Hi,

Let me throw light on the organizational structures from a different angle. You can compare any scenario by following checklist to determine the organizational structure of that organization.

Projectized Check

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1. If there are dedicated teams for each of the organizational project, leaded by a project manager having full control over the project, this is a projectized organization.

(If the above check fails, the organization is not projectized, and it will be either functional or matrix organization).

Functional Check

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2. If the project team is a 100% subset of a functional department (e.g, HR, operations, sales, customer service, finance etc.) and is managed by the departmental manager directly, this is a functional organization.

3. If the project team is not a 100% subset of a functional department, and some of the project team members come from a different functional departments. Determine who is the project coordinator/expeditor. If the project coordinator can’t directly assign project tasks to the team members who come from other departments, this is a functional organization. In such a structure, if you are the project coordinator/expeditor and you have to assign a project task to a member who comes from another department, you have to request your functional manager to talk to that member’s functional manager to assign that task to this member. To summarize the coordination level of functional organization is at the functional manager’s level. (See PMBOK 4 figures: 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.10 and 2.11). A functional organization is identified by the inter-department communication level.

(If all of the above checks fail, the organization is not functional either and must be a matrix organization).

Matrix Check

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4. If the project manager/expeditor has more control over the project than the functional manager, the organization is strong matrix.

5. If the project manager/expeditor has less control over the project than the functional manager, the organization is weak matrix.

6. If the control is balanced between the project manager/expeditor and the functional manager, the organization is balanced matrix.

Let me summarize the above explanation into some sort of an “algorithm” form:

1. Check for Projectized  (No functional departments, only project teams)
2. Check for Functional (Functional coordination is between functional managers)
3. Check for Strong Matrix (Project manager has more control)
4. Check for Weak Matrix (Functional manager has more control)
5. If you have reached this point, this is a Balanced Matrix organization.

I hope that the above algorithm would help you decipher exam questions.

DO NOT READ - DO NOT READ - DO NOT READ

“If not enough data is present to determine whether an organization is functional or matrix based. Here is my exam cheat, assume it is a matrix organization and then determine the level”.

DO NOT READ - DO NOT READ - DO NOT READ

Regards,

Exam Support Team

The PM PrepCast - http://www.premiumcast.com/vp/50398/16780/10399/