As project manager for the Waalon Harbour project, Peter Young had the reputation of being a tough boss who demanded strict adherence to his instructions and placed great emphasis on the use of formal, as well as informal, control methods. When he was first appointed as project manager two years ago, a considerable amount of discord developed in the project team as a result. During the first six months of his appointment, eight of the 12 site management, engineering and technical personnel on the project either transferred to other projects within the company or left because of dissatisfaction with his methods. However, just about the time that Jeremy Martins, the CEO, was considering removing Young as project manager, the problems on site subsided as the remaining members and those he appointed accepted his style of leadership. Although he encouraged participation by his subordinates during the planning stage of a project, once he made procedure and scheduling decisions, he expected strict compliance on the part of the project personnel.

During his tenure as project manager, Peter Young reduced project construction costs by 10% while meeting all time schedules for programme completion set by the CEO and by clients and consultants. He had the reputation of running a tight and efficient operation. Largely because of this record of accomplishment, he was offered what he described as an irresistible managerial opportunity with a competing firm in the construction industry and after four weeks' notice left the company to accept that position. This was five months ago. At first Jeremy Martins assumed that he would promote someone from within the project team. However, he found that no one had really been Young's assistant or understudy, and that no one on the site seemed particularly keen to become the project manager. After two weeks of searching, Mr Martins was able to arrange the transfer of Richard Craig, then chief surveyor, to the vacated position. In turn, Craig had one of his subordinates take over management of the surveying division. Craig was regarded as a highly competent manager and, although this transfer did not represent a promotion for him, he saw it as an opportunity to gain a greater diversity of experience. Richard Craig was a strong proponent of management by objectives (MBO). He believed in defining all task assignments in terms of the objectives to be accomplished and leaving it up to the personnel involved to formulate the necessary procedures and methods. He was available for consultation regarding job problems; but the personnel on the project found that he avoided becoming involved in the detail of the work.

After Craig's first two month as project manager, it was obvious to Jeremy Martins that things were not going well on the site. Two scheduled completion times for project tasks had been missed, and the progress on one or two other project phases was possibly behind schedule. In discussing the situation with three of the key employees on the project during site visits, the CEO learned that it was the consensus of the team that Richard Craig did not understand the work he was supervising and was not acting as a manager. He refused to specify how goals were to be accomplished and then held individual employees responsible when specific tasks were not completed on time. As a result, the personnel in the section were frustrated by the very absence of direction on his part and doubted that Craig was capable of providing the direction - even if he wanted to do so.

1. Analyse the management styles of Young and Craig, and discuss the effects of these styles on the Waalon Harbour project team. 2. Discuss the possible reasons why Mr. Martins did not get anyone from Young's team to succeed him as the project manager. 3. Advice Mr Martins on what should be done about the present situation on the site.

Adapted from Naoum (2011)

Reference Naoum, S. (2011). People and Organizational Management in Construction (2nd ed). London: ICE Publishing, UK.