In a functional organization, the project manager has little or no official authority. Instead, the individual department heads have ultimate responsibility for the projects. Similarly, project managers in a weak matrix organization share many of the challenges of a project manager in a functional organization, including little formal authority.

A project manager in a weak matrix organization act more like project coordinators rather than project managers. Conflicts between functional managers and project managers are more common in functional or weak matrix organizations.

In a balanced matrix organization, a project manager has low to moderate levels of authority. In a balanced matrix organization, authority and power is shared between project managers and functional managers.

On the other hand, project managers in a strong matrix organization enjoy many of the same benefits of a project manager in a projectized organization, including considerable authority and full-time project staff.