Government Project Management

A major government agency is organized to monitor government subcontractors as shown in Exhibit I. Below are the vital characteristics of certain project office team members:

Exhibit I to Case Study

Exhibit I. Project team organizational structure

• Project manager: Directs all project activities and acts as the information focal point for the subcontractor.
• Assistant project manager: Acts as chairman of the steering committee and interfaces with both in-house functional groups and contractor.
• Department managers: Act as member of the steering committee for any projects that utilize their resources. These slots on the steering committee must be filled by the department managers themselves, not by functional employees.

Project team organizational structure

Project manager: Directs all project activities and acts as the information focal point for the subcontractor.

Assistant project manager: Acts as chairman of the steering committee and interfaces with both in-house functional groups and contractor.

Department managers: Act as members of the steering committee for any projects that utilize their resources. These slots on the steering committee must be filled by the department managers themselves, not by functional employees.

Contracts officer: Authorizes all work directed by the project office to in-house functional groups and to the customer, and ensures that all work requested is authorized by the contract. The contracts officer acts as the focal point for all contractor cost and contractual information.

Questions

1. Explain how this structure should work?

2. Explain how this structure actually works?

3. Can the project manager be a military type who is reassigned after a given tour of duty?

4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this structure?

5. Could this be used in industry?

From Project Management: Case Studies Fourth Edition by Harold R. Kerzner.