Case Study

EBUS614- PROJECT AND PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT IN ORGANISATIONS ACADEMIC YEAR 2020/21 ASSIGNMENT – JANUARY 2021

Page 1 of 3

Assignment title: “PROJECTS IN ALPHA MANUFACTURING, INC.”

Please read the following case study and answer all three questions. All questions are

equally weighted.

Background

The departments of Engineering, Marketing, Manufacturing, and R&D all had projects

that they were working on, and each department established its own priorities for the

projects. The problem was that the employees were working on multiple projects and

had to deal with competing priorities.

Prioritisation issues

Alpha Manufacturing was a low-cost producer of cables and wires. The industry itself

was considered a low-technology industry, and some of its products had been

manufactured the same way for decades. There were some projects to improve the

manufacturing processes, but they were few and far between. Each of the four

departments—Engineering, Marketing, Manufacturing, and R&D—had projects, but

the projects were generally quite small and used resources from only each individual

department. By the turn of the twenty-first century, manufacturing technologies began

to grow. Alpha had to prepare for the technology revolution that was about to impact

its business. Each department began preparing lists of projects that it would need to

work on, and some lists contained as many as 200 projects. These projects were more

complex than projects worked on previously, and project team members from all

departments were assigned on either a full-time or part-time basis.

Each department head officer would establish the priorities for the projects originating

in his or her department even though the projects required resources from other

departments. This created significant staffing issues and numerous conflicts:

• Each department would hoard its best project resources even though some

projects outside of the department were deemed more important to the overall

success of the company.

• Each department would put out fires by using people who were assigned to

projects outside of its department rather than using people who were working

on internal projects.

• Each department seemed to have little concern about any projects done in other

departments.

• Project priorities within each department could change on a daily basis because

of the personal whims of the head of that department.

• The only costs and schedules that were important were those related to projects

that originated within the department.

Senior management at the corporate level refused to get involved in the resolution of

conflicts between departments. The working relationships between the departments

deteriorated to the point where senior management reluctantly agreed to step in. The

total number of projects that the four departments wanted to complete over the next few

years exceeded 350, most of which required a team with members coming from more

than one division.

EBUS614- PROJECT AND PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT IN ORGANISATIONS ACADEMIC YEAR 2020/21 ASSIGNMENT – JANUARY 2021

Page 2 of 3

QUESTIONS

1. Research and discuss the various approaches to conflict resolution in project

management; in particular you should focus on conflict within teams and

between departments (1,000 words)

2. Using everything you’ve learned in this module, discuss the various options

available to the senior management when trying to resolve the issues in this case

study. For example, you could discuss the benefits that a PMO would provide

in this scenario (1,000 words)

3. Using literature, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of 3 different

approaches to project prioritisation (1,000 words)

Special Notes:

Structure: Use typical academic assignment structure, using a brief

“Introduction” with description of the context and scope of the

study. Then, provide structured answers (using titles of sections

and subsections) in tackling each of the questions above, and

finish with a brief conclusion.

Length: Limit your report to 3000 words maximum. The cover

page, references and appendices are NOT included in the

word count.

References: We expect you to heavily engage with academic literature

throughout your answers to these questions. Use Harvard

referencing method. If in doubt, refer to Journal papers, such as

IJOPM, IJPM for appropriate format.

Referencing: Use original thought, critical review and analysis methods in

substantiating your arguments. ONLY include appropriate

references and you MUST ensure that these are CITED correctly

and adequately in the main body of the report.

Note: Extensive quotations MUST NOT be used and you MUST

understand that paraphrasing is considered a form of

PLAGIARISM if the original sources are not acknowledged.

Format: Use DOUBLE LINE SPACING, font size 12.

IMPORTANT: Ensure you reference all sources of obtaining and quoting materials

used in your assignment, in accordance with appropriate procedures specified by the

University. All assignments are monitored for PLAGIARISM.

Assignment Marking: This is the only module’s assignment and is weighted at 100%

of the total mark for this module.

Penalty for late submittals: Late submittals of this assignment will be penalised by 5

percentile marks per day, as per University regulations.

Procedures for plagiarism and cheating: Any work copied from any source and

submitted as one’s own without due acknowledgement or reference, will result in the

whole assignment being graded with zero percentile marks, as well as the student

being subject to disciplinary procedures, as outlined by the University.

EBUS614- PROJECT AND PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT IN ORGANISATIONS ACADEMIC YEAR 2020/21 ASSIGNMENT – JANUARY 2021

Page 3 of 3

Submittal of completed assignments: Upload to TURNITIN, as per instructions in

your student handbook