Write a summary and answer the below questions:

MINI-CASE: PROJECT MANAGEMENT BLUES "What am I going to do now?" you found yourself asking out loud while staring at the ceiling in your office. "Should I de-escalate this project or press on?" It felt like you were in one of those management case studies-except that it was real and it was you! Now you were beginning to second-guess your deci- sion. The original schedule called for releasing the beta version of the application for user testing later this week. Instead you had only 40% of the approved functional ity coded. Moreover, your team was looking at a list of twenty-two enhancements, two of which would require a change in the database structure. Projected comple- tion, without the proposed enhancements, entailed seven You replayed the events leading up to this dilemma. It all started when you were appointed the lead of the HRBPS team-the project team in charge of creating the new human resources benefits package management system. You had made a very successful business case presentation and received public praise from the execu- tive team. "Finally someone who does not speak techno- mumbo-jumbo but can present an IT project in business terms!" had exclaimed LJ Lalli, the CEO. It had been your ability to interface with both the developers and the business stakeholders that had landed you the project manager position. You were the first project manager in your firm to come from a functional area (human resources) instead of the information systems function The project had proceeded very well, with great sup- port from the user community-your former colleagues, of course. This was due in large part to your knowledge of HR and your stakeholder-friendly approach. You had made a conscious choice to seek user feedback, and to honor as many requests for enhancements as possible. "You have to freeze the requirements," had objected Erik Khan, the lead system analyst, otherwise it's going to be anarchy." But you had dismissed his complaints as development team grumblings." Those guys were never happy with a little uncertainty anyway. Having been on "the other side," as a stakeholder in a number of system development projects, you knew full well that unhappy more months (a 45% increase on the original) It was now apparent that the original project had also been underfunded. The current estimate for finishing the project with the approved set of requirements called for a 62% budget increase (over the original). It was unclear how much more it would cost to exceed the requirements sed enhancements had yet to since the twenty-two propo be evaluated by the system architect. You were due to present a progress report to Ms. Lalli tomorrow afternoon, but you were still unsure about what course to take. The only certainty at this point was that you had to make your pitch for a project extension and ask for further funding at the meeting. Your plan was to report on the current state of affairs, paint a pic- ture of the final product, and seek support. But what was the final product going to be? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What should your agenda for tomorrow's meeting be? Should you press on with your strategy, or is a change of course in order? 2. What would you do differently, if anything, given the chance to start this project all over users were the fastest route to system failure again