“Finance is use of resources“ says a classical definition in economics. This means that all people and organizations use resources, thus finance, in their operations having financial consequences. Resources are always limited and usually scarce, so they are better used wisely. Resources have 5 dimensions that have an impact in the end result:
• number of resources
• price of resources
• quality of resources
• allocation of resources
• utilization rate of resources (Kamensky 2010, 42)
Resources in communication are the material and immaterial resources available for managing and implementing communication. Resources can either enable or condition the achievement of goals. In order to asses and decide the resources, one must know the purpose and aim where to drive the communication. Resources can be evaluated from the view of quality and quantity, or in respect to time and objectives, or compare the targeted level to current state and see if they are justified. (Juholin, 2001, 74) Knowledge itself is a resource. Sometimes this means researches, but can also mean benchmarking your own operations against other well-functional organizations. Knowledge management aims to producing, process and deliver information for the benefit of the company’s operations and environment. (Juholin, 2001, 75)
The organization and management of communication is part of defining roles and responsibilities. In the recent years the habit of appointing the Director of communication as part of Executive board has flourished.
Thus communication becomes a part of the management, decision-making and real-time information is available throughout the organization. Some
organizations have end up with specialized or decentralized communica-communication models. Networks are also a common way to organize communicating. It is a good way to stimulate interaction and bring the expertise of the networks for the whole organization to utilize. (Juholin, 2001, 73-74)
People work in projects that run overlapped, one upon the other. In some companies more than half of the time can be consumed in different projects. For some employees all their work is project related, and there can be several projects running at the same time. (Juholin, 2008, 257) The role of Project Manager is versatile functioning in many interfaces.
He/she is in the centre of managing simultaneously external relations and internal integration. Figure 15 represents the roles of Project Manager in time dimension. (Jalava & Virtanen, 2000, 35)
Figure 15 The roles of Project Manager (Jalava & Virtanen, 2000, 35)
As trendsetter the Project Manager keeps the focus in the project vision clarifying and interpreting the meaning by creating plans including detailed and scheduled procedures for execution. As integrator the project manager main task is integrating different internal operations that drive towards project objectives. The project team needs to operate as one unit that has a greater competence than the competence of the individuals calculated together. In the organisator role project manager is responsible for building the organization around the project and managing it so that set objectives are achieved. The role of intermediary includes being the figurehead, information interface and interpreter. (Jalava & Virtanen, 2000, 36)
Project manager has a large role leading project. He/She is expected to coordinate, lead and integrate project team, most of the time without direct superior position. Below are written the responsibilities of Global Program Manager in Lite-On Mobile from LOM recruitment advertisement job description 12/2011:
intermediary trendsetter organisator integrator
Present t Future
External
Internal
- Project Planning Management
Being responsible for the global Project Master Plan. Ensuring that the internal and external schedules and process Milestones are synchronized so that the targets set according to Account owner and Customer can be reached. Being responsible for the timely and qualitative synchronization of LOM outputs and Customer requirements.
- Customer Relationship Management
Being the primary interface between LOM and the Customer and communicating proactively and responsively with Customers. Ensuring that customer requirements and needs are fulfilled within contractual guidelines.
- Project Execution Management
GPM is a trigger for planned and ad-hoc project related actions in the global level. GPM actuate global execution to regions by making sure that regions are doing right tasks and issues on right time. Ensuring that the project teams are following the global PC-process principles including milestone reviews and checklist usage.
- Risk Management
Controlling the project related risk management process and steering preventive and corrective actions globally. Ensuring the timely and efficient problem solving. Acts accordingly as the escalation point for local Project related issues and when needed escalates the project specific issues to the Management.
- Information Management
Ensuring the sharing of validated fact-based information both internally and externally across regions. Ensuring that Customers, Suppliers and Perlos Project Team Members have adequate and up-to-date information available. Organizing needed project resources with related resource owners. Setting practices, roles and responsibilities for information distribution and project execution.
- Technology Management
Ensuring adequate attention and action to the global implementation of project-related fundamental technologies. Being responsible to set-up needed resources for project technology implementation with related resource owners.
- Financial Management
Integrating costing information (cost models) from regions to global cost-ing consolidation. Becost-ing responsible for global quotation creation (CBD's) according account owner's targets. Program manager is responsible for achieving the agreed project’s profitability globally.
- Project Status Management
GPM is always on the top of global issues and current status of the project.
GPM is responsible to organize and lead global follow-up procedure to monitor regional level project execution. Being in charge of regular global project status and progress reporting, for both internal and external pur-poses. (Lite-On Mobile, 2011)
According to PM literature (e.g. Peter. P. Lewis 1998,14) and some pre-dominant myths of PM project managers are dedicated only to managing the project and have no other duties, they are also expected to utilise sys-tematic information-sources that are based on knowledge-management systems. Reality however is that Project Managers are caught in everyday hectic routines and other tasks that cause stress. Also the communication tools are usually non-systematic and simple such as phone calls, emails, meetings etc. (Jalava & Virtanen, 2000, 10)