enjoyed the consulting work more and found it more challenging. Sands concluded by saying, '"I told him I understood, and I would talk to you about the situation and see what could be done. Frankly, I think we should pull him from your project and have him work full-time on Crosby's project. What do you think?" Page notes " Horizon Consulting Patti Smith looked up at the bright blue Carolina sky before she entered the ofces of Horizon Consulting. Today was Friday, which meant she needed to prepare for the weekly status report meeting. Horizon Consulting is a custom software development company that offers fully integrated mobile application services for iPhone\Patti Smith was hired to replace Stephen Stills who had started the restaurant side of the business at Horizon. Stephen was \"let go\" according to one Account Manager for being a prime dunno and hoarding resources. Patti's clients ranged from high-end restaurants to hole-in- wall mom and pop shops. She helped develop smartphone apps that let users make reservations, browse menus, receive alerts on daily specials, provide customer feedback, order take-out, and in some cases order delivery. As an Account Manager she worked with clients to assess their needs, develop a plan, and create customized smartphone apps. Horizon appeared to be a good t for Patti. She had enough teclmical training to be able to work with software engineers and help guide them to produce client-ready products. At the same time she could relate to the restaurateurs and enjoyed working with them on web design and digital marketing. Horizon was organized into three departments: Sales, Software Development, and Graphics, with Account Managers acting as proj ect managers. Account Managers generally came from Sales, and would divide their time between projects and making sales pitches to potential new clients. Horizon employed a core group of software engineers and designers, supplemented by contracted programmers when needed. The rst step in developing a smartphone application involved the Account Manager meeting with the client to dene the requirements and vision for the application. The Account Manager would then work with a Graphic User Interface (GUI) designer to come up with a preliminary story board of how the application would function and look. Once the initial concept and requirementswere approved the Account Manager was assigned two pairs of software engineers. The rst pair (app engineers) would work on the smartphone side of the application while the second pair would work on the client side of the application. Horizon preferred to have software engineers work in tandem so they could check each other's work. The two app engineers would typically work full .'lme on the application until it was completed while the other engineers would work on multiple projects as needed. likewise, GUI designers would work on the project at certain key stages in the product development cycle when their expertise was needed. Page Weiss The head of Graphics managed the GUI designers' schedule while the head of Software managed the software engineer assignments. At the end of each project Account Managers submitted performance reviews of their team. The Director of Sales was responsible for the Account Managers' performance reviews based on customer satisfaction, generation of sales, and project performance. Horizon believed in iterative development, and every two to three weeks Account Managers were expected to demonstrate the latest version of applications to clients. This led to useful feedback and in many cases redening the scope of the project. Often clients wanted to add more flmctionality to their application once they realized what the software could do. Depending upon the complexity of the application and changes introduced once the project was under way, it typically took Horizon two to four months to deliver a nished product to a client. Patti was currently working on three projects. One was for Shanghai Wok, a busy Chinese mom and pop restaurant located in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. The owners of Shanghai Wok wanted Horizon to create a smartphone app that would allow customers to order and pay in advance for meals they would simply pick up at awalk-up window. The second project was for Taste of India that opemted in Kannapolis, North Carolina. They wanted Horizon to create a phone app that would allow staff at the nmrby biotech rms to order food that would be delivered onsite during lunch and dinner hours. The last project was for Nearly Norma], a vegetarian restaurant which wanted to send out e-mail alerts to subscribers that would describe in detail their daily fresh specials. James Thrasher was an admirer of Google and encouraged a playful but focused environment at work. Employees were allowed to decorate their work spaces, bring pets to work, and play ping-pong or pool when they needed a break. Horizon paid its employees well but the big payoff was the annual Christmas bonus. This bonus was based on overall company prots, which were distributed proportionately based on pay grade and performance reviews. It was not uncommon for employees to receive a 1015 percent boost in pay at the end of the year. Page I: ofss