The Practice of Aligning Projects with Organizational Business Strategy: The Case of Ethio Telecom
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Date
2020-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This research paper is about the practice of aligning projects with organizational
business strategy: the case of Ethio telecom, where project management and the
corporate level strategy link is thoroughly observed. Business strategy is a means to
achieve competitive advantage and decrease competitive disadvantage if implemented
properly. While project management is defined as planning, organizing, directing and
controlling resources to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Alignment
between business strategy and project management means that the needs, demands,
goals, objectives and/or structure are consistent with each other. This research studied
the practices undertaken by Ethio telecom to achieve alignment. To observe and
describe the practice the study raised three research questions which were: are projects
aligned during project selection, is portfolio alignment with business strategy
maintained throughout the lifecycle of projects and are projects aligned with business
strategy at the execution phase. Document review and semi-structured interactive
interview questions were conducted with 6 participants. The research was able to find
out that Ethio telecom aligns projects at the selection phase and maintain portfolio
alignment with business strategy. However it was discovered that at the execution phase
lack of commitment exists for maintaining alignment between projects and business
strategy. The research concluded that there is lack of uniformity in practice and lack
of using standardized project management tools and metrics for aligning projects with
business strategy at the functional level. From the findings recommendations were
made on the way Ethio telecom could improve the practice of aligning projects with
business strategy by establishing a formal standardized practice that can be used for
all project types.
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Keywords
Project Management, Business Strategy, Alignment