– Understanding the realization of business value at the enterprise level
The last area of interest for an “enterprise-aware” PM is the areas of corporate development and corporate finance. So far we have explored how IT Services Management helps the PM connect the delivery of projects to the on-going life of that service in the enterprise, how the service connects to a capability and how the services and capabilities fit within the enterprise.
Now it is time to explore how these services and capabilities are viewed by the enterprise in terms of true business value and competitive advantage. Corporate development concerns itself with the management arm of the enterprise, setting the strategy and priorities, and ensuring that the enterprise wide investments are aligned with future strategic goals.
Corporate finance deals with financial decision making that the enterprise makes and the tools it employs to help it make those decisions. The primary goal of corporate finance is therefore to maximize the corporate value and manage the associated risks.
Understanding the two areas above rounds out the business or enterprise-aware PM’s knowledge areas, in my opinion. Understanding how decisions are made and how the delivery of a particular service impacts the overall enterprise and its future state allows the PM to organize around these principles and guidelines for one, as well as enables the PM to discuss decisions related to the project in terms of corporate imperatives rather than that of a functional focus or one-off (non-leverageable) focus.
To learn more about Corporate Development and Corporate Finance, check out “Shareholder Value: Key to Corporate Development, Volume 10 (Best of Long Range Planning Series – First Series)” and “Essentials of Corporate Finance” on Amazon.
