| Course | PM 350 Organizational Project Management (PM/350) |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Organizational project management analysis |
| Length | about 1,067 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Business |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PM 350 Week 1
Fourteen Projects, No Common Way of Running Them: Making the Case for Organizational Project Management at a State Lottery
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
PM/350: Organizational Project Management
Week 1 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The Prairie State Lottery is a composite agency; its projects, staff and figures are invented for a model paper.
The Prairie State Lottery is a composite state agency in Topeka, Kansas, that sells draw and instant games through about 1,800 retailers and transfers its profits to state funds for economic development, prisons and problem gambling services. Ten years ago it ran two or three projects a year. Today it has 14 under way: replacing every retailer terminal, a phone app that lets players enter non-winning tickets into bonus drawings, upgrading its draw system, rebuilding its website, moving its data center to a cloud provider, expanding a responsible gaming program and eight smaller efforts. Each division runs its projects its own way. The executive director asked for a recommendation on how the agency should manage projects as a whole. This paper explains organizational project management and applies it to the lottery.
What Organizational Project Management Means
The Project Management Institute describes organizational project management as a framework in which portfolio, program and project management are integrated with organizational enablers to deliver strategy (Project Management Institute [PMI], 2018). The enablers include governance, methods, people with the right skills, tools and a culture that values consistent delivery. The idea is that strategy should flow downward into a balanced set of projects, and information about results should flow upward so leaders can adjust strategy and investment. Project management alone concerns how each project is run; organizational project management concerns whether the organization runs the right projects, in a coordinated way, and learns from them.
The Lottery's Current Practice
Interviews with division heads and a review of project documents found five problems. First, there is no single list of projects; the 14 were counted only when the executive director asked each division. Second, divisions use different templates and status reports, so the leadership team cannot compare projects. Third, projects compete for the same scarce people: the terminal replacement and the draw system upgrade both need the agency's two database administrators in the same quarter. Fourth, there is no gate at which projects are approved, paused or stopped; projects start when a division head finds money. Fifth, nobody tracks whether completed projects delivered their promised benefits, such as the 2023 website rebuild, which was meant to cut retailer support calls but has never been measured.
An agency that cannot list its projects cannot choose among them.
How Mature Are Its Practices?
Maturity models describe stages of capability, from informal practice that depends on individuals, through standard processes, to managed, measured and continuously improving practice. Measured against such a scale, the lottery is at an early level. Some divisions, especially information technology, follow consistent methods inside their own walls, but there is no agency-wide standard, portfolio selection or performance measurement. Backlund et al. (2014) reviewed research on project management maturity models and noted that these models often assume one path of improvement and may ignore the organization's context; they recommended using them as a basis for reflection rather than as a scorecard. The lottery will use the scale in that spirit, to identify the next steps rather than to chase a level.
What Kind of Office?
A project management office (PMO) is a common vehicle for organizational project management. Hobbs and Aubry (2007) surveyed 500 PMOs and found enormous variety in their structures and functions, with no single model that fit all organizations. In a later study, Aubry et al. (2010) described PMOs as organizational entities that change frequently, often every few years, as they respond to tensions in their organizations. Their findings caution against copying a large, controlling PMO from another organization.
For an agency of about 220 employees, the recommendation is a small supportive office of two people within the executive director's office: a portfolio manager and a project analyst. Its first jobs are to keep a single list of projects, run a simple intake and gate process, provide common templates and report to the leadership team monthly. It would not manage projects itself; division project leads would remain in charge of delivery.
Linking Projects to Strategy
The lottery's strategic plan has four goals: grow transfers to the state by 3 percent a year, protect the integrity of games, promote responsible play and modernize the retailer experience. The PMO would ask every proposed project to show which goal it serves and how. A first look suggests that two of the 14 projects, a lobby redesign and a new intranet, serve none of the goals directly and could be deferred, freeing staff for the terminal and draw system projects that support integrity and transfers.
What the Agency Gains
The benefits are practical. Leaders will see every project on one page and can settle conflicts over the database administrators before they delay both projects. Common gates will stop low-value work early, before money is spent. Benefits tracking will finally show whether the website rebuild reduced retailer support calls, and that evidence will improve the next business case. Over time, consistent methods should also make it easier to move staff between projects, since everyone will recognize the same templates, status colors and decision points.
A Two-Year Roadmap
Months 1 to 3: hire or assign the two PMO staff, build the project list and adopt a one-page status template.
Months 4 to 9: introduce an intake form and three gates (approve, plan complete, close), and start monthly portfolio reviews by the leadership team.
Months 10 to 18: add resource planning for scarce roles, begin benefits tracking for completed projects and offer basic project training to division leads.
Months 19 to 24: review the PMO's own performance and adjust its role.
Expected Resistance
Division heads may see the PMO as a loss of control. The roadmap responds by starting with visibility and support rather than control, by involving division heads in designing the templates and by showing early wins, such as resolving the database staff conflict. The executive director's visible support at monthly reviews will matter more than any procedure.
Conclusion
The Prairie State Lottery's project load has outgrown its informal way of managing projects. Organizational project management offers a framework to connect its strategy to a coordinated set of projects and to learn from results. A small supportive office, a single project list, simple gates, resource planning and benefits tracking, introduced over two years, fit the agency's size and culture and address the problems found today.
References
Aubry, M., Müller, R., Hobbs, B., & Blomquist, T. (2010). Project management offices in transition. International Journal of Project Management, 28(8), 766-778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2010.05.006
Backlund, F., Chronéer, D., & Sundqvist, E. (2014). Project management maturity models: A critical review. Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences, 119, 837-846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.094
Hobbs, B., & Aubry, M. (2007). A multi-phase research program investigating project management offices (PMOs): The results of phase 1. Project Management Journal, 38(1), 74-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/875697280703800108
Project Management Institute. (2018). The standard for organizational project management (OPM). Project Management Institute.
What the PM 350 Week 1 instructions ask
The opening PM 350 assignment typically asks students to define organizational project management and explain how it links strategy with portfolios, programs and projects. Prompts may ask students to describe an organization's current project practices, assess them against a maturity concept, discuss the role of a project management office and identify benefits and barriers to adopting a consistent approach. Some versions ask for a short recommendation. Choose an organization you know or use the classroom scenario, describe its projects concretely and support the analysis with the standard, PMI's work on organizational project management and scholarly research in APA style. Focus on how the organization as a whole selects, runs and learns from projects.
How this PM 350 Week 1 example is built
Our example looks at a state lottery that grew from three projects a year to fourteen without changing how it manages them. It explains organizational project management as the framework that lets strategy flow into the right projects and results flow back. A current-state section documents the problems: no single list of projects, each division using its own templates, two projects competing for the same database staff and no benefits tracking. A maturity comparison places the agency at an early, ad hoc level. The recommendation is a small supportive office that first builds a portfolio list and common gates, not a large controlling office. A two-year roadmap and a short section on likely resistance complete the paper.
PM 350 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go
Instructors evaluating this paper want the concept explained correctly and applied with evidence. High-scoring work defines organizational project management as an integrated system linking strategy, portfolios, programs and projects with enablers such as governance, methods and people, and avoids treating it as a synonym for project management. The current-state description should be concrete, the maturity assessment honest and the recommendation proportionate to the organization's size and readiness. Papers that use research on project management offices or maturity models, and acknowledge barriers to adoption, earn more credit. A clear structure, a realistic roadmap, consistent terminology and APA citations finish a strong submission.
PM 350 Week 1 help: mistakes to avoid
Common slips here include writing about how to manage one project well when the question is about the organization's whole system of projects. Keep the focus on portfolios, shared methods and alignment. Another frequent problem is recommending a large, controlling office for a small organization, which research suggests often fails. Match the office to the culture and size. Students also skip the current state and jump to recommendations; without evidence of what is wrong, the recommendation has no basis. Describe at least three concrete problems. Maturity models are sometimes listed without assessing the organization against them. Place the organization at a level and explain why. If you need help choosing which maturity model to use, a tutor can walk you through the main ones.
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PM 350 Week 1 questions, answered
What does PM 350 Week 1 usually cover?
It usually covers organizational project management: the framework that connects strategy to portfolios, programs and projects, how mature an organization's project practices are and the role a project management office can play.
Where can I find a free PM 350 Week 1 sample paper?
The Week 1 paper above makes the case for organizational project management at a composite state lottery with fourteen projects, and the whole text is free.
What is organizational project management?
A strategy execution framework that uses portfolio, program and project management, together with organizational enablers such as governance, methods, people and tools, to deliver strategy consistently.
What is a project management maturity model?
A model that describes levels of capability in managing projects, from informal and inconsistent practice to standardized, measured and continuously improving practice, so an organization can assess itself and plan improvement.
What does a project management office do?
A PMO can support, coordinate or control project work across an organization, for example by setting standards, maintaining a portfolio view, supporting project managers and reporting to leaders.
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