The company that I currently work at would be considered a project-based organization in that we conduct research on cell therapy-based products and processes. For example our projects focus mainly on optimizing the processing and transplantation of stem cells, bone marrow aspirate, and white blood cells (WBCs) to treat patients with debilitating illnesses such as cancer, HIV, hepatitis, etc. As mentioned in lecture, the series of projects makes up the overall cell therapy program established by the company. All these projects fall into the same program for a variety of reasons, such as sharing the same cell-processing equipment, sharing technicians, personnel, the facility, etc. The advantages and disadvantages of a project-based organization are reflected in the product’s lifespan throughout it’s production process. For example, the initial start of a project can be considered to be the most hectic stage of product development in that team members must become acquainted with their roles and each other as well as adjusting to the environment that they will be operating in. This has lead to disagreements between members and management, most commonly among those who are asked to step outside of their comfort zone and undertake an unfamiliar role after having performed a specific role on a consistent basis.

Some of the main disadvantages of a project-based organization, according to a study (1), is that duplicate resources exist and there is more competition than collaboration between project teams while being highly dependent on the guidance of management. In my company, a lack of communication between management once resulted in the purchase of duplicate cell counting machines each costing tens of thousands of dollars, which could have easily been prevented if management was more vocal during meetings. With comparison to functional and matrix-based organizations, what other advantages and disadvantages does a project-based entity share? How might such shortcomings in other organization types be prevented? What type of organization might involve the carryout of projects but with managers who balance coordination between project teams rather than specializing on a single task?

1) Thiry, M. (2007). Creating project-based organizations to deliver value. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2007