موجوديت دفتر مديريت پروژه در سازمان‌هاي مهندسي و ساخت صنايع نفت، گاز و پتروشيمي ايران

THE REALITY OF A PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE FOR CONSTRUCTION ORGANIZATION IN THE OIL, GAS, AND PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY OF IRAN

در دهه ي گذشته «دفتر مديريت پروژه» نقش برجسته‌يي در بسياري از سازمان‌هاي پروژه‌محور ايفا كرده، اما به‌رغم افزايش تعداد اين دفاتر، درك شفافي از موجوديت و كاركردهاي آن وجود ندارد. هدف اين تحقيق پيمايشي، شناسايي «موجوديت دفتر مديريت پروژه» در سازمان‌هاي بزرگ مهندسي و ساخت صنايع نفت، گاز و پتروشيمي ايران (9 شركت بزرگ) است، و ضمن آن موجوديت، زمان پيدايش، تعداد پروژه‌هاي در حيطه ي اختيار، ميزان اختيارات، كاركرد‌هاي دفتر مديريت پروژه، دلايل پياده‌سازي و چالش‌هاي پياده‌سازي دفتر مديريت پروژه بررسي و تحليل مي‌شود. روش تحقيق مبتني بر جمع‌آوري اطلاعات از طريق پرسش‌نامه است. براساس نتايج به دست آمده، دفتر مديريت پروژه در سازمان‌هاي مورد بحث موضوعي جديد است تا آنجا كه بيش از 60% دفاتر مديريت پروژه در سه سال اخير ايجاد شده اند. كاركردهايي مانند كنترل و نظارت بر عملكرد پروژه‌ها، ابزارهاي نرم افزاري مديريت پروژه و ايجاد متدولوژي استاندارد مديريت پروژه، بيشترين كاربرد را در سازمان‌هاي موضوع تحقيق د‌ارند. دست‌يابي به اهداف «مثلث سه گانه‌ي طلايي پروژه» ــ يعني زمان، هزينه، عملكرد/كيفيت ــ از بالاترين اولويت در ميان دلايل پياده‌سازي برخوردار است. بزرگ‌ترين چالش‌ پياده‌سازي دفتر مديريت پروژه، ريسك‌هاي تغيير فرهنگ سازماني و پس از آن كمبود منابع انساني حرفه‌يي در مديريت پروژه است.

Over the last decade, the project management office (PMO) has become a prominent feature in many organizations. According to the project management literature, the PMO can be defined as an organizational body or entity that is assigned various responsibilities relating to the centralized and coordinated management of those projects under its domain. The PMO responsibilities can range from providing project management functions to directly and actually being involved in the management of the projects. Despite the proliferation of PMOs, in practice, our understanding of this phenomenon remains sketchy at best. No consensus exists as to the way PMOs are, or should be, structured, neither the functions they should undertake in organizations. Considering this fact, the aim of this study is to investigate the reality of PMOs in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industry of Iran. This study is the first empirical study in Iran, so, it can be used as a landmark for other organizations to decide what they expect from a PMO. Due to lack of sufficient empirical research on the subject of PMOs, a reliable portrait of PMOs is not available. So, this research tries to provide such a portrait. This includes many aspects, such as the reasons for establishment of PMOs and their challenges, PMO functions, the number of projects under their control, the degree of their authority and the age of PMOs. As providing a descriptive portrait is, typically, an objective of exploratory research into a previously unexplored topic, the present research should be considered as descriptive and exploratory. In this regard, nine major Iranian oil, gas and petrochemical organizations, including the participation of three qualified experts from each organization, have been studied. Therefore, a questionnaire was developed and tested. Moreover, feedback sessions were held with informants from the organizations to validate and discuss the results. According to the research findings, the PMO is almost a new concept in this industry; nearly 60% of the PMOs have been developed during the last 3 years. The term “project management offices” is used in the majority of studied organizations with a variety of roles and functions. Monitoring project performance, providing project software and tools, and preparing project management methodologies are the most applied functions. These functions aim to support the golden triangle (cost/time/quality) of project objectives. Moreover, the most significant challenges for PMOs are the risk of changing organizational culture and the lack of professional staff. It is suggested that this research is developed by an investigation into the concept in other industries.