A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to achieve unique product or services. We can say the project is success if we are able keep the customer requirements satisfied or exceeding , complete the project with in the scheduled duration, complete with in the given budget & mostly the acceptance agreement from customer. Always to have a project running there should be a proper business justification for the same.

Project Business Case:

The project business case lists the objectives and the reason for the project initiation.It helps to measure the success of the project at the time of project closure with the project objectives. Business case is a document that is used through out the project life cycle and it gives the go or no-go signal for the project. The business case should have business needs, analysis of the situation, recommendations for the problem.

The environment in which projects operate may have influence on them. These can be positive ( In favor) or negative (unfavorable) impact on the project.  The two major influencing factors are Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs) and Organizational Process Assets (OPAs)

Enterprise environmental factors arise from environment outside of the projects and often outside of the organization where as Organizational process assets are internal to the organization.

Enterprise Environmental Factors:

Enterprise environmental factors are the influencing factors  that influence, constraints the projects which are not under the control of the project team.These can be internal or external to the organization, and these factors can have positive or negative impact on the project deliverables.

Some of Internal EEFs are

• Organizational culture and governance : Vission , Mission, leadership styles, code of conducts etc.
• Geography distribution : Work location, Virtual teams etc.
• Infrastructure : Communication channels, equipment's, hardware etc.
• Resource availability: Contracting, Subcontractors etc.
• Softwares: Scheduling softwares, Automated tools, Configuration management etc.

External EEfs are

• Market conditions : Competitors, Brand, trademarks etc.
• Social and cultural influence: Political climate, ethics etc.
• Legal restrictions : Country , local laws, data protection laws etc.
• Government standards: Government agency regulations on environment, products, resources etc.
• Industry standards: Industry standards on quality, productions, products etc.
• Financial regulations: Currency exchange rates, interest rates, inflation etc.

Organizational Process Assets:

The processes, policies, procedures, knowledge bases and plans available in your organization become the Organizational process assets. These are used by project teams for their reference and as guidelines to run their projects and these influences the management of the project.

The lessons learned from previous projects, historical information etc are stored in OPAs. OPAs include the artifacts, practice and knowledge from all previous projects performing in the organization. OPAs are internal to organization , project team is able to add or update OPAs as necessary through out the project lifecycle.

EEFs and OPAs are input for lot of Project management processes. Outside of enterprise environmental factors and organization process assets  other factors like power, influence, political capabilities of people in the organizational system can also impact the projects.