Assignment Case Study 1.1: MegaTech, Inc. (1 HR)

MegaTech, Inc. designs and manufactures automotive components. For years, the company enjoyed a stable marketplace, a small but loyal group of customers, and a relatively predictable environment. Though slow, annual sales continued to grow until recently hitting $300 million. MegaTech products were popular because they required little major updating or yearly redesign. The stability of its market, coupled with the consistency of its product, allowed MegaTech to forecast annual demand accurately, to rely on production runs with long lead times, and to concentrate on internal efficiency.

However, with the advent of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other international trade agreements, MegaTech found itself competing with auto parts suppliers headquartered in countries around the world. The company was thrust into an unfamiliar position: it had to become customer-focused and quicker to market with innovative products. Facing these tremendous commercial challenges, top management at MegaTech decided to recreate the company as a project-based organization.

The transition, though not smooth, has nonetheless paid big dividends. Top managers determined, for instance, that product updates had to be much more frequent. Achieving this goal meant yearly redesigns and new technologies, which in turn meant making innovative changes in the firm's operations. In order to make these adjustments, special project teams were formed around each of the company's product lines and given a mandate to maintain market competitiveness.

At the same time, however, MegaTech wanted to maintain its internal operating efficiencies. Thus, all project teams were given strict cost and schedule guidelines for new product introductions. Finally, the company created a sophisticated research and development team, which is responsible for locating likely new avenues for technological change 5 to 10 years down the road. Today, MegaTech operates project teams not only for managing current product lines but also for seeking longer-term payoffs through applied research.

MegaTech has found the move to project management challenging. For one thing, employees are still rethinking the ways in which they allocate their time and resources. In addition, the firm's success rate with new projects is still less than management had hoped. Nevertheless, top managers feel that, on balance, the shift to project management has given the company the operating advantage that it needed to maintain its lead over rivals in its globally competitive industry. "Project management," admits one MegaTech executive, "is certainly not a magic pill for success, but it has started us thinking about how we operate. As a result, we are doing smarter things in a faster way around here."

Questions:

1-What is it about project management that offers MegaTech a competitive advantage in its industry?

2-What elements of the marketplace in which MegaTech operates led the firm to believe that project management would improve its operations?

Assignment Case Study 2.2: Paradise Lost: The Xerox Alto (1 HR)

The Xerox Alto is a fascinating story of a large organization's fumbling the biggest technological advance in the latter half of the 20thcentury.Xerox should have been poised to reap billions.It invested in an advanced research center (PARC), hired the best and brightest talent in this fledgling industry, and was first off the mark with a fully-functioning PC, including Ethernet, laser printing, word processing, spreadsheets, and so forth.Instead, this case also details how they managed to squander their opportunity through a moribund culture, and attitude of "playing it safe," and the inability to think creatively.In short, the Alto was simply too much for Xerox to know how to handle it.

Questions:

1) Do you see a logical contradiction in Xerox's willingness to devote millions of dollars to support pure research sites like PARC and then refusing to commercially introduce the products produced?

2) How does Xerox' strategic vision work in favor or against the development of radical new technologies such as the Alto?

3)How did other unforeseeable events combine to make Xerox's executives unwilling to take any new risks, precisely at the time that the Alto was ready to be released?

4)"Radical innovation cannot be too radical if we want it to be commercially successful."Argue either in favor of or against this statement.

Assignment Case Study 3.1: Keflavik Paper Company (1 HR)

Keflavik Paper is an organization that has lately been facing serious problems with the results of its projects.Specifically, the company's project development record has been spotty: While some projects have been delivered on time, others have been late. Budgets are routinely overrun, and product performance has been inconsistent, with the results of some projects yielding good returns and others losing money.They have hired a consultant to investigate some of the principle causes that are underlying these problems and he believes that the primary problem is not how project are run but how they are selected in the first place.Specifically, there is little attention paid to the need to consider strategic fit and portfolio management in selecting new projects.This case is intended to get students thinking of alternative screening measures that could potentially be used when deciding whether or not to invest in a new project.

Questions:

1. Keflavik Paper presents a good example of the dangers of excessive reliance on one screening technique (discounted cash flows). How might excessive or exclusive reliance on other screening methods discussed in this chapter lead to similar problems?

2. Assume that you are responsible for maintaining Keflavik's project portfolio. Name some key criteria that you believe should be used in evaluating all new projects before they are added to the current portfolio.

3. What does this case demonstrate about the affect of poor project screening methods on a firm's ability to manage its projects effectively?

Assignment Case Study 4.1:In Search Effective Project Managers (1 HR)

This case involves Pureswing Golf, and illustrates the problems when organizations attempt to locate competent project managers without any systematic plan for identifying and training good potential candidates.They are discovering that the "voluntary approach," whereby new project managers are solicited seemingly at random from around the company, simply does not work.Many of these individuals likely do not have the skills or a reasonable understanding of what it takes to effectively manage projects.

Questions:

1) Imagine you are a Human Resource professional at Pureswing who has been assigned to develop a program for recruiting new project managers.Design a job description for the position.

2) What qualities and personal characteristics support a higher likelihood of success as a project manager?

3) What qualities and personal characteristics would make it difficult to be a successful project manager?

Assignment Case Study 5.3: Project Management at Dotcom.com (1 HR)

This case is based on a true story and illustrates some of the key challenges that IT organizations face when they attempt to develop solutions for clients.Many of these clients understand their problems but don't see how to an appropriate solution.Others, however, think they understand their needs but find the solutions generated for them to be inadequate or simply addressing the wrong issues.It is a classic story of cope definition that many IT organizations routinely deal with when trying to satisfy the needs of clients.

Questions:

1. How would you begin redesigning Dotcom.com's project management processes to minimize the problems they are experiencing with poor scope management?
2. How do the company's consulting clients contribute to the problems with "scope creep?"If you were to hold a meeting with a potential customer, what message would you want them to clearly understand?
3. How do you balance the need to involve clients with the equally important need to freeze project scope in order to complete the project in a timely fashion?
4. Why are configuration management and project change control so difficult to perform in the midst of a complex software development project such as those undertaken by Dotcom.com?

Assignment Case Study 6.2: The Bean-Counter and the Cowboy (1 HR)

A common theme with multi-functional project teams is a lack of appreciation for the duties of people from other departments.The concept of organizational "differentiation" is key to understanding this malady.It is common for functional "siloing" to an attitude in which the contributions of other project team members are either not recognized or undervalued.In this case, there are some clear signs of antagonism between Neil, the finance person and Susan, from Marketing.The terms "bean-counter" and "cowboy," have been, in fact, coined by these people to refer to members of the other functions.

Questions:

1) Was the argument today between Neil and Susan the true conflict or a symptom?What evidence do you have to suggest it is merely a symptom of a larger problem?

2) Develop a conflict management procedure for your meeting in 30 minutes.a simple script to help you anticipate the comments you are likely to hear from both parties.

3)Which conflict resolution style is warranted in this case?Why?How might some of the other resolution approaches be inadequate in this situation?

Assignment Case Study 7.1: DeHavilland's Falling Comet (1 HR)

The DeHavilland story is a fascinating example of a well-respected organization that sought to be the first to market with radical new technology and cut some important safety corners, with disastrous results.The story highlights the problems when innovations in design are pushed too far, too quickly.With its unique design and all the additional features that made it radical, the Comet should have been slowly integrated into production and use, instead of being rushed to market.DeHavilland knew that Boeing was at work on its own design, the 707, and felt the need to be first to market.In this rush, they cut a number of safety corners with disastrous results.

Questions:

1) How could risk management have aided in the development of the Comet?

2) Discuss the various types of risk (technical, financial, commercial, etc.) in relation to the Comet.Develop a qualitative risk matrix for these risk factors and assess them in terms of probability and consequences.

3) Given that a modified version of the Comet (the Comet IV) is still in use with the British Government as an anti-submarine warfare aircraft, it is clear that the design flaws could have been corrected given enough time.What, then, do you see as DeHavilland's critical error in the development of the Comet?

4) Comment on the statement: "Failure is the price we pay for technological advancement."