Back to Business Management

Strategic Alignment

5 minutes 5 Questions

Strategic Alignment is the process of aligning an organization's actions with its mission, vision, and strategy. It ensures that all business activities, including projects, support the overall direction of the company. A project manager in this context must align the project objectives with the organization’s strategic goals to help achieve the desired outcome. A well-aligned project can significantly contribute to the organization's success by optimizing resources, minimizing conflicts, and ensuring that all stakeholders are working towards a common goal.

Guide for Strategic Alignment Following PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition

Strategic Alignment is a key aspect of Business Management in the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Why Strategic Alignment is important:
It ensures that business activities are in line with organizational strategic objectives, facilitating the targeted use of resources and increasing the likelihood of reaching business goals.
What is Strategic Alignment:
Strategic Alignment is the process of bringing the actions of an organization’s business divisions and employees in line with the organization’s planned strategy.
How it works:
Strategic alignment begins at the top level of an organization and trickles down to every level ensuring all activities are geared towards meeting the organization’s objectives. It requires an understanding of the organization's strategy, translating it into operational terms, aligning the organization to the strategy, and making strategy everyone's everyday job.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Strategic Alignment:
When answering exam questions regarding Strategic Alignment:

  1. Ensure understanding of the strategic goals of a hypothetical organization.
  2. Relate project objectives to these strategic goals.
  3. Discuss how project activities and deliverables contribute to achieving these strategic goals.
It is also beneficial to discuss the risks and consequences of not having strategic alignment in the organization.

Test mode:
Start practice test
PMP - Business Management Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)

Question 1

You're leading a project for a hospital aiming to go paperless and all-digital in 2 years. Your project's timeline, however, overshoots this target by 6 months. How could you better align your project with the hospital's strategic goals?

Correct Answer: Re-evaluate project tasks for any opportunities for parallel processing or elimination of non-essential tasks to shorten the timeline.

The best answer is to re-evaluate project tasks for any opportunities for parallel processing or elimination of non-essential tasks to shorten the timeline. This maintains the project's scope while alleviating time constraints, providing the best chance of aligning with strategic goals. The option to ignore the strategic goal goes against best project management practices, as it fails to align with the organization's objectives. Trying to overwork the team to meet the timeline is not sustainable and puts the project's quality and team morale at risk. Asking for a revision of the strategic goal can be seen as avoiding the resolve to meet original objectives rather than finding solutions to meet them, again, not an ideal project management approach.

Question 2

A project manager is leading a digital transformation initiative for a retail company. The current project plan focuses on upgrading in-store technology, but fails to address the company's e-commerce capabilities. How should the project manager best align the project with the company's long-term strategy?

Correct Answer: Revise the project plan to include both in-store and e-commerce technology upgrades

The best answer is to revise the project plan to include both in-store and e-commerce technology upgrades. This approach aligns the project with the company's long-term strategy by addressing both physical and digital retail channels.

In today's retail landscape, a comprehensive digital transformation should encompass both in-store and online capabilities. By integrating both aspects into the project plan, the company can create a seamless omnichannel experience for customers and position itself for future growth.

This option ensures that the project manager takes a holistic approach to the digital transformation, avoiding potential gaps in the company's overall strategy. It also demonstrates proactive leadership by identifying and addressing a critical oversight in the original plan.

The other options are less suitable:

Continuing with the current plan and addressing e-commerce capabilities in a separate project could lead to disjointed systems and missed opportunities for integration. It may also result in inefficiencies and increased costs.

Delaying the project until a comprehensive strategy is developed could cause the company to fall behind competitors and miss out on immediate benefits of digital transformation. It's often better to start implementing improvements while refining the strategy.

Shifting the focus entirely to e-commerce capabilities and postponing in-store upgrades neglects the importance of physical retail in an omnichannel strategy. This approach could alienate customers who prefer in-store experiences and limit the company's ability to compete effectively across all channels.

By revising the plan to include both in-store and e-commerce upgrades, the project manager ensures a balanced, forward-thinking approach that aligns with the company's long-term strategy and positions it for success in the evolving retail landscape.

Question 3

A project manager is leading a digital transformation initiative for a financial institution. The current project plan focuses on upgrading internal systems, but doesn't address emerging fintech trends. How should the project manager best align the project with the company's long-term strategy?

Correct Answer: Incorporate fintech integration and adaptability into the project scope

The best answer is to incorporate fintech integration and adaptability into the project scope. This approach directly addresses the issue of aligning the project with the company's long-term strategy by including emerging fintech trends in the current digital transformation initiative.

Incorporating fintech integration and adaptability ensures that the project remains relevant and future-proof. It allows the financial institution to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving industry while upgrading its internal systems.

The other options are less effective in addressing the strategic alignment:

Accelerating the timeline for upgrading internal systems does not address the lack of fintech considerations in the project scope. It may even lead to rushed implementation and missed opportunities for innovation.

Conducting a market analysis for potential fintech partnerships after the project is completed delays the integration of important trends and may result in additional costs and efforts to retrofit solutions later.

Prioritizing staff training on existing systems focuses solely on the current upgrades and does not address the need to align with emerging fintech trends or long-term strategy.

By incorporating fintech integration and adaptability into the project scope, the project manager ensures that the digital transformation initiative is comprehensive, forward-thinking, and aligned with the company's long-term strategic goals in the evolving financial technology landscape.

Go Premium

Project Management Professional Preparation Package (2024)

  • Earn 35 PDUs needed for your PMP certification
  • 9524 Superior-grade Project Management Professional practice questions.
  • Accelerated Mastery: Deep dive into critical topics to fast-track your mastery.
  • Unlock Effortless PMP preparation: 5 full exams.
  • 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed: Full refund with no questions if unsatisfied.
  • Bonus: If you upgrade now you get upgraded access to all courses
  • Risk-Free Decision: Start with a 7-day free trial - get premium features at no cost!
More Strategic Alignment questions
29 questions (total)
Start 29 question test