A Study Of Program Management Methodalogy

The Project Management discipline is at initial development stage in China with an obvious focus on management of stand-alone projects. However, all projects are implemented in the context of a wider organization. More importantly, all the resources utilized in projects, as well as the intended benefits and potential risks are all bore by the very organization which is often referred to as a Company or Enterprise in the business context. Therefore, the author advocates the necessity to have a critical review and study on the linkage between the on-going organizational operation and the management of stand-alone projects, which is exactly where the Program Management discipline comes from.Program Management means leveraging the limited resources to undertake a group of projects in alignment with the evolving organizational strategy and support the accomplishment of the organization's long-term strategic objectives. This thesis is organized as follows:Chapter One introduces the background of this thesis as well as its implications. The methodology and subject of this thesis are also explained in Chapter One;Chapter Two endeavors to define Program Management by differentiating the concept from many other similar concepts such as Multiple Project Management, Similar Projects Management, and Enterprise Project Management etc. It also explores the potential benefits of implementing Program Management;Chapter Three provides a comprehensive review of the international literature about Program Management, based on which the author discusses the objectives, organizational architecture, lifecycle and major processes of Program Management; Chapter Four raises the practical challenges in the current Program Management approach and investigates the causes of these challenges;Building up on previous chapters especially Chapter Four, Chapter Five proposed a three-step approach to improve the effectiveness of Program Management, i.e. understand Program Management properly, position the Program Management function adequately and apply Program Management tools effectively. Chapter Five also shares the outcomes of applying these practices in reality;Chapter Six concludes the whole thesis and raises several key recommendations to organizations that plan to implement Program Management.This thesis is innovative in that it provides an up-to-date, comprehensive and critical review of the emerging Program Management discipline, and proposes a pragmatic approach of starting Program Management.