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2 - ORGANIZATIONAL INFLUENCES AND PROJECT LIFE CYCLE

• Sellers. Sellers, also called vendors, suppliers, or contractors, are external companies that enter into a
contractual agreement to provide components or services necessary for the project.
• Business partners. Business partners are external organizations that have a special relationship with
the enterprise, sometimes attained through a certification process. Business partners provide specialized 2
expertise or fill a specified role such as installation, customization, training, or support.
• organizational groups. Organizational groups are internal stakeholders who are affected by the activities
of the project team. Examples of various business elements of an organization that may be affected by
the project include marketing and sales, human resources, legal, finance, operations, manufacturing, and
customer service. These groups support the business environment where projects are executed, and
are therefore affected by the activities of the project. As a result, there is generally a significant amount
of interaction between the various business elements of an organization and the project team as they
work together to achieve project goals. These groups may provide input to requirements and accept
deliverables necessary for a smooth transition to production or related operations.

• Functional managers. Functional managers are key individuals who play a management role within
an administrative or functional area of the business, such as human resources, finance, accounting, or
procurement. They are assigned their own permanent staff to carry out the ongoing work, and they have
a clear directive to manage all tasks within their functional area of responsibility. The functional manager
may provide subject matter expertise or their function may provide services to the project.

• other stakeholders. Additional stakeholders, such as procurement entities, financial institutions,
government regulators, subject matter experts, consultants, and others, may have a financial interest in
the project, contribute inputs to the project, or have an interest in the outcome of the project.
Project stakeholders and stakeholder engagement are further defined in Section 13 on Project Stakeholder
Management.

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©2013 Project Management Institute. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) – Fifth Edition 33

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