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Welcome to the fourth unit of this course. The unit explores why project managers need to understand strategy and any changes to an organization’s mission and vision. Project managers must respond to changes with appropriate decisions about future projects and adjustments to current projects based on any changes to mission and vision of an organization. As well, project managers who understand their organization’s strategy can become effective advocates of projects aligned with the firm’s mission and vision. Strategy is the pattern of action organizations use in achieving their objectives. The strategic management process therefore requires every project to be clearly linked to strategy and to provide theme and focus of the firm’s future direction. Also, strategic management requires strong links among mission, goals, objectives, strategy, and implementation. Just imagine managing a project that does not fully align to that organization’s mission and vision. How can the project manager fight for money, resources, or any sort of priority? The project would lose steam quickly and the project team members would be frustrated being involved in a project that matters less. The project team members would become less motivated and less productive, with a general desire to quit the effort. This is where a project manager can truly make their money; actually, suggesting to senior management that a specific project be cancelled as it no longer aligns to the mission or vision of that organization. If senior management decides not to cancel that project a justification would need to exist, possibly altering the mission or vision, or giving clarity on how that project does meet the mission or vision. This would give project team members a reason to keep the project moving forward and the project manager a tool to use for obtaining scarce resources of that organization. The unit outlines the four activities of the strategic management process. Other processes exist; this is just a simple outline of what a project manager needs to understand for organization alignment and priority. Remember that a mission is what the company is either doing or thinks what it should be accomplishing. The vision is where the organization sees itself in the defined future, somehow better than where it is today. Strategic management is another whole discipline that can be studied extensively; just make sure you have an understanding at a basic level at this point - do not try and become a strategy expert at this point in your academic career. A strong project portfolio management system is required for project management to fill the implementation gap, overcome organizational politics, and to manage resource conflicts and multitasking. There are several benefits to an effective portfolio management system; these include building discipline into the project selection process, the link of project selection to strategic metrics, the prioritization of project proposals across a common set of criteria rather than on politics or emotion, the allocation of resources to projects that align with strategic direction, the balancing of risk across all projects, the justification of killing projects that do not support strategy, and the improved communication and support agreement on project goals. Very few organizations actually have a strong project portfolio management system. The goal here is to understand the benefits of such and to understand how it can be successful. Unfortunately, too many organizations waste too much time in this area too early before people are ready to understand and take advantage of a project portfolio management system. Having consistency as to how projects are run, how they report to stakeholders, and how they are basically managed from a cost, time, and scope perspective can be productive, but the benefits are tough to describe to non-project managers. Investing in a project portfolio management system can be expensive, can take a long time, and involves a cultural change that is frustrating to many. Take the time to understand project portfolio management systems and how they can be useful in project management strategy.