Roles of a Project Management Office for the unfolding of strategy in a Project-Based Business
Project management office. Project-based business. Unfolding strategy.
This work is the result of scientific research whose main objective is to analyze the performance of the Project Management Offices (Project Management Office - PMO) in the unfolding of the strategy in Project-Based Businesses (PBB). To this end, the investigation is structured on two systematic reviews of the literature and a single case study with multiple units of analysis. The first review aimed to identify how strategic alignment occurs in PBB. Their findings allowed us to understand how project management relates to strategic alignment, which are the main elements that stand out within this relationship and how they influence each other. The second sought to explore how PMOs can contribute to the unfolding of the strategy within the scope of PBB. With this initiative, it was possible to specify seven roles by which PMOs can benefit organizations in the studied purpose. The case study aims to investigate the roles played by a PMO in unfolding the strategy in the context of a PBB. For its realization, qualitative research with exploratory and descriptive purposes is undertaken, data collection through document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and non-participant observation. It is believed that the work advances the still limited literature on PBB and that it contributes to scientific knowledge about PMOs working in Brazilian organizations. Besides, it is seen its practical utility for managers who are in the process of implementing or restructuring PMOs in scenarios similar to the one investigated in this research. Its originality is based on the presentation of the roles played by PMOs in the context of PBB.