A large electronics corporation has a multimillion dollar project in which 90 percent of the work stays within one division. The division manager wants to be the project manager. Should this be allowed even though there exists a project management division?

The internal functioning of an organization must consider: ● The demands imposed on the organization by task complexity ● Available technology ● The external environment ● The needs of the organizational membership Considering these facts, should an organization search for the one best way to organize under all conditions? Should managers examine the functioning of an organization relative to its needs, or vice versa?

You are a project engineer on a high-technology program. As the project begins to wind down, your boss asks you to write a paper so that he can present it at a technical meeting. His name goes first on the paper. Should this be part of your job? How do you feel about this situation?

Research has indicated that the matrix structure is often confusing because it requires multiple roles for people, with resulting confusion about these roles (Keith Davis, Human Relations at Work, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967, pp. 296–297). Unfortunately, not all program managers, project managers, and project engineers possess the necessary skills to operate in this environment. Stuckenbruck has stated, “The path to success is strewn with the bodies of project managers who were originally functional line managers and then went into project management” (Linn Stuckenbruck, “The Effective Project Manager,” Project Management Quarterly, Vol. VII, No. 1, March 1976, pp. 26–27). What do you feel is the major cause for this downfall of the functional manager?