Improving organisational strategic success

2. By further extending existing types of expanded

external project management services

COMMENTARY

By Alan Stretton, PhD (Hon)

New Zealand

INTRODUCTION

This is the second of two articles under the broad title of “Improving organisational strategic success”, which look at extending existing roles of project management (PM)  to help this process. The first article (Stretton 2026g) was concerned with potential for extending existing internal project management capabilities to help achieve strategic success. This second article is concerned with potential for expanding existing externally delivered project management services to help achieve such success.

We first summarise some relevant materials from the first article, included the key role of projects in implementing organisational strategies, high failure rates for the latter, and a causes-of-strategic-failures analysis on which some following discussions are based.

We will identify four cause-of-failure groups in earlier strategy formulation stages in which extended external PM services have already been effectively deployed over many decades, particularly in the large complex project (LCP), or mega-projects, sector. There appears to be a good case for deploying these services in other domains to help achievement of relevant strategic outcomes. However, most of these services centre around some processes, which are not generally  widely known to project managers working in non-LCP domains. Additionally, these services are used in strategic stages which precede traditional project management activities.  So a question arises as how to effectively promulgate such knowledge to both project managers in other domains, and to potential clients with regard to helping them achieve their strategic objectives.

Some representative project PM bodies want to focus more on strategic capability. But this would entail expanded mission statements and actions, including the addition of strategic matters in PM bodies of knowledge. We will discuss some tensions that would need to be resolved, and conclude that an early resolution is unlikely.

However, a more holistic look at the broader situation may hold more promise,

• LCPs are not only complex, but also often undertaken in complex, changing environments, both of which require a different range of PM techniques to most other types of projects.

• However, many of these different LCP management techniques could be becoming more appropriate for other projects now being undertaken in increasingly VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) environments

• This suggests that many LCP management techniques could be adapted for most other VUCA-related projects. If this were done, and then included in PM bodies of knowledge etc, wider deployment of such techniques in VUCA environments should then benefit many PMs.

Such an adaptation from LCP management into the more general PM literature could be a substantial undertaking, but does appear to be a practical and beneficial way forward.

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To read entire paper, click here

How to cite this work: Stretton, A. (2026).  Improving organisational strategic success: 2. By further extending existing types of expanded external project management services, commentary, PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue IX, September. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pmwj168-Sep2026-Stretton-Org-strategy-success-2-Extending-PM.pdf

About the Author

Alan Stretton, PhD     

Life Fellow, AIPM (Australia)
Auckland, New Zealand

Alan Stretton is one of the pioneers of modern project management.  In 2006 he retired from a position as Adjunct Professor of Project Management in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Australia, which he joined in 1988 to develop and deliver a Master of Project Management program.   Prior to joining UTS, Mr. Stretton worked in the building and construction industries in Australia, New Zealand and the USA for some 38 years, which included the project management of construction, R&D, introduction of information and control systems, internal management education programs and organizational change projects.  Alan has degrees in Civil Engineering (BE, Tasmania) and Mathematics (MA, Oxford), and an honorary PhD in strategy, programme and project management (ESC, Lille, France).  Alan was Chairman of the Standards (PMBOK) Committee of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) from late 1989 to early 1992.  He held a similar position with the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) and was elected a Life Fellow of AIPM in 1996.  He was a member of the Core Working Group in the development of the Australian National Competency Standards for Project Management.  He has published 280+ professional articles and papers.  Alan can be contacted at alanailene@bigpond.com .

To see more works by Alan Stretton, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/alan-stretton/.