PMO Conceptualization for Engineering and Construction Businesses

Over the last decade many organizations began to recognize that the implementation of Project Management (PM) practices was a necessity rather than an option. In order to improve the success of projects, organizations have been adopting specialized structures (normally called PM Offices or PMOs) that carry out the management of projects in a coordinated and centralized way. In recent years, several PMO models and functions have been proposed by many authors. The major challenge for most organizations is to decide which specific functions in a particular context should be implemented. In fact, PMO's roles and functions, though standardized and clearly defined in literature, vary in practice. The main goal of this research was to propose a set of functions for a supportive PMO in an engineering and construction company. For example, develop and implement a PM methodology, provide a set of tools to support PM, and develop PM competences.