2376 Project Management

Prof. Paulo Faroleiro

Group Assignment: Case Study Report

Session 1.1: Project Firecrackers

GROUP
Elisabete Batalim
Pierangelo Di Fede
Italo Gentili
Canio Roberto Rabasco

2460
2430
2311
2438

1.
Lack Of Communication And Business Agility
The organizational structure is split up into divisions in accordance to the products that are
made: the firm is divided into separate profit centers and a functional structure applies
bellow. Its centralized structure contributed to inefficient communication among players
and loss of control by top management. For instance, when White, the distributor
salesman, replied to Jones, Nationals Sales VP, that it was acceptable to extend the
deadline one week, he didnt discussed this possibility with the competent engineer. The
way the communication process is conducted shows a lack of agility (and thus, flexibility)
in the companys way of operating, affecting the whole process in terms of time to market
and the related delay costs.1The company was not showing signs of organizational
intelligence, as it was not able to promptly answer to customers demands nor to adjust to
changes in the business environment in productive and cost-effective ways. These
situations resulted in mismanagement of expectations of their client and failure to meet
their commitments.
Different Priorities Among Employees
Each sub-department is currently under the effect of myopia because employees look to
the objectives, targets or processes of their own functional area while neglecting the
success of the project as a whole. The company lacks in terms of practices that could
incentivize the alignment of priorities.
This quote2 includes everything that should not happen in an efficient process. In fact, the
chief engineer, given that he is the accountable for all the engineer team, should have
more hierarchical power in order to get all the departments needed in the process to make
commitment without waiting for his VP. The case reflects how crucial it can be to have lack
of power when there is a true opportunity to catch.
Absence Of A Project Manager
The company uses resources from different areas in the organization to tackle internal
projects. This requires employees to multitask, as they have to divide their time between
their regular activities and the new project to assure tasks are done properly.
The inexistence of an individual enabled with autonomy to both plan the project and
monitor its implementation through the several functional areas does not prevent the
current delays in deadlines. Additionally, in this specific case, the chief engineer did not
have the margin to take adjustments to improve the performance of the project because
as the company is set up, the engineering department has no authority over time study,
productionMoreover, it could happen that sales department either accept or turn down
orders, setting prices and timetables, without even ask for his counsel. Having a horizontal
manager who links the different departments and business units would make the process
lean and effective and, after all, it would solve the lack of agility due to the need of
1 Wolinski popped into Jeffs office said that sales had promised that National would ship in two
weeks. Jeff was irate. Sales was promising delivery of a test order that no one could even describe yet.
2 The only way that the project engineer can get these departments to make commitments is through
persuasion or through the chief engineer, who could go to the Vice President of manufacturing and
engineering. If the engineer is convincing the Vice President will dictate to the appropriate manager what
must be done

continuous updates.
2. Project management is a methodical approach to planning and guiding processes from
start to finish. It possesses countless advantages, the most important being:
Organizing projects PJMs main characteristic is to set precise objectives to be
completed between certain specifications, a specific schedule, defined roles and
responsibilities and a constant control on outcomes. By distributing specific tasks to
specific people, it makes employees accountable for their actions, which is linked
with higher motivation and performance. It would also make performance evaluation
an easier task to achieve.
Quality management By ensuring effectiveness and efficiency in all activities
required to design, plan and implement a project and a consistently high quality
product cannot be attained with inefficient processes in place.
Risk and change management A better planning and understanding of the tasks
to be accomplished can increase projects predictability, allowing a better time and
budget management. It would also allow for a good development of a viable
contingency plan, thus minimizing the potential negative impact of non-compliance
with some tasks, or of project failure. Improvement in communication would mean a
better orientation towards customers requests, thus allowing a better solution fit
between clients expectations and what the team delivers. Efficient change
management enables the company to adapt more easily to the constant changes in
the business environment and become an agile enterprise.
Integration management PJ manager allows for centralized decisions and holds a
crucial role in coordinating and monitoring the development of a project. This would
avoid miscommunications among project members, thus increasing collaboration,
and allowing the integration among business unitswhich would result in a better
work environment
Knowledge retention and usage by closing out the projects with an analysis of the
successes and failures of the implemented practices in order to apply it later.
In sum, with little room for error and fewer resources to rely on, PJM expertise and
oversight can help National to streamline their delivery process, cut costs and avoid
unnecessary risks, enabling it to implement stronger project management practices for the
future and minimize failures.
3. The key idea would be to point out what could have been achieved by using PJM:
o Priorities could have been set properly. The existence of a PJ manager would have
helped to align priorities of the different functional areas and the PJ itself because he
would pass through all the stages and would simultaneously negotiate with all the
stakeholders.
o Time constraints could have been met. The absence of PJM led to bureaucracy and
disastrous miscommunication among the departments. This consequently resulted in
a series of decision delays that caused the project to fail. National may ruin its
reputation due to projects failures, therefore compromising future profitability.

o National could have won the contract. If from the very outset all the processes had
been more agile, National could have had all the chances to win the contract. APC
chose its competitors not because they produce tools of higher quality, but because
they could hand them in within the set time.
Jeff could support the evidence that the dynamic, rapidly changing, complex business
environment continues to emphasize the need for PJM, through the use of some data i
related to successes achieved by companies thanks to the implementation of it. Indeed,
overall advantaged attained by adhering to PJM methods and strategies could be
quantitatively pointed out (reduced costs). For instance, the picture ii below, could be used
to address Wolinski with the components needed to succeed in this methodology.

References
o https://www.pmi.org/~/media/PDF/learning/pulse-of-the-profession2015.ashx
o Economist Intelligence Unit and Project Management Institute. Rally the
Talent to Win: Transforming Strategy into Reality. Project Management
Institute. November 2014.
o Project Management Institute. Pulse of the Profession In-Depth Report:
Organizational Agility. 2012
o http://www.tensteppm.com/open/A1ValueofPM.html

i
Figura - PJM oriented Organizations performances

ii
Figura - Components of Successful Projects