ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

SCHOOL OF COMMERCE

Project Management Context (MAPM 505)

Assignment IV

By Zemene Matewos Shewarega(GSE/9949/12)

Submitted To: Dr. Mengistu Bogale

Contents
Review of Chapter VI ......................................................................................................................... 2
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 2
2. Role of Project Sponsor .......................................................................................................... 2
3. Why is a Project Sponsor needed? ......................................................................................... 2
4. Functions of the Executive Project Sponsor ............................................................................ 2
5. Invisible Sponsorship ............................................................................................................. 3
6. Committee Sponsorship ......................................................................................................... 3
7. Status Report ......................................................................................................................... 3
8. The New Role of the Executive ............................................................................................... 3
Review of Chapter VI

1. Introduction
Chapter six of the course material discusses about the role of the executive sponsor
also known as the project sponsor, the situations where this position is needed and
the challenges the project management faces in absence or presence of this type of
assignment. The executive sponsor is usually assigned from the senior members of
the project board with a responsibility of maintaining executive-client contact in
terms of ensuring communication flow between the two. With this, the project
sponsor communicates information on cost and deliverables to the customer; and,
takes data on schedule and performance status from the project manager. Providing
guidance on objective setting, priority setting, project organizational structure,
project policies and procedures and key staffing are some of the additional
responsibilities on which the project sponsor engages to.

2. Role of Project Sponsor

The role of the project sponsor depends on the phase at which the project is
operating. It is at the planning or the initiation stage, the project sponsor has an
active role in assisting the project manager in setting appropriate and achievable
objectives; inform the project manager about the existing political/environmental
factors that might potentially impact the project; determine order of carrying out
activities for the project based on their justifiable relative importance; serve as a focal
point for executive-client communication; help to develop policies and procedures
by which projects are governed. However, during the execution of the project, the
project sponsor has a passive role in that the sponsor offers his assistance only when
problems exist in the project-line interface.

3. Why is a Project Sponsor needed?

It is important to understand that not all projects need a project sponsor. Only
projects with massive resources or require integration between functional lines
require project sponsors.

4. Functions of the Executive Project Sponsor

The executive project sponsor has the following functions:
 Working for the establishment of top-level client relationships and
maintaining them.
 Exerting effort in making productive sales and entering contractual
agreements on behalf of the organization.
 Helping project managers in their planning, procedures, and staffing
responsibilities and other related tasks.
  Attending in major client and project meetings; keeping himself/herself
updated in major project activities by receiving important correspondence
and reports.

5. Invisible Sponsorship
Invisible sponsorship also known as absentee sponsorship is quite common at the
executive level. When the project sponsor refused to act in fear of bad consequences
due to bad decisions, this type of sponsorship gets into play. In situations where an
executive doesn’t understand the role of sponsorship and serves nothing apart from
lip service, or has no time to perform the task, or the project manager declines to
provide appropriate information, the invisible sponsorship takes over the
responsibility-well of course, invisibly.

6. Committee Sponsorship
This type of sponsorship is where committees comprised of middle level managers
from marketing, R & D and Operations serve as a sponsorship and it’s common in
organizations emphasizing concurrent engineering and shortening of product
development time. This type of arrangement has limitations in terms of the
following aspects:
 Senior managers lack time to convene
 Difficult for the project manager to convene the committee quickly in times of
crisis
 Individual project sponsors may be more dedicated than committees.

7. Status Report
The project manager indicates the status of project in one of the three lights
according to the appropriate situation. Green light is where the project work is
progressing as planned; Yellow light indicates a potential problem may exist sooner
or later with no need of taking action immediately; whereas, the red light reflects a
problem that may affect the project in terms of time, scope, cost, quality making the
involvement of the sponsor necessary. Yellow flag warnings can be resolved at the
middle levels of management while red flag problems require an immediate
decision. In this regard, the sponsor needs to make the best possible decision in a
timely fashion.

8. The New Role of the Executive

As project management grows, executives decentralize project sponsorship to
middle-and lower-level management. And senior management takes new advanced
roles like establishing a center for excellence in PM and creating a project
management career path.