Week 10

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Keep the Project on Course

Leanne Batiste HRM517

Professor Kenneth Lewis September 4, 2021

KENNETH LEWIS

HRM 517 Week 8 Assignment 5 – Activity/Case Study: Keeping the Project on Course EXPECTATIONS Read the case study, "The Trophy Project," pages 243–245 in Harold Keraner – Project Management Case Studies. Use the following link to the book in the Strayer Library: Project Management Case Studies. Write a 1–2 page paper in which you: 1. Discuss or critique whether the “Trophy Project” was planned correctly. [<.5page] 2. Discuss whether management was committed to the “Trophy Project”. [<.5 page] 3. Discuss if fostering more cooperation was within the scope of the “Trophy Project”. [<.5 page] 4. Examine actions that could have been taken to get the “Trophy Project” back on track. [<.5 page] Follow the Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). Use and cite materials, ideas, and concepts from the class lessons in your responses. Proofread and edit to comply with the page limits of the assignment. This graded activity uses another case so use of the WorkSafe, Inc. Case does not apply here. However, the Kloppenborg 4e textbook still offers many relevant comments as do many of the other assignments and discussions we have had in the class.

Project Management

Discuss or critique whether the project was planned correctly.

The project was not adequately planned. It started going out of control during the planning

stage, threatening to be behind schedule and over budget. These initial warning signs in the initial

phase imply a wrongly planned project. Many vital project issues are failing to show up on the

project manager’s radar. For instance, as stated in the accomplishment plan, the project manager

does not understand why team members deliver as if the project is scope-driven rather than

schedule-driven (The Trophy Project, 245).

This significant deviation from the right track leads to schedule slippage, and the schedules

spiral out of control due to a lack of aggressive daily monitoring of dates and deliverables. Also,

the failure to define shared or common methodologies and terminologies to ensure the various

teams from different organizations work together to meet deadlines will lead to budget overruns

due to time extension to complete some tasks (Sanchez & Terlizzi, 2017).

Discuss whether management was committed to the project

The management did not commit itself to the project. It expected the project manager to

carry out all the fancy footwork such as planning, communicating, project cost estimation and

driving the project as planned. When an adverse issue surfaced and pushed the project to the risk

end, the management did not bother putting the required measures such as stopping or

reengineering. This point implied the project manager was at his wit’s end and was desperate for

management back-up or assistance.

KENNETH LEWIS

Topic #2. Discuss whether management was committed to the project. The functional managers were providing inadequate staff to the Trophy Project and were allowed to charge direct labor time for their pet projects to the Trophy Project. There is no mention of a Project Charter with signed commitments from key stakeholders including the project office, operations, functional managers, corporate staff, vendors, and the client.

KENNETH LEWIS

Topic #1. Discuss or critique whether the project was planned correctly. Recall the five steps of Strategic Planning. Would the Trophy Project be different if the five steps had been followed? The fact that the functional managers were allowed to provide inadequate staff to the Trophy Project demonstrates the project manager did not exercise the proper powers or technical or behavioral skills. The failed attempt to impose a computerized problem tracking system demonstrates that there was no risk management plan. Falling behind schedule and going over budget implies there is a project schedule and a project budget. This also implies the existence of scope and WBS.

The management does not agree with the project manager that agile methodology is

compatible with schedules, cost, and scope. Instead, it believes that this methodology makes the

principles of project management irrelevant (The Trophy Project, 244). Also, the management as

the project sponsor has monitored the project as cost-driven rather than schedule-driven as earlier

planned (The Trophy Project, 245). All these differing and conflicting issues indicate that the

management is not keen on the project.

Discuss whether or not fostering more cooperation was within the scope of the project.

There was no fostering of more cooperation within the scope of the project. The lack of this

cooperation is evidenced by the poor documentation of a list of specific project goals, undefined

deliverables, delayed completion of tasks, poor budgeting, and missed deadlines (Radujković &

Sjekavica, 2017). For instance, the project teams from different organizations depend on each

other. However, these teams lack shared project methodologies and terminologies, thus unable to

set common project objectives, meet deadlines, and work under the stipulated budget.

Overall, lack of cooperation gets evidenced by different systems that make scheduling

impossible to manage due to communication breakdowns among the involved teams. Thus, it is

desirable to involve strategies for improving cooperation and working relationships when planning

for project management.

Examine actions that could have been taken to get the project back on track.

The actions are:

KENNETH LEWIS

Topic#4. Examine actions that could have been taken to get the project back on track. Follow the steps of strategic planning. Create a project charter. Define the project scope. Empower the project manager to select the team members and assign work. Reichart could have used powers to improve commitment and support from functional managers and executives early in the project and he could have exercised appropriate behavioral skill to control the project including supply chain management.

KENNETH LEWIS

Topic #3. Discuss whether or not fostering more cooperation was within the scope of the project. Recall what we have covered regarding project scope and leading projects. The three steps to define the project scope include listing deliverables and acceptance criteria; establishing boundaries; and describing the work needed. Leading projects includes taking into account Organizational Structure, Culture, and Roles. Remember project manager powers: legitimate; reward; coercive; referent; expert; information; & connection. Remember the technical and behavioral skills needed by the project manager. Fostering cooperation is not only within the scope of any project, but a duty of the project manager.

KENNETH LEWIS

Reviewing the situation. This action involves the accurate determination of the critical timelines,

the requirements that each team needs to meet, and the role of each individual stakeholder to avoid

conflicts and duplicate tasks.

Developing and implementing the action plan. The project lacks this plan. As a result,

critical actions should be built to happen, including responsibilities, deadlines, and statuses of each

project milestone (San Cristóbal et al., 2018). Also, a project manager should ensure the

stakeholders get regular updates by initiating a proper communication plan that includes daily,

weekly, biweekly, and monthly updates on project progress.

Bringing in a high-performance team. Through this action, the right team is crucial to

ensure that the project is back on the right path. Thus, a project manager needs to decide the best

organizations to get a skilled team to undertake various roles using the available resources such as

time and money.

KENNETH LEWIS

Criteria # 5. Clarity and Writing Mechanics Follow SWS guidelines. Proofread and edit thoroughly. SWS guidelines include using topics as section headings.

KENNETH LEWIS

References

 Project Management Case Studies. The Trophy Project," pages 243–245.

 Radujković, M., & Sjekavica, M. (2017). Project management success factors. Procedia

Engineering, 196, 607-615.

 San Cristóbal, J. R., Carral, L., Diaz, E., Fraguela, J. A., & Iglesias, G. (2018). Complexity

and project management: A general overview. Complexity, 2018.

 Sanchez, O. P., & Terlizzi, M. A. (2017). Cost and time project management success

factors for information systems development projects. International Journal of Project

Management, 35(8), 1608-1626.

 Tereso, A., Ribeiro, P., Fernandes, G., Loureiro, I., & Ferreira, M. (2019). Project

management practices in private organizations. Project Management Journal, 50(1), 6-22.

KENNETH LEWIS

Refs. References are not mentioned in the instructions, but SWS requires that source materials be attributed to their sources. References and citations are the SWS manner to attribute sources. The two essential sources for this paper are: Harold Kerzner. (2017). Project Management Case Studies. Fifth Edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Timothy J. Kloppenborg, Vittal Anantatmula, & Katheryn N. Wells, (2019). Contemporary Project Management (4th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.