Uniformity Of Organizational Culture With The Exploratory Investigation .
UNIFORMITY OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE WITH THE ORGANIZATIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODEL: AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION by Carlos Colón Riollano JAY AVELLA, Ph.D., Faculty Mentor and Chair JUDITH FORBES, Ph.D., Committee Member BERNARDETTE FELICIANO, Ed.D., Committee Member William A. Reed, Ph.D., Dean, School of Business and Technology A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Capella University October 2012 www.manaraa.com
UMI Number: 3544931 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI 3544931 Published by ProQuest LLC (2012). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 www.manaraa.com
Carlos Colon Riollano, 2012 www.manaraa.com
Abstract In December of 2003, the Project Management Institute (PMI) published a new project management standard focused on the organizational level. This recently developed standard, the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3), presents a disciplined and systematic means for organizations to reach a higher level of project maturity based upon an extensive array of organizational project management best practices. OPM3 encompass three general elements: (a) knowledge, stating the content of the standard, (b) assessment, presenting a method with which to appraise the organization against the standard, and (c) improvement, preparing the stage for possible organizational changes. However, this last element of the standard of improvement presents a major challenge because people comprise a package of values, preferences, attitudes, and other artifacts, which also form the organizational culture. OPM3 does not currently consider organizational culture as part of the model. This study explored the opportunity of integrating organizational culture with this de facto standard and investigates any correlations between them. The results of the study demonstrated qualitatively that including the organizational culture aspect as part of the OPM3 assessment exercise was perceived as valuable by Project Managers. On the other hand this research did not proved quantitatively any relationship between the four organizational culture types (hierarchy, clan, market and adhocracy) of the OCAI and the OPM3 Maturity Continuum and Improvement path. These quantitative results were confirmed through the Fisher’s Exact Tests which was performed for each of the hypothesis statements. www.manaraa.com
Dedication This effort is dedicated to the two most important women in my life: my grandmother Güelita, who I am sure, would be really proud of her grandson and to my lovely wife, who supported and encouraged me to follow my dreams and aspirations. iii www.manaraa.com
Acknowledgments “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge ” Proverbs 12:1 I want to take this opportunity to thanks Dr. Jay Avella for accepting this challenge and helping me to complete this journey. I also want to recognize the efforts of my good friend Dr. Darin Molnar (a gentleman and scholar) for his sparks, persistence and wisdom. He definitely inspired, guided, and helped me row in to the right direction. iv www.manaraa.com
Table of Contents Acknowledgments. iv List of Figures . viii List of Tables . ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .1 Background of the Study .2 Statement of the Problem .4 Purpose of the Study .5 Study Rationale .6 Research Questions .7 Significance of the Study.9 Definition of Terms .10 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .18 The PMI Organizational Project Management Maturity Model .19 The Knowledge Element .20 The Assessment and Improvement Elements .21 IDEAL and Other Popular Organizational Maturity Models .22 The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) .24 Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM) .27 Project Management Process Maturity .28 OPM3 ProductSuite .29 Organizational Culture .30 Organizational Culture Relevancy .40 The Competing Values Framework .42 v www.manaraa.com
Clan Culture .42 Adhocracy Culture .43 Market Culture .44 Hierarchy Culture .44 Summary.45 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY .48 Restatement of the Purpose of the Research and Overview .48 Research Methodology .48 Qualitative Investigation .49 Quantitative Investigation .49 Study Sample .51 Data Collection Procedure .52 Variables .53 Independent Variable.53 Dependent Variables .53 Instruments .54 OPM3 Organizational Assessment .54 Research Questions .55 Expected Findings .59 Summary.60 CHAPTER 4. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS .61 Response Rate .61 Research Questions .62 Quantitative Data Collection .63 vi www.manaraa.com
Quantitative Data Analysis .63 Qualitative Data Collection .66 Data Recoding and Normalization .69 Testing the Hypotheses.72 Summary.75 CHAPTER 5. RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS .77 Summary and Discussion of Results .77 Conclusions .78 Limitations of the Study .80 Recommendations .82 REFERENCES .83 APPENDIX A. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS .88 APPENDIX B. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ASSESSMENT .90 APPENDIX C. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT.92 APPENDIX D. OPM3 SELF-ASSESSMENT METHOD .98 vii www.manaraa.com
List of Figures Figure 1. The OPM3 Segmented Model. . 4 Figure 2. Conceptual Framework of the Study. . 16 Firgure 3. OPM3 Main Elements . 17 Figure 4. Overview of the CMMI . 25 Figure 5. CMMI Staged Approach. . 26 Figure 6. Project Management Maturity Model. . 28 Figure 7. Schein's Levels of Culture. . 33 Figure 8. The Competing Values Framework. 43 Figure 9. OPM3 questionnaires, interviews, and OCAI logistics. . 50 Figure10. Perceived value of including an organizational culture assessment exercise.62 viii www.manaraa.com
List of Tables Table 1. Differences between Qualitative and Quantitative Research .37 Table 2. Organizational Culture Assessment Instruments .39 Table 3. Variables Chosen for the Study .64 Table 4. Cross-tabulation of Demographic Variables Organization Type and Job .66 Table 5. Project professionals’ perception of implementing OPM3 without considering organizational culture.69 Table 6. Fisher’s Exact Test Results for All Study Variables .73 ix www.manaraa.com
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION The Organizational Project Management Maturity Models (OPMs) presents valuable structure to assist organizations in the assessment of their capabilities, strengths, and opportunities geared toward implementing a more effective business strategy (Ginevičius & Vaitkūnaite, 2006). However, planning and developing an effective strategy can be a difficult endeavor. The correct company strategy should incorporate and set the correct direction toward company goals, short and long range plans, plus an effective management synergy (Judgev, 2002). This planning, synergy, and route can entail changes in the organizational paradigm, a movement of resources from their current states to a more straightforward alignment. Among these organizational resources, people present the major challenge toward this new alignment because persons comprise a total package of values, preferences, attitudes, and other artifacts, which also form the organizational culture (Zabid, Sambasivan, & Azmawani, 2004). It is important to state that the Project Management Institute (PMI) acknowledges a strong relationship and influence between organizational cultures and projects (PMI, 2003); nevertheless, this essential element is not currently part of the PMI’s Project Management Maturity Model. PMI, as well as many other quality-driven organizations, encourages the continuous improvement of its standards. As organizations adopt, test, and study these standards, improvements, enhancement and dependability can be expected (PMI, 2003). “Most people would rather live with a problem they can’t solve, than accept a solution they can’t understand” (Swanson & Ramiller, 2004). This implies that it is imperative to 1 www.manaraa.com
comprehend in the most extensive form the elucidation of a problem before initiating any effort toward implementing a change or solution. This study explored the opportunity to include this important variable (organizational culture) within OPM3 so that a more comprehensive status of the organization is obtained before any attempt for improvement starts. Since culture improves organizational commitment and consistency of employee behavior, it also provides the appropriate standards to hold an organization together (Robbins, 2003). This element should be included as part of an organizational assessment with the intent of improving significant organizational areas such as project management. This investigation explored the scenario of including the organizational culture variable with the OPM3 assessment effort. One of the outcomes of this research was an alternative route of implementing another acceptable route toward organizational project maturity. This study resulted in an additional OPM best practices implementation strategy, including a change of paradigm, where the organization understands its current reality (in term of organizational culture); that is, where the organization stands right now (Zdanytė & Neverauskas, 2011). This study proposed that this reality check described best by its people, processes, beliefs and structure should come up with more effective project improvement action plans for transforming the organization from its present state to a desired state. Background of the Study The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a nonprofit, professional association, founded in 1969; it is responsible for the development of the Project Management Competency Development Framework (2002) and A Guide to the Project Management 2 www.manaraa.com
Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), as well as many other important project management–related standards. Several of these project management standards are intended to address and manage only single projects and associated best practices; however, in 2003, PMI published the first organizational standard, the OPM3. The purpose of this new standard was to assist organizations in understanding the project management discipline at the organizational level. This standard guided practitioners of the model through a series of project management best practices to reach higher levels of maturity, which in turn improved the ability of these practitioners to attain organizational goals. Two years later, in 2005, PMI embarked upon a new project to provide a second revision of this standard. This innovative effort was an amendment to their assessment tool questions and construction and context techniques, as well as improvement on the common process methodology of the model. OPM3 practitioners can now anticipate a more reasonable interplay between current best practices and the assessment questions, in addition to many other model enhancements that will provide a more solid, simpler standard. Several suggestions about incorporating the organizational culture aspect into the model were made in the second edition of OPM3. These suggestions were subsumed under the following annotations: consider critical success factors when implementing OPM3 in an organization (i.e., social dimension of organization design and organizational culture), implementing action plans can or should include an organizational culture perspective, and future enhancements to the model should provide an organizational culture assessment. This research study explored a preliminary effort 3 www.manaraa.com
toward the inclusion of this important variable as part of this organizational project milestone. Statement of the Problem The essential problem addressed by this research project was the exclusion of an important piece of qualitative data from the OPM3 assessments. These qualitative data proved to help the OPM3 practitioner to better understand the organization’s current status as part of the PMI OPM3 implementation readiness. Figure 1 below describes how the model is composed of three critical elements. Figure 1. The OPM3 Segmented Model (PMI, 2003). Project Management Institute, Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3 ) – Knowledge Foundation, Project Management Institute, Inc., (2003). Copyright and all rights reserved. Material from this publication has been reproduced with the permission of PMI. 4 www.manaraa.com
The OPM3 improvement segment allows organizations, based on current results of the assessment process, to decide whether or not to pursue a plan for improvements (PMI, 2003). PMI understands that during the implementation of improvements, many factors may be affected, including organizational structure, leadership, strategy, and the business model (PMI, 2003, p. 41). OPM3, as well as many other organizational improvement models, includes the elements necessary for guiding the creation of an improvement path for organizational change. The planning, development, execution, and implementation of this path will inevitably affect the culture of the organization. Ignoring this fact could present a potential problem to the organization because culture helps influence the adoption and institutionalization of new paradigms (Frost & Gillespie, 1998). A change to an organization is more likely to be permanent and successful if three characteristics exist: (a) the change was effectively understood and communicated to all affected stakeholders and is aligned with the organizational philosophy, (b) the change should be associated with crucial factors and plans of organizational success, and (c) the organizational culture should encourage the transformation (Frost & Gillespie, 1998). The proposition of adding the organizational culture variable as part of the OPM3 assessment provided business leaders and managers with an additional mechanism for recognizing and facilitating a change of paradigm at the organizational level. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was to examine how a combination of the PMI OPM3 and organizational culture information provides a more dependable analysis and assessment tool. Clear information promotes an atmosphere for optimal management 5 www.manaraa.com
decision–making. Improved theories and models demand better data gathering and improved sources and types of data (Abruzzi, 1956). The intention of this study was to elucidate, recognize, and engage in this exploratory study and to discover any correlations between the organizational culture types as defined by Cameron and Quinn (1999) and the PMI OPM3. By combining a specific organizational culture assessment instrument with the OPM3’s self-assessment method, an additional and meaningful contribution to the project management body of knowledge was established. This contribution supports and assists with the development of future OPM3 revisions. Study Rationale The Standish Group, an Information Technology organization based in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts, provides solutions to the Information Technology (IT) community designed to mitigate risk, as well as accelerate the value of organizations’ IT infrastructure. The Standish Group also provides IT investment planning research and services, such as project assessments, requirements optimization, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), Return on Investment (ROI), Risk, and Value Analysis based on years of high quality, independent primary research. One of the most popular research projects of this organization is the Chaos Report. This is a regular and extensive IT survey intended to determine IT project success rates and discover reasons for IT project failures. The 2004 Chaos Report states that just 28% of IT projects succeed, 18% are canceled before completion, and the remaining are either exceedingly late, over budget, or do not meet the original scope. Inadequate project management skills, not having the 6 www.manaraa.com
right processes and competencies in place, and an ineffective organizational environment are just some of the causes for why projects fail given by this report (Hayes, 2004). OPM3 has the potential to be an excellent tool for pinpointing and measuring the relevance of required best practices and competencies, as well as helping to focusing upon development of the skills necessary to improve this scenario. OPM3 facilitates project measurement designed to monitor, control, and improve project performance at many organizational domains: project, program, and portfolio. Organizations can use these metrics to make timely decisions, thereby increasing project success probabilities; however, as a result of a more robust OPM3 assessment, one that also embraces values, beliefs, and particular organizational behaviors, OPM3 practitioners will be able to realize better and more comprehensive organizational metrics, as well as many other benefits of including the organizational culture aspect. Research Questions The PMI Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) is a fairly novel maturity model; it utilizes a quantitative approach and presents a particularly rigorous form of calculation for determining an organization’s maturity. This is accomplished in a four-dimensional view within four separate domains: (a) project management, program management and portfolio management, (b) process improvement stages: standardize, measure, control and continuously improve, (c) the progression of the of individual capabilities toward best practices, and (d) the categorization of the capabilities through the five project management process groups: initiating process, 7 www.manaraa.com
planning process, controlling process, executing process and closing process (PMI, 2003). Organizational culture is defined as an unconscious pattern of beliefs, values, rituals, myths and sentiments, symbols, procedures, and arrangements (Sinclair, 1993). This intangible organizational asset can influence the entire organizational atmosphere (Marcoulides & Heck, 1993), including project-related matters. Several instruments are available to help identify cultural types and dimensions. One of these instruments is the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) developed by Cameron and Quinn (1999). Realizing the relevance of the organizational culture, the key research questions addressed by this study include: 1) What is the relationship between the four organizational culture types (hierarchy, clan, market and adhocracy) of the OCAI and the OPM3 Maturity Continuum and Improvement path? 2) What is the value, in terms of a more complete organizational project management improvement plan, of blending or combining specific organizational culture questions within the existing OPM3 Self-Assessment questionnaire? The first question is intended to explore the overall relationship between each of the four organizational culture types (hierarchy, clan, market, and adhocracy) and to use the OCAI to identify the resulting OPM3 improvement path, which help the organization develop an overall organizational project management improvement plan (PMI, 2004). The second addresses the PMI OPM3 scenario, understanding the existing model does not incorporate, in any way, the organizational culture variable; it also attempts to 8 www.manaraa.com
explore the value of including organizational culture either by adding specifically labeled questions directly associated with the organizational culture or by blending organizational culture questions within the existing four OPM3 dimensions. Significance of the Study Solid data analysis is fundamental for the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of any organizational change episode. The Project Management Institute (PMI) states that one of the key benefits of OPM3 is to “assist organizations with prioritizing and planning activities should improvement decisions be made” (PMI, 2008, par. 2). Better decisions must be made based upon the development of better data, information, analyses, and tools. This research study presented an excellent opportunity to enhance the organizational assessment functions of OPM3 so better improvement plans and decisions can be made. This study could lead or motivate other OPM3 practitioners and organizations interested in these project management topics, as well as the project management community at large, to explore additional enhancements to make the model richer, more reliable, and eminently more comprehensible. 9 www.manaraa.com
Definition of Terms This section provides definitions for many of the terms used in this study relative to the general project management environment. Best practice is the most advantageous current method, recognized by an industry, for achieving a stated goal or specific objective. Under the organizational project management environment this includes, but is not limited to, delivering projects successfully and consistently and predictably striving toward implementing organizational strategies. Project organization maturity is typically reached through the institutionalization of best practices (PMI, 2003). Capability is an established specific competency that must present in an organization. A capability or a group of capabilities comprise a best practice. Capabilities are incremental steps leading to one or more best practices (PMI, 2003). Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a framework for organizations wishing to improve the effectiveness of the process used to develop software within an organization (Berenbach, Spool, & Bitterle 2003). Categorization/Mapping illustrates the structure of OPM3 in term of a relationship between best practices and capabilities; it allows organizations to envision alternative approaches to maturity (PMI, 2003). Dependencies are relationships in which a wanted stated is dependent upon the attainment of one of more prerequisites (PMI, 2003). Domain refers to one of the three distinct disciplines related to project management: project, program, and portfolio management (PMI, 2003). 10 www.manaraa.com
IPECC is an acronym for the suggested project process groups by PMI: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling, and Closing (PMI, 2003). KPI is an acronym for Key Performance Indicator; it is a criterion by which an organization can verify the existence (quantitatively or qualitatively) of an outcome associated with a capability. A KPI can be a direct measurement or an expert assessment (PMI, 2003). Maturity State represents the degree of maturity related to the organizational project management maturity model (PMI, 2003). OCAI is an acronym for the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (Cameron & Quinn, 1999), a questionnaire used to diagnose important aspects of an organization’s underlying culture (Cameron & Quinn, 1999). OCI is an acronym for Organizational Culture Inventory, which provides a picture of an organization’s operating culture (Cooke & Rousseau, 1988). Results are presented for 12 behavioral norms grouped by three clusters (Constructive, Passive/Defensive, and Aggressive/Defensive). OPM3 ProductSuite is a set of complementary ancillary products and services of OPM3 ProductSuite that provides Assessment and Improvement tools and methodology. OPM3 ProductSuite will enable a higher level of OPM3 application by providing service providers (i.e. Assessors and
organizational culture as part of the model. This study explored the opportunity of integrating organizational culture with this de facto standard and investigates any correlations between them. The results of the study demonstrated qualitatively that including the organizational culture aspect as part of the OPM3 assessment exercise was
The Role of Organizational Culture Developing organizational culture is a basic managerial tool for improving the work envi ronment by emphasizing core values necessary for individual and organizational effectiveness. Organizational culture is closely related to but should not be confused as equivalent to the con-cept of organizational climate.
organizational culture has examined many times by management and organizational scholars over the last decades. According to this interest, there have been many academic studies about organizational culture from various perspectives. Organizational culture denotes a wide range of social phenomena which help to define an
The instrument used in this research was Denison (2006) organizational culture questionnaire and Dimitris Buratas and Maria Vacula (2007) organizational culture. Cornbrash's alpha method was used to calculate the reliability. . organizational culture, one can manage the phenomenon of organizational silence (8). Many researchers have
Organizational culture mainly depends on the type of culture that prevails in the Organizational [4,14]. Strong Organizational culture: According to Madu [6], a strong Organizational culture refers to the set of values and beliefs that are strongly adhered to and shar
employees' performance, and Geert Hofstede's cultural approach to organizational culture from past researchers will be reviewed. 2.1 Organizational Culture Organizational culture did not go through investigations or studies among management level within corporations until late 1970. Looking into the background of organizational culture, it once
Dominant organizational culture in PHC centers PHC center A Dominant organizational culture in PHC center A was the hierarchy culture (32.63 points), followed by the clan culture (31.89 points), the market culture (21.51 points), and finally the ad hoc cul-ture (Figure 1). In addition to the assessment of the actual culture,
culture, organizational commitment, and employee performance can satisfy customers. Leadership is associated with organizational outcomes such as team effectiveness and organizational performance (Chen, Kirkman, Kanfer, Allen and Rosen, 2007; Lin, 2009). Servant leadership in organizational culture and organizational commitment
Advanced level Speciflcation summary 1. 2 Advanced level Speciflcation summary Qualification objective CIPD Advanced level qualifications provide a depth of knowledge alongside the opportunity to specialise in chosen areas of expertise. Candidates will be able to develop their understanding of organisations and the external context within which HR operates. Using critical analysis, self .
