reading analysis in field of government management
VVIIII
THE HYTECK.BIZ CASE
A Case Produced by Gareth Morgan and Jean Adams (For permission to use this case, please contact [email protected])
Hyteck.biz is a fast growing entrepreneurial firm with a reputation for quality. Don Macrae, the flamboyant company founder, thrives on risk taking. No project is too big or the time frame too short! As a result, sales have quadrupled in the past year and are predicted to double again within six months. The rapid expansion has stretched Hyteck’s talent and production capacities to the limit. This highly charged environment really appeals to John Holt, a seasoned computer engineer who heads up Design & Development. He has his finger in every pie and steps in wherever he thinks action is needed. Edwina Smith, a “follow the book” project manager, works for Holt on some of the company’s major accounts.
Friday morning is off to a bad start . . .
Luke Hardy from Quality Assurance calls Holt about a virus in the Hyteck QA system that has created havoc with the high-priority gameware project due for delivery that afternoon. “The virus has been isolated—no other projects are threatened,” says Hardy. “But there’s at least a day of reprogramming required.” Holt is in a tight spot—the client is threatening legal action if the project is late. He strides over to Smith’s office, but she’s not there. Taking matters into his own hands, he assigns the project to Lee Curtis, the brainpower behind the gameware design. Curtis had once been considered for promotion, but Macrae and Holt had both preferred Edwina Smith. At first, Curtis had taken missing the promotion badly, but he soon seemed to settle down and accept the situation. Holt is confident that Curtis will do a high quality job, as he has on so many other “rescue operations.”
After giving directions, Holt leaves the office, as he does most Friday mornings, to do his banking, a little shopping, and other personal errands for the weekend. He feels free to do this, as he often starts early and works late.
A little later Macrae walks through the office and sees Curtis working on the gameware project. He’s annoyed because he specifically asked Smith to assign the high-profile new call center simulation project to Curtis.
“Where’s Smith?” asks Macrae. Curtis doesn’t know. “Where’s Holt?” Macrae barks. Curtis can’t answer that either.
Macrae mutters to himself and tells Curtis to get on with the call center project. “Bu . . . ” says Curtis. “No buts!” says an irritated Macrae. “Do your job and let me worry about the rest!”
Holt returns mid-afternoon and drops by Smith’s office to tell her about the problem with the gameware project. When they check on Curtis’s progress, Holt is furious. “I told you to work
on the gameware project,” he says. “You’re fired!” He tells Smith to arrange for severance pay, assigns the project to another programmer, and returns to his office. Five minutes later, Smith tells Holt that Curtis says Macrae ordered him to switch projects. “He says Macrae is the boss,” Smith adds. “He did what he was told.”
Holt, on hearing this explanation, strides over to Macrae’s office and bursts in without knocking. “Design & Development is my responsibility,” he shouts. “By sticking your nose in this morning you’ve jeopardized the gameware project. We’ll never meet the deadline now. You can kiss that million-dollar contract good-bye! If this is the way you run things around here, then I quit!”
“If that gameware project was so important,” Macrae shouts back, “why weren’t you and Smith overseeing it? Was it in danger of interfering with your personal business? I know your Friday morning routine! I accept your resignation.”
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