Management of projects
Read the following case study then complete the task:
Case Study
Boxer Pumps Ltd. has been building industrial pumps since 1953. By 1980, it was the
fourth largest pump manufacturer in China. It was also the main producer of large scale
fluid pumps for industrial pipelines. In the 1980s, the company’s profits and market share
increased significantly. The success of the company was attributed to a standard design
for its large scale product line. The company did not develop new models or new products
during this period of growth. Its manuf acturing was based on continuous improvement of
established designs. Due to the Chinese state stru cture, the company had a relatively
stable market where its suppliers and customers were known and established . The
company was able to build and deliver advanced pumps to its clients within their budget
and on time. The company was extremely complacent and felt that this success would
continue. Unfortunately, by the 1990’s, China had opened its markets and became a
major exporter and importer of products and machinery. Partly due to the increasing
international competition, the company’s d ients began demanding pumps built to their
own specifications. This led to a diminishing order book for the large scale pumping
equipment.
The company had the technical expertise to manufacture pumps according to customer
specif ications however, due to cost and schedule issues; it was running at a net loss.
Management was used to long, standardised production runs. The new more competitive
market demanded the company now react to the different desires of customers. During
this period supplies of raw materials also became more difficult to source. The company’s
inability to plan and estimate the costs of manufacturing pumps according to new designs
and varied specif ications from its clients became a major problem.
Eventually a new CEO was appointed who decided that each specialised order would be
treated as a project. In order to do this, the CEO employed two newly recruited engineers
as project managers and reassigned two c.ompany employees as project managers. This
met strong opposit ion from the existing senior managers who felt that there was no
difference between a project and a process. They felt that the functional approach used to
manage processes, which had proved effective in the 1980’s, would be good enough to
handle the new, more varied orders.
The project managers were assigned projects developed from the successful bids of the
marketing department and an independently managed, bonus driven sales force.
Unfortunately this led to corruption when sales personnel would by-pass marketing in
order to discover internal costing figures. They would then conclude deals based on
unreali stic margins and verbal promises about what would be delivered . This further
weakened company profitability and credibili ty. The project managers found further
problems when they attempted to get cooperation from the process managers for use of
their staff on an individual project at a given time. Staff members found themselves
working for two bosses simultaneously. A similar situation existed with supplies, which
had to be processed through the old centralised system. The new project managers found
themselves ignored by the established senior managers and the company’s internally
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appointed project managers discovered they were considered to still be part of their
original senior managers’ staff. Further production and delivery delays were inevitable.
The situation could not continue and the company was taken over by a larger
conglomerate. They appointed a new CEO with instructions to turn the company around .
The new CEO was convinced that the project management approach to orders was the
correct one but that other implementation ~ssu es were a concern. The CEO brought in a
team of consultants to advise on the way forward. To do this they were given full access
to all departments, personnel and records.
You are a consultant with the management consulting company the CEO has called
in for advice. The CEO has contracted you to:
1. Report your assessment of the issues leading to the current failures.
2. Compare your assessment with sound project management practices.
3. Recommend steps to bring in the management by project approach.
4. Recommend improvements to the supply chain practices for future projects.
Write the report to the CEO which will cover the following:
a) Your assessment of the issues leading to the current failure to succeed with
project driven management. You are expected to make reference to issues such
as the company culture and organisational structure. You should include a
discussion of the validity of your assessment using examples from referenced
project management practices, standards and rationales.
(35%)
b) Recommend measures to bring about change leading to an effective f” VJ”‘”‘
driven organisation. You have been given the freedom to recommend changes to
organisational structures and policies at all levels. The company cannot be closed
down to start from scratch so you must also provide a plan for change which can
be implemented in a timescale of no more than two years. You should
recommend improvements to the supply practices which will satisfy the needs of
the new structures as part of your answer.
(45%)
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c) Produce a list of the stakeholders involved in or impacted by the changes required
and identify each stakeholder’s interest in and perspective on the issue. From this
provide a Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RACI) analysis of the stakeholders
and on that basis develop a communications plan for the proposed
implementation of the changes.
(20%)
Unlike many commercial reports you are required to reference your work clearly and
properly in the same manner as an academic paper.
You must provide a single combined reference list after your answers
need the assignment start with executive summary and end with conclusion(few rows..)