Though the nature of a project is temporary, they are not performed in isolation. They work in a controlled environment and are affected by Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF) and Organizational Process Assets (OPA).
The Project Management Institute terms them as influences. Enterprise environmental factors can be internal or external, while organizational process assets are always internal to an organization.
Enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets are widely discussed in the PMBOK Guide and are inputs of almost all processes. You must have a thorough understanding of EEF vs OPA.
Although the concepts are straightforward, many PMP aspirants fail to understand them and often make mistakes on the exam.
Please note that you may or may not see a direct question on these topics in the exam, but having a better understanding of EEF and OPA will undoubtedly help you on your test.
Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF)
First, we should understand “environment” before discussing enterprise environmental factors.
You can define the environment as anything related to the natural world and the impact of human activity or its condition, the culture that an individual lives in, and the people and institutions with whom they interact (Wikipedia).
Since we live in an environment, it influences our behavior in a certain way.
For instance, we must wear woolen clothes in cold weather to keep ourselves warm. The cold weather is the “environment” that forces us to cover ourselves with woolen clothes.
This is the impact of a cold environment on us.
Now, we come to enterprise environmental factors.
Enterprise environmental factors are the influences not under the control of the organization or the project management team that affect the organization, the project, and its outcome. Every organization has to exist and work within the EEF.
These influences may have positive or negative impacts on your project constraints, though often, the impact is negative.
Enterprise environment factors can be either internal or external.
Examples of external enterprise environmental factors are as follows:
- Government regulations
- Market conditions
- External political conditions
- Industry standards
- Legal restrictions
A few examples of internal enterprise environmental factors include:
- Organizational culture
- Type of organizational structure
- Internal political conditions
- Available resources
- Infrastructure
Organizational Process Assets (OPA)
Before moving on to the organizational process assets, let us define assets.
An asset is a useful or valuable entity or property owned by a person or company that has value and is available to meet debts, commitments, or legacies.
Assets are something that you can own, keep, and make use of at any point in time.
Examples of assets are numerous; you can have a car, which helps you move around, a house to live in, a computer to work on… the list is endless.
In the same way, organizations also have assets that help them achieve their goals. Here, these assets are called organizational process assets. These OPAs are inputs of almost all processes of the PMBOK Guide. The project management team may modify these OPAs according to their requirements.
Once the project has ended, these organizational process assets can be stored in a central repository to be used whenever required for future projects.
Organizational process assets can be divided into two categories.
The first is for processes, policies, and procedures for conducting work, which includes the following:
- Policies
- Procedures
- Standard templates
- General guidelines
The project management team cannot usually update or modify these elements, as the organization has provided them. However, a project manager can provide feedback or suggestions, and higher management can decide to update or modify.
The second category comprises the corporate knowledge base for storing and retrieving information. For example:
- Risk register
- Lessons learned
- Stakeholder register
- Past project files
- Historical information
These organizational process assets influence the project’s success and keep growing as the organization grows.
Let us say that you are in the identify risks process. You decide to start identifying risks by using a checklist.
You will not create this checklist from scratch; you will look at similar past project records to find a risk checklist and customize it as per your project requirements. This will save you a lot of time.
There is a famous saying in project management, “Why reinvent the wheel?” which means if you have something available, why would you try to remake it? You are free to update or modify elements from this category.
Organizational process assets are used extensively in project management. The project management team is responsible for looking for any relevant documents in historical records before starting to build something from scratch.
The Difference Between Organizational Process Assets and Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF Vs OPA)
There are many differences between organizational process assets and enterprise environmental factors.
Organizational process assets help organizations improve their processes, help project management teams to learn, and share best practices by using a collective knowledge base.
On the other hand, enterprise environmental factors may or may not help your organization. These are the conditions in which your organization has to work and do not fall under the control of the project management team.
For example, if the government increases taxes, it will affect your profits negatively; however, if they decrease taxes, your profits will increase.
Moreover, enterprise environmental factors are difficult to change; you must live with them. Organizational process assets can be customized according to suitability, making the project management team’s life much more comfortable.
It is important to note that organizational process assets always support the project team, while enterprise environmental factors can help or hinder it.
Summary
Enterprise environmental factors (EEF) and organizational process assets (OPA) are the most widely referred to influences in the PMBOK Guide. EEFs provide a controlled environment where your organization lives and you complete your project. OPAs help you by providing all corporate knowledge, policies, procedures, etc.
You have to understand these influences as they are inputs of most processes, and you have to manage your project within them.
How is your project influenced by enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets (EEF and OPA)? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
I am Mohammad Fahad Usmani, B.E. PMP, PMI-RMP. I have been blogging on project management topics since 2011. To date, thousands of professionals have passed the PMP exam using my resources.
Thank you for clear and detailed explanation ! Love your examples.
Hello Fahad,
Thank you for this explanatory article. It is really helpful for those who are studying for the exam.
Could you please clarify on a practice question that I have encountered: Why the pre-qualified sellers list considered an EEF instead of OPA? Because from my point of view this list is a documentation that aids the PM when planning procurement.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to clarify.
Sometimes it is useful and other times not. You may be restricted to use only the prequalified sellers, so it is an EEF.
Hi great topic and clarity!
I’m preparing for the exam and need clarity as to which organization the EEF apply to? Should the performing org be considering these factors for their environment to complete the project or are they factors that should be considered for the requesting org where the P, S, R will eventually be transferred to? PMBOK is clear that OPA are used by and specific to the performing org, however not clear about EEF. I recently completed a class where instructor stated they apply to the requesting org however Rita Mulcahy is stating the performing org.
DESPERATING seaking clarity!!
The PMBOK has dedicated a whole chapter on it.
Please refer chapter-2 (THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH PROJECTS OPERATE) for complete understanding of the topic.
This is a good topic and very enlightening. Environmental regulations are hurtling companies presently. About fifty years ago and even much longer than that organizations were not under heavy regulations regarding environmental concerns. In our present time period companies pay heavily for environmental infractions.
Best regards to you sir,
We have to live with it and manage accordingly.
Thanks Llew for your visit.
Hi Fahad,
There seems to be a confusion even within PMBOK with regards to “personnel administration” which has been mentioned to be an organizational process asset (4.4.1.5) as well as an enterprise environmental factor (5.1.1.3, 5.2.1.6 and 5.3.1.4 )……………I wonder which one is correct?
To make things even worse, by contradicting the concept that “policies are OPAs”, Personnel Administration Policies are mentioned under enterprise environmental factors in 10.1.1.4, 10.2.1.4, 13.2.1.5, 13.3.1.3 & 13.4.1.4.
It will be great if someone could shed some light on this inconsistency.
Thanks for the helpful info! I understand the difference between OPA’s and EEFs but since they are an input to or output of most of the processes, is there a handy list of processes where OPA’s and/or EEFs are NOT an input or output? This would just make it easier in terms of trying to manage all the ITTOs and focus one the ones that are process or knowledge area specific,
Thanks!
You can assume it is input to always all processes. Cannot think of any process which will have them as an input.
really it is the best explanation I have seen to define the EEF & OPA. but I have a little confuse regarding to the quality control system that you specified as EEF
but I can see it as company can change the system – if their is another better practice will improve the projects- so it should be under OPA….can you please explain me why it goes under EEF and not under OPA?
your time and help is really appreciated and thanks in advance.
Yes, company can change the system, Government can change the regulation, market condition can also change, and political environment can also change.
A better regulation can come, and a favorable political environment can happen as well.
But these change do not make them organizational process assets.
To make more confusion, in Rita Mulcahy 8th page128, the definition of Change Control System is “Many organizations have a change control system as part of their PMIS. This system includes …procedures and software to track control changes. It is part of an organization’s EEF”.
Look, according to Rita, the Change Control Procedures is included in the PMIS, and PMIS is part of EEF. Hence the change control procedures must be part of EEF. But PMBOK page 147 defines that OPA includes Change Control Procedures.
What is your comment Fahad
Change control procedure and change control system are different.
Policies and procedures are part of organizational process so the change control procedure will also be a part of OPA.
PMBOK® Guide – Fifth Edition, page 75 says “The organizational process assets …include : standardized guidelines, work instructions, proposal evaluation criteria, change control procedures, project files from previous projects, configuration management knowledge base, etc”. PMBOK® Guide – Fifth Edition, page 75
For me, change control procedures is nothing related to lesson learned, historical data or knowledge base. Therefore, it it better in EEF. What do you think Fahad?
Hi Fahad,
Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation and also crystal clear clarity on some of the topics mentioned.
1. Digressing to a different level, am confused about the term “Discretionary dependency” and why we need to eliminate discretionary dependencies during fast-tracking to control the schedule?
Your thoughts are much appreciated.
Discretionary dependency are recommended dependency which some times take extra time.
Since these are not mandatory, during fast tracking you look on these dependencies to cut the time.
Hi Fahad, thanks for your patience to answer all questions. Here i have a confusion and seek your help.
While the project is still running where is all project data stored? data like PM plan, Project documents, Work performance data, Work performance reports.
If this data is stored through PMIS (EEF) as a front end, is it stored in some knowledge base like Corporate Knowledge base (OPA) as a backend?
Or does it data remain in EEF till the project completes and then is submitted to OPA through lessons learned?
If it is in soft format, it will be stored in computer servers. Otherwise as long as the project is active the project manger will keep it with him and later it can be transferred to some archiving store.
Location is not important, important is its storage.
If it is in soft format then what kind of database is it stored in? Does it come under OPA or EEF? The scenario is about project data before the project is closed. TIA.
It may be stored in PMIS.
Not sure if this is not answered deliberately. The question asks if PMIS is considered OPA or EEF. Interestingly enough in PMBOK v6 it is sometimes shown under EEF and othertimes under OPA. Very confusing and clarity would be appreciated.
Yes, you are right, however, usually PMIS is an EEF.
Please oblige my question. I know it has been asked before, but I’m still struggling to understand the distinctions:
My understanding:
EEF – Condition (internal and external) under which you have to work. You have not choice. You cannot change it, it affects everybody (Cold weather, the law, harsh governmental policies, high altitude, unfriendly co-worker/work culture, functional matrix org, projectized org, etc)
OPA – (Internal only) Tools, techniques, information or knowledge that affect the actual “doing of the work” – they can help or guide you do your work (guidelines, procedures, historical information from past projects, lessons learned).
My question: What does company policy fall under?
On one hand, I cannot control company policy and must abide by it, making it an EEF
On the other hand, I need to know the policies in order to know how to do the work, making it an OPA
You understanding is correct.
Policies are OPA as they are designed by your organization to help you successfully complete the project.
Hi,
I have confusion between OPA and EEF and found your website. Looking at the comments and I see your categorization of these examples below. I don’t understand the rationale even though I feel I know what you mean by the article. Can you please elaborate more or relate it to the article definition for my better understanding? Thanks lot!
PMIS -> Enterprise Environmental Factors
Quality Controlling Systems -> Enterprise Environmental Factors
Environment and Legal Procedures ->Organisational Process Assets
Organisational Policies -> Organisational Process Assets
Thanks so much Fahad for this explanation. Very helpful and your examples really helped me clear majority of my confusions regarding OPA and EEF. However couple of them still remains, respecting all your efforts and knowledge.
For the purpose of clarification – please bear with me.
1. You have mentioned that “…OPA can be customized according to the suitability, and they make the project management team’s life much easier”. Policies, procedures, plans and knowledge bases are OPAs. Here I am little bit confused, my understanding of policies and procedures is that they are “assets” owned by the organization and applied across all project and operational activities, which are not individually customized for a particular project activity. For example, my current project follows the Health and Safety Policy (OPA) of our organization which cannot be customized for my project and hence a constraint, rather than a support.
2. Organization structure – I really need some help here – how would the org. structure an EEF? Please help.
If you find any new best practice, procedure can be update. Likewise policy can also be changed.
Organizational structure is environment in which you have work. For example if you working in weak matrix organization, you may have to approach the functional manager for you needs.
Great work Mr. Usmani.
PMIS -> Enterprise Environmental Factors
Quality Controlling Systems -> Enterprise Environmental Factors (Since it is a part of the EEF)
I understand the PMI calls PMIS and QCS Enterprise Environmental Factors but from a financial accounting definition perspective “”An asset is a resource controlled by the enterprise as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the enterprise.”
Thus, some PMIS and QCS and Infractructure can be considered assets. For instance, customized software for Accounting/Auditing Information System.
Thank you Mr JP for stopping by and providing the feedback on EEF from a financial accounting perspective.
Fahad, How do I categorize following items whether they are belong to EEF/ OPA
1. PMIS – Project Management Information Systems e.g. Project Enterprise Solutions, Microsoft Project
3. Quality Controlling Systems – Defect Tracking, QA tools
4. Environment and Legal Procedures (assumed that also belong EEF)
5. Any other organizational policies which are not directly relating to project environment.
Hello Janaka, as per my understanding, items can be categorized as follow:
PMIS -> Enterprise Environmental Factors
Quality Controlling Systems -> Enterprise Environmental Factors (Since it is a part of the EEF)
Environment and Legal Procedures ->Organisational Process Assets
Organisational Policies -> Organisational Process Assets