Case studies in O'C'M'

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Case studies in O.C.M.

• Global Business Management
• U.C. Riverside
• Extension Programs

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Objectives

• Review OCM rules
• Work in different groups to analyze OCM case
  studies
• Provide strategic recommendations on what could
  have been done differently in each case.
• Develop a better understanding of how to apply
  OCM rules in your work environment on the basis
  of the case studies.

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Group Presentations

• Each group will get 45 minutes to review the case
  and 15 minutes to present their recommendations
  to the class.
• What actually happened in each case will be
  disclosed to the class at the end of the group
  presentation.
• The class will then discuss the application of
  OCM rules to the case and their work environment.

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Case 1 Project Communications

• Peter Gumpet worked his way up the corporate
  ladder in a large telecommunications company.
• Peter was very intelligent, competent, and a
  strong leader but his new undersea fiber-optic
  telecommunications systems program was much
  larger and more complicated than anything Peter
  had worked on, let alone managed.

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Case 1- Contd.

• The undersea systems were separated into several
  distinct projects, and Peter was the program
  manager in charge of overseeing them all.
• The changing marketplace for undersea
  telecommunications systems and the large number
  of projects involved made communications and
  flexibility, critical concerns for Peter.

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Case 1- Contd.

• For missing milestones and completion dates, his
  company would suffer huge financial penalties
  ranging from thousands of dollars per day for
  smaller projects to over 250,000 per day for
  larger projects.
• Many projects depended on the success of other
  projects, so Peter had to understand and actively
  manage those critical interfaces between
  projects.

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Case 1- Contd.

• Peter held several informal and formal
  discussions with the project managers reporting
  to him on his program. He worked with them and
  his project executive assistant, Christine Braun,
  to develop a communications plan for the program.
• He was still unsure, however, of the best way to
  distribute information and manage all of the
  inevitable changes that would occur.
• He also wanted to develop consistent ways for all
  of the project managers to develop their plans
  and track performance without stifling their
  creativity and autonomy.

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Case 1- Contd.

• Christine suggested that they consider using some
  new communications technologies to keep important
  project information up-to-date and in sync.
• Although Peter knew a lot about
  telecommunications and laying fiber-optic lines,
  he was not an expert in using information
  technology to improve the communication process

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Case 1- Contd.

• In fact, that was part of the reason why he asked
  Christine to be his assistant. Could they really
  develop a process for communicating that would be
  flexible and easy to use?
• Time was of the essence as more projects were
  being added to the undersea telecommunications
  program every week.

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Case 2 Project Integration

• Nick Carson was recently made project manager of
  a critical biotech project for his company in
  Silicon Valley. This project involved creating
  the hardware and software for a DNA sequencing
  instrument used in assembling the human genome.
• Each instrument sold for approximately 200,000
  and various clients would purchase several
  instruments. One hundred instruments running 24
  hours per day could decipher the entire human
  genome in less than two years.
• The biotech project was the companys largest
  project, and it had tremendous potential for
  future growth and revenues. Unfortunately, there
  were problems managing this large project.

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Case 2 - Contd.

• It had been underway for three years and had
  already gone through three different project
  mangers.
• Nick had been the lead software developer on the
  project before senior management made him project
  manager.
• Senior management told him to do whatever it took
  to deliver the first version of the software for
  the DNA sequencing instrument in four months and
  a production version in nine months.
• Their urgency in getting the project out was
  influenced by negotiations for a potential
  corporate buyout with a larger company.

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Case 2 - Contd.

• Nick was highly energetic and intelligent and
  had the technical background to make the project
  a success.
• He delved into the technical problems and found
  some critical flaws that were keeping the DNA
  sequencing instrument from working.
• However, he was having difficulty in his new role
  as project manager. Although Nick and his team
  got the product out on time, senior management
  was upset because Nick did not focus on managing.

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Case 2 - Contd.

• He never provided management with accurate
  schedules or detailed plans of what was happening
  on the project.
• Instead of performing the work of project
  manager, Nick had taken on the role of software
  integrator and troubleshooter.
• Nick, however, did not understand senior
  managements problem---he delivered the product,
  didnt he? Didnt they realize how valuable he
  was???

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Case 3 Project Scope

• Kim Nguyen was leading a project team meeting to
  help define the scope of the information
  technology upgrade project assigned to her last
  week by upper management.
• This project was necessary for implementing
  several high priority Internet-based applications
  the company was developing.
• The upgrade project involved creating and
  implementing a plan to get all employees
  information technology assets to meet new
  corporate standards within nine months.

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Case 3 Contd.

• These standards specified the minimum equipment
  required for each desktop computer type of
  processor, amount of memory, hard disk size, type
  of network connection and software.
• Kim knew that in order to perform the upgrades,
  they would first have to create a detailed
  inventory of all of the current hardware,
  networks, and software in the entire company of
  2,000 employees.

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Case 3 Contd.

• Kim had a project charter explaining the key
  objectives of the project and stakeholders roles
  and responsibilities.
• The charter also included rough cost and schedule
  estimate. Kim called a meeting with her project
  team and other stakeholders to further plan and
  define the scope of the project.
• She wanted to get everyones ideas on what was
  involved in doing the project, who would do what,
  and how they could void potential scope creep.

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Case 3 Contd.

• Kims boss suggested that the team start creating
  a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to clearly
  define all of the work involved in doing the
  upgrade project.
• Kim was not quite sure where to start in creating
  a WBS. She had used them before, but this was
  the first time she was the project manager
  leading a team to create one.

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Case 4 Time Management

• Sue Johnson was the project manager for a
  consulting company contacted to provide a new
  online registration system at a local university.
• This system absolutely had to be operational by
  May 1 so students could use it to register for
  the fall term. Her companys contract had a
  stiff penalty clause if the system was not ready
  by then. However, Sue and her team could get nice
  bonuses for doing a good job on this project.
• Sue knew that it was her responsibility to meet
  the schedule and also manager scope, cost, and
  quality expectations. She and her team developed
  a detailed schedule and network diagram to help
  organize the project.

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Case 4 Contd.

• Developing the schedule turned out to be the easy
  part. Keeping the project on track turned out to
  be more difficult.
• Managing people issues and resolving schedule
  conflicts were two of the bigger challenges.
• Many of the customers employees took unplanned
  vacations and missed or rescheduled project
  review meetings.

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Case 4 Contd.

• These changes made it difficult for her staff to
  follow their planned schedule for the system
  because they had to have customer sign-off at
  various stages of the systems development life
  cycle.
• One senior programmer on her project team quit,
  and she knew it would take extra time for a new
  person to get up to speed.
• It was still early n the project, but Sue knew
  they were falling behind. What could she do to
  meet the operational date of May 1.

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Summary

• What did we learn today?
• How does it apply to your work environment?
• Questions, Comments, Concerns ???
• Thank you !!!!