projectrisks and opportunities

You are a manager at Lectocomp Electronics Manufacturing Company, a company that produces

a number of different computer boards used in various products produced by their customers. At

the company’s quarterly meeting, the head of marketing described a new product to be

introduced in the first quarter of the next fiscal year, approximately twelve months from now.

The product will be a device used in different medical products. As a result, any work done on

that product falls under various government regulations. This regulation aspect is new to

Lectocomp Manufacturing. This product will open new markets for the sales channel, lay the

foundation for add-on products, and generate new revenues. You have only seen preliminary

sketches of the new product, but you are very excited by it.

The project will require participation from most of the company’s departments: design,

engineering, production, purchasing, shipping, sales, and marketing departments. Lectocomp

Manufacturing uses another company to produce the prototype boards; the final boards will be

manufactured in-house. Although this is a "mission-critical" project, no additional staff will be

added. People will be expected to balance their project responsibilities with their day-to-day

work (including other projects). The project manager is to be selected from the engineering

department. This is a first, as the project managers normally come from the marketing

department. A project of this scale has never been managed by an in-house person before.

Historically, a project manager/consultant has been brought in. You were hired as an engineer

with Lectocomp three months ago, and this week, you were told that you have been selected to

be the project manager. In your prior job, you were a project manager for most of the company’s

large initiatives—most of which were quite successful.

You have experience in manufacturing and medical products but have not done any product

work since you started at Lectocomp. You have been involved in some engineering clean-up

activities and have not worked with many people outside your department yet. The company has

not historically had strong processes to follow nor has communication been a core competency.

However, six months ago, a new CEO was brought on board who has focused on improving the

organization’s skills in those areas. She is the leader who has insisted on managing the project

internally. She is also somewhat familiar with the regulated environment and requires that you

follow all the strict, formal processes that will need to be implemented as the project progresses.

She is in the process of interviewing candidates for a new quality manager position. This

manager will be responsible for implementing the required processes, controls, and metrics; you

will be working closely with that person.