PGM4812 - Managing Project Stakeholders PORTFOLIO EXAMINATION CASE STUDY:

KEHINDE TECHNOLOGY Kate is the newly appointed plant manager for Kehinde Technology's (KT) new Logistics warehouse that VSD Industrial was designing and building for KT in Luanda, Angola. She is currently based at KT's headquarters in Durban, South Africa, but would be relocating to Angola as soon as construction started.

Kate: Kate's call to Zain. "This is Kate calling again. It is Wednesday 9am. I need to talk to you. I have not heard from you in a while, and I need an update on the project. There are also some changes to the equipment placement in the building that I need to discuss with you. I have tried to email you several times in the past couple of weeks, but I receive an undeliverable message notification. Are you having problems with your email? Please urgently return my call today. I have to present a report to the board of directors on Monday and I need to know the status of the project".

Kate ended the call after leaving voicemail. She was not happy as she had been trying to get in touch with Zain for several weeks. She thought to herself, "That's it! If he does not return my call today, I am escalating to his boss first thing tomorrow morning".

Zain is the project manager for VSD Industrial, the prime contractor for the design and construction of the new warehouse. His office is in Mombasa, Kenya. Even though he had previously managed several projects they were smaller and in the Mombasa area. He knew most of the subcontractors from working with them on various projects. The KT project in Angola was by far the largest and most complex project ever assigned to him. For example, on this project two of the major subcontractors were located in Germany and Japan.

When the project started Zain called a brief team meeting and confidently told them that the following:

Zain: "Luanda and Durban are no different from Mombasa, and as far as the German and Japanese subcontractors are concerned my approach will be straight forward. Build the equipment and facility according to our specifications and deliver on time, or they do not get paid. It is as simple as that. No excuses, and no negotiations. The KT contract has a bonus clause for early completion, and I intend to get that bonus. So we have got to play hard ball with all our subcontractors, we cannot let any of their delays screw up our chances for the bonus.

And another thing, we need to be very tough on entertaining any changes from the customer. That will give them a reason for delays and an excuse for not paying the bonus."

"We have got some pretty good senior people assigned to this project so we should be able to start fast. Everyone should pretty much know what needs to be done, so we should not have to spend a lot of time in meetings discussing and figuring things out. We can focus all out time doing the job rather than talking about it. Do not bog me down with paperwork or emails. I will have enough to do tracking our budgets and schedules, keeping on top of our subcontractors, keeping KT from making a bunch of changes, and keeping our own management off our backs"

When Zain came back to his office after Lunch, Wanjiru, his administrative assistant advised him that she has checked his voice messages and Kate had left another one where she said she needs to talk to him about some changes, and that his email was not working.

Zain: Zain responded, "changes, I knew it! That's exactly why I do not want to talk to her. It is just like a woman, changing her mind already about something or another. Thank goodness men do not do that or we would never get anything done. And as for emails, I had IT do something to my computer so whoever sends me an email they will receive a message that it is undeliverable. After a while they will get the message that I am not interested in getting copies of everybody's emails full of trivia and details."

Wanjiru advised Zain that he really should check his emails as some of them could be important. Zain snapped back:

Zain: "I have successfully managed plenty of projects, all without email. More work and less talk, that is the key to project success."

Wanjiru suggested that maybe she should ask IT to forward Zain's emails to her so that she can at least screen them.

Zain: "Go ahead if you want to, you are just going to make more work for yourself. If something is really important people will figure out how to get in touch with me. How do you think we managed before we had email? Besides, with you screening my voicemail I can control my time and decide who I need to talk to and when, and not get snagged by people phoning me and telling me why they cannot do something that they always figure a way to get it done anyway. They have just got to get in the habit of solving problems when they come up, and not running to the boss and whining about it."

Zain did not return Kate's call. The next morning she called Zain's boss, Wolfgang, who is the VSD Industries Director of Projects. She expressed her unhappiness with Zain's unresponsiveness. She threatened to put a hold on all future payments of VSD's invoices if Zain did not get back to her.

Zain's boss walked over to Zain's office. Zain was reviewing the project cost reports.

Wolfgang: I received a call from Kate at KT who was pretty upset that you have not returned her calls and she urgently needs to speak to you.

Zain: That is absolutely correct, and do you know why I am not returning her calls? Because she wants to make a whole bunch of changes that will delay this project significantly and screw up our chances for that early completion bonus.

Wolfgang: I told her that you would call her back, so please get back to her today. This project is important for us, and I do not want an unhappy customer.

Zain: You know how women are. They get emotional over things. I will get back to here and calm her down. It would have been nice if she would have told me that she was going to call you rather than just going around my back, but that is a woman for you!

After Wolfgang left Zain's office Wanjiru brought in a fax from the Japanese subcontractor. It stated that they have reviewed the recently revised equipment specifications that were sent to them, which were changed without their knowledge. Further, that some of the performance requirements have changes significantly. They regret that they can not be met unless substantial engineering redesign is done. They would like to meet with Zain to discuss the additional costs required for the additional design efforts to meet the revised specifications.

Zain: That's a joke! We are not paying them anything extra! They got plenty of money in the subcontract to do much design as needed. I am not about to negotiate with them for more money. They better realise that in Kenya we do not do business that way, or at least I do not. Wanjiru draft a letter to them for my signature stating that we do not see a basis to provided additional funds. They knew the initial specifications were marked preliminary and should have anticipated that further engineering design would be required once things firmed up. Make the letter short and firm. I do not want to leave any opening for getting into any of those you-got-to-save-face negotiations.

Two more things. Schedule a project meeting tomorrow with whoever is around. I need to get an update on some of this stuff that is going on. I need to find out if anyone has been talking to the Japanese or Kate without me knowing about it. I tell you if I find out that has been going on some people are going to regret it after the meeting. Don't people know that it is their job to keep me informed?

And a second item, call Kate to see if she can fly to Mombasa on Friday for a meeting. I do not have time to go there, I have a reunion with an old school friend on Friday night. Besides, she is the one who wants to talk to me, so let her come here. Maybe that will cool her down. Also make reservations for us at that new restaurant near the new mall. After I sweet talk her over a couple of drinks at lunch, I will suggest that she go to the mall to shop before she heads back to Durban. Shopping, that is what women need to get rid of their stress, right Wanjiru?

Source: Adapted from Gido, J., Clements, J.P., and N Harinarain, 2018. Successful project management. SA Edition. Cengage Learning.

Please assist with the following questions regarding the above case study.

Note - All questions should be incorporate project stakeholder management theory to justify your response.

QUESTIONS

1. Identify the project stakeholders and what stake each one has on the project (10 Marks)

2. What are the sources of project stakeholder conflict in this case study and explain how Zain's communication approach with project stakeholders is influencing the conflict, pros and cons, in the execution of the project? (25 Marks)

3. How should Kate, as the KT plant manager, handle the communication crisis with Zain? Identify options focusing on the potential impact on project execution and completion of the KT Angola objectives (20 marks)

4. What action should Wolfgang take with Zain, and what action should be taken regarding the two subcontractors in Germany and Japan to avoid negative impact on project execution and delivery? (20 marks)

5. How can you obtain project stakeholder buy-in, negotiate trade-offs, and sustain relationships with the multiple project stakeholders to diffuse the conflicts in this case study? (25 Marks) [Total: 100 Marks]