should be formulated that maximises organisational efficiency in terms of project management, benefits delivery and strategic fit. At the end of this process, having maximised their prospects for success, the designers should step back and regard their creation. Fr om this perspective, where they are standing at a safe distance from sea captain dogma, they can relax and observe whether what they have created a permanent or temporary organisation, or both.