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CIS015-3
The Four Gods of Management in Action

• Marc Conrad
• Office: D104 – Park Square
• Marc.Conrad@beds.ac.uk

• Based on Charles Handy: The Four Gods of Management,

Oxford University Press.
• http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Charles+Handy+The+four+gods+of+management

Marc Conrad 1
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University of Bedfordshire
2 Charles Handy’s “Gods of Management”

Marc Conrad 2
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University of Bedfordshire
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What am I doing for a living?
• I am Senior Lecturer at the University of
Bedfordshire.
 Apollo
• I teach Project Management.
 Athene
• I work for Yong and Les.
 Zeus
• I am a Computer Scientist.
 Dionysus

Marc Conrad 3
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University of Bedfordshire
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The Four Gods of Management

• Zeus: Club Culture

• Apollo: Role Based Culture
• Athena: Task Based Culture
• Dionysus: Existential

• See links on BREO for details.

Marc Conrad 4
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University of Bedfordshire
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Organization Models and Project
Manager’s Role
Level of Communication Staff management
authority methods techniques

Functional Low Horizontal flow of Well defined

(hierarchical) information is
Apollo difficult
Matrix Medium Good information May become
organization flow problematic (two
bosses)
Projectized High Excellent Demanding
organisation conditions (uncertainty of
Athena “after the project”)
Zeus Depends on relationship between Project Manager and
the sponsor (“Zeus”). Can be excellent or doomed.

Dionysus Low Unreliable Nearly impossible,

needs soft skills.
Marc Conrad 5
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University of Bedfordshire
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PRINCE2® Management Structure
(as already seen before)

Corporate/Programme Management

Project Board:
Senior User Executive Senior Supplier

Project Manager
Project Project
Assurance Support
Team Manager
Marc Conrad 6
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University of Bedfordshire
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PRINCE2® Management Structure
Zeus - Culture

Corporate/Programme Management

Project Board:
Senior User Executive Senior Supplier

Project Manager
?
Project Project
Assurance Support
Team Manager
Marc Conrad 7
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University of Bedfordshire
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PRINCE2® Management Structure
Athena - Culture

Corporate/Programme Management

Project Board:
Senior User Executive Senior Supplier

Project Manager
Project Project
Assurance Support
Team Manager
Marc Conrad 8
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University of Bedfordshire
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PRINCE2® Management Structure
Apollo - Culture

Corporate/Programme Management

Project Board:
Senior User Executive Senior Supplier

Project Manager
Project Project
Assurance Support
Team Manager
Marc Conrad 9
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University of Bedfordshire
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PRINCE2® Management Structure
Dyonisus - Culture

Corporate/Programme Management

Project Board:
Senior User Executive Senior Supplier

Project Manager
Project Project
Assurance Support
Team Manager
Marc Conrad 10
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University of Bedfordshire
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Why are you here?

• I am enrolled in CIS015-3 Social and

Professional Project Management at the
University of Bedfordshire.
 Apollo
• I learn how to do projects
 Athene
• I attend Marc’s lecture
 Zeus
• I want to know about projects
 Dionysus

Marc Conrad 11
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University of Bedfordshire